You can go out for a hike and bring your GPS and then come back home and download your track onto your computer. You can create an elevation plot, show your route, show your speed, and much more. Here is a plot from a recent off-trail exploration: In the top image, the blue line represents the route I took. The … Continue reading…
Those of us who have been exploring the backwoods for many years spent the majority of our time having poor map information. Topo maps were either out-of-date or too large in scale to be useful. Trail maps were rarely to scale and were not very helpful in the field. Well-researched maps with trail-specific information was rare because the process of … Continue reading…
Although we have enjoyed skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing at Silver Star, we have never found the summer hiking here to be memorable. If hikers come right at the peak of flower season, the hike to the peak is a pleasure. For a good workout or for downhill mountain-biking, the mountain offers trails: Alternately, hikers can choose the Sovereign Lake … Continue reading…
This was an article I wrote for Gold Country: Moving goods through the Interior of B.C. was never easy. High mountains, steep canyons and raging rivers challenged every route. The Pacific Fur Company established posts at Okanagan, Spokane, and “Shewhaps” (Kamloops) at the junction of the North and South Thompson Rivers. In competition, the Northwest Company connected routes between New … Continue reading…
As of today, there are 156 posts on this site. Over the next year, it will grow to over 300. How do you find information on this site? Use the Search function (on your right). It works very well. Go to the Site Map page (see Pages on the right) for a quick scan of content. Search by Category. Over … Continue reading…
If you don't set goals and targets for your efforts, you won't set aside the time and effort to explore new areas. A new area takes time to research, time to prepare, time to travel to and from, and will probably take longer than planned if you are exploring new territory. For some areas, there is no information, so you … Continue reading…
With GPS technology, we can record our routes and then make them available to others. On Christmas Day, we hiked 7.5 km through the snow, and used the Tracks function in our Garmin Colorado GPSr to follow our route. Each GPS is a little different, but most follow the same general steps: Its a good idea to clear any old … Continue reading…
This is a favorite route in summer and winter. It is very unlikely you will see anyone along the trail, but watch for wildlife. We have seen lynx, moose, deer, coyotes, bears, grouse, owls, marmots, rabbits, and wide variety of birds. In spring and summer, wildflowers cover the hill. Wetlands in the center of the hill feature waterfowl, frogs, and … Continue reading…
Immediately to the north of Kamloops lies a sloping plateau area with very few trees. It is on the border between lowland sagebrush and grasslands and also borders on Lac du Bois Provincial Park. It has been frequented by off-road vehicles and used to be the location for bush parties or shooting at targets. The off-road motorcycle/ATV activity has moved … Continue reading…
There are a few guidebooks out there that help us with routes, trailheads, junctions, and some route descriptions. There are also a few websites that support hiking, biking, and exploring wilderness areas. But, they only cover 1% of the available routes in an area like the Interior of B.C. Pick any area in the Interior. For example, I started the … Continue reading…
Aylmer Lake (sometimes called Star Lake) sits on the high, open ridge above Little Shuswap Lake. Cross the bridge over the South Thompson River at Chase and proceed west. At a well-signed junction, take the Bear-Loakin Road (Niskonlith Lake too) and climb up the switchbacks. The hillside opens up. In spring, this is one of the best areas to hike … Continue reading…
The Skimikin Trail system is used by hikers, equestrian clubs, mountain bikers, and in winter, snowshoers and cross country skiers. The campground has been expanded to provide a number of equine sites and the trail system has been expanded with the support of the CSRD and the Shuswap Trail Alliance. There are over 100km of trails in the area. Although … Continue reading…
The Roche Lake area is not really known as a hiking or biking area, but there are routes and trails everywhere. The area can be linked over to Scuitto Lake or from Ernst Lake over to McGlashan Lake. There is a climbing area to the northwest. We have enjoyed following roads among the lakes and connecting some of the routes … Continue reading…
The Dewdrop Range Road has deteriorated a great deal over the last 20 years so that now it is better suited to a high clearance or 4WD vehicle. All the roads are driveable still, but erosion has made some places very rough. With a fair amount of pine beetle kill too, the roads have become narrower with fallen trees down. … Continue reading…
A pleasant hike in interesting terrain is show on the map below. Drive up the Red Lake Road and at the hairpin, turn left onto the Dewdrop Range Road, sometimes called the Frederick Road. Continue along the flats until you come to an intersection. The upper road is called the Dewdrop Range Road and it continues over rough roads all … Continue reading…
The original Trans-Canada Highway climbed the hill behind the current route past the lookout and went along the shores of Six Mile Loop, coming down to the Tunkwa Lake Road and down the hill to the current highway. Remnants of the road are still there. The road up from both sides now has broken pavement, but there are sections up … Continue reading…