Melba Lake lies on the forested southeast flanks of Chuwhels Mountain. In winter we can snowshoe to the lake from Lodgepole Lake or from the Logan Lake Road. On a sunny winter day I parked just off the main road and followed snowed-in backroads to the southwest side of the lake. In previous years I had followed the branch roads … Continue reading…
From the Timber Lake Road an informal trail winds on a route upstream, following Peterson Creek as it flows down through a forested canyon. There are 3 small bridges on this loop route. There was a track set by hikers and snowshoers and at many points there were tracks that headed off on other routes, but I had done this … Continue reading…
From the Hull Hill trailhead off the Goose Lake Road, I followed known tracks to Anderson Creek, then set new tracks upstream, exploring ridges, gullies, forest glades, and forgotten tracks. For more Kamloops Trails videos, click the YouTube link.
Continue reading...On a sunny winter day I chose to drive up the Paska Lake Road to the high country (at 5000 feet) to snowshoe Paska Lake and backcountry tracks of the area. It turned out to be a bit of an adventure, as explained in this video: There will be more days of exploring routes through the forest, along lakes … Continue reading…
On a foggy winter day we drove to the parking area for the Isobel Lake Trails and we snowshoed an 8.7 km loop route on established trails, with tracks set by fat tire bikes. It was foggy at the Eagle’s Eyrie parking area and around the lake, but we climbed up the Direwolf Trail to 1256m elevation (4120 feet) where … Continue reading…
Lodgepole Lake sits at 4600 feet and the road is kept plowed in winter so the Rec Site at the lake makes a good trailhead area for winter snowshoeing. There are many possible routes and snowshoers set tracks, many of which are set every year on known routes. Each time we snowshoe the area, we combine different trails and often … Continue reading…
On an exploratory snowshoe from the Chuwhels Lake Road onto ORV tracks, I found my way to Bow Lake and back (article). I returned 10 days later to try to find a loop route back. On a mild day, we followed the track I (and others) had set, then crossed the lake and through the forest to find another track … Continue reading…
On a mild winter day I started a snowshoe outing at the Dogwood Marshes Trailhead and continued south toward McConnell Lake following user-made tracks. At the edge of the marshes area the track crossed a fence then climbed the hill into McConnell Lake Provincial Park. The Dogwood Marshes area has a number of cutblocks and plantations, but the park around … Continue reading…
On a mild winter day I struck off south from the Timber Lake Road, climbing the hills, making my own route on snowshoes through the open forest at 1140m (3740 ft.). For the first section there was a bit of track up a ridge on the west side of the Peterson Creek gully. There were a number of eclectic choices, … Continue reading…
There are a number of off-road-vehicle routes on the flank of Chuwhels Mountain that can be hiked or snowshoed. Some navigation is required and there may or may not be any tracks to follow. I parked off the side of the road to Lodgepole Lake and snowshoed up one of the trails to Bow Lake and back. For much of … Continue reading…
There are a number of trails along the south side of Lac le Jeune that can be snowshoed in winter. The main trail for hiking is the Gus Johnson Trail, but there are more user-made single track trails too that are used enough to be stomped in and followed. We snowshoed 7.7 km on a mild winter day. We passed … Continue reading…
We snowshoed from Dogwood Marshes to McConnell Lake going past the Fish and Wildlife cabins, then we tried to push through a route to the backroads above and beyond, but we met with many fallen trees and brushy conditions so we returned to the lake and followed a known track back. We can see that a different route will need … Continue reading…
In winter the backroads become blanketed in snow and they make fine snowshoeing corridors. An out-and-back is easier in the snow, but it is more fun to create a loop route, which may mean stomping through deeper snow. A long route through deep snow is okay, but quite tiring so some kind of planning helps, using maps and Google Earth. … Continue reading…
The Bush Lake area offers many winter routes for snowshoeing. The area south of Bush Lake has a number of ridges, forested slopes, cutblocks, marshes, drainages, and double tracks which can be combined to create a new route each time out stomping in the high country. On a recent mild winter day I made eclectic choices, following some tracks and … Continue reading…
When snow blankets all of our hiking routes, we can continue to winter hike, looking for trails that get stomped in. We can snowshoe, going to higher elevations to stomp our own routes on tracks and trails. We can also do winter walks on backroads. We look for gravel roads that get little winter traffic. We walk in boots with … Continue reading…
The snowshoe trails at Stake Lake make an enjoyable stomp through the woods in winter. We chose to do a 2 hour loop, avoiding any larger hills. We included one of the new trails near the end. Tthe trails are well-marked and stomped in, but we ventured out on a day with some new snow on the trails. There was … Continue reading…
