Kamloops' two rivers provide fine early season paddling. The South Thompson flows more slowly, has fewer shallows/sandbars, and has less hazards. Progress up or down is good, except when the power boats arrive. The North Thompson has far less traffic and a little more caution is needed, and it is hard work to paddle upstream. Most river paddling outings follow … Continue reading…
In Kamloops, we can paddle on our rivers in 9 of the 12 months of the year. With a cool spring, the first day of paddling on the river this year was the last day of March. From Pioneer Park, the upstream paddle is easier when the flow rates are down. With a reduced current, we can progress east on … Continue reading…
White pelicans have been spotted in the Tranquille Wildlife Protected area and in Cooney Bay over the past 3 years. These large birds migrate to the BC Interior over the spring-summer, then return to the southern U.S. for winter. A full grown pelican can stand 5 feet high and have a wingspan of up to 9 feet, the second largest … Continue reading…
Downriver paddling is one of the best outdoor experiences, but paddling in a shallow river with the salmon migrating upstream to spawn is a special experience. During the last big sockeye run, we paddled down the Shuswap River from the Skookumchuck to Enderby. The river runs faster at the upper end and slowly at the lower end over a … Continue reading…
Maligne Lake is a prime spot to paddle. Information for paddlers follows. Launch Spot Drive past the Maligne Lodge and continue across the Maligne River bridge over to the public boat launch. Location – N52 48.550 W117 38.596 Picnic Spots There a number of designated picnic spots/landings along the lake. Most of these have a beach to land on and … Continue reading…
We have been planning to paddle the larger lakes off the Highway 24 corridor and we chose a late summer day to spend the day on Bridge Lake. The lake is fairly big to paddle the entire shoreline in a day (23 km), so we chose to paddle around the groups of islands on the southern half of the lake, … Continue reading…
In a long-term quest to paddle all of the area's lakes, I picked the Frogmoore Lakes for an afternoon of exploration. This chain of 4 lakes sit at the same elevation as the Surrey Summit, the high point on the Coquihalla Highway. To get to the lake, drive toward Logan Lake and watch for the turn-off on the left onto … Continue reading…
These are popular fishing lakes so if you want to paddle around the shoreline, pick a weekday or go there in shoulder season. Both have interesting shorelines to explore. Jacko Lake Paddle this lake before the new Ajax Mine opens. After that, it will be a disaster zone. Drive toward Lac le Jeune and just past Inks Lake, turn east … Continue reading…
All of the images need to be redone, which is planned…. We set a target of paddling on 40 lakes in our region, but the number will probably be closer to 60 by the time we finish. The lakes have to be big enough to provide a good workout, be within about a hour and half drive, and be reasonably … Continue reading…
I made a list of 40 local lakes to paddle and have chosen to do the shoreline of all of them. Monte Lake is accessed off a short side road on the way to Vernon, off highway 97 south. Right before the lake, turn right onto a gravel road and there are two launch spots on the north side of … Continue reading…
We have enjoyed the Six Mile area for quite a few years, orienteering, running, and hiking through the hills. In the middle of the area are 3 smaller lakes. The road starts just past the Tobiano turn-off. This gravel road is the old Trans Canada Highway which used to go up through the hills over to the Tunwka Road and … Continue reading…
Pavilion Lake sits in Marble Canyon between Cache Creek and Lillooet. It is at the southern end of the Marble Range which runs north to Jesmond. It is in a karst formation of grey limestone, steep and ragged. The crystal blue waters of Pavilion Lake lie at the foot of the cliffs. Not only are the waters of the lake … Continue reading…
If you have stayed at Mile High Lodge, you may have been on Face Lake, but if not, it is hard to get to. Drive up the Paska Lake Road and not far past, the road ends at the Mile High Lodge. You may be able to park at the lodge and launch your boat, possibly for a fee, but … Continue reading…
The 500th article was published to this site. At the same time, about 920 000 separate visits were logged. Then the database was inadvertently wrecked and the site went down for two days. I wasn't sure it could be recovered, but I got some technical help and once I could get into the backend, I have been doing some additional … Continue reading…
Paska Lake is a higher plateau lake, attracting more fishermen in the middle of summer when the lower lakes are not very productive. To reach Paska, take the road to Logan Lake and turn north onto the Paska Lake Road and watch for the rec site 12 km up. A gravel boat launch makes a good spot to put … Continue reading…
The run down the North Thompson River from McLure to Kamloops is about 36 km. We launched from the McLure Ferry on the west side in our ocean-going kayaks. In high water, the river runs faster and all the island channels open up. We immediately chose the channel behind a larger island and we continued to take these types of … Continue reading…
