The water is cold in March , but with the right gear we can paddle on the rivers as soon as the ice melts.   We need to avoid windy days because the cold winds make progress difficult and uncomfortable, but when the conditions are right, paddling is a perfect late winter – early spring activity.   We launch from the beach at Pioneer Park and go upstream and back down, or downstream and back up.   We also paddle up the North Thompson River, which is harder work.

The first and third days of paddling were upstream to Valleyview and back which takes about an hour and a half.  There were lots of geese on the river.

On the second day I paddled downstream to Rabbit Island and back, passing the old bridge pillars on the way.

Following these 3 days of paddling, there were strong winds almost every day so we hiked through the hills instead.   We will back to the rivers and out to the lakes next week.  Some of those early destinations will include:

• Cooney Bay – Kamloops Lake
• Savona – Kamloops Lake
• Nicola Lake
• Pat Lake
• South Thompson River – downstream from Lafarge
• North Thompson River – downstream from the Dunes area
• Jacko Lake