On a warm summer day, I went into the Roche Lakes area to paddle a lake and hike into a different lake. The turn to the West Roche Lake campsite is the same turn that branches off to the Horseshoe Lake Rec Site. There is a boat launch at the small camping area on the shores of the lake. …Continue reading…
When we travel to the lakes of our area to the Interior, we usually try to go a lake that is large enough to warrant the time an effort to load up, drive, launch, reload, and drive back. We prefer a lake that has a 5 km shoreline or longer. If we choose a smaller lake, we try to …Continue reading…
Ross Moore Lake is a pleasant lake in the Lac le Jeune area, but its not easy to get to. The best road access is to drive out onto the Brigade Lake Road, then turn onto the Long Lake Road. After the last ranch, the road is not maintained very often so it will requires some slower driving on backroads, …Continue reading…
Tunkwa Lake is a busy place all summer. The campgrounds are full or very busy, many fishing boats are on the lake, and the off-road group is active in the area. But, with such an open area and multiple places to launch a boat, paddlers can get on to the lake and stay out of everyone’s way. Fishermen don’t …Continue reading…
We padded up Clearwater Lake in Wells Gray Provincial Park to the Diver’s Bluff Marine Campground, then hiked the Eagle’s View Trail. We launched our boats (canoes and kayaks) and headed up the west shore of the lake. With calm conditions we were at our destination in about 75 minutes. From the boat launch at the end …Continue reading…
We try to paddle all of the lakes in our area and a number of them warrant a return visit. We enjoy both Knouff (Sullivan) Lake and Badger Lake. We drove from the Heffley Creek – Sun Peaks Road up the Knouff Lake Road, past the community of Knouff Lake to the BC Rec Site on the west side …Continue reading…
We camped at Haynes Point Provincial Park to do some paddling in the South Okanagan area. Osoyoos (“narrowing of the waters”) Lake is 18 km long with 2/3 north of the border and the south end in the United States. Haynes Point is one of the “narrowing” points with a shallow passage on the east side of the …Continue reading…
In most years the Thompson River floods during freshet filling Tranquille Bay for easy launching and access to the floodlands. In 2019, however, the river has not flooded these lands extensively so launching is more difficult and some of the channels we can normally paddle have low water. On a day in mid-June I launched out of Cooney Bay. There …Continue reading…
Most of Griffin Lake is within the McQueen Lake Environmental Education Center. It is a swampy lake, not suitable for fishing. It is too small a lake for a destination paddle and there is no good access to the lake’s edge. On a spring day I put my kayak on some wheels and followed a rough track from the …Continue reading…
When the river rises in spring, the McArthur Island boat launch is an easy launch for access to the Thompson River. Each year I paddle a loop route going upstream to the end of Rabbit Island, downstream around the island, across the river to the McArthur Island Slough, thorugh the slough to the end and back, then back upstream to …Continue reading…
We do like McConnell Lake, but we avoid it because it is being loved to death. Hikers, runners, dog walkers, paddlers, fishermen, and picnickers frequent the lake and the parking lot is often full, the trails are busy and the lake is crowded. Because of its “busyness” we usually go early in the morning before the rush. We launched early …Continue reading…
We try to get our kayaks in the water in the river as soon as enough ice and snow melts to allow us easy access to launch and land. Our first choice is Pioneer Park. In early March when the gate to the boat launch is still locked, we have to transport our kayaks on wheels down to the river …Continue reading…
Jacko Lake is one of the closest lakes to Kamloops and at a low altitude, it is also one of the first ice-free lakes for fishing. It is a busy place in spring so we paddle on the larger lakes early and come back to Jacko in summer when the lake heats up and fishing is not so good. When …Continue reading…
Freshet brings meltwaters from the north and the east to Kamloops and the South Thompson River and the North Thompson Rivers join to bring floodwaters to the area near the head of Kamloops Lake. On the north side the 2km x 1km flatlands become covered in 2-3.5 meters of water to become Tranquille Bay. On the south side of the …Continue reading…
When the North Thompson and the South Thompson Rivers rise, the Thompson River expands and the estuary at the head of Kamloops Lake widens into a floodlands. We can launch a canoe or kayak from the BC Parks Lac du Bois Wildlife Management Area parking area. .This launch spot is suitable for canoes and kayaks only during freshet. We paddle …Continue reading…
Once the ice clears off our area lakes we head out to do a circuit of local lakes. The first three to paddle once or twice each are Paul Lake, Heffley Lake, and Lac le Jeune. With cool spring weather we are warm in our kayaks with spray skirts on and we wear paddling jackets to block the wind. When …Continue reading…