In early May we hiked the Deep Lake trail, taking the turns to complete the extended loop, a 7.3 km route.   Most of the group hiked up from Westsyde Road since there is very little parking near the trailhead.  

The lower slopes are in the grasslands,  with a scattering of pine and fir trees and some old snags. 

We continued through the forest to the far end of the ridge and then came back up through a draw to a pond on the north side of Deep Lake.  

Our route took us around the lake, a scenic setting the Lac du Bois Grasslands.  

At the far end of the lake area, TransMountain Pipeline was under construction, up on the hill.   It cut across the Grasslands Community Trail a short way above Deep Lake.  

We took a winding trail across the side slopes to loop back.    The north end of Batchelor Ridge rises 320 m (1050 feet) above the Deep Lake area.  

From the end of the trail we could see down into Westsyde and the North Thompson River flowing down to Kamloops.  

The Deep Lake Extended Loop is a very pleasant 2 hour hike, especially in spring.  

trumpeter swan	a bent snag
turkey vulture overhead	standing snags