The Upper Goose Lake Hills
All of the side roads and tracks off the Lac le Jeune Road have areas to snowshoe. Most are explorations, but as more people venture out, tracks are set for others to follow. One area that has many hours of snowshoeing for explorers is the Upper Goose Lake Hills. This is crown land adjacent to the upper end of the Goose Lake Road near the Lac le Jeune Road. Except right after a big snowfall the road is fine for driving though parking spots may be a challenge if the plows pile up snow on the shoulders. Bring a shovel just in case We started just past the fence and entered the forest a short way down the road, but we could have driven farther down to start. We worked our way through forest and cutblocks to the middle of the area, then followed double tracks north and northeast.
Most of the forest is open and making a track is just winding among the trees, avoiding low, wet spots or north slopes where there is denser growth or windfall.
The southeast end of the Upper Goose Lake Hills has a number of open hills with some nice viewpoints. Three small lakes/ponds between the hills can be crossed in winter.
The forested slopes of Hull Hill lie to the south. Almost all of the high country to the north is forested.
From the tops of these hills, the Tod Mountain Range stands above all the hills to the north
Kamloops Lake and the rugged hills on both sides of the valley can be seen to the northwest. A wind-sculpted tree frames the distant view.
On a clear day, the slopes of Chuwhels Mountain and Greenstone Mountain fill the western horizon.
We broke trail for most of the 6.5 km loop, making progress slow. Much of the southwest corner of this area is featureless, making navigation a challenge so we used a GPS to keep us on the right line. Interested snowshoers can just follow our tracks but we will be back to set some more over the winter.
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