Author Archives: Kamloops Kayak

Saul Lake

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Saul Lake is on the Sawmill Lake Forest Service Road about 30 km northwest from Kamloops.   A short drive leads to a boat launch and an open spot for camping.

The whole area is very open with cutblocks and replanted areas all around.   There are also extensive marshes to the east.

The bays on the east side are full of water lilies.

Moose sometimes eat all the lily buds, but there were a few starting to bloom on the east end of the lake.

A channel leads to the eastern marshes.

There were loons and ospreys on the lake, always a sign that there are fish in the lake.

The paddle around the shoreline of the lake is about 3.3 km.   Given the traveling distance to this lake, paddlers may want to combine Saul Lake with another lake like Truda (7 km away) or Tranquille Lake (13 km farther).   Saul Lake is a very pleasant paddle so 2 loops might be just as good a choice.

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Tranquille Lake

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Tranquille Lake lies at the foot of the southern end of Bonaparte Plateau.   Porcupine Ridge is due north and backcountry surrounds the lake.   The road ends at Wendego Lodge, the destination for most people who go to this area.   We drove through Lac du Bois, then took the Pass Lake Road and continued on the Sawmill Creek Road.until the 40 KM marker then turned right onto a high clearance (private) road which follows the Tranquille River past Truda Lake and up to Tranquille Lake.

Most people going to Tranquille Lake will go to the lodge to launch a boat (there will likely be a parking/launch fee as there are at all fishing lodges) but there is also a small hand launch site at the western end of the lake.

On the western end of the lake is a log boom above the outlet to the lake.

From the lake we can see the Lodge and 12 cabins on the northern shores of the lake.   We have found the management of Wendego Lodge to be very friendly to visitors.

The paddling loop around the shoreline of the lake is about 4 km so paddlers can go around twice or alternately do two lakes in the area to make the long drive worth the effort.   We chose to do Saul Lake on the way back, but Truda Lake is another good choice.  The whole area provides “tranquil” paddling.

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Plateau Lake

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Plateau Lake lies in the hills of the Douglas Plateau, accessed on backroads from Highway 5A.     From the highway, it is a quick drive to Peter Hope Lake, but a slow and difficult drive over the hills to Plateau Lake.

It is not easy to get there.   There are several possible routes in, but Rec Sites and Trails BC recommends taking the Peter Hope Lake Road (from the south end of Stump Lake), then turning onto the signed Plateau Lake Road for 4.4 km then taking a right turn onto an unsigned secondary road.   This road was very narrow and very rough and it id definitely high-clearance, and but possibly 4WD.    If you go in that way, carry a chainsaw too.  Cross the power line and follow another rough road down the hill to the lake.   This is a total of 8.5 km of slow, careful driving.   On the way back out, I followed a different route, following the power line northeast to a junction and then following a much better (but longer) road back. to the Dardanelles Road.  From that road, it is possible to go back to Peter Hope Lake Road along the Plateau Lake Road, or down the hill to the north end of Stump Lake.   A GPS is helpful but if you use a map, the BC Backroads Mapbook is very unreliable for this area.

 

There is a good boat launch at the lake.   When I was there, there was no one else at the site, nor on any of the backroads of the area.

One of the features of this lake is extensive marl shoals.   The silt-mud bottom has lots of lime and calcium which clarifies the water.   The shoals had a clear yellowish colour.

The lake was very quiet with no noise  penetrating from any direction.

 

A paddle around the lakeshore is about 4 km, but there are lots of marshes to explore and it is such a pleasant spot that two loops of the lake makes sense.

With the clear water comes little lake weed growth, except for one bay where the sun shone on the emerging weeds.

There are 6 campsites at the site all on flat ground.   This would be a fine place to camp, but I can’t recommend pulling a trailer down that road.   It is a good spot for a paddle if you have the right vehicle to get in to the lake.

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Shumway Lake

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Shumway Lake lies in the lake chain gully south of Kamloops on Highway 5 A.   The west shoreline is right next to the highway and the east side is at the foot of a mostly treed hillside.   It is not a fishing lake.   It is one of the “reservoirs” along 0hte Campbell Creek drainage, used for irrigation by ranches in both valleys.   It is also the home of the Shumway Lake Paddling Center, first established in 1991 – 1992 ready for test events for the 1993 Canada Summer Games.   from 1989- 1999, various lake and sections of river were discussed, but the requirement for a 2000m rowing course with no competing uses was not easy to find.   Rowing lanes need to be 13.5 m wide and there needs to be at least 6 lanes for competition (8 is better) so any lake area had to be consistently 13.5m x 6, plus outside return lanes for boats.   Shumway Lake curves twice, but the main body of the lake just fits the 2000m requirement.

During that period, I was the Manager of Sport, Facilities, and Operations for the Canada Games so this was part of my responsibility.   Engineers laid out the course and then an underwater anchoring system was installed by a contractor.    Cables were also installed then linked to small buoys each paddling season to mark the lanes above water.   Canoe/kayak lanes are narrower so the cables and buoys are adjusted for those races, mostly racing at 1000m.

A basic facility was installed lakeside for the Games and a Society was formed to hold the lease.   The founding members were Rowing, Canoe/Kayak, and Water Skiing (using the south end of the lake).   Since 1993, the Kamloops Canoe and Kayak Club, the Kamloops Rowing Club, and the Kamloops Water Ski Club continue to use Shumway Lake as a water sports facility, mostly for training, and racing.

 

The 2000m+ section of the lake at the north end is a straight paddle south to north.

When a race is on, a number of facilities are available.

The whole area is gated so it is not open for recreational paddlers (non-members).   I once asked if I could launch there but I was told it was not open to the public.   Rather than join the club for a single day of paddling, I parked on the water ski loop area and hauled my boat down the steep, rocky bank to the water’s edge and then paddled the whole lake, a 7.8 km shoreline loop.

At the south end is another pullout with another steep bank to the water, not suitable for kayak launching or landings.

Just a few minutes farther south is Trapp Lake with a good hand launch site for recreational paddlers.   For paddlers wanting a facility at which to train, the Kamloops Canoe and Kayak Club would be a very good choice.

Trapp Lake

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Trapp Lake is in the lake chain Highway 5A.   When we drive south across the grasslands hills we drop down Cardew Hill to Shumway Lake then 3 km farther along is Trapp Lake.   All of these lakes are murky, alkaline lakes, prone to algae build-up in summer.

Half-way down the lake is a short track to water’s edge with a  good hand launch spot.

In the morning light the waters were calm looking north.

All of the route to the south is right next to the Highway with forested hills on the east side.

There was a flat area with a small marsh on the east side at the widest part of the lake, a good spot for a short landing and stretch of the legs.

A family of killdeer scampered across the shoreline nearby.   There were 8 chicks with the parents.

Foxtail grass shimmered in the sunlight on a hot summer day.

An eagle perched on a snag overlooking the lake, then took flight when I approached in my kayak.

A few smartweed patches filled some of the shallow bays.

I paddled this lake once when the winds came up and it was a battle to get back to the launch spot.   On this morning I got onto the water before the summer thermals built up and before the drone of trucks on the highway.

A paddle of the whole shoreline is 10.5 km, a good outing for a hot summer morning.

 

Paddling the Galiano Island Shoreline

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We paddled out to Wallace Island on a calm day, so we went right through the middle of Trincomali channel, but on the way back 2  days later, the winds were stronger from the southeast so we did a crossing of the channel right to the bluffs of Galiano island, then followed the line of cliffs for 15 km all the way to Montague Harbour.     This was a more challenging paddle with headwinds and currents to battle for the whole distance.

 

The cliffs rise 70 to 100 m above the water for almost the whole distance.   There are sandstone layers in the cliffs and the action of waves at high tide, winds, and runoff have sculpted the sandstone layers.

 

 

Large sandstone boulders that have fallen from the cliffs at the high tide level stand as other-worldly sculptures.

 

 

The whole shoreline has interesting sandstone formations, including some caves.   Most are very hard to get to so we just watched them from our kayaks.   In this rock formation, swallows have constructed their nests in the overhang.

 

 

With only a point-and-shoot camera and rolling seas, we settled for a few shots from the kayak, but we would love to paddle this coast on calm seas, using a telephoto lens on a DSLR next time.

 

 

On one section of the cliffs is a large colony of pelegaic cormorants.   The guano streaks mark the area below the well-used nests in the rock.   This is the Trincomali Nature Sanctuary and the only access is by boat to the bottom of the cliffs.   Cormorants were busy flying to the nests and back out, bringing in food or nesting material.

 

 

The winds died down  at the end of a 4.5 hour paddle, closer to Montague Harbour.

 

 

The best access to Trincomali Channel from this side of Galiano Island is at Montague Harbour Provincial Park, due south in this photo, following the bluffs to Shell Beach.   .   .

 

 

We hope to return to Galiano Island to paddle the same shoreline on a calm day from Montague Harbour to Retreat Cove using a 2 vehicle system.

Fighting the current adds to the challenge so we use the Tide Tables and remember this rule:

  • on a rising tide, expect the current to run north, with the strongest current about 3 hours after low tide;
  • on a falling tide, expect the current to run south, with the strongest current about 3 hours after high tide.

 

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Mabel Lake South

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We paddled much of the south end of Mabel Lake, launching out of Mable Lake Provincial Park.   The shoreline down to where the Shuswap River drains into the lake is 3.5 km away.   A circuit of the south end is about 10 km.    There is a concrete boat launch at the park, but we hand-launched off the beach.

The lake is 1.5 km wide near the park.   Treed hills rise steeply above the shoreline on both sides for much of the 35 km long lake.   It is a deep lake with an average depth of 114 m (374 ft) and a  maximum depth of 192 m (630 ft).   While we were there, the lake was high and the beaches were small, but we could see a number of golden sand beaches along the eastern shore.

From the park, the lake stretches 15 km north to Kingfisher, where the lake drains west through the Shuswap River  down to Enderby.

The weather was cloudy while we were there, and the clouds reflected in the lake’s surface as we paddled north.

We paddled north up to look at some marine campsites up the lake.   All of the sites had beach landings and primitive campsites.

one of the Cascade Creek campsites

 

We wanted to scout out the lake to see if it would be possible to paddle-camp with our high-capacity kayaks on the southern half of the lake since there are a few potential camping spots.

Our paddle to the Cascade Creek sites and back was about 12 km.

Mabel Lake Provincial Park is a good launching point for paddling the south end of Mabel Lake.   We have paddled the north end, launching out of the Dolly Varden Beach at Kingfisher too.   There are 2 marine-access campsites at that end too.   A complete circuit of the whole lake is a long way, but we can divide the loops into several days of paddling launching out of different spots.

Stake Lake Loops

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When the weather gets hot, we often go to the high country to find shade, to be next to a lake, and to enjoy moderate in the hills trails.   In this last outing, we brought our kayaks and paddled 2 loops around the lake then hiked one loop around the lake.

We find the water in Stake Lake to be remarkably clear as follow the shoreline around for each 3.3 km loop.

After one loop, we swing the boat around to do the second loop in the opposite direction,   On the western shore there is an osprey nest so we paddle in close to see if there is any activity at the top of the broken tree,

Stake Lake is a relatively quiet lake in the summer  and we may see another paddler, but fishermen are not often encountered.

After paddling 4.6 km, we stowed the boat and hiked around the lake.   The main loop around the lake is 2.6 km, but there are many route options.

Although there is no striking scenery along the Stake Lake Trails (except for the basalt bluffs on McConnell Hill), there are birds, insects, flowers, marshes, wildlife, trees, lichens, fungi, and rocks to observe, especially if we hike quietly.   Wild strawberry season is approaching and the flowers lined the sides of the trails.

Butterflies and other pollinators are visiting the flowering plants of the area.

Bees are attracted to vetch and peavine in the open areas near the trails.

Caterpillars were cater-piling in the trees.

Various birds flitted from tree to tree along the loop.   Blackbirds and a kingfisher were on the shoreline.   A cedar waxwing flew from branch to branch in the open forest.

There were remarkably few mosquitoes, partly because there were lots of dragonflies and damselflies to prey on them.

Red columbine was displayed in forest glades or at the edges of trails.

Indian paintbrush was growing on dry open slopes and at the sides of trails.

Common blue butterflies were pollinating the strawberries.

We were tempted to go for another loop on the Stake Lake trails but we ended up with just three loops, but we will be back more times this summer for additional loops on the lake or on the trails.

Bonaparte Plateau

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Bonaparte Plateau is a high forested area north of Kamloops.   Access is by backroads.   Jamieson creek Forest Service Road is the best road to use from Kamloops.    All hiking and paddling in this remote area requires a good sense of navigation and preparedness for the backcountry.   The best hike is to Skoatl Point.   The other hiking trails follow deactivated roads, tracks, and seldom-visited fishing/hunting tracks, usually with lots of windfall.   There are many lakes on the plateau, but only a  few with easy vehicle access.

Some of the trails have been there for decades, but pine beetle kill, spruce bud worm, and lack of maintenance has made them impassable.  The routes in from Tranquille Lake, the Deadman’s Road, the Wentworth Road, and others can be done, but a 4×4 and preparation for removing deadfall, flat tires, low fuel, and navigating the backroad is advised.

The Google Map here has zoom, pan, sharing, full-screen, and embedded pictures, links, and more information:

Some Images of Hikes and Paddles on the Bonaparte Plateau:

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Cooney Bay in Flood

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When freshet brings the North Thompson and South Thompson Rivers to a high water point , the area at the head of Kamloops Lake floods.   The flat floodplains near Tranquille  get covered in several feet of floodwaters.   In addition, Cooney Bay floods, the beach disappears, and the shoreline recedes.   We paddled out of Tranquille Bay then followed the river downstream to Cooney Bay.   the feet of the cottonwoods are under water and a barrier of logs covers all parts of the shoreline.   A river buoy was untethered from the channel and also ended up along the log-covered shoreline.

The piling up of logs on the shoreline started about a kilometer upstream and continued all the way to the north end of Cooney Bay.   The gate to the Cooney Bay Road has been closed for a few weeks now, but there would be nowhere to walk anyway.Ducks, ospreys, loons, and bald eagles are still  resident at Cooney Bay.   This eagle had caught a sucker and landed on a pot in the logjam.

The shoreline past Cooney Bay was log-free all the way to Battle Bluff.

Paddling back upstream,  we enjoyed seeing the sheltered floodwaters reflecting the images of logs and stumps on the shoreline, this time creating a loop in the water.

Lenticular clouds formed over Tranquille Bay.  Lenticular clouds, scientifically known as altocumulus standing lenticularis, are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, normally aligned at right-angles to the wind direction.

Mount Mara and the shoreline reflect in the calm waters of Tranquille Bay on the paddle back to the launch area.

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Exploring the Floodlands

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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 river the 2.5 km x 0.7 km areas also become inundated and channels and bays form among small islands and willow groves.   If we paddle through channels into both areas, crossing the river twice, we can cover 10km in our kayaks.

 

 

By mid-May the floodwaters reach the shoreline near Tranquille, but we need to wait for the waters to rise enough to cover the barbed-wire grazing fences too.   We can usually launch and paddle through this area for 6 – 7 weeks.

 

 

When there is no wind, the waters of Tranquille Bay are mirrors of the shoreline features.

 

 

Mara Mountain provides colorful background terrain, standing above Tranquille Bay and the Floodlands.

 

 

Willows stand out in the floodwaters like floating islands.

 

 

We often paddle south for 1.3 km to the river then we have a 1.1 km crossing of open water.   Our seaworthy ocean kayaks handle any wind and waves well.   Smaller boats without rudders should probably stay on the north side of the river on a windy day.   All kayakers should be carrying a paddle float, tow rope, a bailer/pump, and some kind of communication device if crossing Kamloops Lake or the open river of this area.   Too few kayakers have practiced self-rescue but they still venture into exposed conditions.

 

 

Once we are on the other side, the river channels provide protected paddling.   The channels are a maze of navigable routes and dead-ends, but in general if we stay close to the shoreline we can paddle all the way through the south floodlands to the east end.

 

 

The channels of the south side have a special quality not available anywhere else in the Interior.   There are some grazing fences on this side, but when the water is high, we drift right over them.

 

 

We take any channel that leads back to the river which we cross, using the current to take a long diagonal route northwest.   Once we are on the other side, we look for more channels to work our way into Tranquille Bay.   We took our time and paddled for 3 hours in a large loop.

On other days, we stay in channels and bays on the north side only (a good plan for smaller boats or less-experienced paddlers).   We watch for wetland birds, turtles, raptors, muskrats, river otters, carp, and water-tolerant flowering shrubs as we explore the floodlands.   We will continue to explore these “water trails”  as they change with flood volumes right up to the point when the rivers drop at the end of June.

 

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On Drummond Bay

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We visited South Pender Island and stayed on Drummond Bay at the south end of the island, only 1.5 km from the U.S. border in Boundary Pass.   A crescent gravel beach fronted a rocky bay.   Several rocky islets were popular with birds and seals.   Rocky headlands book-ended the bay.    Observing wildlife was an all-day experience.Bald eagles fished on the waters and watched from the trees.

Boats cruised through the passage,  past the bay.   Mount Baker is in the background.

Seals stayed in the bay all, day, taking turns fishing and then basking in the sun.

Porpoises could be spotted along the waters off the coast.

Blue herons fished the shallows at low tide.

At this bay it was Wildlife TV all day as we watched the wildlife interact with the ocean at high tide then at low tide each day.

seals
 
a sea otter rump

Strait of Juan de Fuca freighter

 
a feeding bald eagle

 

Sunrise was best greeted with a coffee on a log on the beach.

We found South Pender Island to be a wonderful place to explore on beaches, headlands, trails, and in our kayaks on the water.

 

Spring Paddling on the Lakes

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Once the weather improves and the lakes open up, we bring our kayaks out to the lakes to explore the shorelines and  waterways, to see wildlife, and to enjoy the from-the-lake views.   We have done over 100 lakes in our area now so in spring we usually start with a few that are close to town.   This year we chose Paul Lake and Niskonlith lake first.

The east end of Paul Lake is where the creeks run into the lake from Pinantan and the hills above.   There is a large marshy area to explore.

We watch for eagles, ospreys, loons, and herons when we paddle along the lakeshore.

We can paddle through gaps in the rushes to explore the waterways of the lake.   Red-winged blackbirds were nesting among the reeds and rushes.

Mated pairs of loons were fishing in the lake at both ends.

Gibraltar Rock stands out into the middle of the lake.   A paddle around the whole lakeshore is 12 km.

The shoreline of Neskonlith Lake has open fields and rocky hills on the south side and forests slopes on the north side.   Open slopes above are the result of wildfires.   There is a good boat launch for canoes or kayaks in the provincial park.

The hills to the far east are part of the Adams Plateau, across Adams Lake.

the grassy slopes on the south shore are part of the Neskonlith Indian Reserve.

The provincial park extends for about 3 km along the northwest shore,   A paddle of the entire shoreline is about 11km.

Some of the lakes we visit every spring include Heffley Lake, Lac le Jeune, Stake Lake, Walloper Lake, McConnell Lake, Jacko Lake, Edith Lake, Badger Lake, Knouff Lake, Pinantan Lake, Nicola Lake, Kamloops Lake, Stump Lake, and more.    Watch for our kayaks following the lakeshore.

 

 

Paddling the Kamloops Lake Delta

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The delta lands at the head of Kamloops Lake are covered in water now, but in early spring there were large sand/silt islands with shallow channels to explore.

We launched out of Cooney Bay, then went across the lake to the south shore, working our way back into shallow channels, landing on sandy islands.

At the end of the flooding season, a few logs and river debris lodged into the shallow waters and as the river continued to go down, the logs became stranded on silt/sandbars.   When the snows melted in late winter, seasonal ponds and shallow bays formed among the islands.

The deltalands lie at the “gateway” to Kamloops Lake.

Before freshet, the river waters are less muddy and flow silently through the river valley into Kamloops Lake.

We walked on the islands a bit, then went upriver.   Upstream paddling is still hard work so for this day of exploratory paddling, we went up to the Tranquille Conservation Area and back down, turning the point into Conney Bay and along the shoreline of the lake.

A few ducks and geese used the sheltered waters of Cooney Bay and the lee of Battle Bluff.   The gravel beaches on the shorelines were wider and deeper than spring or summer, but will soon be covered by the rising waters of the freshet.

These “deltalands” are only exposed from late fall through early spring when conditions are colder so they are rarely explored.   Some of the shoreline can be walked on foot, but much of it requires a short paddle to cross the river channels.

We walked some of the shoreline earliert (link provided below),  then we returned to paddle the island network.   We will return again to paddle the area, but will explore the floodlands several meters above the deltalands.

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Pender Islands Paddling

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The Gulf Islands area has many opportunities for kayaking, using one of the islands as a starting point and paddling the bays, harbours, coastlines, and channels.   We have paddled out of Saturna, Galiano, Cortez, and Salt Spring Islands, and recently out of the Pender Islands.  With a short term decision to go to South Pender Island without our kayaks we opted to rent sea kayaks out of the Port Browning Marina (Pender Kayak Adventures) and confine our paddling explorations to protected areas.    There is a narrow channel between North and South Pender Island so we combined the Port Browning Harbour with Bedwell Harbour, a total of 15 km of paddling without going into the open channels.

We were pleased to rent decent sea-going kayaks for a half day of exploration on the water.

By following the shoreline down to Shark Cove then through Pender Canal, were in Bedwell Harbour in 2 km.

South Pender Island is reasonably unspoiled and there were lots of birds and marine mammals to see.

We watched a sea otter swim through a bay and climb up the banks.

The eastern shores of Bedwelll Harbour are in Gulf Islands National Park.   Trails could be spotted above the bluffs leading to Beaumont Marine campsite (we also hiked there the day after).

Beaumont Marine Campsite has 13 marine-access-only sites fronted to by a protected bay and beach.

We paddled for about 3 hours that day and we were so impressed by the area that we returned to hike all the trails of Mount Norman and Beaumont Marine the following day.   We hope to return with our own kayaks to camp there as part of a marine journey, taking in Pender Island, Saturna Island, Prevost Island, and Wallace Island.

 

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McQueen Lake Area

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At the upper end of the Lac du Bois Grasslands at 983m (3225 feet) elevation the area turns to forests, ponds, lakes, marshes, backroads, hills, and a few trails.  To the south of McQueen Lake are the Nature Conservancy of Canada Lac du Bois Conservancy lands, accessible on foot to hikers and snowshoers.   To the north are forested hills, a series of cutblocks in the hills between 1000 and 1400m elevation).   To the east is the upper end of the Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area.   Rough backroads can be hiked or biked to the McQueen Creek grasslands.   The Community Grasslands Trail bears east for 14 km to Deep Lake.     Opax Mountain is on the west side.   Some tracks lead up its slopes, but it is remote and not an easy area to navigate.   There are several articles on this site on hiking Opax Mountain.

The McQueen Lake Environmental Education Center is run by School District #73.   Visitors are asked to not use the trails when students are on-site.  There are alternate routes to the lakes, ponds, and meadows (see the map below).   Just 4.5 km past McQueen Lake is the Isobel Lake Recreation Site with a number of opportunities for outdoor recreation.   Pass Lake Recreation Site  is 2.5 km west of McQueen Lake.

In this interactive Google map, information, links, and images are provided.   Use the controls to see it as a full screen map, to zoom in or out, and to pan to different areas.

 

A few Images of the McQueen Lake area are provided here:

Next post – Tranquille Ridge – April 18