Author Archives: Kamloops Kayak

On Lesser-Known Lakes (1)

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Every year I try to find some new lakes in the area to paddle.    Access to some of the lakes may be an issue.    Rough roads and launch spots are a deterrent and the effort has to be weighed with the benefit.    After doing some of the lakes, I may decide that it was a once-only effort.    Other spots call for another visit.

Two  of the lakes from this year were Buse Lake and Chuwhels Lake.

Buse Lake has relatively easy access, just off Barnhartvale Road, but I had to haul the kayak down the slope and launch in a muddy area.    It is an alkali lake and late in summer the oxygen in the lake depletes and so we can observe brine flies and brine shrimp.    Alkali salts ring the lake and a red band of pickleweed grows above the white ring.   It is a quiet place for a paddle.     The cliffs of Buse Hill rise above the lake to the south.    The lake and the hill are part of BC Parks (Protected Area).   A paddle around the lake is about 2.2 km so two loops is a good option.     When I paddled the lake in the summer, there were still lots of ducks on the lake.    It can be combined with a hike around the lakeshore, enjoying the salt marsh ecosystem.

Chuwhels Lake lies in a small remote valley between Chuwhels Mountain and Greenstone Mountain.   Access is by bumpy backroads.    We can get to the lakeshore with a high clearance vehicle in dry conditions from the Greenstone Mountain Road, then a series of side roads.    The lake is dammed and we can hand launch from the shoreline.    The shoreline is forested with some rock bluffs above the shoreline on the south side.     It is a quiet spot that has some fish in the lake.    A paddle around the shoreline is about 1.4 km, so two loops plus the hike in carrying the kayak is about right.    I sometimes combine this with a hike on the Greenstone Mountain Trails or the Upper Cherry Creek backroads.

More lesser-known lakes will be featured in upcoming posts…

Reflections: Edith Lake on a Grey, Windy Day

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When the weather is marginal I got out to one of 4 lakes – Jacko, Edith, Paul, or Edith Lake.    On a day that was forecast for wind and rain, I got an early start.

On the open part of the lake, it was a bit windy and cool, but I did a counter-clockwise loop and entered the back channels, more protected from the wind.


There are two out-and-back bays on that end of the lake, both protected from the wind, but also hidden, with no other boats in sight.


The end of the back channel is surrounded by grazing lands.    I usually round the deadhead and return by the other shore.

A circuit around the lake takes about 50 minutes so I go around twice, once in each direction on some days.   On this day it was under an hour of paddling, a shorter outing for a busy day.

I will be back to paddle the lake again, then in winter to snowshoe around the lake.

 

Reflections: On Jacko Lake in the Rain

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The forecast was for rain and a bit of wind coming up late that morning, so I headed out to Jacko Lake for an early paddle in the drizzle.

There was one fisherman on the lake, but otherwise it was the swallows, eagles, blackbirds, sandpipers, American dippers. ducks, dragonflies, and one kayaker on the lake, in the rain.

Click an image for a lightbox view.

In spite of the rain and a bit of wind, this was a fine paddle, one of 78 in 2023.

 

Icy Bays and Frost on the Shoreline

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Near the end of the paddling season, the bays were freezing over and snow and frost covered the vegetation on the shoreline.     I wore ski gloves to paddle and kept the outing under an hour.

Winds were cold.    The end of the season had arrived.    I broke ice on one of the bays:

At this point the first day of kayaking in 2023 was March 13 and the last day was November 12th.   Three months to the first spring paddle in 2024…

 

 

 

Kayaking Nicola Lake from Monck Park

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On a fall day I launched my kayak from Monck Park and paddled south on Nicola Lake.   Nicola Lake can be very windy and even a calm day can soon turn into a breezy one.  

A short TikTok video shares some of these moments:

 

@dsmith941

Kayaking Nicola Lake (from Monck Park #paddling

♬ original sound – dsmith941 – dsmith941

Ice and Frost on Jacko

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At the end of October the air was cold and ice had formed in the shallow bays of Jacko Lake.

There was no wind so I ventured out to paddle around the lake.   Frost covered the north-facing hills and some of the icy bays couldn’t be paddled, but there were swans and ducks on the lake, a muskrat swimming across, and an eagle watching over the lakeshore.    A couple of bundled-up fishermen were out, casting their lines.

With work on the Trans Mountain Pipeline close by, it was not quiet, but the lake was peaceful.    Staying warm takes work so steady paddling for an hour was the course of action.    I was hoping for a couple of additional days of paddling before winter sets in.

 

 

Last Time on Mamit Lake

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I left Mamit Lake for the end of the season.

It’s a lake that seems to have poor water quality for much of the year, the highway is along one side of the lake, and there are ranches/farms on either end.   There have been water quality advisories from an algae bloom in the past and to my mind, the lake has a greenish hue all year round.   The lake is fed by Guichon Creek, Meadow Creek, and Chartrand Creek, all of which go through farm lands, ranching properties, and marshy lakes.    The lake is a reservoir with a dam at the south end, used to provide water to ranches downstream.

In the fall the algae bloom was mostly over, but the algae was still everywhere in the water, a less-than-appealing paddling experience.


I paddled for an hour completing a loop on the lake.

Its not that Mamit Lake is a bad spot, but there are 50 better lakes to paddle in our area.   I won’t be back again.

 

Late October Paddling – Edith Lake

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Fall conditions continued to set in and cooler weather limits which days and which locations I paddled.    On a cool morning (5 C) with a light wind, there was only one other boat on Edith Lake.

Smaller lakes are a better choice in windy or colder conditions and I can choose one, two, or three loops.


If I paddle all the bays, I can paddle the lake in 45 – 55 minutes.    With cool conditions I paddled non-stop and loaded the boat quickly.    I am not sure how many more days I will have in 2023 since minus degree temperatures are forecast.

Watch the Ramble On Channel Video Podcast on Cool Weather Paddling now available.

 

Kayaking Jacko Lake in October

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As the fall weather provides cooler conditions we often return to home base – the river, Edith Lake, Stake Lake, and Jacko Lake.   Most lakes are paddled once or twice in a year, but Jacko is a favorite so I paddle there 6- 8 times each year.     On a grey fall day, I launched my kayak and paddled around the lake.

There was a lot of construction going on on the newly-rerouted Trans Mountain Pipeline just to the north of the lake, but otherwise there were some fishermen, some ducks and eagles, and one kayak on the lake.
The lake is a scenic spot in every season, but there was some fall colour too.    The surrounding grasslands had very little rainfall so the hills were a shade of amber.

In the summer, the shallow bays become choked with aquatic growth, but there is more open water once the water temperatures cool down.

Eagles were doing swoops over the lake and coots were diving, but they worked in pairs taking turns to eventually catch their prey.   I watched the same thing happen at Mamit Lake the next day.

The final days of paddling will mostly be on nearby lakes and on the South Thompson River.    The paddling year will have started mid March and will end some time in November.

 

Stake in October

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In the fall Stake Lake is a “go-to” spot since the lake is one of the best paddling spots, it is relatively quiet, and we can do a paddle and hike on the trails.     On an October day, there was little wind and fall color was in patches around the lake.

I paddled twice around the lake (60 minutes), then went for a short hike.    A few images from the paddle are shared here.    Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption.

Depending on conditions we may be able to paddle into early November this year (about 80 days of paddling in 2023).

Watch for a video on this hike on the YouTube Ramble On channel.

 

Kayaking Red Lake

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On a mid-October sunny day I drove the backroads to Red Lake and paddled the lake in breezy conditions.    Because the lake had suffered some winterkill, there were only a couple of boats on the lake.

This is a scenic lake and though there are burned forest sections, the area is usually quiet and mostly unspoiled.    I paddled most of the the lakeshore in about 1.5 hours.    A few images are shared here.    Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption.

I hope to be back to paddle Red Lake again in 2024.

 

 

Logan Lake

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On a fall day I drove to Logan Lake to paddle the lake, then I hiked one of the trails.    There is a good launch spot at the campground on the east end of the lake.

I paddled twice around the lake (3.6 km), then secured the boat to go for a hike.    A few images are shared here.   Click an image for a lightbox view.

This is a nice spot for a combination paddle-and-hike and is a recommended outing.

 

 

 

 

Back to the River

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Near the start of October I returned back to the river.    When time is short, I can launch the boat at Pioneer Park and paddle up the river and back in an hour.    On this day, I paddled the river, then secured the boat and played tennis right next-door.


Some fall color is a feature of fall paddling on the South Thompson River.  Winds were light and there were no other boats on the river.

A few ducks dabbled in the river.    There were lots of birds – an eagle, magpies, crows, gulls, robins, woodpeckers, and various smaller species.

The river is too busy and too noisy in the summer so we wait until October to return.    There will be more days of paddling on the river before the end of the kayaking season.

And a short Youtube video of this paddle: