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.
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…
I paddled a couple of days in October on Edith Lake. A short TikTok video shares some of those moments:
@dsmith941 Kayaking Edith Lake
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
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.
Late in the paddling season I paddled on McConnell Lake. It was cool but not yet too cold to kayak. The next time at McConnell Lake will be a hike or snowshoe.
A new short video is now available on TikTok and embedded here:
@dsmith941 Kayaking McConnell Lake
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.
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.
A new video podcast is now available on YouTube:
More podcasts are planned. Go to the YouTube channel for videos and podcasts.
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.
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.
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.
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.
On a cool, grey day with a smattering of rain I drove down to Monck Park and launched the kayak onto Nicola Lake.
Nicola Lake can be a windy spot and some cool winds were blowing down the lake so I stayed on the shoreline of the lake, enjoying the quiet paddle in spite of the conditions.
Nicola Lake is a big lake so I launch out of three spots (north south, and middle-west) and do different loops each time. For 2023 this was my second time on the lake, day 67 of paddling. After paddling I secured the boat, then hiked the trails.
A few moments from the paddle will soon be on the Ramble On YouTube Channel.
When there are winds forecast I try to get an earlier start because the winds get stronger by late morning. I also chose a smaller sheltered lake and one of the best for this kind of day is McConnell Lake. I launched early, the only boat on the lake that morning.
I paddled twice around the lake, once in each direction. The wind was consistent at 10 – 15 km/hour.
Near the end of the second lap, the winds died down for a short time, but were back just after I finished the paddle.
After paddling I secured the boat, then went for a hike on the trail, exploring the forest before returning back to town.
A few moments from the paddle on the lake are shared here in a short YouTube video on the Ramble On Channel.
On a cool, sunny late September morning I chose Edith Lake for an hour of paddling. When I got there I found out that the World Fly Fishing Championships were scheduled for that day. Eight women’s teams would be on the lake so I paddled out right away.
The back bays were quiet with no fishing boats, a perfect day for kayaking.
The competitors were clustered around the area out from the boat launch. Fishing was slow, but the organizers were hovering nearby to count and measure the fish caught. I gave the cluster of boats a wide berth as I completed a single loop of the lakeshore.
Edith Lake is one of my “go-to lakes.” It is closest to home, the paddling is always good (except at the busiest times, which I avoid), and it is a scenic spot for an hour or two of paddling.
Watch for a short YouTube video on the Ramble On Channel.
