Category Archives: On the Lakes

Paddling the lakes in the many Kamloops area, some on main roads, but many in the backcountry too, and some more lakes found on our travels.

On Monte Lake

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On an early April morning the weather was mild but there was a 10 km wind from the south on Monte Lake.    I launched and paddled into the wind, heading south down the lake.    There were two other fishing boats on the lake, the highway was busy and a train came up the western shoreline, but the west shoreline was quieter for much of the paddle as I looped back in a clockwise direction for a 1.25 hour outing.

contI tried a different launch spot this time, parking and launching from a designated area on the eastern shore.     This was a good launch, though the highway noise detracts from the spot.

The wind died back on the second half of the paddle as the sun started to break through the clouds.    this was the 7th day of paddling for 2024.     In most years I paddle once on Monte Lake, but this was the first time for an April paddle on this lake, below the black forests on the hillsides above.

More information – Monte Lake

 

Nicola Lake (On April Fools Day)

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On April Fools Day there was no wind forecast for morning in the Merritt area.     Nicola Lake is about 60 km south on Highway 5A so an early start ensured a launch time in calm conditions.    There are a few boat launches along Nicola Lake and the first one just off the highway has a picnic area and a gravel launch area.    there was no one else on the lake as I paddled south along the shoreline.    On this loop route I spotted ducks, geese, crows, and eagles.    The lake was flat and it was quiet, except when a truck went by the lake.     I paddled south then crossed the lake to come back on the other side.

 

There are a small number of summer homes on the northwestern shore, then a series of rocky bluffs.     Near the end of the lake are farmlands.

A few images are shared here.    Click an image for a lightbox view.

 

 

This was an 8.2 km paddle taking about 1.6 hours.    Finding calm water on Nicola Lake is always a blessing and the fine spring weather made this an ideal outing.      The goal is to paddle each lake at least once and the bigger lakes usually get more than one day of paddling, with subsequent days on a different part of the lake.

 

 

Trapp Lake in March

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At the end of March, the valley bottom lakes were ice-free.    Some of them are larger lakes so we have to pick a mild day with little wind.    The chain of lakes (Trapp, Shumway, Napier, Stump, and Nicola) on Highway 5A South are good choices at this time of year.    Trapp Lake is a long narrow lake next to the highway, but there is good access for paddlers.   The whole lake is a longer paddle, so I usually do the north or south end on one day, then the other at another time.     This is an alkali lake with no fishing so it is rare to see another boat on the lake.    In summer the algae multiplies so spring is the best season to paddle the lake.

I paddled up the west side of the lake and followed the shoreline in a clockwise loop, a 6.1 km kayaking day.

Grasslands hills rise steeply on the west side of the lake.     Wind-streaked (lenticular) clouds painted the skies above.

Trapp Lake

On the way back down the east side of the lake, the sun shone through the clouds and the wind died down.

Trapp LakeThe east side of the lake is mostly steep wooded slopes.     Trees by the shoreline sometimes tilt over the lake’s waters.

TrappIn a  few sheltered bays on the east side, ice shelves persisted.

Trapp

 

More Information on Trapp Lake – link.

In this phase the upland lakes are still ice-bound, but paddling on the lakes will be a bi-weekly schedule with the Highway 5A lakes, but also lakes in the Thompson River Valley (Little Shuswap, White Lake, Shuswap Lake, Kamloops Lake, and some benchland lakes too).

Thanks for visiting KamloopsKayak.

 

Paddle Bluff

Kamloops Kayak Posted on by

On a mild and calm day on the second day of spring, I drove down the bumpy road to Cooney Bay, then hauled my kayak down to the shoreline of the estuary.    I launched in a shallow channel and worked my way out to Kamloops Lake.    There were swans, geese, ducks, and gulls in the channels and on the lake.    With no wind and the sun breaking through clouds, it was a perfect day for a paddle.    I padded around Cooney Bay then continued along the bluffs going west.

The goal for the day was to paddle around the base of Battle Bluff, then turn around and paddle back the same way.

Kamloops Lake is often a windy area so when the forecast is for no wind, Kamloops Lake, Nicola Lake, Little Shuswap Lake. or Stump Lake are on the list for a longer paddle.    This one was about 1.5 hours.    the next time I paddle the lake, it will be from the west end.     Some images from the paddle are shared here.    click an image for a lightbox view.

 

 

 

 

 

Ice-Off Times

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We usually paddle the rivers for a while before ice is off the lakes.     We can launch from Pioneer Park, Riverside Park, Valleyview Boat Launch, and from some hand launch sites in Westsyde.    The ice comes off Kamloops Lake first, along with Little Shuswap Lake.    Since these are bigger lakes, we wait for a calm, mild day.

Not long afterward, there are more lakes to paddle.    Nicola and Stump Lake are good for a day without strong winds.    Trapp Lake is often one of the first ice-free lakes.     White Lake is open about the same time.   In mid-April we can usually paddle Jacko Lake, Inks Lake, Pat Lake, and Morgan Lake.     The fisherman also are keen on starting their year on Jacko, Pat, and Morgan so we look for non-prime times.   Paul Lake and Louis Lake open up, as well as others, but the gates sometimes remain closed so access may wait for a later date.

A probable itinerary will be:

  • March – South Thompson, Thompson, and North Thompson River.
  • Early April – Kamloops Lake, Trapp Lake, Nicola Lake, Little Shuswap Lake, White Lake, and Stump Lake.
  • Later in April – Pat and Morgan, Jacko, Louis Lake, and Paul Lake.
  • May – August – the rest of the area lakes.

We will paddle when we can in March, then 2-3 times a week from April through to early November, dodging unfavorable conditions (those become a day to hike instead.      See you on the water!

 

On Lesser-Known Lakes (3)

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Every year I try to paddle some new lakes, even if they are difficult to access.    Two of the lakes paddled this last year included Pemberton Lake and John Frank Lake.

There are a few small lakes high on the shoulders of the ridges between Mt. Lolo and Shaw Hill.    We paddle Hyas Lake every year and it is one of our favorites.    Off side roads are other smaller lakes like Andy Lake, Pemberton Lake, and Warren Lake.   After paddling Hyas Lake, I packed my folding kayak on a backpack and hiked for 0.7 km into marshy Pemberton Lake.   I paddled around the lake twice (2.4 km), then hiked back out.    There is a small Rec Site at the lake, but the road is rough and there were fallen trees.    It is a pleasant spot, with marshy shoreline, but it is very quiet and seldom visited.

John Frank Lake is in Roche Lake Provincial Park.   It is accessed by a rough 2.5 km road.    There is a hand launch spot on the lake.    The lake has lots of marshy areas and some of the bays become grown-in with aquatic vegetation in summer.    A paddle around the shoreline is 2.8 km so two loops may be a good option.    It is a scenic spot and it would be a regular spot to paddle except for the rough road.   Nearby is Frisken Lake which I have hiked into, but haven’t yet paddled.    The rough road to the lake is about 1.3 km so it may be pack-and-paddle route in 2024.

More lesser-known lakes will be featured over the winter…

 

On Lesser Known Lakes (2)

Kamloops Kayak Posted on by

Each year I try to paddle on some new lakes.    In this last year I paddled a few of them, including Black Lake and Fred Lake.

Black Lake is located in Roche Lake Provincial Park.    It is a destination lake for fishing, but the road in is very rough.    I have driven it, but regretted it and vowed never to do it again.    I have hiked the road a few times, usually on a loop route hike past a series of lakes.    I hiked in with a folding kayak in a backpack and paddled around the lake twice (4 km).    There were fishermen who had driven in.    I talked to one of them who was camped there.    He said he just drives very slowly in and out.    It is a very nice lake and one I will return to paddle.

Fred Lake lies in a forested area east of Lac le Jeune.    We can drive backroads (Ross Moore FSR), but the last access track is too narrow, overgrown, and rough for most vehicles.   I packed in my folding kayak and paddled twice around the lake (3.5 km).    It is surrounded by forest, but it may be a burned area now with lots of fallen trees.    It lies only 0.7 km from Ross Moore Lake.    Because of this, it may be a once-only lake.

More lesser-known lakes to come…

 

On Lesser-Known Lakes (1)

Kamloops Kayak Posted on by

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

Kamloops Kayak Posted on by

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

Kamloops Kayak Posted on by

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

Kamloops Kayak Posted on by

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

Kamloops Kayak Posted on by

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.

 

 

McConnell Lake Kayaking in October

Kamloops Kayak Posted on by

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

♬ original sound – dsmith941 – dsmith941

 

Last Time on Mamit Lake

Kamloops Kayak Posted on by

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.