On a pleasant spring day I drove up the bumpy road to Pat Lake, sometimes called Six Mile Lake. It is a favorite spring fishing lake, but I stayed close to the shoreline paddling around twice, once in each direction.
There were many birds on the shoreline and on the lake, including blackbirds, loons, ducks (mostly coots), geese, bluebirds, swallows, and crows. There were painted turtles and marmots sunning, frogs croaking, and a variety of active insects.
After paddling I hiked around the lake, enjoying the Six Mile Hills.
Video captures the calls of the birds and the soughing of the wind:
I will be back to do a larger loop through the Six Mile Hills.
From the Scotch Creek Provincial Park Campground beach to the landing area on Copper Island is two km of lake paddling. This can be a busy spot for power boats so it would be best to get an early start or do the paddle in the off-season.
A sign welcomes the visitor and we can hike on a good trail around the island.
There are several viewpoints on the 2.6 km trail around the island.
We have paddled and hiked this 6.6 km route several times. A video of the experience is provided here:
We paddled the 20km+ length of the lake and camped on the east end of the lake. We hiked down to Sylvia and Goodwin Falls on the second day and paddled back on the third day.
Click the YouTube link on the menu bar for more KamloopsKayak videos.
To get to Murtle Lake, we have to drive to Blue River, then drive up into the mountains for 23 km. At the trailhead we have to load the kayaks onto carts and portage for 2.5 km. At the boat launch on Murtle Lagoon, we then paddle for 12 to 14 km to camp at a marine campsite. On this trip to Murtle Lake, we camped on Leo Island. On this particular trip, I did a solo paddle and hike to Central Mountain. I paddled 1.5 km to the trailhead at a sign on the shoreline. There wasn’t much of a landing so I hauled my kayak up the rocky shoreline, then put on my hiking boots.
The forested trail was steep and grown-over in some sections. It is not hiked much so the trail is indistinct so some navigation was required.
The hike to the top of the mountain is 7.5 km. Near the top I passed through a subalpine meadow with views down the West Arm of Murtle Lake. Bears frequent the area so I made noise on the way up. The open meadows on top are part of a caribou migration route, but I didn’t spot any.
The alpine area was open with meadows and rock outcrops, and wide views.
From the southern edge of the summit. I could see down to Leo Island below, our marine campsite.
From the summit, I chose to continue east to the edge of the slope break to see if I could see down to the lake.
From a viewpoint the North Arm of Murtle Lake was below, with the Wavy Range above, on the east side.
I continued farther north and came to a viewpoint of the north end of the North Arm of Murtle Lake. The Murtle River drains into the lake from the Cariboo Mountains in Northern Wells Gray Park.
This turned out to be a long day of hiking. The return hike is 15 km, but I added more distance by traversing across the top of the mountain east, then north.
The hike is really only for experienced backcountry hikers who can navigate and be self-sufficient. It is not a hike I will do again, but I am happy to have done it this day. A Google EArth Fly-Over is shared here for an overview of Central Mountain.
On a hot summer morning I chose to drive up to Lodgepole Lake to do some loops – twice around the lake in a kayak, then once around the lake on the Lodgepole Lake Trail. The trailhead starts at the end of the Recreation Site campground and winds around the lake. The loop route is about 2 km.
There is a lot of windfall all around the lake, but it has been cleared by volunteers and the Rec Site contractor.
contThe trail comes out to the Forest Service Road and I walked along the road back to the trailhead.
Three loops amounted to about 4.5 km, a shorter outing, but just right for a day that would be about 46 degrees C.
We hike, bike, cross country ski, snowshoe, and paddle in the Stake Lake Trails system. In summer we sometimes paddle around the lake 1-3 times, then we go for a hike on the trails. On this warm summer day, I paddled twice around the lake in calm conditions.
Each loop is about 2.25 km.
We secured the boat then hiked on the double track trails, but we also went onto a single track snowshoe trail too.
The hike added another 5 km.
Along the way, we stopped to enjoy wildflowers, pollinators, and the forest. Click an image for a caption.
We will be back for another duathlon – paddle then hike over the summer months.
A favorite combination is to paddle around Stake Lake (once, twice, or thrice), then hike on the trails. On the first day of summer, there was little wind on the lake for two loops, then I secured the kayak and went for a 5 km hike on the trails.
Stake Lake is a favorite lake too because of its clear water and light-colored shoals.
Once around the lake, doing all of the bays takes about 25 minutes.
Stake Lake is one of a handful of lakes that I paddle several times each year. I will be back next time with the grandkids.
When the weather gets hot an option is to drive to the high country (4000 feet+) and paddle one of the lakes, then go for one of the hikes nearby. On this blue sky hot day, I paddled twice around Stake Lake, then hiked a snowshoe route nearby. It was an early morning start and winds are usually calm until late morning in our area. There was no one else on the lake.
We spot western painted turtles in a number of our area lakes, particularly murky lakes with marshy areas. We were surprised to spot one on the western side of Stake Lake which is a clear-water lake.
Across the Lac le Jeune Road is a series of open marshes and a number of double tracks can be hiked or snowshoed, linked into a loop, although some route-finding is required. The marsh reeds were starting to turn colour in late summer.
Butterflies were out on wildflowers along the route. This skipper was spotted on clover.
A swampy area in the forest was surrounded by rushes and reeds.
There were lots of late-summer flowers, mostly taller varieties, but a few low-growing wildflowers like self-heal (prunella vulgaris) could be spotted with careful observation.
Going into the high country offers some relief from the hot summer sun, especially if combined with an early start and a forested route. Paddling and hiking in the middle of the day in open areas is best left to shoulder seasons.
Tsintsunko Lake Provincial Park is a 333 hectare park on the Bonaparte Plateau at an elevation of 1603 m (5260 feet). The B.C. Parks lands are along the eastern side of the lake and adjacent interconnected wetlands. The area to the west has been extensively logged. Access is on a combination of Forest Service Roads (Jamieson Creek Road > Deadman Road- Beaverhut Road) requiring some navigation to get to the right access area. The lake can’t be seen from the backroads and access is by primitive walk-in trails/tracks only. We had previously hiked on a designated trail to Jolly Lake, then on faint tracks over to Tsintsunko Lake and back by the Beaverhut Road so we knew the area enough to want to return to paddle the lake. There are a couple of rough tracks into the lake from the road so we chose to mount our kayaks onto a portage cart and pull them on a 0.75 m route. This was hard work, but we got our boats to the lakeshore for a day of paddling and exploration.
A paddle around the lakeshore is a 6.3 loop. With exploration in each bay, it took about 2 hours.
Englemann spruce, alpine fir, and lodgepole pine surround the lake on the high plateau.
A number of glacial rocks (erratics) stuck up out of the lake’s surface. The largest “shark-tooth” guarded a narrows between islands.
On the west shore is an old fishing cabin, built before the park was created. It was still in active use this summer.
Another older-yet cabin was found in the forest along the overgrown trail. A tree had fallen on the building, crushing the old timbers, splitting it into two.
The lakeshore trail was clear near the cabins, but it is overgrown and indistinct farther along.
We drove the long road to the access point, portaged the boats in, paddled and fished, had lunch on the lakeshore, and then portaged back out, a long day, but well worth our efforts to have paddled this remote lake. On the way out a pair of spruce grouse perched by the side of the track. Were were alert for bears and moose, but we only saw birds.
On the way back we spotted a BC Parks sign, the trailhead for the Jolly Lake Trail, now situated in the middle of a cut-block. We wondered whether some of the lands to the west of the lake could be added to the park at some time in the future?
Tsintsunko Lake will have very few visitors in any year. We are not sure if anyone else has brought a kayak into the remote spot before us, and having done this (hard and difficult work), we are not surprised if the number was very small. Next time I paddle this lake, though, I will be bringing a folding kayak in a backpack. In that area, I can use it for Shelley Lake and Adler Lake too, with more to be added in the future.
From the Marina at Tobiano, Rousseau Hill stands above the north side of Kamloops Lake. This is a great spot to launch to explore the middle section of the lake and all its bluffs, eroded slopes, silt cliffs, gullies, hoodoos, volcanic features, and shorelines. It is a 2 km paddle across to the far shore, below Peregrine Bluffs. On this late summer day, the route was across the lake, then west along the length of Rousseau Hill to Rousseau Creek.
Kamloops Lake is always scenic, but it can also be windy so paddlers need to have seaworthy boats and have some experience in larger lakes. On flat water it is about a half kilometer paddle across.
Peregrine Bluffs rises steeply above the CNR tracks. We have been able to spot peregrines from the top by following the guano marks to nests in rocky alcoves..
Just below the CN tracks is a small abandoned shack made from logs and railway ties.
There are a number of different erosion features on the slopes of Rousseau Hill.
The shoreline is rocky with few landing spots between Red Point and the beach at Eighteen Mile/Rousseau Creek.
Ragged volcanic features are the highlight of the south side of Rousseau Hill.
Below the bluffs are erosion gullies running down to the lake. The treeless slopes have alternate ridges and gullies right down to the sagebrush.
Our paddle also included an exploration of the abandoned Eighteen Mile Ranch acreage, shared on kamloopstrails.ca.
On the way back we paddled right across the lake just below Balancing Rock.
The loop route was about 11 km, another great day on Kamloops Lake.
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 outings on the trails. In this last outing, we brought our kayaks up to Stake Lake and we paddled 2 loops around the lake (once in each direction), then we hiked one loop around the lake. This has become one of our favorite outings in the high country forests.
We have found the water in Stake Lake to be remarkably clear, as we 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 and secured the boat and then 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 are observant and quiet. Wild strawberry season was approaching and the flowers lined the sides of the trails.
Butterflies and other pollinators were 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.
Emar Lakes Park was created in 1996 as a wilderness area of small lakes, potholes, and wet areas in a forested area off Highway 24. The lakes are used by fishermen, but there is also a lake chain loop with portages for canoeists and kayakers. Access is from Janice Lake Recreation Site or from Willowgrouse Recreation Site. The trails/portages are mostly user maintained and have become difficult with windfall. To do the loop counter-clockwise, paddlers would have to do the following:
launch at Janice Lake (link to an article) at N51 29.457 W120 24.410
paddle 1.5km to the landing spot (at N50 29.115 W120 25.090)
portage for 1030 metes to Club Lake (past Next Lake)
paddle to the end of Club Lake (780m)
portage 100m to Boulder Lake
paddle across Boulder Lake (400m)
portage 400m to Willowgrouse Lake
option to paddle Willowgrouse Lake (670m) then portage out the campsite (500m) or
paddle across Willowgrouse following the loop (230m)
portage 150m to Emar Lake
paddle across Emar Lake (1.2 km)
portage 450m to a pothole lake then 100m into Sedge Lake (or push through to Dytiscid Lake)
paddle across Sedge Lake (220m)
portage 700m to the end of Janice Lake
paddle to the start (400m)
All of the trails are currently closed with windfall and danger trees on the route. Hopefully Parks can find some funding or perhaps volunteer user groups can help keep the routes open (count me in)? A BC Parks map is included here and more information can also be found on the Parks website (link).
The chain of lakes from Davis Lake to Flat Lake would best be done in the spring while there is still lots of water in the channels between the lakes and before the mosquitoes hatch. The start is on Davis Lake, 20 km southwest of 100 Mile House. The chain is usually done in one to three day trips. All of the portages are short, but are not well-marked.
It would be best to scout the route out and that will be my intention. A one-day trip with a small kayak, a round-trip of about 10 km with 3 portages each way is planned.
With this sort of adventure it is the portages that are the issue. Two people with a good packing system can carry a canoe much more easily than kayakers can manage. A small 10 foot kayak will slip over the shoulder with a padded shoulder insert to allow carrying for short distances. I also have a SUP sling-carry system I will be trying out. Two people can also carry one kayak and then come back for the other, but kayaks are more awkward than canoes for portaging. .
The route to the end and back is 12 portages, but split into two days this can be done.
Flat Lake Provincial Park is mostly undeveloped but has rocky islets, bogs, marshes, riparian and aquatic vegetation, ducks, and a variety of birds including loons, herons, as well as beavers and muskrats.
Because it is fairly inaccessible except by canoe and portaging, it offers paddlers a chance to experience wild wetlands firsthand.
Moose Valley is located 22 km west of 100 Mile House, accessed by the Gustafson Lake Road. The Moose Valley Access Road turns off and follows the chain of lakes to a campsite on Marks Lake. The road does continue onto the end of Maitland Lake, but it is a rougher section. Paddlers can start at either lake and work their way southeast to Canoe Lake.
Although all of the portages are short, they are not suitable for canoe or kayak carts. Each boat will have to be carried to the next lake, pond, or waterway. In spring, though, there is more water between the lakes allowing for paddling through wetlands or hand-lining in shallow areas. There is one rocky portage near the Beaverlodge Lakes.
At the southeast end of the chain, the route goes from Long Lake to Moose Lake to Canoe Lake in a loop. From the south end of Canoe Lake, there is a portage out to an access road for a second vehicle pick-up.
The lakes are shallow and don’t make great fishing. After June 1st, mosquitoes are likely. After August 1st the wetlands will be drier meadows so the ideal time would be in May. Options include camping at Marks Lake and going right through in a long day or paddling part way through the chain and camping at rough campsites on Canoe Lake or Long Lake. Another option is to go out and back in a day.
The through route is only 7.5 km end-to-end from Marks Lake to the portage out to the Gustafson Lake Road. The advantage of doing it all in a day (or camping at the trailhead and doing it all in a day) is that the canoes or kayaks can go through the chain unloaded, making the portages much easier.
The right time to do this route is in May or early June to have higher water levels, low mosquito populations, relatively warm conditions, and spring birds and ducks along the way. We haven’t done this route yet, but its on our list for this year.
Going into the high country offers some relief from the hot summer sun, especially if combined with an early start and a forested route. Paddling and hiking in the middle of the day in open areas is best left to shoulder seasons.
