Every year we paddle downriver to Kamloops.   The South Thompson River from Chase to Kamloops can be done in 3 legs – Chase to Pritchard, Pritchard to Lafarge, and Lafarge to Pioneer Park.   We organized a pickup vehicle at the end so we enjoy the river as it runs quickly in freshet.   We paddled downriver from Lafarge to Pioneer Park at the end of May with the river swollen with meltwaters from the Monashee Range to the east (article on the sources of the river).   Our route follows the corridor between silt cliffs of an ancient glacial lake

There is a good hand launch spot on the northeast side of the Lafarge Bridge.   We launched out into the river in our seaworthy ocean-style kayaks for a 3 hour downriver paddle.

The gravel bars are covered along this 21 km route in freshet.  We had a tail wind and a good downstream current making for easy paddling.

The weather was good, but thunderheads were starting to form to our west.   When paddling in the area, it is almost always better to paddle in the morning before afternoon winds start.

We were able to maintain about 8 km an hour downstream on this day with favorable winds and good conditions.   We will be paddling the other 2 legs this spring and then we will paddle downstream on the North Thompson River.   We paddled all the way from Clearwater to Kamloops last year (link).   There are launch spots and landings for 9 different routes of downriver paddling with Kamloops as the epicenter.   Not many cities have these kinds of opportunities so we take advantage of the opportunities by doing most of the legs each year.