Our route up to Hihium Lake was from the southwest, so we drove west on the Trans Canada Highway and then turned north onto the Deadman Valley Road.   The narrow and sometimes Hihium FSR climbs steeply out of the valley onto the upper plateau, which has been heavily logged and planted.   The road was reasonable and we noted signs for Sky High Lodge along the way to help make decisions at intersections.   Anyone who takes this road may want to be prepared for active logging or fallen trees.   From the Deadman Valley turnoff to Hihium Lake was about 20 km.   A short, rough road leads to the Hihium Lake South Recreation Site (watch for signs).

The Hihium Site has 17 camping spots and a boat launch area.   We launched out and paddled the lake on a warm day.

The east-west oriented lake lies at 4491 feet (1369m).   The east end and west ends are marshy.   The outlet is at the west end where Hihium Creek runs down to Loon Creek.   This is a fishing lake so there are 3 fishing resorts on the lake and a few seasonal cabins on both sides of the lake.   About 80% of the shoreline is just high country forest.

There are a few isthmuses and points to help sheltered paddling if the winds come up.   We had only light breezes, but anyone who ventures up there to paddle should check the wind forecast first.

Sunny skies with fluffy clouds make for a great day of paddling.   The 12 km route should take about 2.5 hours of steady, rhythmic paddling in a kayak.

We chose to return by the main road into Hihium.   We drove on a good gravel road north to a junction, then turned west on a rougher road down to Loon Lake and down to Highway 97 (60 km) then back to Cache Creek and Kamloops.   The better road is to continue over to the Chasm Road, but this is a long route from Kamloops.   With such a long route an excellent choice would be to stay overnight at the Hihium Recreation Site for 2 days of paddling and exploring.