Kayaking Shumway Lake
Shumway Lake is the home of the Kamloops Canoe and Kayak Club and Kamloops Rowing Club and it has a well-developed facility with high performance and recreational programs for all ages. Since it is a private facility only members can park and launch at the facility. It is possible to haul a boat down the bank and launch into the lake at other spots, but it is difficult and so public paddlers rarely kayak on the lake. It is a great lake to paddle since there are no fishing boats nor power boats (unless there is a scheduled training session or a race).
I parked outside the gate on the south side and hauled my 18 foot kayak down the rocky bank and scrambled in for a paddle up the lake and back. There is some irony here (see the note below)
On a mid-April day there were no paddlers on the lake, but there was lots of ducks, geese, an eagle, magpies, loons, and grasslands birds to keep me company.
It was difficult to haul the boat back up the bank so I may not be back again this year.
Note – In 1989 I accepted the volunteer position with the 1993 Canada Games Society as the Vice President of Sport. Canoeing and kayaking were 2 of 18 sports and we worked to develop a paddling center in Kamloops. After an early false start, we finally settled on Shumway Lake. Later I moved to the staff position of Manager of Sports and Operations and I was the primary person involved in planning and building the facility (including engineering, course installation, temporary facilities and storage, contracting construction, purchasing equipment, coordination transport of rowing shells, purchasing kayaks and canoes from Poland, budgets, coordinating services, and negotiating with a wide number of agencies and interested parties. We worked with Rowing, Canoeing, and Water Skiing to form a society to oversee the after-Games use of the facility, then helped with the lease of the property. We gave all the boats to the Clubs. After the Games the Clubs occupied the site and built up further permanent facilities and developed programs which are still running today. For the 2011 Western Canada Games, I ended up as General Manager and we helped Canoeing, and Rowing with additional funding to replace the underwater course and additional facilities for the Games. From 1989 to 2012 I spent a lot of time supporting canoeing, kayaking, and rowing in Kamloops, but from the background, then I retired and spent much of my time paddling on my own. I observed the paddlers and rowers from afar and only rarely visit Shumway Lake.