In the last week of February the days were mild and the snows melted. The river was clear of ice. The gate to the boat launch at Pioneer Park is still locked (??) so it is a bit awkward getting the boat down to the water. I launched into the water and paddled upstream. Without much wind, it was a … Continue reading →
Before the season starts a few YouTube videos will be featured. Paddle TV is a good general video series: More to come…
Continue reading →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 … Continue reading →
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 … Continue reading →
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 … Continue reading →
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.
Continue reading →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 … Continue reading →
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 … Continue reading →
I paddled a couple of days in October on Edith Lake. A short TikTok video shares some of those moments:
Continue reading →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:
Continue reading →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, … Continue reading →
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:
Continue reading →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 … Continue reading →
Fall conditions continued to set in and cooler weather limits which days and which locations I paddled. On a cool morning (5 C) with a light wind, there was only one other boat on Edith Lake. Smaller lakes are a better choice in windy or colder conditions and I can choose one, two, or three loops. If I paddle all … Continue reading →
A new video podcast is now available on YouTube: More podcasts are planned. Go to the YouTube channel for videos and podcasts.
Continue reading →As the fall weather provides cooler conditions we often return to home base – the river, Edith Lake, Stake Lake, and Jacko Lake. Most lakes are paddled once or twice in a year, but Jacko is a favorite so I paddle there 6- 8 times each year. On a grey fall day, I launched my kayak and paddled around the … Continue reading →
