When the weather turned hot, all kayaking was planned for early mornings. In addition, higher lakes were a little cooler. Lastly, the goal was to paddle for 60 – 75 minutes, With this in mind, I drove east toward Chase, then turned off the Trans Canada Highway just past the Niskonlith Reserve onto the Harper Lake Forest Service Road. This is a narrow road that climbs through the hills. It is gravelled and graded for the first part, but it is bumpy and a bit rough(high clearance) for most of the way to the lake. The Harper Lake Rec Site is 5.5 km from the Highway. There is a small dock there and a launch spot.
This is a quiet spot in the hills. It takes about an hour to paddle the shoreline. There were loons, blackbirds, killdeer, a muskrat, and a beaver lodge on the lake. Yellow water lilies, marsh cinquefoil, and smartweed were in flower along the shallows
A few moments from a previous paddle on the lake are shared here. We will be back to paddle the lake again next summer.
On a mild but breezy April morning I paddled out into Little Shuswap Lake.
The lake was very low so I used the boat launch on the river just below the bridge. Shallow water meant following the channel markers out into the middle of the lake, but I was able to paddle over on the north side of the lake after a while. I returned the same way I paddled out. In the previous year I could paddle closer to the shoreline.
Some moments from the paddle are found in this YouTube video:
More information on paddling this lake can be found at the On the Lakes page.
Little Shuswap Lake clears of ice early and has good launches and parking spots so it makes a nice spring paddle. I launched from the boat launch ramp by the Chase Bridge where the lake empties into the South Thompson River. I was surprised to find a number of kayakers there, but I spoke to one of the instructors and found out that it was part of TRU’s Adventure Tourism program. I launched and paddled northeast to the north side of the lake.
The north side of the lake has steep rocky bluffs for much of the length of the route, though a dead-end road comes from either end to support vacation homes. I paddled up the lake for an hour and then turned back.
There were a few ducks and geese on the lake, like this common merganser.
There is quite a lot of shallow water on the west side of the lake so I steered down the navigation tunnel to the Chase Bridge to finish an 8 km paddle on a sunny morning.
In April most of the lakes in the hills are still covered in ice so we do a rotation of the valley-bottom lakes first (Kamloops Lake, Little Shuswap Lake, Nicola Lake, Stump Lake, Trapp Lake, Shumway Lake, then move to the lower lakes in the hills. When we paddle the larger lakes, we watch for a day with no wind. Capsizing in cold water is dangerous so we try to follow the shoreline. On this April day there was no wind I launched from Memorial Park in Chase in shallow water and angled across the lake, bearing northeast.
With no wind, the rocky hills above the north shore of the lake were reflected in the calm waters.
The long diagonal route took me to the north side where the rocky hills come right down to the lake.
I paddled about 3/4 of the way up the lake, then turned back to follow the shoreline all the way back to the start. Reflections in the water create a type of optical illusion, affecting our innate sense of balance in the boat, especially when taking photos.
Along the lakeshore a few mergansers and other ducks scuttled away from the kayak.
The north side was in the sun and was from highway traffic so it is my usual route on Little Shuswap Lake. I may return to paddle the other shore when fall colors border the lake.
Little Shuswap Lake is a bigger lake to paddle in our area. A circuit around the entire lakeshore is 19 km. On a mild fall day, we paddled over 16 km, returning by the southeast shoreline.
The best place to launch is at the Chase Memorial Park.
The far eastern shore is 7 km down the lake under the slopes of Squilax Mountain.
Beaches line the shoreline of the Little Shuswap Indian Reserve. The Adams Plateau highlands rise to the northeast of the lake.
Little River runs from Shuswap Lake to Little Shuswap Lake for 3.5 km. All the migrating salmon follow this river upstream in the fall.
Little Shuswap Lake is a big enough lake to get some strong winds so paddlers should check the forecast before venturing out. This day, though, was a calm and sunny one, a fine day for a kayak on the lake.
When the weather bakes up, we try to get on the water (or hike to altitude). Our rivers and lakes become destinations and we are situated right in the middle of dozens of paddling routes. Kayaking in a longer boat (faster/steadier) means finding larger lakes. Our goal is to have enough lakes and rivers in the area to not have to have repeats within the same year. When there is no wind, all lakes are fair game, but when wind and weather are present, we have to pick our routes carefully. Knowing how winds affect individual lakes helps and we can always hug the shoreline or try the kayak sail if conditions warrant it.
Neskonlith Lake is a good destination for a summer paddle. It is 11.5 km around the shoreline, a 2 to 2.5 hour paddle. The shoreline is varied and there is lots to see. The lake sits in a bowl on a north-south line. Most of the winds of the area run east-west (either way) so cross winds may be seen on the lake, but on my most recent paddle, there was no wind, on a hot day.
The best launch point is is from the boat launch at Neskonlith Provincial Park. Go past the first camping area for about 200m to the beach launch area.
When I paddled the west shore, there were many western painted turtles sunning on logs in the lake. When I approached with some noise, they plunged into the lake, but when I glided close, they stretched their long green necks (with yellow stripes) outward, trying to sense if any predators were nearby. Their orange-scarlet underbellies were on display. Some of big ones were the slowest to plunge in and they could be seen from a distance. Dragon flies flitted along the water, landing on floating aquatic plants.
The campground extends along the western shore for a few kilometers. Douglas fir and red osier dogwood front the lake. A few cabins can be seen mid-lake and a small number of homes at the south end. A great blue heron waded in the shallows and an osprey and red-tailed hawks circled overhead. Fish jumped everywhere in the gloomy water. Pollen had covered the water’s surface with a yellow-green hue. Smartweed (not yet in bloom), aquatic buttercup, and milfoil grew in the shallows.
The east shore sits below rock bluffs so some shade can be found by staying close to the shoreline. A rocky island makes a good spot for lunch. The northeast corner of the lake is shallow and sits next to dry grasslands on the Reserve. There are some bullrush marshes at the north end. Away from all busy roads, the area is very quiet and other than a couple of small fishing boats, there was no activity on the lake.
There are no fine beaches for good swimming as there is at Johnson Lake, Lac le Jeune, and Paul Lake, but there is a sense of quiet, solitude, and a presence of aquatic life that adds much to a summer afternoon of paddling.
