On a calm spring day it was time to haul the 18 foot kayak down to the rivershore at Cooney Bay and launch out onto the lake.
The plan was to paddle around the point and into Cooney Bay, then along the shoreline past Battle Bluff, then cross the lake and return by the other shore, stopping to enjoy various highlights along the way.
This was an 11 km paddle taking about 2 hours. A video was complied of the journey.
More paddling is planned for Kamloops Lake in the upcoming months.
Cooney Bay can be a busy place on Easter Weekend with fishermen, dog-walkers, hikers, and families parking at the end of the road past Tranquille, and walking out to the gravel beaches where the Tranquille River meets Kamloops Lake. Getting an 18′ kayak out to the shoreline isn’t easy with a number of logs to get across, but with some rear wheels and some extra effort, the kayak was ready for launching from the muddy beach. The route was around the point where quite a few fishermen had lines in the water. A wind out of the east created some chop, but once the kayak was in Cooney Bay, it was calm. Loons were actively diving in the bay.
Following the scenic shoreline is the safest route out to Battle Bluff. The route out to the far end of Battle Bluff and back is 7.2 km.
Along the way, swallows were swooping over the water, ducks, and geese were along the shoreline, and crows and magpies flew along the beaches. A headless small hawk floated in the water. Coming back around the Battle Bluff point, a river otter rounded the corner then dove below the kayak. An eagle circled above. Bighorn sheep sat on the hill watching the show.
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The winds were forecast to pick up by late morning so I turned around and followed the shoreline back to the landing spot. This is a favorite route. On a less windy day, a good route is to cross the lake (if you have a seaworthy boat with a rudder) and come back by the south shoreline.
More information:
On a windy day, Kamloops Lake is not the best choice for paddlers, but on a nice day, a tour of the east end of the lake is a rewarding outing. Launch from the parking area at the end of Tranquille Road. The road to Tranquille on the Lake goes past the entrance and continues on to the edge of Cooney Bay. Padders will have to carry their boats down to the beach and launch near the river’s mouth. Once in the water, turn the corner to Cooney Bay, then follow the shoreline.
There are some gravelly beaches on the way to Battle Bluff. If you land, be careful of poison ivy above the high water mark. The sheer face of the bluff rises above as you round the point. Look for a smaller tunnel next to the train tunnel. This is an escape tunnel that goes from deep within the main tunnel out to the east end of the tunnel. It has recently been partly stopped up with rocks. Watch for swallows nests high in the rocky bluffs as you round the point. There are no landing spots at Battle Bluff or on the far side, but there is a pictograph on the west side in an alcove now covered with shrubs. The shoreline past Battle Bluff is mostly rocky shoreline all the way to Frederick.
Frederick is a small community on the shoreline that is linked by the Dewdrop Road. The whole lake here is surrounded by rocky bluffs with a few trees found in gullies. The Cherry Bluffs run from Cherry Creek east to the head of the lake. Along the shoreline is the Salmon Beach, the location where some salmon fossils have been found. We were on this beach twice this year searching for the oval mudstones that can be broken open, but found no fossils. Read this article for more information – link.
On the way back on the south shore are some stoneworks built for the CPR line in 1885 and reinforced several times in the last 129 years. The large arch is made from quarried blocks transported by rail.
Where the river meets the lake, there are extensive sandbars running from south to north, leaving only a narrow channel in late fall and winter. In summer, we can paddle across the shallows. They are a feeding ground for visiting pelicans, returning seagulls, ospreys, loons, and ducks in late summer. We can paddle across the submerged sandbars in summer back to our starting point, a total of about 16 km of paddling (about 3 hours at a steady pace). Pick some good weather enjoy Kamloops Lake.
White pelicans have been spotted in the Tranquille Wildlife Protected area and in Cooney Bay over the past 3 years. These large birds migrate to the BC Interior over the spring-summer, then return to the southern U.S. for winter. A full grown pelican can stand 5 feet high and have a wingspan of up to 9 feet, the second largest bird in North America.
They usually work together in small flocks, to drive fish toward waiting bills, consuming about 2 kg of fish each day. They breed in March-April and nest a month later. They nest in colonies and the chicks leave the nest after about 4 weeks. The pelicans we see in our area are non-breeding birds. They are here to feed on the fish coming up the Thompson River. A popular spot is right where the river empties into Kamloops Lake. In 2013, they could be seen from
In the fall, they can be spotted on migration routes from the Cariboo, on their way south. A flock of 10 spent a few days in Campbell Lake at the end September.
A few shots taken by me from the shore and from kayak are also shared here.
 On Campbell Lake at the end of September |
 Cooney Bay in September |
 On Kamloops Lake |
 In the flooded Tranquille Wildlife Management area |
 Near the mouth of the Tranquille River |
