Neskonlith Lake is a 40 minute drive from Kamloops.   Access to the lake is through Neskonlith Provincial Park.   There is a hand launch spot not far past the first campsites.   I launched my kayak on a mild June day and paddled clockwise around the lake.   A circuit of the whole lake is 11.5 km and that goal is best done on a day with little wind.   On this day, I paddled the east end of the lake, a 6 km loop.

One of the main streams into the lake was filled with muddy water from the hills on the north and northeast side.   An osprey perched on the snag near the inlet.

There is a marshy area on the east side and red-winged blackbirds were busy on the rushes.

Some weather set in and winds made progress more difficult, but I continued down the south shore, bearing west into the wind.

Much of the hillside above the lake was burned in the fires of 2003.   Skeletal trees are now surrounded by new shrub growth.   The southern slopes of Mount Morrisey extend down toward the valley on the west end of the lake.

On the way back up the north shore of the lake were some western painted turtles basking in the sun on “waterlogged log ledges.”

Turtles are startled by sudden movements or noises, so if we glide past them quietly, they will stay in place.   This one was close to the boat launch at the end of my paddling loop.

After paddling the lake, I returned to Shuswap Road,  then decided to go up the McGillivray Forest Service Road, a 16 km climb to over 1400m, coming back through Sun Peaks for a scenic loop.

Another fine day in the hills…