On a mild spring day in early May I drove gravel roads to the Roche Lake area, then turned onto the Bleeker Lake Forest Service Road to the BC Rec Site on the north side of the lake. On a Sunday morning the Rec Site was full and there were three other informal sites nearby also being used, but when I launched the kayak, there were no other boats on the lake. A paddle around the shoreline is about 4.5 km and it took me one hour of steady paddling.
Bleeker lake has shallow areas on either end of the lake, but it can all be paddled in spring. With intermittent inflow, the lake drops significantly in summer, partly from evaporation and partly from draw-down (a dammed lake). Large sections of the lake become choked with aquatic vegetation in summer. The lake has also had recent winter kill, but there is an aeration system in the lake to support the fishery. On this day there were many ducks on the lake, a loon, and a bald eagle watching for a lunch meal.
This is a lake I paddle each spring, but I do not return for a second day of paddling in summer or fall. I will be back in May of 2025 (but I may go past Bleeker to brave the rough road into Hosli Lake).
A few images from the day’s paddling are shared here. Click an image for a lightbox view.
More Information – Bleeker Lake
