On a calm September day, I hauled my kayak down to the river near Cooney Bay.    I use some wheels which attach to the back end of the boat and pull it down the pathway, lifting the boat over some logs.   At this time of year the shoreline of the river is muddy so paddling boots are a good choice.    It is only a short paddle from the launch beach to the lake.

I rounded the point at Cooney Bay and looked back at the morning sun, shining through scattered clouds.

I try to avoid paddling Kamloops Lake in the wind, but on this day, only a light breeze came across the lake from the southwest.   I paddled around a rock bluff, then past a shingle beach.

Battle Bluff rises 324 m (1063 ft.) from the lake to the top.

contI paddled around the base of the bluff, noting the high water mark on the rock.

It is about 1 km under the cliffs to get to the west end of Battle Bluff.  There are no landing spots.    With some wind, the waves rebound off the rock, providing choppy conditions.

At the west end of Battle Bluff, the shoreline is series of sloped under the Fredrick Bluffs.   Across the lake, the rocky hills are continuous to the benchland near Tobiano.   The hill between Cherry Bluffs and Tobiano is called Roper Hill.

Battle Bluff, Dewdrop Ridge and all of the rocky slopes on the north side of the lake are built up on a series of lava flows.    On the east side of Battle Bluff, basalt columns rise above the shoreline, an older lava flow than the rocky hills above.

In Cooney Bay, pelicans were feeding by the mouth of Tranquille River.   The flock was settled on a sandbar up the river, but small numbers of pelicans flew down to feed where the river met the lake.

Kamloops Lake is a favorite place to paddle, but the road in is potholed, the haul to the river is hard work, and winds on the lake can be difficult.    Still, I try to get onto the lake when I can.   In this particular day, I paddled about 8 km in fine conditions.