At the end of March, the valley bottom lakes were ice-free.    Some of them are larger lakes so we have to pick a mild day with little wind.    The chain of lakes (Trapp, Shumway, Napier, Stump, and Nicola) on Highway 5A South are good choices at this time of year.    Trapp Lake is a long narrow lake next to the highway, but there is good access for paddlers.   The whole lake is a longer paddle, so I usually do the north or south end on one day, then the other at another time.     This is an alkali lake with no fishing so it is rare to see another boat on the lake.    In summer the algae multiplies so spring is the best season to paddle the lake.

I paddled up the west side of the lake and followed the shoreline in a clockwise loop, a 6.1 km kayaking day.

Grasslands hills rise steeply on the west side of the lake.     Wind-streaked (lenticular) clouds painted the skies above.

On the way back down the east side of the lake, the sun shone through the clouds and the wind died down.

The east side of the lake is mostly steep wooded slopes.     Trees by the shoreline sometimes tilt over the lake’s waters.

In a  few sheltered bays on the east side, ice shelves persisted.

More Information on Trapp Lake – link.

In this phase the upland lakes are still ice-bound, but paddling on the lakes will be a bi-weekly schedule with the Highway 5A lakes, but also lakes in the Thompson River Valley (Little Shuswap, White Lake, Shuswap Lake, Kamloops Lake, and some benchland lakes too).

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