Author Archives: dsmith

Jacko Lake Stomp

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On a mild winter day at the end of January I decided to stomp on snowshoes into Jack Lake and back.   We can drive up the gravel road in 3 seasons to kayak the lake, but there is now a gate on the access road so no one is going in to the lake.    I checked it out a week before and there were no tracks.   When I arrived back, there was a single ski track to follow. I used snowshoes since the snow was deep enough to make hiking more difficult.   The sun was peeking through the clouds off and on during the stomp in and back. The ski track was gone after about 0.5 km, then I … Continue reading →

Spruce Canyon Stomp

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On a weekday in January I snowshoed the Stake Lake Trails.    It was a busy day with school groups and many cross country skiers enjoying the sunny, cool day.    I opted to snowshoe an out-of-the-way loop route.    First I went around the lakeshore on the Lake Snowshoe Trail to the far end of the lake. Some blue skies and intermittent clouds made the ice-and-snow-covered lake bright as I followed a well-stomped-in trail bearing south. I followed the Stadium Trail then the Cow(an) Creek Trail along the riparian areas of the stream-swamp and through the lodgepole pines. I crossed the ski trail and started up the Spruce Canyon Trail, winding up the deep gully. Above the canyon on … Continue reading →

Ross Moore Lake

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One of the lakes we look forward to paddling each summer is Ross Moore Lake.    It is a longer drive into the backcountry to get to the shores of the lake.   We can use either the Long Lake Road (from Knutsford) or the McConnell Forest Service Road (from the Lac le Jeune Road) to get to the Ross Moore Lake Road, then it is an additional bumpy 8 km route to the southeast end of Ross Moore Lake.     We can launch from the dam area or we can go to the rough track into the Ross Moore Rec Site where there is a hand launch and a small campground. A paddle around the shoreline of the lake is … Continue reading →

Hull Hill Snowshoeing

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We drove up the Lac le Jeune Road, then turned east onto the Goose Lake Road.   A short way down the road is a snowy backroad that angles southeast.    The road has a number of branch roads (some new ones), but the main branch crosses Anderson Creek, then winds up the western flank of Hull Hill.    We parked at the start of this double track.     A few people snowshoe the area so the first part of the road has been packed down and has lots of parking.    There are few tracks leading off in different directions, but we chose a single track the climbs to the south. The stomped-in track winds through thinned forests to a … Continue reading →

North Thompson Winter Beach

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When the weather gets cold and the trails become icy, I sometimes opt to hike in the valley bottom, especially if time is an issue, weather is doubtful, or if I just need some time off the snow.    There are a number of winter beaches that can be hiked for these times.     In winter the beaches are wider and since they are exposed to the sun, they are porous, and they are at the lowest elevation of our area, they have routes that are on sand or gravel, without ice or snow.    There are a number of choices, like the West Beaches, the Rivers Trail, the Confluence, Mission Flats, and others.    The North Thompson Winter Beach … Continue reading →

Eureka – The Meaning of Life

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On  a mild winter day I drove up the Lac le Jeune Road, then turned onto the Chuwhels Mountain Road on a plowed road up to Lodgepole Lake.    From the parking area at the west end of the lake, I hiked back across the lake, then turned north up into the hills, following an old snowed-in double track for the first part of the route to Eureka Lake. There had been a snowmobile track to follow for about a kilometer, but then I had to break trail for a while. At 1.5 km up the double track I turned right onto a single track motorcycle trail called Meaning of Life.     There were snowshoe tracks on to follow continuing … Continue reading →