Author Archives: dsmith

Gibraltar Rock from the West

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On a Saturday morning, we had the Paul Lake Park Group Site for a get-together, and we started off the day by hiking the trail up to the top of Gibraltar Rock and back, a moderate 6.7 km out-and-back route.   Many hikers, dog walkers, and runners also use this trail in Paul Lake Provincial Park.    It is a well-maintained trail with signage at the trailhead and at junctions.   It can be busy at summer prime times, but we met only a couple of other hikers along the way on this day. We started at the Paul Lake Group Site where Paul Creek flows out of the lake into a marshy area. Along the lakeside trail were continuing views of … Continue reading →

Neskonlith Meadows to Aylmer Lake Hike

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Near the end of April, we stopped at the Adams Lake Indian Band Office to get a permit to hike the Neskonlith Meadows Trail on the Reserve.    We then drove up the Bear-Loakin/Neskonlith Lake Road to the trailhead.    We hiked 10.7 km to Aylmer (Star) Lake and back.   The lower end was through the wildflowers in the meadows.    The upper end was behind the ridge, through the forest to Aylmer Lake. There is a double track to follow all the way, but we went off track to enjoy the wildflowers in the meadows.    Neskonlith Lake lay 1.5 km to the west.   We will be back there to paddle the lake in the next month. As we … Continue reading →

Painted Bluffs Hike

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On a sunny morning at the end of April, we drove west past Savona, then up the Sabiston Creek Road to Copper Creek Road and we parked above the gate, not far above the lake.   We hiked over the hills and gullies to a spot above the Painted Bluffs Provincial Park, then we followed a rough track down to the base of lower end of the bluffs. The “trail” in is just a rough track, not always easy to follow, winding down into and out of gullies and around steep bluffs, bearing east, for a 2 km hike each way From the base area at the bottom of the bluffs, we explored the lower slopes, going over some of the … Continue reading →

Stein River Hike

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We drove south to the Fraser River, then into Stein Valley Nlaka’Pamux Heritage Park to hike up the Stein River Trail for an out-and-back route which turned out to be 3.5 hours on the trail, with about 2.5 hours of moving time.    It was a sunny and pleasant day for a beautiful hike.   For the whole distance we had views of the rushing river,  while signs of spring greeted us along the way – wildflowers, pollinators, birds, flowering shrubs, and new growth.    The river was impressive, not yet in freshet, but still full from bank to bank, churning downstream. Lytton is still being rebuilt after the wildfires of 2021.    We drove through Lytton and took the exit … Continue reading →

Barnes Lake Trails Hike

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We hiked the Barnes Lake horse-and-hiker-trails in Barnhartvale on a mid-April sunny day.    We started at the Gardiner Road entrance and went through the gate and onto the trails in the sagebrush grasslands, hiking a counter-clockwise 9.25 km loop on double and single tracks.   The trails were quiet but we watched for signs of spring, spotting wildflowers and birds along the way. The lower elevation areas have open grasslands and open forests. We went past Killdeer Pond, reduced in size after another drought year.    From there, we followed the trails on a moderate climb into the douglas fir forests. Half of the hike was in glaciated (undulating) terrain through douglas fir and lodgepole pine forests on the upper … Continue reading →

Stump Lake Kayak and Hike

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On a sunny morning in the second week of April, I drove south on Highway 5A past Stump Lake, then took the turn to the signed Peterhope Lake Road, and turned a short ways up onto the 4.5 km gravel road to the Stump Lake Rec Site on the east side of the lake.   There is a campground, a boat launch area, and lots of parking.    Stump Lake is a popular fishing lake and on this morning there were a dozen boats launched from the Rec Site and quite a few from the lake access points on the west side, but it’s a big lake so there is room for everyone. Each time I paddle Stump Lake I try … Continue reading →

Mara Canyon Hike

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On a sunny early April day, we used the official trailhead off West Ord Road and hiked a loop route, up Mara Canyon and then up onto Cinnamon Ridge, then back down the ridge on a single track, winding down steep slopes to the start.   The two halves of the hike are very different.    Going up the canyon is in a deep, narrow canyon and involves some light scrambling.   The canyon opens up under the rockface of Mara Mountain.   A steep ascent in open terrain gains us the top of the ridge. From the upper end of Cinnamon Ridge we can see beyond the canyon to the cinnamon-colored ridges and beyond to Kamloops Lake to the southwest. The route … Continue reading →

Trapp Lake Kayaking

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On a mild morning in the first week of April, I drove south on Highway 5A to Trapp Lake.    there is a track which leads to the lakeshore 1.3 km down the lake.    A tiny sandy strip makes a good launch point for the lake.    Since a paddle of the whole lake is about 10.5 km, I usually paddle half of the lake and paddle the other half later in spring.   On this day, I paddled the southern half of the lake. Trapp is not a fishing lake and it is rare to see any boats on the water.    The highway is on one side and grassland hills rise up for the entire length of the … Continue reading →

Six Mile Lakes Hike

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On a sunny spring day we drove west and then up the bumpy road (the old highway bypass) above Tobiano to the Six Mile Lakes area, parking on the east end of Pat Lake.    The ice was off the lake and it was busy with fishermen happy to be back after the winter.   We hiked around Pat Lake, then on single tracks and double tracks through the hills, past ponds. working our way over to Morgan Lake.   We chose to leave the more established tracks and instead followed a faint single track around the lake, and then joined double tracks back to the start, a 7.1 km hike. The first part of the hike was on a single track … Continue reading →

Uplands Trails Ramble

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On the first of April I started a 6.25 km hike from the end of McLeod Drive (at the junction of McLeod Rd. and Uplands Rd. in Barnhartvale).    Trails start at the gas pipeline track and they fan out across the sagebrush grassland benchland, through gullies, and up into the hills.    For this day, the hike was a series of single track trails through the grasslands above the gullies, out to viewpoints,  and then back to cross the heads of gullies for more loops.    The final loop went down one of the larger gullies, then back up onto another benchland.    The solo hike took about 1.75 hours.   The hike started through a north-slope open forest … Continue reading →