Author Archives: dsmith

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 →

Kayaking Kamloops Lake from Savona

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At the end of March, the weather was cool, windy and rainy, but I drove to Savona and parked at the boat launch at the end of Tingley Street (down from the Community Hall, Library, and School).   The launch area was in good shape for unloading, parking, and launching, but the winds were stronger than expected, coming down the lake from the northeast.    I chose to paddle through some sheltered bays and down to the lake outlet, then a short paddle up the north shore of Kamloops Lake, and back. For the first two-thirds of the paddle, I kept my eye on the waves, rolling across the hull as I went to the west end of lake, past Steelhead … Continue reading →

Five Bridges and Two Otters

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On a grey mild morning I launched my kayak from Pioneer Park then paddled down the South Thompson River.    I passed under the “Ghost Bridge”, the burnt and now removed Red Bridge,  and then continued down to two standing bridges and two other former (ghost) bridges.    There are a number of pylons just below the surface near the base of the stanchions on the CN Bridge so it’s best to stay midway between the pillars.   I continued downstream past Riverside Park, then under the Overlanders Bridge. Farther west I passed the stanchions of the Black Bridge, built in 1925, but abandoned and removed in the late 1960’s – early 1970’s. An older bridge yet was the White Bridge, … Continue reading →

Dewdrop Ridge Ramble

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In the third week of March we returned to the Dewdrop Range to hike a loop route over Dewdrop Ridge.    We started on the Frederick Road at the first pull-off on the right.   A single track trail goes across the low damp area and then winds up the ridge, and becomes the Bluebird Trail.    At about 0.6 km from the start, an unsigned junction is reached.   An old double track bears south (left turn) and climbs to the top of the ridge.  At the southern rim a trail goes east and west. Views from the Rim Trail extend to Battle Bluff, Kamloops Lake, and to the east the Thompson River Estuary. We hiked east for better views of … Continue reading →

Cinnamon Ridge Hike

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Near the Spring Equinox I crossed the tracks at Ord Road (just past the golf course) and drove down the bumpy dirt road to the parking area at the official trailhead for Cinnamon Ridge (also referred to as Mara Canyon or The Hoodoos).    I hiked up the trail to the junction, and then turned right following the switchbacks up the steep slopes as it angles around the rocky hill to the northeast. Looking north, Mara Mountain rises above the Mara outlier trails.    The Mara Canyon Trail winds up between the two steep rocky hills.     The Cinnamon Ridge Trail winds around the east side of the hills. The trail is steep, climbing 440 m (1444 ft.) in 2 … Continue reading →

Exploring the Charlotte Alplands

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The Charlotte Alplands are located in a remote area of the Chilcotin Plateau.      We drove (580 km) to Nimpo Lake.    The next day we boarded a float plane and went southwest, flying over Charlotte Lake.    We landed on Fish Lake.    We packed our gear (supported by a horse pack outfitter) to the Frog Lakes and set up a base camp.    We hiked for a few days through the hills with support from a guide,  and we enjoyed meals provided by a camp cook. The Alplands have the highest concentration of alpine lakes in British Columbia.  To the west are the glacier-covered peaks in the Monarch Range in  Tweedsmuir Provincial Park.   To the south is … Continue reading →

Outer Dewdrop Range Hike

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Conditions in the lower valley have dried out and those routes can now be hiked, but many of the hills surrounding the valley are still muddy or icy.    The exceptions are the Batchelor Range and the Dewdrop Range.    Those areas are south-facing and open to accelerated drying from the sun, warm conditions, and warmer winds.    The Dewdrop Range is a benchland with rocky bluffs overlooking Kamloops Lake, and the steep rocky Red Plateau Escarpment above.   Much of the Dewdrop Range is open sagebrush grassland with open pine trees in protected areas.   A few gullies and north slopes have more trees, but on the whole it is open enough to be fine for hiking by mid-March (later for … Continue reading →