Category Archives: Hikes

Hiking every day.

Hiking the Estuary

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

By the end of February a route that I try to hike is from the entrance area to Tranquille down to the shoreline where streams flow into the river, then along the rivershore toward Cooney Bay.    The whole area floods in late spring, but it is a wide estuary in the other seasons.   Conditions are wet after snowmelt, but we can pick our way downstream to get to a gravel beach. There are several streams which flow from the hills down to the river.    A faint trail heads southwest toward the wider estuary. We can follow the shoreline of the river, which braids out into several channels between silt islands, some still with ice. The beaches become wider … Continue reading →

Mad Dog Mountain

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

There are a number of fine hikes to the summits of peaks in Marble Range Provincial Park.    Among the best are Mt. Bowman,  Wild Horse Ridge, Mt. Kerr, and Lime Ridge.    But there are some lesser-known and seldom-hiked routes too.    Mad Dog Mountain is a rocky peak standing between Mt. Bowman and Lime Ridge.   There is a trail which follows Foundation Creek to the lower slopes of the mountain.    The trail is mostly used to summit the northwest end of Lime Ridge, but a marked junction to a faint trail turns north and works its way up Mad Dog Mountain. Most of this area was burned in a forest fire in 2010.    We wound up … Continue reading →

Tuktakamin Mountain Hike

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

When we drive from Kamloops to Vernon, we go through Falkland in the Salmon River Valley between two mountains.     The mountain on the north is Estekwalan Mountain, one of the best hikes in our region.    On the right (south side) is Tuktakamin Mountain.    It can be accessed from the Pinaus Lake Road, and 4WD vehicles can even drive to the top where there are some towers.    Hikers can drive part way up, then hike a loop route over the top of the mountain. The trailhead is found at a sign on a tree above the road (N50 27.31 W119 35.48).    It is easy to miss on the way up. The trail winds through the forest, … Continue reading →

Haleakala Hike

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

While on the Island of Maui, we hiked trails every day.    The best of these hikes was a loop route on Haleakala.    The road to the summit climbs to 10 000 feet.    From the trailhead area, the trails descend into the crater.    there are 48 km of trails in Haleakala National Park.   We chose to hike the Sliding Sands Trail through the volcanic desert, then we looped back on the Halemau’u Trail to the Holu’a Cabin, and then climbed up a steep switchback trail to the rim, for a 18.5 km hike. From the summit area we descended down the barren slopes on the Sliding Sands Trail. In the center area of the wide (12 km … Continue reading →

Mt. Kerr Trek

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

At the end of June we drove west toward Clinton, then turned west down the Kelly Lake Road, then turned north onto the Jesmond Road.   This backroad runs through a valley between the Edge Hill and Marble Range Provincial Park.    There are a number of first-rate hikes in the limestone mountains of the park.    At about 21 km, there are two bumpy secondary roads that take us to the creek running west out of the valley between Mt. Bowman and Mad Dog Mountain.   The trailhead starts there to go to the top of Bowman or Mad Dog, but also Wild Horse Ridge and Mount Kerr. The trail follows the creek for 2 km to the junction for Mt. … Continue reading →

Spruce Canyon Stomp

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

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 →

North Thompson Winter Beach

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

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 →