Category Archives: Hikes

Hiking every day.

July Mountain Summit

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

July Mountain is located in the Coquihalla Summit Area, north of the core peaks accessible from the Coquihalla Highway.    The trailhead now has some access problems.    We used to take the Juliet Creek turnoff, following the road west, then we turned to cross a bridge and followed the rough July Mountain Road up to a parking spot.     The road was really a 4WD access and was grown in, but we could go slowly and park lower if we found the road too challenging.    Then, the July Mountain Fire burned the whole access area and the bridge went with it.    Access to the trailhead now requires a much longer route.     The extended access to the … Continue reading →

Rabbit Island Ramble

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

On the first day of March I hiked from McArthur Island over to Rabbit Island.    In late winter the ice clears off and a narrow channel separates the beaches of the two islands.    Since I have done this route many times, I knew what to expect.    The route is to hike over from the corner of McArthur Island onto wet beaches.    I had already put on a dry suit and neoprene boots and I had my hiking boots in a dry bag.   The narrowest part of a river channel is about 12 m across.   I waded through the cold moving water.   The deepest water came up to my knees, but since the water is quite cold. … Continue reading →

Hiking the West Beaches

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

On a mild end-of-February day we started a hike at the end of Aviation Way to go out to the West Beaches.    The route starts on the Rivers Trail, but we stayed on the narrower trail which follows the river downstream and out toward the Thompson River Estuary, looping back along the river for a 8 km, 2+ hour hike, much of it on the sand. A single track trail winds through the cottonwoods above the floodlands, bearing west. A single track drops down into a dry slough, following a single track past an old vehicle graveyard, sometimes called Dale’s Antique Beach. We emerged to the beach shoreline, then wound through the red-osier dogwood to the beach.   We went … Continue reading →

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 →