At the end of February on a cool and sunny day I hiked from McArthur Island down to the beach area, then waded across the river channel to Rabbit Island.    I wore a dry suit and neoprene boots and the water depth was about mid-thigh with a current, but I used a pole for stability and crossed quickly.    I then went across the sandy beaches to a pile of logs under the cottonwoods.    I removed my dry suit and boots and left them to dry while I hiked clockwise around the island.

The north side is all on the beaches and the south side is on a grassy bench above steep sandy slopes down to the river.   There are game trails through the middle of the island, but for this day, I hiked the perimeter.     The center of the island has open meadows with salt-tolerant grasses and cottonwoods.    A small number of pine trees stand on the highest areas.    During freshet the island is cut with flooded channels.   At the southwest corner, there was still ice on the river, as it flowed down to Kamloops Lake.

The hike is 4.7 km, but it takes about two hours with wading both ways, changing gear, walking through the grasses, and exploring.   This is a hike I do every year.    The next time I will be on Rabbit Island will be by kayak in the summer.

Some photos from the hike are shared here (with captions) in a Google Photos Album (link) – Rabbit Island in Winter

The album is also shared here as a slideshow (no captions):