Tag Archives: Westsyde

Deep Lake Loop

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On a day in late March, I started by trying to hike to Lyons Lake (northeast of Heffley Creek), but I found the route too muddy,  so I shifted gears and instead drove out to another hike on my list – the Deep Lake Outer Loop.    In February I had hiked trails in the area, on open south-facing slopes up the Community Grasslands Trail and up the hill above the lake (link).   I left the sheltered and muddier routes for a later day.   This day’s hike went up the Deep Lake Outer Loop route and then around the hill on the east side of Deep Lake.

The first part of the trail climbed the sagebrush grasslands ridges, and then I turned onto a single track which wound around gullies heading to Deep Lake.    A turn at the south end of the hill led to a forested trail bearing north.

At the northeast end of the trail system, the Outer Loop goes through some grassy meadows up to the north end of Deep Lake.   There were some boys fishing on the lake as I hike past by, then I continued up the hill.    This is a peaceful spot in the Lac du Bois Grasslands.  I joined the main trail system and then hiked back down to the trailhead.    This was over 2 hours on the trails with lots of up-and-down hiking, but hiking the Deep Lake Trails is always rewarding.

Shared here is a Google Photos Album of photos from the hike:

On the trails I spotted some woodpeckers, some robins and a grouse.   Sagebrush buttercups were abundant, but I also spotted a few yellow bells (Fritillaries), and arrowleaf balsamroot was showing emerging flower buds.    It was a windy but mild day on the grasslands trails, one more great day of hiking.

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Deep Lake Hike

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

On a cool February day we hiked up trails in the Deep Lake area to a hill above the lake.    The Deep Lake Outer Loop winds up sagebrush grasslands and open forested slopes to the Grasslands Community Trail on a benchland southwest of the lake, then comes to a junction just south of the lake.    We though that the outer loop route would be icy on the north side of the hill, so we went to the top of the hill for the view instead. A single track trail has some steeper sections as it climbs to the open grasslands. At 2.3 km we arrived at a point above Deep Lake.    Trails continue around the lake, but … Continue reading →

North Batchelor Range Hike

Kamloops Trails Posted on by  

The north end of the Batchelor Range can be reached from the Deep Lake area by hiking the Grasslands Community Trail in the Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area, then going cross-country up the ridge from the north end.   From the trailhead for the Deep Lake Trail to the top of the ridge is a climb of about 581 m (1900 ft).   There are series of hilltops in the Batchelor Range, so we can go up and down several before looping back.    The loop route back for us was off-trail and steep.   The total distance was over 12 km. There is little shade on this route so it is a better hike for late spring or alternately, in early … Continue reading →