On a sunny fall morning, the Raptor Ridge route was chosen for a moderate hike through the middle grasslands. The ridge parallels the Lac du Bois Road and from the high point at the north end there are often hawks perched on douglas fir trees and stumps, watching over the Lac du Bois Grasslands below. The start is at the …Continue reading…
Although we have hiked to the Guardsmen many times, we try to take a different route each time or to combine different detours, often taking an eclectic approach along the way. The Guardsmen are a number of large hoodoos standing over Tranquille River in a difficult-to-get-to spot of the rugged canyon. We started at the trailhead for the …Continue reading…
As winter progressed we had some milder days and over a few weeks, the snow and ice on south-facing lower slopes melted and ran off downhill. The lower slopes of the Batchelor Hills are often the first to be clear of snow and ice. On a cold day, the ground was frozen so I chose to start at one of …Continue reading…
On a mild day right before the winter solstice I explored the riverside area south of Cinnamon Ridge. I walked the Rivers Trail from the west end, then cut through the thick brush on a game trail all the way out to the bank above the river. I followed the rivershore east, mostly on the crumbling river bank, but also …Continue reading…
As winter approached the lower trails became icy, but the slopes of Lac du Bois Grasslands were much better for hiking, even though we needed to create our own route through the hills. On a mild day we parked at a pullout area off the Lac du Bois Road and started our hike up Red Hill. There are …Continue reading…
Opax Mountain is the large mountain area north of Wheeler and Mara Mountain at the north end of the Lac du Bois area. Driving Directions/Trailheads: Start at Lac du Bois or in the Mud Lake area. There are no signs and most routes require good navigation skills. A good map or a GPs is recommended. The area on top of …Continue reading…
There are 3 mountains in a line between the Lac du Bois Road and Tranquille Canyon. From south to north, they are Mara Mountain, Wheeler Mountain, and Opax Mountain. Driving Directions/Trailheads: From North Kamloops, drive up Batchelor Drive and carry on into Lac du Bois Protected Area. Wheeler Mountain is mainly accessed from Lac du Bois, but it is possible …Continue reading…
I led a small group on a complicated route above Pruden Pass. We parked at the end of the Pruden Pass Road and went up the northeast flank of Mara Mountain, working our way to the southwest summit where we had our first break. We followed an old double track down the northwest side of Mara to Massey Lake, then …Continue reading…
When the south-facing hills start to dry out, we look for scenic routes through the hills. On this mid-March day we hiked up the Pruden Pass Road from the Mara Trail(head), then took side routes out to the Guardsmen Overlook, Panorama Point, and Moby Dick before returning to the double track back to the parking area. We climbed up the …Continue reading…
In the right conditions paddling on the Thompson Rivers is great in March. On this mid-March day, there was no wind and blue skies. I paddled west from Pioneer Park, going under the Red Bridge, then the Black (CN) Bridge before passing through the Confluence. The river is quite low at this time of year and there are gravel bars …Continue reading…
The middle elevation hills of Lac du Bois Grasslands Provincial Park are open areas with grass and sagebrush on rounded hills and ridges. The soils are mainly a thin layer of organic materials on top of glacial tills. Where the glaciers moved across bedrock outcrops, moraines collected into kames and shaped hills. Between these hills potholes formed, once full of …Continue reading…
When we get some warmer temperatures in winter, the snows start to melt and the first places to be free of snow and mud are the shoreline trails and beaches of the rivers. The premier route for a winter walk/beach is along the Rivers Trail to the west beaches between the airport and Tranquille. We park at the end of …Continue reading…
When warmer winter weather wafts across the greater Kamloops area, the snows start to melt and the first areas to clear are the beaches and shorelines of the South Thompson River, the North Thompson River, the downstream Thompson River, and Kamloops Lake. These areas are lower, open, treeless, tend to be windy, and have granular soils. Within week of warming …Continue reading…
We hiked from the Mara Trailhead near Tranquille up the old double track to Pruden Pass, then turned north onto the Wheeler Mountain Road. The road climbs steeply then at about 1 km up, an older-yet hard-to-see double track angles west and after about one more kilometer arrives near the top of Wheeler Bluffs. We stopped there for lunch and …Continue reading…
Several places we hike to are included here: Batchelor (with a t) Batchelor Hills, Batchelor Lake, Batchelor Mine Named after Owen Salisbury Batchelor who moved to Kamloops in 1895 He built and ran a stamp mill just below the hills and was involved in several other mining ventures in the area Mara Mara Mountain, Mara Trail, Mara Canyon (Kamloops) Named …Continue reading…
Three mountains run south to north from the Thompson River Valley: Mount Mara, Mount Wheeler, and Opax Mountain. There are trails/routes to the top of all three, detailed on this website. In November we returned to hike the route up the north side of Mount Wheeler, an 11.7 km return route We started at Lac du Bois, then followed a …Continue reading…