Paddlers in the Kamloops area are blessed to have many paddling destinations within an hour's drive.   There are more than 40 lakes within that radius, but the lakes must be big enough to get a good workout by going around the perimeter once or twice.  Some of the lakes are large enough that it will take several trips to do the whole shoreline.   If we paddle 50 times in a year, we can go onto sections of the river or one of the 40 lakes and paddle somewhere different every time.   There area still a small number of lakes we haven't yet paddled on, but by the end of 2013, we will have done the perimeter of most of them.   Shuswap Lake, Adams Lake, Nicola Lake and Okanagan Lake will take longer to complete.

The other challenge on some of the lakes is competition from other boats.   We want to avoid big power boats or lakes that are full of people fishing, but that is mostly just picking the right time of day.   Power boats rarely get out in the morning.    Fishing is not good in the middle of the afternoon, so we paddle on the larger lakes in the morning and on the smaller lakes in the afternoon.   We go to more remote spots in warmer weather.  

And we have our favorites that will require multiple visits – Tranquille Bay, the North Thompson, Adams Lake, Heffley Lake, Johnson Lake, Campbell Lake, Azure Lake, Clearwater Lake, Murtle Lake, and the Shuswap River.    We will feature some of these after paddling them.   This week, we paddled Paul Lake, Badger Lake, and Stake Lake.   If you don't have a kayak yet, it may be time.