Category Archives: Exploring

Hiking, paddling, and exploring the hills, grasslands, mountains, and waterways of the Kamloops area and the Interior Plateau.

Dewdrop Arch

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The Red Plateau Escarpment rises 700 vertical meters (2300 feet) from the Dewdrop Range below.    The Dewdrop Range is a hilly benchland above Kamloops Lake.     The Escarpment above was formed by successive volcanic eruptions over many millions of years.     The rock in the Escarpment is composed of the rough a’a lava.    It was viscous, flowing rapidly, breaking up into chunks (clinkers) as it cooled.     Most of the escarpment is this rough basalt, piled high into cliffs.    There are air pockets, small caves, crevices, and a few arches in the Escarpment.     There are three arches that are large enough to climb through.    The largest  is directly below Castle Butte and we can scramble up to a spot just above the arch.    The second is a smaller arch which we can hike through, located just off the Dewdrop Traverse Trail on the rim, to the west of Castle Butte.    The third is in the Jag Hill cliffs, hard to see unless you are in the right spot.    I have hiked through all 3 (I did one of them again this year).

The largest of the three was named Dewdrop Arch.    We can see through the arch at a spot on the rough Dewdrop Road to the west of the arch.     Near there a rough trail/route that goes up a gully to the top of a ridge above the arch.    It is a bit precarious to go down to the top of the arch, but it can be done.    We climbed up through the arch, using a rope for safety, then we scrambled all the way to the top and came back on an established trail.

Any hiking/scrambling to Dewdrop Arch is best done by experienced scramblers/climbers.     It is a rugged route on loose material.   Shared here are some photos of successive outings to the Arch.

Mud Lake Hike

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Mud Lake is a small marshy lake in the hills between McQueen Lake and Opax Mountain.   The tracks that lead to Mud Lake and around the lake are restricted to non-motorized use and somewhat grown-over.     I had been in to Mud Lake a number of times and I had explored several of the tracks branching off, but I had never worked out a loop route … Continue reading →

Surrey and Sussex Lakes

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The Surrey Lake Forest Service Road starts as a turn off the Meadow Creek Road (between Lac le Jeune and Logan Lake).    It is a gravel road bearing south, climbing up through the forest.     After 7 km it passes under the Coquihalla Highway.     It provides access to several lakes in the area – Surrey Lake, Frogmoore Lake, and Sussex Lake.   The Surrey Lake … Continue reading →

Alexandra Bridge

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We went down the Fraser Canyon for a hiking tour, hiking the Stein River in the morning, overnighting in Boston Bar, then stopping to hike the trail down to and across the Alexandra Bridge.    In the afternoon we drove to Hope then hiked the Thacker Mountain Trail. Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park has no vehicle access (parking) in winter and was not scheduled to open until … Continue reading →

Along the Clearwater River Road

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The Clearwater River Road runs from a junction on the west side of Clearwater up the river to the confluence with the Mahood River, a total of 38.5 kms.  It is an old logging road, always bumpy and frequently closed.    At this time it is open for only 11 km, just past the Kettle.    It is now mostly used for fishing, whitewater rafting, and … Continue reading →

Ladner Creek Trestle

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The Kettle Valley Railway was built between 1910 and 1915.    By 1916 trains were hauling freight, connecting the Kootenays with the CPR at Hope, with a number of side branches to mines and other communities.    A number of challenges were met by Chief Engineer Andrew McCullough to keep the railway grade reasonable through mountainous terrain.   The railway lines were closed in 1961, and now … Continue reading →

Mahood Lake Hikes

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We have been to Mahood Lake a few times, driving Highway 24 west from Little Fort, then on backroads to Canim Lake,  and then down to the campsite on the east side of Mahood Lake.   We have base-camped there to hike trails, and on other occasions, we have paddled across the lake to camp at the far end.   From the Provincial Park Campground are a number … Continue reading →

Lac du Bois Hills Exploration

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On a hot summer day the plan was to explore a route to try to link up two old tracks, going around two hills on the north side of Lac du Bois.     On previous explorations  routes were taken that went over the top of the hills and another time I gone cross country around the hills, but for this time I was hoping to link … Continue reading →

Isobel Hills Routes

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On a summer morning I chose to explore some old tracks and some newer trails on the south and southeast side of Isobel Lake.    Some of these were used by ranchers and may have been occasionally used by cross country skiers, but in more recent years by Fat Tire Bikers and snowshoers.    In addition to the tracks and trails shown here, there are some … Continue reading →

High Bar Road

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We have explored Marble Range Provincial Park quite a few times and we have camped at Big Bar Lake a few times too.    Many of the days were out from Kamloops to hike one of the peaks as a day trip, but when we stayed at the Provincial Park Campsite on the lake, we explored backroads too, west to Big Bar Ferry, north to the … Continue reading →