On a cool, windy, and sunny day in mid-March I decided to hike the Bluebird Trail, scouting a route for the next week. From the first pullout on the Frederick Road in the Dewdrop Range I hiked a single track trail that bears west along the open forest and grasslands slopes, crossing the Battle Bluff Trail at 1.3 km. The trail continues for 3.6 km where it crosses the Frederick Road and then the upper road, and continues on through the open forest where it merges with the Dead Coyote Trail and the Three Amigos Trail, both of which climb the Red Plateau Escarpment. For this day I hiked the first part of the trail, doing a loop route in the hills before returning back to the start.
The Dewdrop Range is an open grassland and lightly forested area extending from the Tranquille – Criss Creek Road west under Red Plateau for about 12 km.
At the turn-around point views extended down to Kamloops Lake with snowy Savona Mountain in the distance.
The Bluebird Trail gets its name from a string of bluebird houses, mostly installed by the Kamloops Naturalist Club. On this day it was too cold and windy to spot bluebirds or meadowlarks, but there were some early wildflowers (sagebrush buttercups), budding shrubs (waxy currant and saskatoon), and magpies keeping an eye on the hikers.
This was the first hike of the year in the area and there will be a few more hikes in the Dewdrop Range and on Red Plateau this year.
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