Kalamalka Lake, Kaloya Regional Park

In late September, we had a second paddle on Kalamalka Lake near Vernon, this time out of Kaloya Regional Park. This was an easier entry than the Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park, requiring just a 20m carry over grass and sand from the parking lot.

You can launch off either the western beach (gravel) or the sandier eastern beach. We chose the latter. There are pit toilets and change rooms here as well as picnic tables and a short walking trail around the park.

We paddled north on the eastern shore about 3 km, basically to the second point of land.

The shoreline is rocky beaches and there are plenty of no trespassing signs.

Just past the second point (below) is the Kalamalka Lake cave.

The cave entrance is hard to miss given the graffiti.

It is a shallow cave (you can just barely get your boat inside) and has an opening in the roof.

We went bit further up the shoreline (which gets steeper) before turning back south.

Kalamalka Lake joins Wood Lake through a narrow and shallow channel in the SW corner (you drive over the channel to get to Koloya Park).

We took a quick tour through and into Wood Lake and then decided to turn around. Our arms were tired from the previous day's lengthy carry.

We ended up back at Koloya Park but on the western beach (which has a marked swim area). We then hung out here, reading books and having lunch.

Overall, this was a nice paddle. The terrain wasn't quite as spectacular as the provincial park and there was more boat traffic. But the entry was way easier and the cave was pretty cool. There was also direct access to Wood Lake off a gravel beach nearby. 

Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park

In mid-September, we spent a few days in Vernon and paddled Kalamalka Lake. The first day, we paddled out of the provincial park. 

After some walking around, we decided our best bet was to follow the paved trail from the first parking lot down towards Juniper Bay Beach and then hook a right to launch from the sandy beach into Jade Bay.

This was a 400m carry with a pretty good elevation drop (30m?) and the first time I've ever wished for carts! The launch was beautiful, though and we ended up swimming here at the end of the paddle. There were pit toilets and picnic tables right off the beach.

We then went left (south) off the beach and followed the shoreline for an hour around Rattlesnake Point and then towards Cosens Bay Beach.

This was a spectacular paddle. Great weather, no boats, and a tremendous blue-green colour made for a nice day. Yay, travelling in the offseason!

The water was super clear. The colour is apparently a chemical reaction: as the lake heats, crystals form that reflect the blue-green rays.

We were starting to poop out at Cosens Bay so we turned around, had lunch, and paddled back.

The carry back up to the cars sucked, and we ended up stopping several times to give our shoulders and hands a rest. But the paddle was totally worth it. It is also possible to access the beach from the north end at Kal Beach, but that area is much more built up.

Three Valley Lake

In late September, we paddled Three Valley Lake, which is located just west of Revelstoke on the TransCanada Highway.

We stayed the night at Three Valley Gap Chateaux (which was fascinating in a mad-genius kind of way) and launched from their beach in the morning.

There is a public launch off Highway 1 about halfway down the lake. There is a big pull out, a proper boat launch, and easy entry.

We went counter-clockwise, following the main rail line along the north shore of the lake.

Three Valley started as a water stop for engines after the big climb up from Sicamous so there is a fair bit of ye olde timey rail debris and ruins along the edge. 

There is an outflow at the west end. We had great weather with totally calm water. The evening before there was some wind and the lake was a bit rough.

There are also a couple of small islands.

The one with the trees had an alarming number of enormous spider webs. 

The water was super clear.

We worked out way back on the south shore, where there is a fair bit of road noise from the highway. The perimeter of the lake is about 8km and took 2 hours at a moderate pace.

Overall, a great paddle and one I'm happy to have knocked off my list. My dad always put the hammer down passing through here (the Enchanted Forest is just a bit further west, so you can understand his thinking) so we never stopped. 

If you were looking to do a twofer, just to the west is Griffin Lake (maybe three kilometres?). This is a smaller lake but nice. There is no access for west-bound traffic but, if you overshoot, find a place to turn around (Crazy Creek Hotsprings is about 10km down the road) and then come back eastbound, there is a pullout halfway down the lake (first stand of trees after you can see the lake) and you can DIY access from here. 

Lower Waterfowl Lake

In late September, we took a trip to BC. Our first stop along the way was Lower Waterfowl Lake, which is located just south of Saskatchewan Crossing on the Icefields Parkway. The best access is through the campground. We arrived to find the campground closed for the season, so we backtracked to the lookout on the Parkway and put in from there.

The Parkway lookout is pretty busy with cars and tourists. It also requires carrying the boats down a short, but steep path and then navigating the rocks at the bottom. This was no big deal but might be a barrier if you have mobility issues. There was a Parks self-certification box here but no other amenities and our self certifications actually got checked as we were putting in.

That done, we managed to get into the boats without dumping in front of the huge crowd of onlookers (!) and we set off counterclockwise.

Lower Waterfowl is beautiful and we had great weather for mid-September (on the return trip, there was sleet!).

It looks like you could also access the lake from the north end (there is a pull out and people had walked in). This might have been an easier access, at least at the shoreline. 

We then followed the shore to the outflow in the northwest corner.

To get a good look, we beached the boats and walked a bit. The bottom of the lake is rock on silt but it is gooey in places!

We then came back south on the western shore, which was lovely.

There is a nice sandy spit if you'd looking for a picnic site or to have a very cold swim.

The inflow (from Upper Waterfowl Lake) is on the south end. There are a couple of braided channels. We tried paddling up but couldn't get very far (current was strong).

We walked the boats up a ways (again, ground was pretty soft) and then had a short run down to the lake. You could portage your boats to Upper Waterfowl Lake. That would be about a kilometre carry. You can also access Upper Waterfowl from the campground (again requiring a carry; this access was also closed). 

It isn't clear if Parks deems these two lakes separate bodies of water when they apply their 48-hour dry rule. We didn't have time to do both lakes, so we just did a short river run and continued around the lower lake.

Below, you can see the campground access point to Lower Waterfowl. The perimeter of the lake is about 4.5km and would take maybe an hour. We fiddled about at the inflow and outflow and spent maybe two hours here. If you did Upper and Lower you'd be looking at about 3 hours.

Overall, a lovely lake and a great paddle. Maybe not as large and beautiful as nearby Bow Lake, but there was no one here, whereas Bow Lake was jammed with cars and boats when we went by.