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. 

Columbia Lake to the headwaters of the Columbia River, BC

Back in July, we were in southeastern BC and paddled across the south end of Columbia Lake to work out way up to the headwaters of the Columbia River. We put in at the Tilly Memorial Park (yellow arrows) in Canal Flats. We then padded across the lake and up the river/stream in the lower left corner to the head waters (blue arrow). If it was a windy day, you could also get in at the orange arrow.

Tilly Memorial Park is a municipal site and charges $5 a head for access. There are flush toilets, a change room, picnic tables and a roped swimming area off what looked like a gravel beach. There is also a boat launch and a dock and lots of parking.

We had an easy gravel beach launch. The fellow at the kiosk recommended we with go up the east side of the lake, staying close to shore because the wind can be sudden and big, or paddle across the southern end of the lake and find the head waters of the Columbia River. We chose the latter.

It was 2.5 or 3km across the lake. The water was crystal clear and the water was 4- to 9-feet deep. There were lots of fish. There were no power boats to speak of here--they headed up the lake.

As we approached the river mouth, things got shallower and the main channel was obvious.

The river got narrower and shallower as we worked our way up.

Periodically, though, there would be a deep hole with blue water and a silty bottom.

Down in the silt, you could see springs bubbling up. It was a very cool paddle, reminding me a bit of Yellowstone.

Eventually, we go to and under the bridge and managed to pole and bum-scoot our way up the stream other 250 feet. 

We finally abandoned the boats and walked the last 50 feet. The water was insanely cold!

The headwaters were nothing special but it was a pretty interesting paddle.

Overall, I probably wouldn't do this again, but it was very fun to do once and the lake itself was beautiful.

Premier Lake, BC

In early July, we paddled Premier Lake, just south of Canal Flats in southeastern BC. Access is a short and easy drive off the highway, mostly on paved roads, to the provincial park on the south end of the lake.

There is a nice boat launch, with pit toilets, picnic tables, lots of parking, and a small enclosed swim area. You can beach launch but the easiest access was off the boat launch. There is also a large floating dock that encloses a protected swim area. 

The lake runs north-south and we went left (clockwise). There is some kind of fish ladder (?) that accesses a creek. We immediately ran into an osprey harassing an immature eagle.

The shoreline on the west side of the lake varies from very steep to cliffs. The water is clear and a lovely green.

There are interesting underwater cliff faces to watch and lots of fish jumping. There are power boats on the lake but there is a speed restriction in the southern third.

The lake was dead calm the day we were there. I imagine in a blow it would be much dicier.

The only real place to get out on the west side of the lake is this boat launch. The road in is listed as 4x4s only (which is why we went to the provincial park). It didn't look that bad but we didn't go down it.

There are some neat things in the water, like this deadhead that is almost entirely submerged. There is also a sunken boat on the west side.

The water was so still, I could do reflections of the clouds.

At the northern end, there are number of private homes and no public access that I could see. Plus a cool island!

We caome back on the east side, which has a gentler slope (so you can get out a bit), more private cabins, and lots of fish.

There's another sunken boat on the east side and we saw a mature eagle fishing.

Premier Lake was very pretty and well worth the trip. The only real hazard on the road in was free-range cattle. A herd had seized one of the bridges and we had to wait for then to move.