Island Lake, Grasslands Esker, and Long Lake

Island Lake, Grasslands Esker, and Long Lake

Doug Smith  January 4, 2024 at 9:00 am

On a sunny mid-November day I hiked through the middle grasslands from a designated trailhead in Lac du Bois Grasslands Park.   A single track trail winds through the open grasslands past lakes and glaciated features.    On this day I did a counter-clockwise loop that went east across the grasslands hills.  

On this day I did a counter-clockwise loop that went first to a viewpoint overlooking Long Lake.   The alkaline lake is one of 5 lakes ( a total length of 3.5 km) in a low point between grasslands hills.    The drainage currently flows north, then east into McQueen Creek, then down to the North Thompson River.    When the ice was built up during the last Ice Age, the drainage would have likely also flowed south toward the North Shore of Kamloops.  

From the lookout I crossed the open hills to the Grasslands Esker.    This sinuous glacial feature is about 2 km long, the deposits of an under-ice glacial stream running from Lac du Bois down to the Long Lake drainage.  

From the top of the esker we can look across Island Lake, a series of shallow lakes (former potholes).    I then hiked back on a single track on the west side of Long Lake.   

A few images from the hike are shared here.   Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption.  

More Information on this hike:

 

About KamloopsTrails

I started exploring this area in 1976 and I continue to follow tracks and routes wherever they lead, with the aid of map, compass, GPSr and camera. After many dead-ends, but also many discoveries, I chose to share this information. Getting out 12 months each year, I continue to explore trails, tracks, routes, and waterways of the Kamloops area and beyond.


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Doug Smith

Doug writes for Kamloops Trails, a not-for-profit (and ad free) website, offering information on trails, waterways, routes, featured spots, viewpoints, and explorations in the outdoors in the Kamloops area (and beyond).

Doug started exploring this area in 1976 and continues to follow tracks and routes wherever they lead, with the aid of map, compass, GPSr and camera. After many dead-ends, but also many discoveries, he chose to share this information.

The Kamloops Trails website has a massive number of interesting posts and would be of interest to anyone in Kamloops who enjoys the outdoors. Visit the Kamloops Trails website at: http://www.kamloopstrails.net/

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