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Kayaking the North Thompson from Barriere to Kamloops in September

A group in Barriere is organizing a day long trip down the North Thompson River from Barriere to Kamloops on September 6, leaving at 7:00 am. It's about a 12 hour trip and ends at Riverside Park in Kamloops. It's a pretty easy river run, with only two sections of very easy whitewater (shallow). This is not a club event, just a bunch of recreational kayakers (so far participants range in ages from 7-63) out for a fun day to see the North Thompson.

If anyone is interested, call Bonnie Peterson (organizer) at 250-672-2324 and mention that I was spreading the word.

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Permalink Reply by Greg Loftus ( Cominco) on August 8, 2008 at 9:21am: Sounds like a hoot, But whats it like above your put in, we are considering a little longer trip on the river but know very little about it. Cheers Greg; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Chris Newton on August 12, 2008 at 6:36am: There is a put-in just south of Clearwater (Thompson River Provincial Park I think). From there to Riverside Park in Kamloops is approximately 130km. I would think a 2-3 day paddling trip.

The provincial park has campsites but the rest of the trip would be camping on river bars or the bench above the river.

There are a few challenging spots (fishtrap canyon and heffley).

There is a book ("Canoe Trips British Columbia" by Jack Wainwright) that talks about this trip in a little more detail.

I have not actually been on the river yet so cannot comment from personal experience.

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Permalink Reply by GuyThaLizard on August 14, 2008 at 7:27am: Hello Chris
Question for you!

Have you ever kayaked on Oyama Lake?

I came across some pics on the web and there seems to be a whole wack of little islands scattered all over the lake. Looks like it would be a good kayak area. I have never been there but am thinking of taking a trip up and checking it out sometime. I only have a car and was wondering if the road is car assessable or if it is only assessable by 4X4. Any ideas?

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Permalink Reply by Chris Newton on August 20, 2008 at 6:25am: Hi,

No ideas. The picture does look great though!

Just got back from a trip to Murtle Lake (in Wells-Gray).
It is a big lake (we were only there for a few days), so we barely scratched the surface.
I would love to go back, but will hopefully go for longer next time. (There is a 2 km portage to get into the access point.)

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Permalink Reply by GuyThaLizard on August 26, 2008 at 5:59pm: That must have been great! I Just googlemapped it and saw some incredible pics of it. Will have to start making a list of lake access point (coordinates) for trip planning. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by GuyThaLizard on August 26, 2008 at 9:30pm: Well.. I started a PUT-IN locations list. So if you want to post some feel free.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by GuyThaLizard on August 26, 2008 at 9:27pm: September 6th, If you go take lots of pics and upload them for us! Sounds like it will be a great trip.

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