B.C. Country Roads No. 2 – Kamloops Hikes – Mara Loop and Balancing Rock

Early June 2020

After my exciting day in the Deadman Valley I relaxed at my Juniper Beach campsite.  The Thompson River seemed higher than the day before and was running very fast, sometimes carrying branches and even one whole tree quickly downstream.  The camp host assured me that the river wouldn’t continue to rise high enough in the night to sweep me and my car away!

The next morning dawned bright and warm and I took a short walk around the campsite before breakfast, stopping to admire the birds that I met.

An Eastern Kingbird.

A Cedar Waxwing in a juniper tree.

A male House Sparrow.

Then, it was up to the highway, but not before I had to stop for this racing, roaring, rumbling east bound train, colourfully stained with graffiti.

The drive east on Highway 1 from Juniper Beach to Kamloops, high above the Thompson River, was beautiful.  The city, however, has grown a lot since I was last there, and I didn’t like all of the busyness and traffic after several days of being alone in quiet spaces.  I drove quickly through town, crossed to the north side of the Thompson River over the wooden-trussed Red Bridge, and made my way west along Tranquille Drive in order to do the Mara Loop hike.  (Hikekamloops.ca is a great resource for finding hikes in the area, rated by difficulty, with detailed trail descriptions and excellent photos).

Mara Loop is a full-sun hike, just over 4 km, with enough elevation gain to give excellent views of the Thompson River and of the dry sage-covered hills that rise up on both sides of the valley.  The trail started on an old road which first climbed steeply north and then turned east.

With great views back towards the west.

And lovely close up views of some scattered wildflowers and prickly cactus.

A few snags of grand old Ponderosa pines, scattered here and there, accented the blueness of the sky, and one old-timer lay dramatically on its side.

The trail circled back towards the river, dipped into a small ravine, and rose up again to far-reaching views.

A strategically placed bench was a great place for a rest and while I was there a beautiful harrier hawk soared slowly past me at eye level, only meters away.  A short while later, I spied a very large, bright white bird flying high in the sky – it was an American pelican!

The descent from the bench back to the start of the trail was quite steep, but fun, and I continued to enjoy the colours of the sage and grasses, and the deeper colours of the flowers and fields as I came down off of the hills.

Descending towards the west.

Looking across to the “islands” of flooded willows and cottonwoods in the Tranquille Wildlife Management Area.

Sweet smelling purple alfalfa.

Bright yellow canola.

And then, the excitement of a train!

Pleased with my hike, I checked into my Kamloops accommodation by the river, enjoyed a shower, a rest, and a picnic dinner overlooking the Thompson.  Then, as evening was approaching, I took a quick drive up to Rose Hill Park for a short walk.  This time, my car did all of the climbing, quick and steep up Rose Hill Drive to the park which has a frisbee golf course and many trails which meander over the hillside, with fantastic views of Kamloops below.

I enjoyed the quiet, the cool evening air, the flowers, and the close-up beauty of grasses and young ponderosa pines.  If I lived in Kamloops, I would walk here often.

The next morning, I was up bright and early for the drive back west along Highway 1 towards Savona to hike to the Balancing Rock.  I stopped at the Kamloops Lake View Point for this lovely morning view of the sun rising over Kamloops Lake.

I climbed a rocky knoll at the viewpoint and scanned the land westward, finding the small group of hoodoos, tucked against the hills, with Balancing Rock off to the left of the group, by itself.

The trailhead was 1.5 km further west on the highway, with a small pullout and space to park.  The start of the short, 1.5 km trail to Balancing Rock was very pretty and peaceful in the morning quiet.

One of my first views, zoomed in, of Balancing Rock.

The hill-top trail continued towards Balancing Rock, circled around and above it, with a steep trail down if one was feeling sure-footed.

I continued past Balancing Rock a short distance to see the grouping of clay hoodoos.

And then I returned to Balancing Rock and decided to brave the short but steep and rock-slippery trail down for a closer view.

Happy from my morning hike, I continued my drive west, turning south before reaching Savona onto the Tunkwa Lake Road, headed to Tunkwa Provincial Park where my B.C. country roads adventure continued.