I have been exploring the area around Kamloops for 43 years and each year I look for new routes.   Some work out, some lead to new discoveries, some end up as good exercise but nothing to report, and some are just difficult going.   I had been up the Connolly Lake Road before and had explored some of the backroads and motorcycle trails on the flanks of Chuwels Mountain, but I examined a potential loop route on maps to take in two high country lakes and several marshes, linked by motorcycle trails, skid tracks, and secondary logging backroads.   It looked promising and some sections were fine, but the middle section was very difficult.

The streams that seep and creep into Connolly Lake are the sources of Peterson Creek and the creek was running fully out of the lake in May.

There were easy tracks into the north shoreline of Connolly Lake.

From there a motorcycle track goes up the hill to the west to the top of the mountain.   There was another trail that wound around the lake and worked its way toward Eureka Lake ton the edge of wetlands but there was a makeshift sign stating the trail was closed.   I followed it anyway, but the reason it was no longer in use was obvious.   The old trail was next to a cutblock and winds moving across the open terrain had blown down sticky lodgepole pines in the forest, covering the route with hundreds of trees.   In spring some of the “go-around” choices crossed marshes so the whole section from Connolly Lake to Eureka Lake was almost impassable.   But I found my way through to the lakeshore with patience and some clambering past obstacles.

I opted to make my own route around the marshes to try to get to dry ground, using my GPS for support.  The area was very quiet, very wet, and with limited views, except a few pristine marshes.

Near the marshes were a few patches of coltsfoot in riparian zones.

In open glades a few fairyslippers were in bloom.

Along the secondary roads, arnicas were just starting to bloom at 4800 feet.

Many mosses were starting to fruit.

The high country lakes, ponds, and marshes are worth a trip to the area so we will look for another route that avoids difficult bushwhacking next time.  Either way, we always find some compensating factors – the quiet of the forest, the spring emergence of wildflowers. grasses, mosses, and lichens, butterflies and pollinators, pond critters, the challenge of finding a way through difficult terrain, the exercise, and sense of adventure in exploring new areas.