Autumn Days ~ Barnhartvale ~ Lac Du Bois Grasslands

We awoke to a beautiful sunny day in Kamloops one recent morning, something we hadn’t seen in awhile. This one has some clouds in an otherwise perfect sky to reflect the colors of the sun and give us another reason to be thankful we are alive and living in Kamloops.  

Kamloops East

We are surrounded by beautiful sights to enjoy daily, from sunrise to sunset.  We have rivers and valleys and mountains and hills.  We have birds and bears and wildlife that share Kamloops with us.  We have wonderful friends and neighbors that give our city the life and serenity that we need in order to call it home.

A farmers hard work

We took some drives on the two sunny days we enjoyed and visited some of our countryside views to get some fall pictures and enjoy the sights.  If I were a real serious photographer, I would be up before sunrise to get shots of some of these beautiful places but that just doesn’t fit into the life of this “photo-essay-ographer”.   I only hope that my photos do justice.

Bose Lake

We visited Barnhartvale to see Buse Lake, but a bit early for what I was hoping to see.  Buse Lake turns a vivid magenta in the fall and although we’ve been there to see it at that time before, the sun wasn’t shining and just does not tell the story.  We tried again.

Bose Lake 2

Today was sunny but it was too early for the change.  I’ve been planning this for several years now but it just hasn’t worked out!  It is a pretty spot and should you be interested in seeing the lake with the magenta colors, click on here to see a paper article from a few years ago.  It tells the story very well.

Lac Du Bois Road

Our next day was on the other side of town, or is it other direction?  Kamloops sits at the meetings of the South and North Thompson Rivers.  Barnhartvale is east of the city and south of the South Thompson River and today’s travels are north of the city and west of the North Thompson River.  Are you still with me? Lol

Lac Du Bois

We are on the Lac Du Bois Road and enjoying the sights of the Lac Du Bois Grasslands Protected Area.  There are several small ponds throughout the area, which vary in size depending on the time of year.  We spent many winter Sundays in this area snowmobiling when the kids were young.  Bonfires, roasted wieners and lots of fun!  There is some very interesting information here if you wish to learn more about this area. 

Roadside pond

This is where we begin to find more trees to see the color in the grasslands.  The trees lined the road that bordered the pond, a good sized one, at that.   Several of these ponds are scattered around.  We’ve had quite a bit more than normal rainfall lately so I would guess that we are seeing more water than normal for autumn time.

McQueen Lake

McQueen Lake is part of the Kamloops Thompson School District and is used as an Environmental Education Centre. The Centre is very impressive and offers lots of perfect day visits as well as overnight accommodations for students.  It was many years ago that I made a visit with one of my kids’ class and remember collecting bugs and other goodies, but I have no doubt that much has changed and improved over the years since then. 

McQueen Lake 2

The centre is off limits to the general public but the lake is roadside and offers some great views.  Even with the gate closed, the lake is still enjoyed by other ‘students’ who stop by for a visit today.  Cattle is seen roaming the area, standing on the side of the road to invite us in.  Others are a bit shy and keep their distance.

Animals enjoy the sunshine

And what drive in the country would be complete without seeing the beautiful horses and happy cattle hanging around enjoying the sunshine in these hills.  The horses were in Barnhartvale and the cattle were in the Lac Du Bois Grasslands enjoying their free range life.  I do wonder why they were at the corral though, are they waiting for a truck to arrive to give them a ride down to the barn for the winter?

Robbins Range ~ Campbell Range ~ Campbell Creek ~ Kamloops, BC

‘A nice day for a drive’ usually conjures up blue sky and sunshine but today was not one of those days. We had clouds and the weather forecast included rain but maybe we could have enough luck to avoid the rain yet see some beautiful countryside so away we went.

Robbins Range Road

We followed the Barnhartvale Rd until we came to the Robbins Range Rd then followed that up through the hills. There was no traffic to speak of but there are farm and ranch homes scattered across the range. The public gravel road meanders through ranchland and you will see signs posted where there is private property.

The curious cow of Robbins Range

We didn’t see very many but we saw more cattle than people on our drive thru Robbins Range then onto Campbell Range. The cattle all wear ear tags that are the identification necessary to track down their personal information like heritage, health data and anything else needed to know about them. A big colored plastic tag takes away the rustic cattle look I will admit, (and by the pose that hides hers, this cow seems to agree), but I know this is necessary. It appears to be applied just like having their ears pierced and I would think this is less painful than branding. I didn’t see any brands but may not have been close enough to see that.

Robbins Range ~ Kamloops, BC

It has been many years since we had driven the Robbins Range Road, so long that it all looked new to me. I wish I had listened to those stories of years gone by but I do know that my dad lived here with his family as a very young boy and his father worked in the mill up there. I wasn’t able to find the mill location but I did enjoy the scenery, it is beautiful up on that range.

Pioneer homestead of Robbins Range

There were some spectacular sights and then there were some old decrepit ones, buildings in ruins and that makes me wonder. What is the story here, who was the family that lived here long ago…... maybe it was my dad and his family?

Aspen poplar lined Campbell Range Rd

There are roadside groves of aspen poplar trees throughout the ranges but this tree lined road was a great looking invitation to see what is around that corner. These trees are named from the trembling or fluttering of the leaves but are a very hardy tree who is the first to leaf out in the spring and the last to lose leaves in the fall. The active ingredient in aspirin occurs in the inner bark of the aspen trees.

Trucks that travelled country roads

Very few trucks were left behind but these ones were and make quite a sight. There was a painted sign on the door of one but I was not able to read it. Maybe it said the name of a ranch or perhaps it was a delivery truck? or a company truck from a mill? We will likely never know but it is fun to wonder.

Descend to Barnhartvale ~ Kamloops, BC

As we followed the hill back down to Barnhartvale, we were looking at a view of the mountains in the distance and the valleys that make up this beautiful area that we live in.  Barnhartvale was renamed in 1909 but previous to that was called Campbell Creek, which was the name of one of the earliest pioneers in this area, who no doubt was taken by the breathtaking views that we now enjoy.

Harvesting the crops

We did not see sunshine but that did not detract from the beautiful valleys, hills and fields. Most of the history written of these hills speak about cattle and we saw signs of that to still be here today. The fields that grow crops are being harvested at this time of year but by the time we got to this point, we had rain and there was no harvesting being done at the moment.

Campbell Creek Road ~ Kamloops, BC

We spent the afternoon touring Robbins Range, Campbell Range and then followed Campbell Creek Rd which weaves through more valleys, passing several homes on the final part of the road before reaching the old Merritt Hwy #5A. We passed a few lakes during our drive, some of which are a good size and offer good fishing but today was a day of enjoying the scenery that took us back in time.

We need not drive far before we are out of the city and enjoying the beautiful vistas in the hills surrounding Kamloops. You may want to check the map before you leave but the roads we followed are easy to find and you will see road signs at each crossing that will avoid taking a wrong turn.  (place your cursor on the map below and you are able to move it to follow the roads).

We are so lucky to have all of this in Kamloops, there is just no place like home !

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