What do Buse Lake, Kenna Cartwright Park, Peterson Creek Park and Riverside Park have in common?

9 - 13 September 2014   Hills

Kamloops BC. If you’re not going uphill in Kamloops you’re going downhill. Lose your marbles and you’ll find them down by the river. That’s where they keep a rare flat area called Riverside Park.

Good thing for us low (and flat) landers since this was the only handicapped accessible “easy” rated trail here. The rest are in the traditional BC rated “easy” to “moderate” more suitable to goats categories. It’s starting to dawn on us that the BC trail raters are likely a lot fitter and younger than we are.

As in this “easy” to “moderate” trail in the Kenna Cartwright Park (just say “behind the jail"to the locals):

 

We survived it. There are great views of the city and the rivers:

Hard to see through the sweat.

We then tried the easy trail in Peterson Creek Park. Not all that bad except it was fairly warm out so it seemed a bit harder. Ironically, the trail goes up the hill behind a subdivision. Locals probably walk up and down the hill every day. Whispering about out of shape flatlanders.

For a change of pace we decided to explore a lake I found nearby on Google Earth. Shoreline looked flat and sandy from above. Cool! – maybe we can dip our toes on this easy walk. Silly flatlanders – that’s not sand -it’s salty crusted mud. Real squishy near the smelly water.

Turned out the going around the lake gave us interesting choices: slog through the muck or go away from the water and enjoy the brambles. By the time you hit the point of no return (that clearing over on the other side) you realize it doesn’t get better, just different since Buse Lake is a settling pond that waxes and wanes with the seasons.

Maybe we should have climbed another hill.