kamloops

kamloops was our next destination after passing the coastal mountains. to be honest, despite the shiny tourist advertisements we had seen – and believed before – that presented kamloops as an attractive, modern and outdoor-activities-loving community, we were somewhat disappointed by the lack of flair the city offered. but i don’t want to be unfair, our impression might have been influenced by a huge construction site in the – potentially most attractive – area near the south thompson river and our not really lucky hand when picking the hostel.

but obviously, my dad and i tried to make the best of it and in hindsight we did spend two quite pleasant days there. the day of our arrival welcomed us with really warm and sunny weather, i think it was the hottest day of the entire trip. it almost felt like being in the desert. we spent the afternoon walking around and passing by mcarthur island park (first few of the pictures).

on day 2 we set our minds on hiking, and after a short internet-based research decided to aim for the peterson creek waterfall. the hiking area – considering how close to the city it is located – is surprisingly large and actually perfect for heading out without a clear destination and deciding along the way how long you want to go. we were out for a little more than three hours. after a little less than two hours we finally found a way to go down to the creek below the waterfall. once there it was an easy task (and a really, really nice hike) to get to said waterfall. that was definitely worth it. on the way back (it was pretty steep) my dad got a bit dizzy and – i admit – scared me a little bit. but he was fine shortly after. lesson learned is: take food, even when you’re so close to a city.

funny side story: on the last night my dad either forgot his glasses at a restaurant, or lost them while we were out taking photos of the river valley from a hill. so we went back to the spot where i took photos looking out for his glasses, which we didn’t find. but on the way back, only a few hundred meters away from where we had parked the car, i suddenly hear a noise in the bushes and was a little surprised when a group of three caribous appeared just an arm’s length away from us. they were so peacefully browsing that it would somehow have felt like a violation to get out the camera and take pictures, so i didn’t.

on the way to mcarthur island park

entrance to mcarthur island park

tree in the park

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjmEkutnKRo

view of kamloops

bench

peterson creek waterfall, from far

river, bridge and kamloops

flowers

cables

tree

boards

thompson river

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2HUk-MXpBY (3:20)

my dad’s arm

peterson creek waterfall

river at dusk

clouds

kamloops at dusk

river again, hdr

and again, hdr

kamloops, hdr

tree