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Sicamous, B.C.

Beating the winter blues

There is a lot of great riding to be had at Blue Lake near Sicamous

by Mike Welykocky

Blue Lake is one of the more popular riding areas under the jurisdiction of the Eagle Valley Snowmobile Club and the Eagle Valley Grooming Society of Sicamous. The other riding zones within the Eagle Valley Snowmobile Club’s influence are Eagle's Pass, Owlhead Mountain and Queest North and South Mountain.

Springtime in Sicamous

It was a Thursday in spring 2005—a clear, bright and sunny day with the forecast being the same for the rest of the day. The riding elevations varied from the valley floor at around 1,300 feet to about 7,000 feet in the alpine. Our group consisted of Gary Keehn—who was our guide—my wife, Ollie, daughter Linda, son-in-law Bo and me. Bill Warner from Kamloops was joining us as well.

We drove down the Trans-Canada approximately 17 kilometres to Malakwa. From the Oxbow Frontage Road we turned onto Yard Creek Loop Road, driving about two and a half kilometres to reach the staging area. Here we unloaded and started up the Yard Creek Forest Road. At 10.6 kilometres we stayed to the right and followed the Yard Creek/Cummins Forestry Service Road to Cummins Lake. Another five to six kilometres got us to the new chalet at Blue Lake.

The chalet is located in the bottom of a narrowdraw facing south. The trail was groomed to the chalet. It was in excellent condition considering the fact that the club had had a major event here the weekend before. At this point Ollie decided that it was simply too nice to continue and preferred to just sit at the chalet.

A family who sleds together

As we were enjoying the warm sun a group of sledders came up the trail, led by Corby Haight on his mini Polaris. Corby, who was driving his own sled, was only five years old. His brother Brody came up in his mom's arms—he was only three years old. His mom said she expected that Brody would want his own sled real soon. Dad was Tail-gun Charlie. The trail from the staging area to the chalet is about 24 kilometres long. Yes, Corby had driven it himself.

Unbeatable scenery

Gary led us up and onto the ridge, which runs mainly in a southwest direction. From herewecould see Mabel Lake. We dropped down to the right into the alpine adjoining the ridge to play. After beating up what was left of unpacked snow, we worked our way back to the chalet. It was lunchtime and time to shoot the breeze. With lunch completed, Gary led us through the draw and onto the high alpine aboveBlue Lake. This alpine was almost at right angles to the previous one. From this vantage point we could see Owlhead to the southwest and behind that Mara Mountain (2,195 metres). To the northwest Queest Mountain (2,085 metres) was visible—to the south, Mount Mabel (2,136 metres), while behind we could make out Mount Nelson and Park Mountain, which we had ridden just a few days before.

Descending from this high point, we worked our way around to the east side through the trees and down to Blue Lake. The day had been a typical spring outing, with clear skies and warm temperatures. But, as all good things must come to an end, so did our riding for the day. We headed back to the chalet to pick up Ollie and begin our trek back to the staging area.

Blue Lake is an area with large, open subalpine and alpine terrain. There is plenty of room for playing, some climbing and sufficient open areas for all types of riding skills.