Kamloops and Nairn Falls

The Yellowhead Highway took us through the only desert area of Canada. (The Yellowhead name comes from an explorer who had yellow streaks in his hair. The First Nation people called him Yellowhead. Thanks Bill for researching that question.) The scenery from this highway was quite a contrast from the glacier topped mountains we had seen the previous day. Kamloops is in the desert area. Kamloops hosts the Secwepec Museum and Heritage Park. This First Nation museum was very different from other native museums. It was housed in an old school complex. The museum told of how the First Nation local tribes banded together to try and save their land. A representative from first nation groups met with Queen Victoria. English settlers had talked very lovingly of the queen; this chief thought she would hear what the aboriginal people had to say and return their land. History tells us that did not happen. We learned about the early 1900s Catholic Church schools where First Nation children were forced to attend. The school's attitude towards the students was that they were free laborers. It was not a good experience and many older natives have bad memories of those times. There were several exhibits about archeological digs in the area. Two rivers converge in Kamloops. All the early peoples used the rivers as the primary mode of transportation. Having an intersection of two large rivers meant this area played an important role in the history of the First Nation people as well as the early explorers.

Shortly after we left Kamloops we were back in the forested mountains. We stopped for lunch at a roadside park next to a lake. The lake had beautiful rushes at one end. It was a peaceful respite.




Nairn Falls campground, our destination for the night, was striking. The rushing river next to the campground made beautiful music. One of the campsites (already occupied when we arrived) was overlooking the river; that is the first picture on the left. The next picture was from the end of the river hike (with Sandy standing by a tree). The last picture showed the beginning of Autumn colors.
The campsite was not without its flaws. Sandy and I wanted to have a sink with running water that night. There were several hikes around the campgrounds: to Nairn Falls, to One Mile Lake, and down the river. We started with the hike to the lake. That was a big mistake. The hike took off up hill. The trail kept climbing up over a crest to another crest with no end in sight. Eventually we turned back before getting to One Mile Lake. The hike was advertised as a 2.2 km hike; it felt as though we had walked for three miles before turning around. A side trip from that trail to Lumpy's Epic also did not achieve a destination; it was another trip up without any overlooks or explanation as to why it was Lumpy's Epic. There was a sign on a tree in the forest noting it was Lumpy's epic but no further details were offered. The trail along the river was beautiful and easy. After finishing the river hike, we were out of time to check out Nairn Falls. The campgrounds were well maintained and the location was beautiful. The hikes did not display a map or offer much explanation as to the destination. We should have checked with the local park manager about the hikes before starting. Live and learn. We all survived. The campsite overlooking the river was prime real estate; We would loved to have camped there. We did camp 50 feet away from that campsite. We were in the first tier campground not the box seat site.