This will be an opportunity to visit the renowned McAbee fossil beds and heritage site. We will stop twice on the way to McAbee—the Kamloops Lake overlook and the provincial park in Savona. The overlook gives us a good view of the geology and fragments of crust transported by tectonic plates during the last ice age. At Savona we will be within a Pleistocene delta and it is a chance to imagine the forces that would have been unleashed when the ice jams at Spences Bridge and Savona burst, and there was a horrendous flood of lake water into what is now the Fraser. From there we will continue on to the McAbee fossil beds. Our walk up the hill takes us through the margin of this Eocene lake. Above our head you will see hoodoos carved through the flows that entered the lake and filled it until there was no more lake. After passing through some uneven ground we come to a trail where the careful observer can find pieces of shale with fossils. The McAbee is a protected site. There is ABSOLUTELY NO collecting or digging into the outcrop. If we find a fantastic fossil lying on the ground we will report it to the Heritage Park managers. We can have a picnic at the McAbee, though there is NO shade. Or continue on to Cache Creek.
Please bring adequate food and drink, wear sturdy walking shoes, and dress for the weather.