March 5th. Bear Creek Park. (sans ourses aujourd’hui..!! )

A series of beautiful blue sky sunny days inspired a trip up to Kelowna for a trail in Bear Creek Park with a couple of friends from the old country who reside in Kelowna. Our neighbour here at the campground had recommended Bear Creek park so it seemed like a great opportunity to combine a walk with a visit.

The drive up the side of Okanagan Lake was amazing, there was not a breath of wind and the lake was mirror flat.

Following the road north up the west side of the Okanagan is like flipping the pages over in a ‘beautiful scenery’ calendar. The scenery changes but does not ever lose its spectacular quality.

Bear Creek was the destination. The Burnses met us at the trailhead with Watson (the border collie) in tow.

The trail starts with an immediate climb up the ravine….mostly stairs…( I didn’t count..!!)

………and then levels out where we planned to follow a couple of loops up at the higher elevation.

Like most of the hikes around here, the reward for the climb is amazing panoramic views of lake and mountain….and on this occasion….the skyline of Kelowna.

The weather obliged us with some whispy clouds up over the contours of the mountains on the far shore.

The trail took us down another long flight of steps in to the ravine and then up a series of switchbacks on the other side.

The path up, as seems quite common at this time of year, was still snow covered with the covering having been trampled by multiple hiking feet had become a somewhat treacherous path of ice.

The little bit of drama for the day was losing Watson for a bit……but he was safely retrieved and we were able to complete the loops without further incident. ( Maria calling for Watson from the top of the hill made a great shot dontcha think..!!)

Once Watson was safely back on track with his people again the trek continued round to the outer part of the loop. This took us through a bit of forest, and then back to the east ridge with a lovely lookout over the lake again.

It was such a lovely day and the splendid vista of the lake on the way down became an exercise in just ‘soaking it all in’………A good for the soul type of day..!!

Day finished out with a late lunch/early dinner at the Everest Grill in West Kelowna. It was picked for the convenience of its location…..but a truly excellent meal was delivered to us. Highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in the area.

Extra Pix