Category: Travel posts

That bittersweet moment arrived….time to pull out of Wrights Beach Camp, our home for the last 6 months, and start the traveling thing again. With the truck and trailer all washed and sparkly clean, everything stashed and stowed safely, we are ready to rock and roll.

Wrights has been a fantastic stop with incredible hikes, amazing scenery, delicious beer, wonderful people. It will be a real pleasure to swing around through this town again.

The drive up the west side of Okanagan Lake gave us one last glorious octacular feast. We knew that Kelowna might be sticky…hitting it at 9 am…but in the grand scheme of things…its just not that busy of a town…so even tho the highway cuts right through the middle of the city, it was a straight run through.

Heading north out of the city through Lake Country and Vernon…..places we had not been yet and the rain started…..not anything torrential mind…just enough to make it difficult to take pictures, between the raindrops and the wipers…LOL….

Most of the road north follows the lakes. The rainy weather created lines of fluffy clouds clinging to the valley sides and atmospheric mists over the waterways.

BC is such a beautiful province that even the rain makes it a different kind of pretty. wow what a drive.

The cat, travelling in his box is quite laid back. Sometimes he likes to watch the view, sometimes he just sleeps. ( Editor. If I look over and see the cat like this I’m thinking, I’ll have a pint of what he’s having )

Its not the best time of year to be traveling this far with a trailer. Most of the campgrounds don’t open ’til May…or even the beginning of June…….but the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort was open…and that was our destination.

With no convenient options to split the journey we were doing an uncharacteristic run of 7 1/2 hours. Turned out to be 8 1/2 technically ‘cos we crossed a time zone as well. ( there’s just too much to see in between to drive that far in one go…!!)

So we pulled over at a truck stop in Revelstoke for lunch, our halfway point. Great thing about hauling the house along behind you…when you stop at the side of the road you have a kitchen, including fridge…and a bathroom…right there….!! Then back on the road.

We passed through multiple of these avalanche tunnels…..its quite sobering, thinking about it..!!

Avalanche control Shortly out of Revelstoke we drove into avalanche control. The Rogers Pass is apparently a bad area for avalanches….it is VERY steep as you go through…so we got stopped…and hour and a half…and a long line of traffic.

They set off field guns at a couple of spots along the pass…and then search and rescue have to go through and clear the area. They also had a slide happen a bit further east….so they said…..so…me and the cat hopped back into the trailer and curled up under a blanket..(it was cold up there..)

From the top of the lakes up the Okanagan we were back on the trans Canada. We completing a travel loop back through Golden. (where we had been in the fall)

The road to Fairmont Hot Springs is south through Radium and then a little further. I tried to get some pictures of the mountains ahead and the mountains behind. BC certainly has an abundance of mountains.

Fairmont Hot Springs resort is halfway up a mountain itself. Pulling the trailer up the road to the site was…..daunting.

The next experience for the life events bag was ….when your pull through site isn’t a pull through for a 30 footer. Between the steep uphill, the slippery loose gravel, the right angled turn in from the narrow lane and the tree right on the corner of the site. We soon decided that it just wasn’t going to work, pulled all the way around the road and backed in. (no divorce happened…Walkie Talkies are magical things..!!)

…and then….head for the hot pools…….

I can now assuredly declare myself to be an addict…of natural hot springs…be warned…they may feature strongly in our future travels….!!😀

With a couple of decent weather days and the weather looking unpleasant in the long range, the Alltrails search threw up some choices…Bronagh had a day off….so Anne and Sandy Cross conservation area on south west of the city had our name on it…..for the enticingly named Paradise loop. Parked and paid our $10 for the day.

It is a completely different landscape from the BC interior, but no less beautiful.

There are multiple loop trails in this conservation area…the one we chose actually combined all the of them along the way.

Its hard to know whether to look up or down, as the clouds dance their way by.

Boy it was windy out there. The first part of the trail is up over a ridge and grassland…so no shelter…..we were very glad of hats and gloves at that point. As we dropped down from the first ridge it was a little more sheltered for a bit…then we got blasted off our feet again…..it was most entertaining…….lol….

The park is mostly grassland but also leads through birch forest…which seems to me now to be very “Alberta’. The rolling low level hills of the grasslands have a very distinct beauty of their own. …and the skyscape with those oil painting unreal clouds…..is fascinating. Interior BC is Ponderosa pine for the most part…Alberta is birch…

There are strategically placed memorial benches and picnic tables along the way…it would be a great place to stop for lunch….if it was not so bloomin’ windy..!!

Just like the mountains, as we wander over this undulating landscape I just don’t ever get tired of the vistas.

Then there are the reminders of the prominent presence of bears around (yes I have my bear spray on board..!!)

The amazing thing in this part of the world is, because Alberta is so flat….the horizon to the west is….the Rockies for as far as you can see….north and south. Its like someone made a larger than life wallpaper border…and stuck it all the length of the western border of Alberta.

It was a trail with just enough grades to make it a bit challenging (especially for the photographer who is constantly running up and down the trail ahead and behind to get his shots …!!! (Suffering for his art…but believe me…not in silence..!!))

I think this was my favourite image for the day…..the ever present mountainous horizon.

Lovely walk …lovely day….grand day out with Bronagh.

Extra pix

It seemed ironically appropriate for the last outing before pulling out of Penticton to be biking up to Abandoned Rail. The bike ride up the Kettle Valley Rail trail to the brewery was our first activity upon arriving in Penticton, and now 6 months later…the brewery is finally ready ( and COVID restrictions have relaxed enough) for them to have their opening.

So…Saturday morning we were up and out on the bikes….

……….it did not seem nearly as hard as the first time back in September.

It was a cool but clear day…..its such a lovely trail with a very gradual incline. In the fall there were only glimpses of the lake through the vineyards and apple orchards that line the route. In March tho, the view is clear across the valley.

There is a trestle bridge across they canyon just before you get to the brewery.

It has a section of love locks…!!! Which is something we have seen in quite a few places.

The brewery is just on the outskirts of Naramata, the premiere wine region of the Okanagan. The site they built on used to be a ‘slushie’ spot, where trail users could get slushies made with local Ambrosia apples……the sign is still there…!!

Abandoned Rail Brewing is in just the right spot to justify a beverage for the road home. (and a great excuse to get the bikes out.)…and also to meet a couple of friends from Kelowna for a last visit before we leave.

Congratulations to Peter and the team for a great looking little brewpub, and a very quaffable selection of beers. My big reward was the newest brew, a porter which had not been canned yet so was only available on tap. Food was available from the Wienery food truck….I did try the roasted marinated carrot……it was so very much better than it sounds…!!!

The porter was delicious….!!!

So we finished up our brews, said our cheerios to Maria and Stephen (of Bear Creek Park fame..!!) …and set off back down the trail.

Sometimes you just have to stop and stare…!!

The KVR is one of many jewels that make up Penticton. It’s a beautiful trail for biking with a steady grade and a superb surface for the bike. It has fantastic views…and the next big bonus now is a fabulous little micro brewery to stop for refreshments along the way…

Our last big outing in Penticton, home to finish up our preparations to pull out on Monday and start the trek east, south……or where the wind blows…..!!!

This is a collection of days out. We had approached the same area from three different angles on different days, so it seemed to make sense to put them together.

On..March 1st.. we had taken the short hike up the icy path to Hardy Falls.…and in the interests of adding more steps to the days activity…..we parked back towards the shoreline at Summerland to check out the trail up Trout Creek. Scott had been looking to get some interesting shots out over the lake and part of this trail went down onto the shore.

We went west first, away from the lake. It turned out to be a very easy level walk up the side of trout Creek .

The side of the ravine made a very impressive backdrop, and eventually made impossible to go further up the creek….or at least it appeared that way with the snow still covering the water it was impossible to tell if there was a path there……or just the creek, and I was not willing to find out the hard way..!!

The other end towards the lake took us right out onto the beach. There is a dog park there……with access to the lake and a small forested area for dogs to romp in. Cool spot if you are a dog.

Summerland Trestle and the KVR

March 8th. Looking for interesting walks in terrain not yet covered we plumped for the trestles on the KVR (Kettle Valley Rail trail ) up the east side of Okanagan Lake. There is a steam train route that runs on a ten mile stretch of rail through Summerland…and the trestle is the starting point.

It was a cool but beautiful day….so we followed the trail south from the trestle. It’s a bit like the Naramata trail in that it is the old rail line, but far less travelled and far less manicured.

We had debated biking this route in the fall…and were now very glad we did not do it. Lots of loose rocks and basically a surface that would make biking a bit of a grind.

At the other end of the trestle we spotted a property with what looked like groups of children involved in some kind of activity. The signage from the trail side indicated that it was a research station

Further investigation when we got home revealed that it is also the site of the Summerland Ornamental Gardens.

March 12th…..the gardens. It was a rest day from hikes…and not very warm but clear day, so it seemed like a plan to go check out the gardens. It turned out to be a quite fabulous place, even at this time of year. It also blessed us with some different angles of the trestle and the ravine that holds Trout Creek.

An unexpected delight with a real history…..the place was originally developed in 1916 as the Federal Agricultural Research station. Its another place that is a ‘must visit’ especially if you end up here in the spring or summer when its blooming.

It was pretty interesting wandering about even this early in the spring ( or late in the winter..!!) but this place must be truly amazing once the flora starts up its engines.

Unfortunately we will likely miss it as we start heading east at the end of March.

I think I’m going to miss the loveliness of the Okanagan….may have to circle back someday….!!!

Extra Pix

Another beautiful day in the neighbourhood…….the intrepid adventurers set out in the truck for a bit of a tour.

Wrights Beach Camp as we left was another one of those days where you just have to stop and get out to gaze at the view from the bottom end of the campground.

The lower end of the lake at Okanagan falls remained frozen, and frozen enough for ice fishers out there. The next Lake down the valley is Vaseux, where the birding area is….. and it pretty much all frozen. Just like further up at OK Falls….multiple ice fishing huts out there, with people lighting little camp fire by their fishing holes. Scott had had the notion that he wanted to walk out there and take some panoramic pictures from the middle of the lake. As I am sure anyone who knows me is aware…..this did not strike me as being a great idea. But…anyone who knows him……he was determined. We had had a couple of -10 celsius nights so it was as good as it was going to get……so the tour for the day took us down there.

It was a spectacular sunny, wintery sunny day. Crisp and bright. We , or should I say he..!!…was lucky to find a small group of people out on the lake with neat little ice boats. Like windsurfing only on ice with the person laying down like a luge.

Anyway……here are the resulting pictures…!!! ( I may have to grudgingly admit that they might have been worth it……..you still wouldn’t get me out there tho…!!!)

You can see that sheer drop of McIntyre Bluffs in the background of the pictures. It makes me take a deep breath every time I look at that drop…!!!

On the way home we took the scenic route up the east side of Skaha again and spotted these fellas just outside Okanagan Falls.

It seemed like a good fit to put together with a short walk we did to Hardy Falls. A 1km walk up to some very pretty falls. The trail was so well travelled it was solid ice the whole way. SO thick ice on this one rather than the thinner version Scott ventured out on…!!! The path has 8 bridges crisscrossing over the creek up to the falls at the end. I had thought from the map that we might be able to extend the walk further up the gully……but when you get to the falls its pretty much a sheer rock wall behind it. So no luck on going any further without some serious rock climbing equipment and a lot more rock climbing experience than I will ever have…..

One of the very interesting things we found there was some of the beaver damage to the trees. Those tings are fierce…!!!

Some extra Ice pix.

I am always on the hunt for something a little different and on Alltrails. Skaha Ward 1 Trail caught my eye when we first arrived in Penticton, but it was closed after some extensive wildfire damage in the fall. ( and the trail is actually called Sauerkraut.!!)

This was likely going to be our last hike before moving on and as I was casting around for something a bit special, I spotted that this one no longer indicated that it was closed. Excited, I downloaded the route that someone else had followed the day before us. It seemed like a reasonable way to make sure we were on a passable trail. …In Skaha ( from experience) there are many spots where…without a certified trail one runs the risk of walking off the edge of a cliff……

So back up to Skaha Bluffs Park……the gate to the parking lot was open (small celebration…cos the road up to the parking area is about a kilometre of straight up…)

The trail was not technically hard…but we were aiming for about 12km, which is further than we have hiked in a while. Its a very pretty trail through the big ponderosa pines.

The trail weaves ever upwards, switchback after switchback. Not the hard slog that a lot of these trails can be…….more of an uphill meandering..!!! With some lake vistas and impressive rock structures of the bluffs as the trail winds around them.

Eventually we got to the start of the burn. At the edges it is small areas where one or two trees are charred….and a few around about show signs from the heat stress…..but fairly limited damage.

There were odd holes in the ground…….we realised it was where large trees had burned and smoldered until the entire root system burned to ash. We assume that at Skaha the wind carried a lot of the ash away…(unlike the burned areas in Cathedral park where the ash lay thick around the area.) Anyone who has ever burned out a tree stump is probably familiar with this…but it was all new and fascinating to me…!!!

Persevering up the trail led us through a more devastated part of the burn. Spooky forest. You could see the scalding the rocks had taken. On of the big trees by the path had burned so hot the sap boiled out leaving its burned shell covered in large orange beads. Almost alien looking.

The next section of the trail brought us into the ruined forest. Stark black skeletons and as you look to the hill behind, you can see the burned toothpicks of what was once the forest further up.

Its fascinating how quickly mother nature ushers in new growth….lovely fronds of pussy willow stretching their way out of the ruined blackened stumps of the willow trees of last year..!!

The far edge of the loop had clearly experienced a fair bit of intense heat. the rocks had a scalded look….and the ground was soft……we had to be careful to stick to the trail as the ground appeared unstable around us at times……and there were the gaping holes where the tree roots used to be.

It got noticeably colder partly because it was an overcast day, but mostly because of the elevation and the complete lack of shelter from the non existent trees. So the coat and hat went back on…..

The outer loop took us back around to the lake side of the rocks, rewarding us with some pretty spectacular views both down Skaha, and up Okanagan.

There was a bit more burn on the other side too….but not nearly as severe as the other side of the ridge. Another impact of so much tree death is much more soggy ground….soft, soft ground without the vegetation to suck up the moisture and stabilise the ground.

A long walk, a good walk….and some interesting sights.

It was a bit hairy up around the far end of the loop, but I was very pleased to have been up into the burn area. It’s so not what you expect …..your imagination has an idea of what you will see……but the reality is that just as much as the visual feast around you is the feeling of being there. The quiet, cold desolation was new, with soil underfoot where all the leaf litter of the forest floor had burnt away.

I hope you find it as interesting to see this very different sight, a variation on the beautiful vistas we usually show.

Extra pix.

Giants Head was a trail that we had dismissed in the fall as being shorter than we liked. Based on the recommendation from Deb and Keith…the guys we met up Conkle Bonk.…..as being the grind that the name promised…we thought it might be worth the challenge.

Looking at it from the Trout Creek and Summerland Trestle hikes drew us to it….so today was the day.

The road up to the trailhead was again one of those straight up ones…that would have been impossible in the winter weather without chains…or studded winter tires..!!!

The trail starts off with a bit of paved road…..and then diverts off at 90 degrees…..straight up the hill. With Summerland below you…its quite the sight.

And grind indeed it was. The uphill slog lived up to its promise……but like all the best slogs…its rewards were bountiful.

It was coolish when we started out….so I started with my coat on. That lasted about 5 minutes on the hill. For some reason it became very warm…!!! And thankfully the view was a great excuse for frequent stops…!!!

….and a couple of well placed benches on the way up…..

On this perfect blue sky, sunny, windless day the vistas down into the valley…and indeed…from the top…all the surrounding valleys were up to par for sure.

Its a well marked trail. Many red posts to remind you….that it’s a grind..!! I’m imagining its likely a very busy one in the summer.

There were more people on the trail than we have been used to. Even a couple of trail runners bounding by us across the top of the Giant.

Around the top there are a series of what can only be described as viewing posts. Several of them are welded in the direction of the more relevant points that can be seen from the top. Including the Summerland research station, Apex Mountain and Brent mountain.

The path down is always worse……LOL…and this one was no exception. We continued the loop and followed the east ridge down.

The path, as with many of them at this time of year, was ice covered….but it’s warm enough that the snow melt makes the bare part of the path soft and slippery mud. Choosing our footsteps very carefully and picking our way, down we went…..trying not to slide down the sheer drop below. Fun and a bit scary….!!!

The very last part we rerouted out to the paved road as the very soft surface became too treacherous and frankly too much hard work…..!!!

Another beautiful day, another beautiful memory.

Extra pix.

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

It was yet another one of those days that did not turn out as intended. We had some mail to pick up in Osoyoos, so I picked out what should have been a decent walk down that end of the valley. Mount Kobau made great promises. It was a trip further along highway 3 ( towards Vancouver ) than we have been before. As we pulled off Highway 3 onto the logging road that lead to the trailhead, a 19km road, it became very clear that proceeding was not a great idea.

The road was ice covered and narrow. Discretion over valor wins out again…!!! As we turned to get back onto the main highway…the view up the Similkameen Valley drew us in that direction. Apologies for the quality of the pictures I took as we drove up Similkameen Valley…..it was spellbinding….!!

So instead of finding another trail around Oliver we made the decision to carry on along highway 3 and loop around to Keremeos.

There are so few actual roads here, because its more about weaving a path through the overabundance of mountains than any straight lines between a and b.

I genuinely had no concept of the extent of the mountains until we got here. I guess its a bit like …everyone knows Niagara falls is going to be impressive…….but you really can’t appreciate just how big or how powerful it is until you are standing next to it.

I digress….so …we continued up through the Similkameen valley. It is incredibly beautiful and unspoiled…….and vast. There are essentially 3 roads across the mountains from the interior of BC to the actual west coast. Its 397 km from Osoyoos to Vancouver if it helps give you scale……most of the valley has no cell service…so we drove almost all the way to Keremeos before we could look for alternate trails.

The choice seemed to be either the railtrail along the river and dead flat….or heading up the hill to the Keremeos columns again to see what they looked like in snow. So we opted for the latter. The valley here is obviously quite a bit warmer b/c the snowmelt even at higher levels was more advanced than the one valley over in the Okanagan, so it seemed like a worthwhile venture.

Ironically the hillside snow was largely melted…but the road up must be more sheltered from the sun as the road itself was snow/ice covered…so it was hard going……….. again.

its a great trail….its a series of switchbacks all the way up and most of the time you can see down in to the valley…the feeling you get looking down is similar to looking out the airplane window as it descends on a clear day. A world in miniature.

Eventually we got to the spot where no one else had gone further….ie no longer trampled path….but launched off into untouched snow for the last kilometer to the columns.

As tempting as it was….my legs were already struggling from the ice earlier and the grade….so my vote was no!! Although the columns in the snow promised to be spectacular…..surviving to hike another day took precedence.

And so to the journey back down….!! Why does it always seem like the downhill should be easier…….but I think it may actually be harder…But Oh so pretty….!!!

Such a beautiful day. Keremeos and the valleys around it are quite otherworldly even surrounded by the daily spectacles of the BC interior. I’m so glad we came.

In the meantime…here are some of the extra pix from this one.

Extra Pix.

The KVR runs right through Wrights Beach Camp here on the outskirts of Penticton. When we first arrived we had a sight which overlooks the lake…spectacular view. But the decision to stay over the worst of the winter meant we had to move to a more central site as they shut off the water to some of those more lovely ones.

We have had several walks down the rail…and a few bike runs down there too…..so this post is kind of an overview of the ones that involved pictures being taken.

The first trip down the lakeside was pre winter…..just as fall was switching the colour palette over to reds and yellows.

Sept 26th.

Dec 22nd.……out for a VERY brief walk in -23 C…Brrrr

There have been a few hikes and a couple of bike rides more recently. Some of them to ogle at the ice formation and the snow dusted valley sides.

Jan 23rd .Hike down the KVR b/c the weather had improved a little but there were still some spectacular ice formations.

It was a day where there was not a breath of wind and the lake was mirror flat.

Partway down the side of the lake, we caught up with the resident swans…..and a whole bunch of ducks hiding out in a very sheltered spot down at Kaleden.

Jan 24th Short bike ride……it was above zero and the walk the day before instilled the brave idea that the snow might have melted enough to be able to get down to Okanagan Falls. ( The wind chill was minus 5C …frozen toes…..and wind in our faces all the way home) still it was good to get out for a bit….even if we did call it halfway down..!!! Once the sun goes the temp just drops like a stone.

Jan 31st. Then there was the feral horse invasion. Yes you read that correctly. There is a small herd of feral horses locally…we woke up one morning to find them happily munching the grass in the campground. They were rounded up and moved out with golf carts. The next couple of weeks they had ropes up across the gates….every time we went in or out of the campground meant hopping out dropping the ropes and then replacing them after leaving/returning.

Feb 5th took us back up the side of the Okanagan Lake to meet up with friends on a skiing vacation at Big White. We took the opportunity to take them some of the Abandoned Rail brewski’s……Scott….being Scott….had to stop along the way to do some artsy pictures of the cans…!!!

Feb 9th.…we finally ran out of roasted garlic.….so had to rustle up a small batch of local Okanagan garlic in the Instantpot….!! and another batch of the olive oil preserved garlic…

The new batch was then test driven in a batch of garlic bread…..(topped with local honey and sesame seed..) The black honey from one of the local producers is something we had never seen before…but have become avid fans..!!!

Fe 16th. A further improvement in the weather situation tempted us out to try and hit that Okanagan Falls target again., so we embarked on a slightly longer bike ride.

On this day we took the bikes down to trestles at Okanagan Falls at the southern end of Skaha, and carried on a little further to see how far the trail would actually take us.

Feb 22nd Another cautionary tail that did not involve either slugs or shoes. In the evening I was sure I could smell burning plastic. Persuaded Mr to go out and check……scarily we found our 50 amp connector had slipped slightly and was shorting…….

Thankfully the local RV repair guy at Apex RV repair…the wonderful Raj, came to our rescue and saved us from certain doom as the temperature was forecast to drop to -15 Celsius that night. Raj came out in freezing temperatures in the dark and got us back up and running again.

Its hard not to just stop and take a few pictures every time we go out. Every different weather condition just seems to lend it yet another kind of beauty.

Up next….a return to the columns at Keremeos in the snow.