Category: Travel posts

Another Alltrails trail that seemed like a good excuse to go back up to the Ashnola valley, and promised a ruined cabin at the end of it. Driving back up to Ashnola…..the scenery was a bit different again as we are a little further on in the fall season and there is a bit more colour….The reds of the Ontario maples are obvious by their absence….golden and green landscape with little splashes of red from the sumac.

It was a crisp cool fall day…..and the discussion on route often involves bears…..we have not (yet!) seen any on an actual hike in BC or Alberta….but the possibility is something we are always aware of….Its interesting how often one sees a black shape through the trees…….(flinch..!!) oh its a burnt stump….or a cow…..or a shadow…!!!

It was another straight up trail with lots of switchbacks.( I know…I know…its a mountain thing 😂 )….one impressive thing on Alltrails for this one was that there are a couple of reviews from peops who have done it as a trail run….I’ll tell you walking was enough for me…!!!

The ‘beautiful meadow’ described in the app was clearly in the wrong season…presumably the spring and summer sees it full of wildflowers. In the fall in late October…..its mostly dead grass….!!! But the views were still quite spectacular…!!!

Hargreaves cabin…the goal for the day…….( I could not find any more information on it ie how old it is…who built it and why). It is a turf roofed wooden cabin halfway up Crater Mountain….(resident= 1 cow..!!!)

There were lots of cows…..beef cows ( beef cows are notorious for their unfriendly demeanor !!) and they started making a bit of noise at us…so I insisted that the photographer finish up and we head back down……at least back across the Texas gate (cattle grid).

The sun came out on return trip. We stopped a little longer in the meadow…..

….and found some interesting artifacts…..!!!…there has to be a story here…!!!

There were many breathtaking views, as seems to have become the ‘normal’…..an advantage of having to stop to look (so you don’t trip over something and fall down a cliff face…!!!)…..is that you can also sneak in those rest stops to catch your breath…!!!

Back down to the river again….

Another very satisfying day…..after the always impressive drive back down along the Ashnola river back to Keremeos…we unraveled another little minor mystery….the historic Grist Mill……..which will be the next post…….

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Burn Perimeter trail.

This was the second trip out with Scotts new toy…….a digital Nikon camera…….so lets see how the pictures work out uploading them. I am already finding that I have to sacrifice some of the clarity of the pictures just to be able to upload them …….feedback welcome if anyone has any opinions….!!

The drive to the park was another one of those BC mountain phenomenal roller coaster rides….the road on the GPS looks like a childs squiggly drawing……with lots of loops and switchbacks……we passed through Apex Mountain Resort and headed up a logging road that no one in their right mind would drive in even vaguely inclement weather or compromised lighting…… ( Aside…..we drove this road a week later in a foot of snow……absolutely terrifying…!!)

The trail itself was a cross country skiing trail…..I have to admit I was not aware one could cross country ski on such grades……not the steepest hike we have done……but there was still a significant climb.

The trail itself has been ignored a bit with COVID….so there were sections where it was difficult to follow the trail through the new growth pine and marshland…..who knew it could be so boggy up so high (just shy of 2000m of elevation)…..fortunately this elevation in October turned out to be mostly frozen…..so crunchy marsh…!!!

I keep saying it….but it is amazing how much terrains can differ……even with the proximity of this trail to Brent mountain……its kind of the next mountain over…..the terrain is quite distinctly different

Part way round, actually about halfway…we decided to deviate from the route and skip the walk up the valley on the grounds that we were already in snow and with no ice grips for our boots going higher might be foolish..(!)….and we would trade it for following another trail down to the lake side…..I think it wa a good decision…..the lake was stunning…..

….and one of the perks of the new camera came with these little buddies who flew right at us and then sat for a photo op. No way I could get them with my phone, even as close as they were….

We made it back to the truck right on time as the light was fading. Something we have had to become very conscious of, not just for the hike but for the drive home too.

Another great day out…highly recommend the trail……might be worth trying it again in snow shoes in a few weeks…!!!

Next stop is Crater Mountain hike up to Hargreaves Cabin….a return to Ashnola..!!!

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Fooled me again…this was supposed to be a moderate 5km walk in the park close to home ( its a mere 10 minutes from where home is currently parked…..we can see it from our windows.)

It was a loop walk, which looked fairly easy on the map with an advertised 268 m elevation gain. Should let us stretch our legs we thought………we missed the significance of the ‘bluffs’ bit….

( It was also the first hike with Scotts new camera……so most of the images are now taken with a camera rather than just a phone……we will see how that turns out…!!! )

It starts with winding, snaking single track road up to the parking lot in Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park.

This was a Sunday, we usually avoid weekends, and the parking lot was jammed full so it was going to be busy…ah well…we were there so lets get on…

Easy well cut trail at start….and starts to climb……first bluff Scott wanted to veer off onto another trail….( cos it looked interesting….!!! Editor 🤷‍♂️)….so we headed around the rock face and on up the trail….we spied some climbers in action with all the gear and ropes.

Turns out ( my pre-hike research skills are apparently lacking..😂) that Skaha Bluffs is one of the premiere rock climbing parks in Canada…!!! (https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105946462/skaha )

I know…I’m saying it again….but this trail turned in to an unexpected beauty…yet another very different and quite spectacular landscape……..

I called it quits at the 50 m mark on the ledge along the rock face…..I’m quite sure it was do-able for some one braver than me…!!…..but more than I was prepared to do…back we went to find another way around.

There were lots of little 2 to 5 m climbs…not an easy path……

But the rewards…(the views )…delivered as they always seem to manage to do….!!!

The way back down was a bit challenging also. The reverse of the little rock climbs up…were, of course, little rock climbs (or little muddy butt slides…!!!) down.

Weaving our way down it was laugh out loud crazy at times as we faced the rock filled gully….it was like Turtle Mountain meets Grotto Canyon……!!!

Towards the bottom of the rockiest bits we met up with some climbers that were done for the day. They seemed to know the way so we followed them down for a bit. It was exciting…!!!!😮

Many of the paths ended in cliff faces. With hindsight……..because it’s a rock climbers paradise…..!!!

It was a bit of a relief to get back on more level ground….but it was a thoroughly enjoyable day (for a recovery walk…!!!😂)

The next adventure……and workout for the new camera…was Nickel Plate park up in the clouds past Apex mountain.

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This was an ambitious project for sure. To get to the interior part of Cathedral park, there is no road access….well there is…there is one private road where ( in season ) you can get a shuttle…a jeep ride up (for a fee)….but we were beyond the end of the season so if we were going to get to the core it was a walk in. The shortest route in is the Lakeview trail …and its 16km in ( and yes ….16km back out )…..We thought..(!!!)….if we started early ( sunrise for the day was 7.19 am…..and set at 6.33pm ) 4 hours in 4 hours out…..we might manage it….!!!

It was cold….fall is most definitely in the air…!! 🍁🍂

The trail is daunting…in the first 6km you gain 1200 m in elevation….unrelenting up is the description.!!!……….its not rough…its just up…and up…and up……

If you are thinking that the look on my face is a bit tortured….you are quite correct…!!! It was torture…..many rest stops…( and a bit of whingeing…!!😣)

It was cold enough on the way up that when we disturbed a couple of pheasants…they ambled…lethargically across the path…!!

Eventually we did get to the spot where we could see the mountain range….not close enough to get photographs with a phone camera….but enough to appreciate what we were aiming for……breathtaking views of those mountains (with snow on top…!!)

The path levelled of for a bit giving our very weary legs a bit of a break…..but we were up into the snow line…so it was cold and crisp….

…….and quite unexpectedly some fungi in the snow…!!! (my guys…!!!😁)

…at 3 hours in and just shy of 9km……it became clear that we were not going to make it….and the road down was not going to be easy……so before any more climbing (and expending more energy going in………) we should admit defeat and head back down……..we could not afford to lose light either on the walk….or the drive back down Ashnola.

There are a couple of burned spots…it’s the same weird pattern where there are burned trees…..and thick ash……but then all the trees around are completely intact…

In the valleys…the sun goes down at 6.33…..but you lose light before that…cos you are in the shadow of the mountain….the horizon is not at ground level…!!!

There were a couple of stops on the drive back down the valley for more photo ops….it is just so beautiful ………oh…and the trail that we actually walked…!!!

Next stop was an astonishing trip to Skaha Bluffs…….

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Scott had found some really promising hiking trails in Cathedral park…an hours drive from here……So off we trucked….following the Alltrails directions to get to the trailhead.

Unfortunately …one of the limitations of Alltrails here….was the failure to mention that most of Cathedral park is not accessible by road. In fact…there is a private company that do a jeep shuttle service on the only track in to the core several times a day…but that service halts for the season Sept 30th (and costs $130 per person ) https://bcparks.ca/explore/parkpgs/cathedral/

or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Provincial_Park_and_Protected_Area

Admittedly we should have done a bit more research before we drove up there….but we really had no idea just the scale of this park ’til we got there…..

The drive up through Keremeos (which is spectacular in its own right ) still could not have prepared us for the unparalleled natural beauty of the Ashnola river…..with our ‘Wow’ muscles overworking big time…we actually stopped the truck in the middle of the road quite a few times to get out an stare…turn around and stare some more…..if any of you out there ever get the opportunity to come here…take it…..its like a whole different magnificence….!!! I have pictures to show……so Ill try to share.

The trailhead…is actually the basecamp for the company that runs the shuttle service up the mountain……so that was the end of our plan for the day….we did, however, carry on up the valley …still in awe of our surroundings…..

…and we took a couple of opportunities to park and work our way down to the river….

We did find another track off the main (only) road up the valley…and with our hike plan dead in the water….took a peek down it…and found that there is actually a parking lot and a park map…..this is a spot where one of the few hiking trails in to the park start. We hiked it for a couple of kms and decided we should probably know a bit more….and start earlier in the day…….and bring sammiches….!!!

There are many small (unserviced) campsites of this road up the Ashnola valley….for any of you out there who fancy it…….there can be few spots anywhere to camp more spectacular than these (and they are $10 per adult per night through BC parks…) Not a road you would want to pull a 30 ft trailer up…….but maybe a smaller trailer or motorhome would be just the ticket… (the road is not bad but its narrow…often close to the edge of a cliff and has many winding corners…..)

Down this little side road…we managed to get right to the river…and although we did not see any beavers we did find these very skillfully carved trees.

We still did get a few kms in for the day…and a plan for where we might go next…!! Bonus…

The drive home through Keremeos we had to stop at a fruit stand….its like some kind of Utopian fantasy…fresh local fruit. veg and samosas…..they even have a slushie machine set up with mango lassi…….gotta love this place…..😁😁😁

So…the next adventure will be a return to Cathedral park……

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We needed to find a walk for a bit of exercise……there were few interesting looking ones but a bit of a drive to get there so we opted for something a little closer and plumped for Peach Cliff Trail.

The trailhead is just above Okanagan Falls which is at the other end of Skaha Lake from where we are. Its always a beautiful drive around here……

We have been quite fascinated by the range of different varieties of pine cones we see…from little ones with barbs on them to HUGE ones from the Ponderosa Pines…….begging to be used for ……..something…….if anyone has a great idea then message me…cos these things are amazing……

(Ponderosa Pines.. https://www.coniferousforest.com/ponderosa-pine.htm#:~:text=Ponderosa%20pine%20is%20a%20species%20of%20lean%20and,resilient%20timber%20as%20well%20as%20for%20recreational%20use. )

Peach Cliff has signs on the routes asking peeps to stay on the trails…and not make new trails…….its an area that has lots….and lots of these little cacti……and a bit like the fungi……you don’t really see them ’til you are almost on them….(which can be hazardous if you are the guy that likes to lie down to get close up pictures….!!!!)

I dropped my sunglasses halfway up the hill…..and got the extra bit of exercise trucking back down to fetch them……it always amazes me how much steeper the hills seem on the way down…..

We had some views of the higher scorched areas from this trail…..and the swathes of reddish brown from the flame retardants they drop during the wildfire management. At first it was hard to tell if we were seeing the iron ore in the rocks….but when you look at the burn patterns it becomes more obvious……its hard to get pictures with the phone camera because of the scale of the hills and the forests

At the highest elevation of this hike we had some impressive views of Skaha Lake..not the most challenging hike we have done…but a lovely walk on a lovely day…..

We were rewarded on the way home with an encounter with some mountain sheep grazing by the roadside.

Overall a very satisfying hike……might well be an interesting one in snowy weather (if we get any…!!😁)

The 7th…we took a trip back up to Abandoned Rail brewing to meet with Peter (head brewer ) and get the tour……..waiting now for him to open…hopefully in the next few weeks…

The next post is our first encounter with the Ashnola River valley…….

Gallery of extra pix.

Keremeos is another little fruit paradise with many many orchards and vineyards. The town sits in the junction between three valleys…….superb, head on a swivel views driving up to the trailhead.

Another change in landscape…the terrain in this valley is more sparsely treed….

It was a tough walk…not technically difficult….but it was one of those straight consistent ever upward grade……with parts of the road being quite rocky, and a lot of the steeper parts were loose gravel.

As we walked up the switchbacks the views down into the valley just got to be more and more impressive. The cliffs up ahead of us on the trail, that we thought were the columns, turned out not to be as the trail led us off in the opposite direction.

Back into the tree line (yes we always have the bear spray with us now..) and then all of a sudden what is in front of you is the columns……

Its an amazing geological phenomenon….its hard to imagine that its a natural formation……..wow….

Totally worth the climb.

The hike back down through the sage…a lot of those bushes are old and gnarly…..and the smell in the air is sage sage and sage…..mmmmm.

Another beautiful day….and another very impressive hike for the archives…I hope you enjoy it even half as much as we did……

Next stop is the Peach Cliff loop…..

……and I’m going to add an extra little gallery underneath of some of the pix I did not include in the blog…….just in case anyone is interested…!!!😁

Big excitment for the day was meeting up with friends John and Marsha who were out in Kelowna for the week.

We started out at the farmers market in Kelowna…good market….We’ll be going back to this one for sure.

Scored some tiny fingerling potatoes …mmmmMMMmmm…. some roasting in their future.

The day turned in to an expedition around Kelownas neighbourhood of craft brew pubs. The good the not so good and the plain bad and ugly…!!!

The very first place (we can’t remember the name of..!!) but it was very uninviting …cold place with cold service…so we left again without even trying the beer…

Next stop was BNA brewing ( https://www.bnabrewing.com/ )…..a lovely little place…and not a bad start with the beer flights…….I think our favourite was their purple rain sour……and I cant believe I don’t have pictures…..so I downloaded a couple that were representative……we must have been having too much fun…!!! (and the steamed buns were yummy…!!!)

The next stop was the cider place….( BC fruit packers cooperative ) it had some very interesting things in the flights…we were excited………they were all……..awful…..!!!!

So……without ingesting more than we had to…….we exited to find the next pick…..Red Bird brewery

…interesting graphics…..very busy place……we did not like any of the beers…..(our flights included all their offerings)…..the best thing about this place was the washrooms….the walls were finished with 1950s local newspapers…….very interesting……obviously no pictures were taken….!!!)

Onward to Kettle River brewery…..

We all agreed…their marketing, branding and graphics were great….the food was ……decent…….the beer…….bleuch…!!!!

So, to the last place for the day, Vice and Virtue brewing ……. (https://viceandvirtuebrewing.ca/home ) given our experiences for the day…we were not hopeful……..actually we were more hopeful that we might find some decent food to finish the day with……

By this point in the day…I was no longer taking pictures…so these are downloaded images………hence the interior picture of the place crowded and unmasked…..

The beer was quite excellent …and their food was definitely cutting the mustard…..a good end to the day….( we even bought some cans for later consumption….!!!)

Such a great day and a true gift to spend time with some good friends…thanks guys….love you and miss you….

Next adventure is at Keremeos columns……

Brent mountain is up towards Apex Mountain Resort which is a popular skiing area. I’m told you can windsurf here at Skaha Lake, drive the hour up the mountain and ski later the same day.

It was a 20 minute drive to the trail head…….so off we trotted.

The road off the main road was a logging road. It was almost more entertaining than the hike. The road had many sections where the truck was reading the grade at 12 13 and 14% at times. With a sheer drop off the passenger side. ( It was a bit stressful for the passenger..) We got to a spot where the road was wide enough to turn the truck around without dying…so we decided that since the temperature of the transmission had reached 102 C ( and you could smell it starting to heat up a bit toooo much..!!) discretion being the better part of valour we should probably walk the last bit to the trailhead.

Turned out it was another 5km to the trailhead….but…we were there…so time to give it a go. We were actually pretty relieved to have left the truck where we did cos the road did not get any gentler…(potholes ditches and grades..!!)

The trailhead started at the tree line…..and got even steeper for a bit…!!!

The views were intermittent this was a much more densely forested spot than we have been in previously in BC….about a kilometer from the end we were starting to get just a little uneasy about bear signs on the trail…so again discretion won and we headed back down. We were high enough that there was a little bit of snow dusting as we walked back down.

……..and of course, I have to include my fungi finds for the day…….!!!

One of the glories I am finding about the damp forest environments….

We got back to the road and the big score for the day was up ahead of us on the trail….was it a bear was it a beaver….nope it was a big honking porcupine……(no he wasn’t honking..!!)

We tried to catch up to him a little to try to get some pictures…..but then…how dangerous are porcupines…..? We did not have enough internet connection to check….so we stayed back…….those things are big and jaggy…!!!

The transmission had cooled sufficiently when we got back….so we made our way back down the logging road…….and made it back to civilisation all in one piece…!!!

A quick stop on the road home to get (for Scott to get …!!!) some artsy shots of a little falling down cabin by the side of the road..!!!

Another great walk…and fine day out……….

Next up is a day at the Kelowna farmers market…catching up with friends , John and Marsha, and a celebratory pub crawl …..!!!!

We have been so fortunate on this trip. I’m not going to say that we have not seen any rain, but we have definitely not seen much of it…….we have managed to be in the right place to miss the worst of the hot and humid weather also.

So…with another very beautiful day in the forecast…the trail pick for the day was Campbell mountain.

The road up to the trailhead , ironically, took us up to beside the Penticton municipal dump…yeah…sounds like a great hike doesn’t it…!!!

These BC pines are quite different. The landscape is another variation of quite lovely…!!! We followed the edge of a canyon…with some pretty scary bits skirting around some of the gorges. The scariest part (for me anyway…) was the tire marks from mountain bikes….yup….this is a mountain biking trail…….I was challenged enough walking the path around some of those gorges…..no way could I do it on a bike……!!!

There were a couple of spots on the trail that had some fire damage. Its so interesting seeing the patterns of the fire….little pockets of burned trees in the middle of others that look to be completely untouched.

Spectacular view looking down in to Penticton……and we could see the trail we biked out to the brewery…….its a landscape that could be a painting with the perfect blue sky and shimmery lakes.

The trouble with climbing mountains appears to be….its a long way up….and a long way down….!!!

Kettle Valley Railtrail

After Campbell mountain down day seemed like a good idea………so the trail for the day was the Kettle Valley Rail trail …since it runs right through Wrights Beach (where we are currently camped ). Many bikes on this trail meant walking mostly single file on a trail that was wide enough to walk together for a change.

Next mountain on the list is Brent Mountain………