Stuck indoors on a very wet Saturday as the last of the present storm systems smacks into the West Coast. Probably a good time to complete this series of posts. I took this first photo late Wednesday evening as the first wave of the storm suddenly cleared. Very dramatic!
The next morning there was again a break in the storm with the Canada Geese 'V'ing their way past a hint of a rainbow.
Our last ride in the Okanagan was a circumnavigation of Skaha Lake. It was the easiest and shortest ride on the trip with just a few hills along the eastern shore. We left in decent time to beat the worst of the heat and the traffic. The roadway along the eastern shore is known at times to be quite busy.
Part way down the lake we pulled off to catch the view. I'd say that it was pretty nice looking to the west. A super calm morning, just as I remember from my childhood vacations.
The halfway point of our ride is the small village of Okanagan Falls, down to the left in the far distance.
There was a nice beach waiting for us in Okanagan Falls, and we took time there to sit in the shade and enjoy the warmth of the day and of course the view. We'd talked about carrying our swim suits, but decided that it might not be the best place to find a change room. We were right about that as it was closed due to Covid. So we contented ourselves with the view knowing that our swim gear and towels were waiting for us in Penticton at the other end of the lake. We just had to first get there!
The ride back begins by crossing this long narrow bridge.
At first we passed a few cyclists and walkers, but there weren't many others as we progressed. We thought this section would be a good day hike for another time. It's about 14-15 kms between the two towns, so perhaps a 3 hour walk in the heat with stops for enjoying the views. Certainly it would be a beautiful walk with the majority of the trail simple crushed gravel and a small part is along a quiet paved road about half way along. The path also narrows as one heads north, basically down to a one lane tract.
Looking back towards Okanagan Falls and the low hills we had to negotiate on the eastern side.
I don't have a kick-stand on my bike, lol!
There were no vineyards evident on the return leg, but we could see them up higher on the eastern shore. We'd visited one of them the day before.
Lots of waterfowl friendly spots as we worked our way along. There were also a number of vacation resorts, one we just cycled through and another somewhat higher end property that typically had signs warning people away. Not interested in you anyway!!
We arrived back to the beautiful beaches on the south side of Penticton where we'd parked our car in the park. Deciding it was lunch time we enjoyed a massive Tilbury ice cream cone, a favourite experience for many in the south Okanagan. Their ice cream stand a couple of kilometres south of Okanagan Falls is a well visited destination. Fortunately the beach food stand in Penticton also offers their ice cream. I asked for one scoop on a normal cone and was overwhelmed with a massive scoop! I was kept rather busy eating it in the heat...
We then changed into our swim suits and jumped into the lake! The perfect thing to do after a rather warm ride.
The next day we went for a decent walk along the lakeshore in Peachland. Overnight the smoke had begun to arrive from the US, and while our general area was pretty good both Kelowna and Penticton were shrouded and invisible.
I had planned for Annemarie to drop me the next morning in Penticton (far right) so that I could to ride up the mountains, across the KVR trail (directly opposite), through Myra Canyon and into Kelowna (far left) while she visited with her mom there. However the next day everything was covered in smoke (photo below) and I couldn't go. Probably a good thing because when we stopped in Vancouver on our way home Paul told me that it's a very tough crossing in that direction and that it's much better in the other direction, Kelowna to Penticton. More downhill with stunning views of the Okanagan Basin in that direction. So perhaps I'll tackle this another time. Always good to leave something to return for. We did feel lucky to have had 5 days without smoke while the coast was deeply covered. It was supposed to have happened in the Okanagan earlier, but the forecasters got it wrong. Thanks for that!
We stayed overnight in the Okanagan then drove down to Vancouver the next day. It was pretty smoky and it wouldn't have been healthy to continue camping. On the way down we crawled past a massive train derailment just downstream from Hope.
I snapped some pictures on my phone as we passed as my navigator wasn't interested in taking photos that day. There were over 50 massive rail cars full of potash from Saskatchewan folded up and crushed. The amount of energy these long trains generate even at slow speeds is amazing. Stopping them quickly is impossible, so they just continue to crush together when one derails.
So Puck, that's the end of this particular journey. We hope you are feeling better and we will try to track down some information about your progress. Get well soon!
The next day we went for a decent walk along the lakeshore in Peachland. Overnight the smoke had begun to arrive from the US, and while our general area was pretty good both Kelowna and Penticton were shrouded and invisible.
I had planned for Annemarie to drop me the next morning in Penticton (far right) so that I could to ride up the mountains, across the KVR trail (directly opposite), through Myra Canyon and into Kelowna (far left) while she visited with her mom there. However the next day everything was covered in smoke (photo below) and I couldn't go. Probably a good thing because when we stopped in Vancouver on our way home Paul told me that it's a very tough crossing in that direction and that it's much better in the other direction, Kelowna to Penticton. More downhill with stunning views of the Okanagan Basin in that direction. So perhaps I'll tackle this another time. Always good to leave something to return for. We did feel lucky to have had 5 days without smoke while the coast was deeply covered. It was supposed to have happened in the Okanagan earlier, but the forecasters got it wrong. Thanks for that!
We stayed overnight in the Okanagan then drove down to Vancouver the next day. It was pretty smoky and it wouldn't have been healthy to continue camping. On the way down we crawled past a massive train derailment just downstream from Hope.
I snapped some pictures on my phone as we passed as my navigator wasn't interested in taking photos that day. There were over 50 massive rail cars full of potash from Saskatchewan folded up and crushed. The amount of energy these long trains generate even at slow speeds is amazing. Stopping them quickly is impossible, so they just continue to crush together when one derails.
So Puck, that's the end of this particular journey. We hope you are feeling better and we will try to track down some information about your progress. Get well soon!
Our next journey lies just ahead as we await the birth of our first grandchild, aka, 'Our Pal'. We are waiting fairly patiently for your arrival! Hopefully we don't have to wait too long to welcome you: )
Looking forward to meeting you soon!
Grandpa
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