2003-06-27-Okanagan

Friday

Deb and I left an hour later than planned because I was a bit slow in packing the car. Since Haslam couldn't get out of work before 7, we were supposed to try and arrive early enough to stake a pad at the Idleback Lake Forest Service campsite just east of Penticton, and hopefully Brenda and Haslam would be able to find us in the dark. As it turned out, our lateness didn't matter so much because we overheated on Highway 3 just past Hope; there was coolant all over the place and the reservoir was full to the brim.

We crossed the highway to hitch a ride back into town. A few cars passed us before a rig stopped to help. Apparently they are not supposed to let other people in the cab, so he went back into the cab to try calling for help on his CB. The reception must have been bad because he came back out and told us that he could take one of us with him. Deb stayed with the car while I went to town courtesy of the kind rig driver who dropped me off at a gas station. His rig had ten gears, where six to ten were in the same position as one to five, but with a plunger engaged.

As I will confirm later that night, Bell's cell phone coverage in Hope is really flaky. After three or four calls to CAA, I finally conveyed the information they needed to send a tow truck. We went back to the car on the highway, and the driver had a look. He was saying that we probably just overheated from climbing the hill too hard since the coolant was circulating properly and there was no bubbling in the radiator (which would have indicated damage to the head gasket). As he headed back to his truck to leave, the temperature of the idling engine started to rise again, so we made use of his towing capacity. Our CAA coverage was sufficient to take us to Princeton, but we were not sure if anyone there would be open on a long weekend (and the tow truck driver knew of places in Hope that would be open the next day) so we went back to Hope.

By then, we were a bit tired so we just got a motel room. We did bike down the main street (it was not more than eight or ten blocks) and got a milkshake at Dairy Queen before retiring to our room to finally eat the Vietnamese subs I had picked up on our way out of Vancouver; it was pretty much my first meal of the day. The attendants at the gas station where our car ended up were really nice, and tried to suggest things we could do and places we could go on our bikes to kill the evening, but we settled for biking around town.

We were about 200m from the top of the 15km long hill past Hope when we overheated.

Our best guess as to what this strange arched thing being towed might be is a parade float.

Sunset on the Fraser River in Hope

Saturday

Our cell phone rang. It was Brenda wondering what had happened to us because we did not present ourselves at the alternate meeting point (the hostel in Penticton on Ellis at 9:30am) should we fail to find each other in the dark. It was then that we realised the flaw in our communications plan. We had left some messages on Haslam's cell phone (we chose his because Brenda did not have much time left on her plan) the night before describing our situation. We even received a text message indicating that they left town late. However, Haslam was on Mike which apparently uses a totally different network, so he had no coverage in Penticton even though there was regular digital coverage. At least now we knew better.

We took advantage of the showers in the motel room before checking out and went down the block to the garage. They were pretty busy (but at least unlike the other Shell garage that the tow truck checked out for us, they were able to work on our car at all that day). As it turned out, the rig driver was correct in that it was the thermostat that had failed; he also told me that if one had the tools, one could simply disconnect it and drive the car to the next town.

The car was fixed a bit after noon, and we were on our way. About 20km before Princeton, we met a couple whose 1997 Intrepid was exhibiting the symptoms we experienced the day before, so we drove them to town so they could get a tow. The drive was otherwise uneventful; we arrived around 3:30pm. Being the Okanagan, it was quite warm, so we stopped for a slurpee and checked our messages. They were off doing winery tours and were thinking of checking out the Elvis festival in town before meeting at the hostel at 5.

We figured that the festival was probably downtown, so we headed down to the end of Main Street, and sure enough, there was an Elvis festival there. We parked nearby and biked over since otherwise we would have to lock them up. Attendence was pretty good considering that admission was $10. We were not big Elvis fans so we just parked ourselves on an adjacent lawn and listened to the music.

After a phone call from them indicating their whereabouts, we finally met up with Brenda and Haslam at the hostel. We moved the cars into position and met up with Lisa, Phack, Mimi, Lavina, Cher, and Ernie at the north end of the canal where we prepared ourselves for a floating ride. Blowing up an air matress is quite a workout for the lungs!

By the time we started, it was quite late in the afternoon and the sun was not so overbearing. What we failed to anticipate was that the canal was something like 6km long, and that we were not going to be moving much faster than Jimmy when he is riding the short bus. The entire trip took over two hours, and the sun was already setting when we arrived at the end. People were starting to get cold halfway down the canal, but there was not much that could be done since all the cars were left at the other end.

Several trips up and down the length of the canal later, everyone was reunited with their rides. We met Haslam and Brenda at the hostel to embark on our search for a campsite. Since it was already dark and most of us were sleep deprived, we decided to have dinner at the Dairy Queen first. Finding the Chute Lake forest service campsite was a little challenging in the dark but we eventually found it (after a brief entry into the Chute Lake Resort campgrounds). There were only four sites, and six or so parties already there. We found a little flat space just off the driveway, pitched our tents, and went to sleep.

Sunday

After breakfast, we scoped out a better campsite. None of the parties occupying the four real sites were leaving, so we had to forage. Since we had all just been baked out of our tents, our priority was to locate an area sheltered from the morning sun. There was a bike path with a jump near the bottom (that Haslam wouldn't attempt) which ascended to a plateau at the top of the hill, and there was a large ideal clearing with tall trees to the east.

Our car tucked in between trees

Rental car and tents in small clearing

Almost a trillium

In preparation for the car shuttling, everything that we needed for our day bike ride along the Kettle Valley Trail was taken out of the cars. Brenda and I set off for town while Haslam and Debra made sandwiches, and moved our tents up the hill. It was only 12km on the gravel road and another 20km to Penticton, but it took us about an hour each way. We had to get some stuff while in town: gas for the rental car (at the Esso where the attendant was kind enough to let us leave our car); about 10L of water from the water fountain at the Dairy Queen (so we felt obligated to sacriface ourselves and patronise them by getting a couple of Dilly Bars); eyedrops; and lastly raspberries on the way back through Naramata. By the time we returned, it was almost 3pm.

The campground was situated not 100m from the trail. We locked up all valuables in the rental car, mounted our bikes, and were finally on our way.

My bike at the first view we had out of the trees	Lake Okanagan in the distance	The trail looks like a railbed.	Brenda consulting her book at Rock Oven #11...
... as built in 1913, a part of the Trans Canada Trail	KVR Woodwackers	We sought refuge from the brief rainfall at the mouth of this tunnel. The temperature dropped considerably approaching the tunnel as the trail descended into a channel carved in the rock.	Haslam and Brenda explored the tunnel a little despite warnings in the book of "Hey what's this aaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!"
Haslam eating lunch	Haslam about to jump	Brenda eating lunch	Deb and Brenda sitting on concrete barrier
Lake Okanagan again	Steep dropoff on both sides	Funky clouds	More funky clouds
Why is Haslam looking in his pants?!?	Steep side of built up railbed	Approach to a tunnel	Light at the other end of the tunnel
Everyone wants a piece of Haslam.	Penticton at the end of the lake	Haslam is faking it!	The crack above the tunnel is inhabited by swallows.
Brenda playing dressup with Haslam	Haslam looks like a babushka.	Brenda topless	"A Sunday trip to the Little Tunnel Circa 1914."
Valley	Valley and lake	Walking bikes across bridge	Deb in front of Penticton hill
Jimmy by Lake Okanagan

Five hours and 40km later, we arrived in Penticton. Deb and I went to retrieve the car (and a beverage) and we congregated at the hostel. The original plan was to drive the bikes back up to camp, but while shuttling cars in the afternoon, it occurred to Brenda that our bike rack actually held three bikes so we could save a trip by leaving one bike in town overnight. But when we got back to the hostel, a new plan had been proposed: there was no need to bring any of our bikes back with us if we all were willing to leave our bikes in town overnight. Jimmy had the most expensive bike amonst us, and he seemed okay with the idea. We saw bike racks in the alley across the street from the hostel, so we locked our bikes there, making sure that Jimmy's bike was in the middle of the pile.

One problem with the trail being gravel was that it was very dusty, especially in a particularly dry summer. We were coated with a fine layer of dust that bound quite well to the perspiration from the hot afternoon sun. There was still a little bit of daylight left so we went down to the lake near where we started our canal ride. There was some awkward eye aversion as we changed into bathing suits in the car, trying to be as subtle as possible so as not to attract the attention of anyone walking by, before we all jumped into the lake.

Playing in the lake at sunset

Brenda looking for shampoo

We attempted to pick up some firewood on our way back to camp (this was before all the fire bans in the Okanagan), but the IGA was already closed. Brenda fried up some flat bread as we cooked the prepackaged Indian stuff she brought and we enjoyed a fine meal. After cleaning up, we watched the stars for a while before heading off to sleep.

Monday

Tenting at the top of the bike trail

Clearing atop the hill

Looking down at the trick jump

Tents

After breakfast, we packed up camp to head to town. Before heading off, we had a brief chat with our neighbours who happened to own the bakery in Peachland (or was it Summerland?). The couple had a cat and a dog; the cat was sufficiently well behaved that it was permitted to roam off a leash, and the dog was small and very protective of its territory (the campsite) by yapping at anyone who approached. They (the couple) were very friendly and helpful, and even pulled out maps to show us where there were campgrounds and where we could go into the hills to find good locations to just camp in the woods.

Giant moth on garage where we got raspberries

Garage for scale

We stopped in Naramata for more raspberries on our way to town, and when we got to town, our bikes were still there. It took a bit of fussing to get the bikes on (or in as the case may be) the cars. We left town for Osoyoos after a brief stop at the Dairy Queen for more water and some ice cream.

There was a provincial park in Osoyoos, but the campsites could be reserved and there was no way we were going to be able to get one just by showing up on a beautiful summer weekend. Aside from that park, the nearest provincial park was Inkaneep, a bit north of Oliver, and two others further north still (but before Okanagan Falls). Although there was a sign showing where to turn off the highway, we missed managed to miss the turn. Then after we got onto the road, we missed the small street sign that was labelled "campground" the first time by and had to turn around again. Perhaps the difficulty in finding the campground was a blessing for us because there were plenty of unoccupied sites.

Park fees were $10 plus $5 for each additional vehicle; firewood was extra and had to be obtained from park staff. We wanted some firewood, but we also wanted to go into town instead of waiting around camp for park staff to come around. So I went and asked our neighbours if they could tell the parks people that we in fact wanted the firewood, and if they left us some along with a price, we would drop the money in the self registration cash box. Instead, they told us about the Weyerhaeuser mill, back on the highway towards Okanagan Falls, where we could scavenge the scrap pile.

Going through the scrap wood at Weyerhaeuser

Adding to our pile of wood

Brenda in backseat with firewood

Firewood back at camp

We quickly set up camp and ate some lunch (with a raspberry flan!) since our track record indicates that we wouldn't get back until after dark. A kid came around pulling a wagon full of cherries in brown paper bags. He was selling the three pound bags for $2 each, so I got three and Jimmy got one. The cherries were really good, and the price can't be beat!

After hitting Weyerhaeuser and dropping the wood off at camp, we headed into Osoyoos. There was nothing specific that we had to see, so we stopped at the tourism office but it was closed because by then it was already fairly late in the day. We also tried to phone the Desert Centre, but they were also closed. We decided to just head to Haynes Point Provincial Park (the one in town where all the campsites were reserved).

The park pretty much consisted of a large (and apparently natural) spit about a kilometre long that jutted out into Osoyoos Lake, maybe two thirds of the way across to the other side of the long skinny lake. A road ran down the length of the spit, ending in a loop on which the campsites were situated. From the end of the spit, a sandbar extended several hundred metres further into the lake. The north side of the spit was a long beach, and the south side was somewhat weedy.

Not being much of a swimmer, I had the forethought to rent myself a PFD for the canal float before leaving Vancouver. That also meant that I had the freedom to join the others for a swim off the beach. Although it was quite hot away from the water, the water itself was fairly cool and there was a cool breeze blowing across the park, so the temperature in the park was at least several degrees lower than it would have been in town. Perhaps it was less appreciated because the temperature there was actually comfortable, but it was still refreshing to play in the water. We discovered later that the water on the south side was noticeably warmer.

Looking to the south east, we could see smoke from a fire on the other side of Anarchist Mountain. There were three or four water bombers circling about, and we saw a helicopter carrying a water basket while driving to town from our campground. Occasionally, one of the bombers would dip into the lake for a refill and take off again. I suck though because I didn't realise that they were water bombers until quite some time later despite efforts by Deb to inform me; I assumed that the sirens weren't coming from the plane, but rather from the city beyond where the plane was scooping water. By the time I figured it out and started paying attention, there were no more refills near us so I never got a good look at how it's done. ):

Near the entrance of the park was a trail through a swamp and an amphitheatre. We walked the loop that took us over a bridge, up to a lookout tower, and on boardwalks over marshy areas; interpretative signs along the trail tell visitors about the wildlife in the swamp. After our walk, we went and sat in the amphitheatre while Brenda put on a show about the preparation and serving of gravel as a delicacy; it was so entertaining that we couldn't stop rolling in our seats.

Brenda trying to steal Jimmy's towel while he is changing (and a passing cyclist even offered to help!)	Cute sheep	Brenda and Jimmy	Why were all the grass plants uprooted?
Jimmy sitting on the stage	Brenda starting her show	Jimmy holding a sample of gravel	"Look at all the things you can make with gravel!"

We stopped in a grocery store on our way back to camp to pick up some bread, but the pickings were really slim, and we ended up with some pita bread to go with our sausages. Brenda really wanted to roast sausages over a fire (which was why we had brought sausages in the first place), and this time we were at a real site so we had a fire pit (with a grill on top). This trip occurred before the devastating dry spell swept through most of British Columbia, so it was not frowned upon to have a contained fire (although the field just outside the campground showed signs of a recent fire a week or two earlier). Jimmy and Brenda had also brought some wine, and we lit candle lanterns for the atmosphere.

After dinner, we sat around the table chatting and playing Uno. We kept the fire going for a bit of light, a bit of heat, and a lot of atmosphere. In the darkness, we used the candles and Jimmy's headlamps to actually see the cards. That also meant that we couldn't see anything beyond our picnic table, so when I felt something brush my back and turned around, I could see nothing but managed to briefly find something furry with my hand. Thus began a search of the immediate surroundings with headlamps and flashlights. It turned out that the source of the alarm was a cute black cat. We played with the cat for a while, and it started rolling on its back. Brenda decided that the cat liked to get dirt in its fur and helped it by rubbing some on its belly until we corrected her interpretation of the rolling on the ground. (:

Cool sunset

Cute cat that startled me while we were playing Uno in the dark

Tuesday

I woke up before everyone else, so I decided to get up and go wander down to Okanagan River which was about a hundred metres down a path through the woods. A branch of the Kettle Valley Trail actually runs along the river, past where we were down to Osoyoos. There were lots of interesting divots on the trail that looked as if someone (or more likely something) stuck something into the ground and spun it around a bit to create shallow conical cavities. My best guess as to the source of the pits was some kind of bird digging in the ground with a long beak.

Just before people got up, I saw our neighbour walk by and shake one of the trees on the path to the river. I hadn't noticed it before, but it was actually a cherry tree, and the shaking caused the ripe fruit to drop to the ground. It wasn't nearly as good as the stuff we got from the wagon kid, but it was still pretty cool having a wild cherry tree right across the park road from our campsite.

Brenda and Jimmy had taken Wednesday off and were going to stay another night, but Deb and I had to go home. They liked the site and were planning to stay, so they didn't have to pack up. But they did want to go on another one way ride so they drove their bikes to town where we were to drop them off later while Deb and I packed up our stuff. It took them a bit over an hour to drive to town and back, so we had a bit of time to wander down to the river after we were done packing. There were people drifting downstream on inflatable tubes too, although the ride was not on as calm water as the canal in Penticton.

Campsite	Path through the woods	Rock balanced on stone	Holly berries
Strange bugs	Diseased leaves?	Okanagan River	Deb beside river
Jimmy brushing his teeth

Unlike the previous biking day, the ride from Osoyoos to the camp was uphill. Since we didn't really exert ourselves getting to Penticton, we didn't know how tough it would be to ride uphill on a 2% grade for 30km. So Brenda and Jimmy revised their plan and decided to drop their car off by the river in Oliver, and we followed them to pick them up. The warning signs near the drop off point were pretty amusing.

Deadly undercurrents

The drowning machine

There was a cherry festival in Osoyoos that day. From the sounds of things from when Brenda and Jimmy were there earlier, there was probably a parade or something because streets were closed and there was apparently a parking lot full of stuff; by the time we got there though it seemed that things had calmed down. We went downtown anyway and found a festival and lots of people in Gyro Park. It was your typical fair type deal with food, a band on stage, vendors selling stuff, and entertainment for the kids. There was an inflatable dragon where kids could crawl in the mouth, and work their way down its length to see light at the other end. Then Brenda dragged Jimmy off to dance in front of the stage and a large audience; there was much cheering, and it was all for them (since they were the only ones dancing). An amused reverend was standing beside us; it was cool that he got to wear a short sleeved reverend-collared shirt and shorts and still be able to dress the part. Brenda picked up a smashing one size fits all bikini on our way out (and actually wore the top too). We dropped them off at the Haynes Point park where they had left their bikes, said goodbye, and left.

Children keep popping out of the dragon's butt!

Jimmy and Brenda dancing

We wanted to pick up lots of fruit on our way out of town, and we were hungry. When we saw a fruit stand advertising butter chicken before reaching the main intersection of town, we thought that it was too good an opportunity to pass up, so we ate and picked up some apricots. Then we stopped at the tourist office to check if there were many farms to the west on highway 3. As we suspected, the highway ascends into the mountains, so we went back north on highway 97 a bit to find a cherry farm. We stopped at one of the first ones north of town, and picked 11 pounds of cherries ($1.25 per pound) before heading off on our way home.

Deb picking cherries

More cherries

Brenda had told us that we had to stop in Manning Park since we've not done that before (having only driven through the park on one other occassion). So we stopped in one of the last rest areas heading west. Unfortunately, the temperature had dropped by quite a few degrees from when we first got into the car. All of our warm clothing was in the trunk under the bike rack and it was too much effort to take the bikes off, get in the trunk, then resecure the bikes again. So we didn't even walk around on the short trail there; instead we got back in the car and went home (via a stop for gas to say hi to our favourite station attendants).

Cool lighting in Hope