Friday 31 May 2019 (Day 1 of 2019)
A relatively gentle, but long (80km) beginning to the year’s efforts – partly because logistics meant we had to to do today backwards (downhill), heading back to where we left off last year on the shores of Okanagan Lake in Penticton rather than starting there.
We began with a fortifying breakfast at Fezziwig’s in Kelowna (if you have forgotten the pattern from last year or you’re new to this blog you’ll soon pick it up) and a drive up the winding forest access road to Myra Canyon high above the town, where our ever-indulgent friend Annelore dropped us off.
We are still on the Kettle Valley Railroad trail and Myra Canyon has 18 trestles and two tunnels in a 9km stretch that winds around the hills above the Okanagan Lake. These were constructed between 1910 and 1916 to enable the movement of copper and silver from the Kootenay mountains to ports on the west coast. The trestles have been burnt down by wildfires and restored or rebuilt and they made for a novel beginning to the day.
Heading out of the canyon among the stubby spruce trees that have re-seeded since the last big fire in this area, we engaged in a bit of watersports in puddles that turned out to be mini-lakes and a lot deeper (and more rocky) than they had appeared before entry. Again we muttered our thanks for the mountain bikes and the skills we had learnt at #endlessbiking on Vancouver’s north shore.
A mostly flat first 35km took us to Chute Lake Lodge, a charming pub and cabins on Chute Lake high above the Okanagan. A couple of local ciders and a shared macaroni cheese (“mac n cheese” is a pub staple here in Canada) set us up well for the downhill run hugging the cliffs above Okanagan Lake towards the Naramata winelands. Unfortunately smoke from wildfires in northern Alberta made for hazy views. Down the trail from Chute Lake is the lush and brilliant green Rock Oven Park, where 11 rock ovens built for bread baking by the Italian stonemasons who constructed the railway in 1913-1916 still stand.
This is rattlesnake, bear and cougar country but, while we saw signs of very recent bear visits, the wildlife we encountered today consisted of many chipmunks and bunnies, a weasel, eagles and lots of butterflies. We also ran into more people than usual given this is a high tourist-traffic area.
Okanagan Lake is British Columbia’s inland summer playground and stretches 135km between Penticton in the south, Kelowna in the middle and Vernon in the north. The dry southern end is bordered by New World wineries that produce world-class wines – many of which we have tried …
Second lunch at Hillside winery and bistro was delicious and conveniently set right next to the trail. We took a couple of bottles of their unoaked Pinot Gris in our backpacks for later and rode the last few kilometres through the sagebrush and vineyards on to the shore of the lake in Penticton.
Today: 81km. 35km flat then down to Penticton
#transcanadatrail
#thegreattrail
Trans Canada Epic 