Tag Archives: hiking

Commentary, nature, Photography

KVR Trail

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The Kettle Valley Rail Trail is a 660 km decommissioned passenger train line that used to run through southern British Columbia from Hope to Castlegar between 1910-1964.

Heading toward Penticton.

It continued to be in operation as a freight line until 1989 and after it fell out of use, the tracks were removed and it was re-purposed as a hiking, running, walking and biking trail.

Heading toward Kelowna.

M and I have walked chunks of it in all seasons; it has terrific views with the Columbia Mountains to the east and the Okanagan Mountains to the west.

Okanagan Lake from above.

The KVR is also part of the Trans Canada Trail, a cross-country network of trails, waterways and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic to the Arctic and Pacific Oceans.

The sun shines on a still-awakening valley.

The Trans Canada Trail, at 24,000 km, is the longest multi-use trail system in the world.

Grape vines and orchards below; the city of Penticton to the left.

We love having this trail almost at our doorstep and are so happy that 35 years ago, a group of forward-looking people decided to band together to re-purpose an old rail line.

Happy Tuesday.

nature, Photography, Wine

Ripening

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One of the trails we like to walk/hike runs through dense agricultural areas with many orchards and grape vines.

I like keeping track of how everything is ripening; right now the peaches are being harvested. The wine grapes will be much later, however, especially depending on whether they will be used for ice wine. If that’s the case, they will remain in the fields until they have been frozen. This will concentrate the resulting juice, producing a very sweet dessert wine.

I don’t know what kind of grapes these are as the rows aren’t labelled but they seem to be doing well.

Happy Saturday.

Reblogs

Killarney Provincial Park in the Spring

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Length of stay: 2 daysVisited: May 2023 Killarney Provincial Park is nestled in untamed wilderness near Georgian Bay. It is open all-year round and …

Killarney Provincial Park in the Spring

Beautiful pictures of Ontario from Linda at Wandering Canadians. If you’re interested in both hiking and photography, her blog has detailed descriptions of many hiking areas and parks accompanied by fantastic pictures.

Commentary, nature, Photography

Wood Buffalo National Park

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The correct name for the animals is “bison,” but the park’s official name hasn’t been changed yet.

This park was established in 1922 to protect the seriously dwindling bison herds but also became invaluable to protecting the whooping cranes, as well.

At just under 45,000 km², Wood Buffalo is the largest national park in Canada and the second largest in the world. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in 2013, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada designated it as the world’s largest dark sky preserve to protect the habitat of bats and other night-time animals and also to ensure the visibility of the Aurora Borealis.

There’s lots of hiking and camping, including back country camping sites and many kilometres of day hiking trails available.

Happy Sunday.