Your spring hike might meet some winter conditions
An Easter Sunday hike on the Spion Kop trails in Lake Country was a reminder of spring challenges on a weekend that included the last day of March and the first day of April. It was also April Fools’ Day and the trick was played on our group from the Central Okanagan Outdoors Club.
Hike leader Karen took us to the Pelmewash Parkway (former Highway 97) trailhead where the red Summit Trail will take you to the summit and one of the best — if not the best — viewpoints in the Okanagan Valley, a view of five lakes if you look around 360 degrees.
The Sheriff forgot his Spion Kop Hiking Trails map (download from lakecountry.bc.ca) and had not read the trail description since last year.
About Summit Trail: “This challenging trail is perfect for those looking for a workout. It has the most elevation gain to the peak of Spion Kop” (485 metres or 1,591 feet elevation gain, greater than the Ridge Rocket Express at Big White Ski Resort).
The Summit Trail takes you under the new Highway 97. At the red-yellow connector, we took the yellow Arrowleaf Trail, to the white Tower Trail, which takes you to the summit at an elevation of 897 metres.
Those trails, mostly facing south, were free of snow and ice but you had to walk carefully along the sides several times as water cascaded down the hill.
Going back, we decided to take the Summit Trail from peak to trailhead. Mistake.
Much of the upper trail was covered with uneven snow and ice. Not fun. So be forewarned.
***** And now, the promised update on the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society with a little history first.
The Sheriff first visited the Myra Canyon section of the former Kettle Valley Railway in 1980 when the steel rails were still in place and a Kelowna society was trying to raise enough money to buy them, keep the rail line intact and potentially operate a tourist train.
The Sheriff was one of the last people to ride through the canyon on a “railway speeder” (also known as railway motor car, puttputt, track-maintenance car) and he thought -— as its wheels went click, click, click over the rail junctions — that this is the way the canyon was meant to be seen.
When that rescue effort failed, the rails were removed and it became a popular, but unmaintained recreation trail.
Until two women cycling flipped off trestles and died.
And then, the new Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society stepped in to deck the 18 trestles and install handrails.
The Sheriff has to admit he had tears in his eyes with word the 2003 Okanagan Mountain wildfire destroyed or damaged most of the trestles.
In June 2008, he played the part of Sir Thomas Shaughnessy, former president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the man responsible for the construction of the Kettle Valley Railway, at the official re-opening of what the Sheriff believes is the Okanagan Valley’s top attraction — an incredible combination of man-made wonder and natural beauty.
The society has not stopped since then and celebrates its 25th anniversary this year with a $200,000 fundraising campaign.
The annual general meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the EECO Centre in Mission Creek Regional Park on Springfield Road in Kelowna. Attendees will hear about 2017 projects and 2018 plans including the 2018 fundraising campaign and the proposed opening of the original Morrissey construction work camp for public viewing.
To find out more, the Sheriff interviewed society director Ray Sobol.
“Last year, we weren’t able to get some things done, in particular work on the two work camps — the Morrissey and the Huissi camps, that are still on our menu,” he said.
The Morrissey camp is located off the Ruth Station gate parking lot at the Little White forest service road (June Springs Road) end of the canyon.
When Sobol researched the history, he found E. A. Morrissey’s Camp No. 2 was one of seven camps in the Myra Canyon area. Others included Huissi’s Camp and George Chew’s Camps 9 through 12.
Camps were named after the relevant railway contractor so this one was named after E. A. Morrissey, a railway contractor from Spokane, Wash., who worked as a sub-contractor to Grant Smith & Company, the general contractor for the Midway to Penticton section of the KVR.
Among other accomplishments, Morrissey completed the last mile of the Canadian Pacific Railway into the City of Vancouver.
For his work, Morrissey was paid $177,012 of the $2,367,451 paid to all the sub-contractors.
The camp was likely established in September or October 1912, and closed down for a time in December 1913. It re-opened in the spring of 1914.
It generally housed 70-90 men although after March 1914, the numbers were reduced significantly.
Many of the men were Italians known for their mortarless stonework as evidenced by the two ovens used extensively to bake loaves of bread 60 centimetres long and 20 centimetres high. The men, who needed between 5,000 and 6,000 calories per day, ate half a loaf each day.
The men at this camp moved about 67,000 cubic yards of solid rock and nearly 16,000 cubic yards of loose material, working through all the seasons regardless of rain or snow, clear or cloudy skies.
Like other railway contractors, Morrissey had difficulty finding enough men to work his section. George Buck, the KVR engineer responsible for the section where Morrissey worked, reported that the men “came and went” from Morrissey’s camps. Sometimes they left the camp the same day they arrived.
The society hopes to start working on the Huissi Camp, about a kilometre from the rail line further south, in 2019. There isn’t as much brush to clear to get in there.
For the Morrissey camp, volunteers will build a relatively easy walking trail of a couple hundred metres to meet BC Parks’ standards and then clean up the site by removing brush and trees.
Safety barriers will be erected around the two rock ovens and a well, interpretive signs installed there and around rock foundations left after wildfires destroyed the buildings.
Sobol, who does the work schedules, estimates it will probably take five volunteers spending 50-60 hours each for a total of 250-300 hours.
“Close to 10 years ago, we had students from UBC Okanagan come in and do some archeological digs.
Some of these would have been for tents, some log cabins, where horses were kept, that kind of thing. What we should be able to show is what was the way of life at that time at that particular spot. There’s old photos that can be displayed,” said Sobol.
“You have to be pretty rugged to do that kind of work. When you got paid on Friday nights, people walked 15 kilometres as the crow flies into town (and back). At that time, there wasn’t much in the way of roads, just bits of trails, and I would hazard a guess, running into the occasional bear.”
This year, the society also hopes to install another pit toilet by storm shelter No. 2 near trestle No. 11, subject to inspection.
Society volunteers undertake numerous activities, such as construction and maintenance of storm shelters and memorial benches, clearing of fallen rocks, trees and mudslides, repairs to trestle decking and railings, improvements to the paths and protection of historic artifacts.
This work is carried out under a Partnership Agreement with B.C. Parks, which runs through 2024.
The society is seeking volunteers to assist in construction and other activities, and to serve on the board of directors.
The public is welcome to attend the AGM, however, only members can vote. A membership is $10 a year and may be purchased just prior to the meeting or from the website: myratrestles.com.
The society last raised funds before 2008. Since then, it has operated with an annual average budget of $30,000, the result of donations received (with no public plea) after the 2003 wildfire. Those donations support the trail host program, annual maintenance, materials, tools and equipment, kiosks, insurance, vehicles and transportation, legal and other expenses.
There are no paid positions. All work is done by volunteers unless specialized work is required. “Since the society was formed 25 years ago, conservatively, we estimate 40,000 man-hours were donated by volunteers,” said Sobol.
The 2018 fundraising goal is a minimum $200,000. These funds will enable the society to support new enhancements and ongoing annual maintenance work for the next five or more years.
Charitable donation tax receipts are provided for donations of $15 or more. Donations of more than $200 will be recognized on the website and at the Myra Canyon kiosks. To donate, go to myratrestles.com/fund-raising/donate/.
Facts and figures: more than 500,000 visitors have visited since 2008; there were 70,000 visitors in smoky 2017, 77,000 in 2016; it is Trip Advisor’s No. 1 thing to do in Kelowna; there are inquiries from 140 countries; and the society was BC Parks’ 2016 Volunteer Group of the Year.
***** A reminder the B.C. Interior Sportsman Show is this weekend. The show schedule is posted at bcinteriorsportsmanshow.com/ show-schedule/
If you love hunting, fishing or the outdoors in general, the show at the CNC, 4105 Gordon Dr., Kelowna. It’s open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday.
Admission: $10 adults and youth, $15 weekend pass, $25 family pass (two adult and two youth), children under 12 are free (when accompanied by an adult). Parking is free.
***** Skiers and snowboarders have one last chance to ride the Summit Chair at Silver Star Mountain Resort on Sunday and it will all go to a great cause.
For a minimum $5 donation, visitors will receive a day pass for the Summit Chairlift with proceeds to the SPCA.
The Summit Chair operated for the past 48 years but is being replaced by a new gondola scheduled to be completed in July.
The last day of operation begins at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday and the last chair for the public will be at 2:45 p.m. At 3 p.m, a final ride is scheduled for Karl Earnst, the first paid employee at Silver Star Mountain.
***** Some of Canada’s best freestyle athletes are returning home to coach up-and-coming Olympians at the Silver Star Freestyle Ski Club Next Gen Camp this weekend.
Young skiers will have an opportunity to ski and get coached by the current National Next Gen team athletes and their coach, all of whom once called Silver Star home.
“SS Freestyle and Silver Star Mountain Resort have a long history of producing high-performance freestyle athletes so it is very fitting to see the Next Generation (national team program) come to work with kids who have aspirations of being pro and going to the Olympics one day,” said Wade Garrod, director of the Silver Star Freestyle Club.
Coaches attending the camp will include: TJ Shiller, Freestyle Canada team coach and threetime X-Games medallist; Noah Morrison, Aspen World Cup Big Air 2018 Champion; Elena Gaskell, multiple national and North American slopestyle medalist; and Patrick Dew, Canadian Freestyle Next Gen team member and World Cup competitor.
Athletes will be available during the weekend for autographs and photos.
***** The monthly meeting of the Central Okanagan Naturalists’ Club will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Evangel Church, 3261 Gordon Dr. in Kelowna.
Guest speaker Sharon Mansiere will talk about the Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory which has played an invaluable role in helping develop critical baseline data on migratory birds.
Mansiere has been an Okanagan College biology professor for more than 20 years. She is also on the board of the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance and its Meadowlark Nature Festival.
J.P. Squire, aka the Ski Sheriff, is a retired Okanagan Weekend reporter and an avid outdoors enthusiast. His column appears every Saturday. Contact him with your outdoor news at jp.squire@telus.net.