Enjoy the fall, while it’s here
It was another glorious fall week in the Okanagan, prompting concern that it won’t last forever. Or even into next week. When you get out every day or two, you notice that those bone-chilling nights are bringing down more and more colourful leaves every hour. So you’d better get outdoors to enjoy them while they’re still adorning deciduous trees.
During the past week, the Sheriff and cycling/hiking buddy Lawrence started a bike ride at Rotary Beach in Kelowna, did one of our favourite rides along the waterfront to the downtown, then up Cawston Avenue multi-use pathway, Rails With Trails and the Okanagan Rail Trail past Kelowna International Airport to check out the fence erected by the Bennett family (or city), allegedly to stop trespassing/vandalism/camping on the family’s Eldorado Farm.
We also cruised around UBC Okanagan checking out all the buildings constructed in recent years. It’s like a small city in there and worth a look.
The Sheriff and Constant Companion Carmen keep discovering new cycling routes.
With Lawrence and partner Maggie, we cycled to the top of Knox Mountain in Kelowna’s North End. The Sheriff and Lawrence took Paul’s Tomb Trail and then headed up to the first lookout while the women used steep Knox Mountain Drive.
On the way down, all of us cut off from Knox Mountain Drive to Magic Estates, then up Rio Drive to the new road and residential development through Wilden at the top of the Glenmore Highlands.
It’s an uphill slog but the view for the owners of those new houses is panoramic.
Back on Glenmore Road, Lawrence and Maggie chose the new John Hindle Drive and Okanagan Rail Trail to head back toward home in the Mission. presented at 7 tonight at Kelowna Community Theatre. Tickets — if any are left — are available at most outdoor stores in Kelowna.
The keynote speaker is Adam Campbell, a former member of the Canadian triathlon and duathlon teams.
He will share his love for running, which began on the beaches of West Africa and Spain where he spent his childhood running after soccer balls and chasing waves.
After he moved to Canada in his late teens, he began running competitively.
He jumped into the multi-sport world of triathlons and duathlons where he was renown for his running ability, which saw him win a national duathlon title.
After running the roads for a year, he jumped into his first trail race in 2007, qualified for the Canadian Mountain Running Team in his first ultra trail race and posted the best-ever finish by a Canadian at a Mountain Running World Championship at the Jungfrau Marathon, a gruelling 42kilometre uphill run with 6,000-foot elevation gain from start to finish.
It came to an abrupt halt for one of the world’s top ultra runners on Aug. 30, 2016 when he experienced a near-fatal accident while attempting a traverse through Rogerís Pass.
One of the films will focus on his journey. Pumpkin Walk
Then, dress in your Halloween costume, bring a flashlight as the park will be dark, and from 5 to 8 p.m., you can walk the paths lit by pumpkins. Then, cast your vote for the best pumpkin in the categories of funniest, scariest and most original jack-olantern. The public is also encouraged to drop off a donation for the Central Okanagan Community Food Bank.
Motorists are asked to watch for signs and flag personnel, and to keep their eyes peeled for all pedestrians, especially those wearing costumes. For more information, go to regionaldistrict.com/parks, contact the EECO at 250-469-6140, email eeco@cord.bc.ca or drop to the Environmental Education Centre for the Okanagan.
J.P. Squire is a retired Okanagan Weekend reporter and an avid outdoors enthusiast. His column appears every Saturday. Email jp.squire@telus.net.