KVR Trail keeps getting better
And then ... wildfire smoke got worse.
As a result, friends are cancelling Okanagan outings and their planned multi-day hiking/biking trips across B.C.
Meanwhile, Constant Companion Carmen is trying to figure out where we can go to avoid the smoke. That didn’t work out so well last September. A multi-day kayak trip around Desolation Sound proved you can escape B.C. Interior smoke on the east side of Vancouver Island until Washington state smoke arrives.
In the meantime, we joined other members of the Central Okanagan Outdoors Club last Saturday for the South Okanagan’s equivalent to the Okanagan Rail Trail.
The KVR Trail from Penticton to Little Tunnel (above Naramata) is a gentle uphill on a wonderful hard-packed gravel base for nonmotorized use. The bonus is you don’t have to pedal on your return to Penticton. Just glide.
This section of the KVR just got a lot better.
For years, multiple outdoor recreation organizations have lobbied unsuccessfully for increased provincial funding for Recreation Sites and Trails BC, a branch of the Forests Ministry. You have to ask is the priority logging or recreation? In a dozen places, the ministry has converted trails donated for non-motorized use into logging roads.
In an end run, unique partnerships have produced several trail improvement projects in the Interior through tourism and infrastructure grants. The latest partnership involved the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen, Chute Lake Lodge and Recreation Sites and Trails BC.
Just completed is a four-kilometre extension of the KVR Trail from Little Tunnel to Glenfir parking lot (off Chute Lake Road).
We checked it out on Saturday and found a perfectly smoothpacked gravel surface, ideally suited for hiking and biking. A word of caution, however, since RSTBC allows both non-motorized and motorized use from Little Tunnel to Chute Lake.
It’s basically a one-lane road (and trail) where you could meet vehicles heading to/from the small parking lot just north of Little Tunnel. It’s hard to imagine how two vehicles could pass each other without at least one of them going off the trail/road. ATVs and motorcycles are allowed so it will be interesting to see how the trail surface stands up to that kind of multiuse abuse. It hasn’t worked well in so other areas.
TOTA still has some tourism/ infrastructure funds for phase two — more gravel hauled in for trail improvements between Glenfir and Chute Lake.
Last October, the Ministry of Forests hired Solano Resources Ltd. of Penticton at a cost of $100,000 to repair the section between Bellevue Creek Trestle (south of Kelowna) and Naramata after numerous complaints about huge potholes and flooding. In-kind donations from the contractor and Chute Lake Lodge raised the total to $140,000. Work began last fall and was completed in the spring, but it needs a finished gravel surface.
“We hope to see many improvements going forward. Priorities include improvements to the trail surface as required, signage, trail amenities including benches/picnic tables and possibly washrooms,” said TOTA president and CEO Ellen Walker-Matthews. “We will be working closely with Rec Sites and Trails as well as the RDOS on the implementation of the KVR Masterplan that we released in 2020.”
The second phase will commence mid-season with support from Western Diversification Canada and B.C.’s Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program.
“The Kettle Valley Railway Trail has become one of the region’s signature attractions for visitors and residents throughout the region,” said Walker-Matthews.
“Through the positive collaboration of a number of partners, we are able to invest in upgrades that can only serve to enhance an experience for hikers and cyclists that is one of B.C.’s most scenic and iconic.”
————— From the Central Okanagan Naturalists Club: “We are very sorry to note that long-time CONC member George Scotter recently passed away. His funeral was on July 24. He was 88 years old. Peter Courtney notes that CONC members will remember George most as an avid botanist, writer and hiker.
“In his younger years, Dr. George Scotter was a teacher as well as a research scientist and manager for the Canadian Wildlife Service amongst other things. He wrote four books, and over 180 publications for scientific journals and nature magazines. He collected over 38,000 plants for herbariums across Canada and has four plant species named after him. He received several career achievement and conservation awards.”
More information will be published in the next club newsletter.
————— Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre will host a Canada Cup competition on Dec. 3-5.
A call for volunteers and officials will go out in September. If you are a level 2 official and can help host this race, contact GM Troy Hudson at troy@sovereignlake.com.
Sovereign Lake is also looking for more staff.
“We are always looking for good people to join our team and have a few positions that are geared toward outdoor operations.
We are seeking a new operations mechanic and two snowcat operators for this winter. One full-time and one part-time position. Trevor, our heavy-duty mechanic, will be leaving us following the conclusion of his full-time apprenticeship position with BC Hydro. Trevor has been an incredible team member and has raised the bar on equipment maintenance with our club,” said Hudson.
A long-time club member has died.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Garry Mitchell,” Hudson said. “Garry was a long-time SLNC club member who resided at Silver Star in the winters and back at their summer cottage in Ontario during the summer months. Garry has also been a well-recognized ski instructor with the club over the last number of years and we will miss him terribly.”