Seasonal beauty suffers this year
In outdoor recreation, timing is everything.
Aside from the obvious summerwinter choice of activities is the timing for flora and fauna in the valley. The glorious spring bloom of Okanagan sunflowers aka arrowleaf balsamroot. The colourful display of deciduous trees every fall.
The Sheriff and Constant Companion Carmen vowed to paddle Lilypad Lane in July when its blooms float all along the channel between Oyama and Streak lakes.
Sweltering temperatures and then intense wildfire smoke derailed those plans so our weekday adventure there last week didn’t have the same impact. We saw only a half-dozen yellow blossoms struggling amidst a waterscape of plants with brown curling leaves.
The Okanagan’s severe drought also affected the water level with barely enough depth for our touring kayaks. Side channels were too shallow to venture there. That depth perception also kept other boats away. Yet the sky was blue, wildfire smoke was minimal and the waterfowl were just as shocked at seeing us there as we were surprised to find them still rooting around for a meal.
We were the only ones venturing up to the north end of Streak Lake and its recreation site (off Oyama Lake forest service road), this week’s Secret Okanagan Spot in the SOS series. We had the picnic table to ourselves but the garbage gathered around the site by CCC was evidence that others had been there
before us.
Back at the Oyama Lake recreation site, CCC found more garbage, enough to fill a discarded plastic bag. Such a shame that some who came to commune with nature could not leave it as pristine as they found it.
On Monday, we joined other members of the Pleasure on Wheels Facebook group for an e-bike tour of West Kelowna starting on the south slopes of Mt. Boucherie. We pedaled from the panoramic views of Pinot Noir Drive to Mission Hill Family Estate Winery to Gellatly Nut Farm Regional Park.
Our guide and South Boucherie resident, Kent, took us up the almost-completed multi-use pathway on Gellatly Road which extends from Boucherie Road to Witt Road. He also showed us a new-to-us paved multi-use trail from Witt Road over to Carrington
Road. It felt like we were nowhere near an urban environment as we descended into a draw and then back up to the roadway.
There’s nothing like local knowledge, someone who can show you their favourite places. As it turns out, West Kelowna is also the old stomping grounds for cycling buddy Cathy who showed us places she used to explore.
With that in mind, fire chief Jason Brolund of West Kelowna Fire Rescue had a cautionary note for outdoor enthusiasts who are used to exploring the hills around West Kelowna.
“Crews on the ground have noticed that some members of the public continue to enter the Mount Law wildfire area for recreational purposes such as hiking and using off-road vehicles. For the safety of the public and fire crews, we want to remind the community that
there is an Area Restriction Order in place and they should not be entering the fire area for recreation purposes,” he said.
—————
This week, Sovereign Lake Nordic Club introduced Jacqueline Akerman as its new head coach.
After living in the Ottawa region for most of her working career, she made the move out west just weeks ago to take up residence in Canmore at the National Training Centre and head office of Biathlon Canada. After some headhunting by former head coach Eric de Nys, she agreed to talk to general manager Troy Hudson and the rest is history.
“From our first conversation and throughout the interview process, I just felt as though Jacqueline was immediately the right person for the job. Her incredible passion and excitement for skiing, knowledge of our sport, and connection to not only the XC ski community but also the biathlon community made complete sense to bring her on board as the new leader of our programs team,” said Hudson.
“Jacqueline will be starting her new position here in October so we have some time to bring her up to speed through our programs advisory team to be ready for winter and our first competition here on Dec. 4-5 at the Canada Cup.”
“I am incredibly pleased to join the Sovereign Lake Nordic Club family,” said Akerman. “I see an amazing community full of support, skill and passion. SLNC has an exceptional amount of enthusiasm, talent, vision and momentum. I look forward to continuing to build from the foundation of so many before me. I can’t wait to meet you all and put on that plaid for the very first time!”
Board representative and programs director Cyndy Flores added: “The board of directors is excited to welcome Jacqueline and her partner, Annik, to the Sovereign family. The board was very impressed with her qualifications and coaching philosophy, and unanimously approved the offer to Jacqueline. Choosing a head coach for our club is one of the biggest decisions we can make as a board and we truly feel Jacqueline is the right coach that will help guide the sport development here at our club, and fulfill our strategic objectives of growing competitive and noncompetitive programs for our members and families.”
“We are looking forward to an amazing winter at Sovereign Lake,” said Hudson. “With Jacqueline at the helm, we now have a complete programs advisory team. She is joined by Mike Bell (Master’s lead coach), Andrew Casey (Skill Development lead coach), Lynn Algra (biathlon coach) and Candace Bourque (programs administrator).”