The characteristics of summer
Every summer has a different outdoor recreation character depending on how the Sheriff and Constant Companion Carmen spend our time, whether it’s hiking, biking, kayaking, camping or a new activity.
This summer, much of our time was spent cycling in spite of the pervasive smoke from forest fires. A sore throat for weeks was not enough to stop us from a lot of biking with some hikes up Knox Mountain and Kuipers Peak, for example, and a few kayaking outings.
The Okanagan has a wealth of biking opportunities from the river channels in the South Okanagan to nearly 300 kilometres of on-street bicycle lanes and 40 kilometres of separated paved multi-use paths in Kelowna to the rural routes in the North Okanagan-Shuswap (see Shuswap Tourism's new Cycle Touring brochure).
The excitement with cycling has added impetus from the new 49-kilometre Okanagan Rail Trail between Kelowna and Coldstream with the possibility of extending it from Coldstream to Armstrong (purchase under discussion) and from Armstrong to Sicamous (recently purchased by local governments).
Imagine being able to bike from downtown Kelowna to Sicamous on an off-road bike path, but probably not in one day.
During the past 10 days or so, the Sheriff and CCC have biked with hiking/biking buddies Lawrence and Maggie from Rotary Beach to Bertram Creek Regional Park for a swim; done what the Sheriff calls the Grand Triangle in Kelowna (more on that later); and on Wednesday, five of us checked out the asphalt paving underway on the Okanagan Rail Trail in Kelowna and the new John Hindle Drive.
Of course, we checked with grader and compactor operators at Dilworth Drive who were working on a short gravel section to the north. No paving on the closed rail trail that day, so we used a gravel sidetrail to get to the new pavement which ends just before McCurdy Road where the Ministry of Transportation has stockpiled dirt from the Highway 97 six-laning project.
Those two gravel sections will be paved by Sept. 7, says Andrew Gibbs, the city’s senior project manager for the Okanagan Rail Trail.
The new pavement stops at a new paved sidepath up to UBC Okanagan and the new John Hindle Way, which will connect to Glenmore Road. This new connector has a separate multi-used paved pathway to the Glenmore Valley. Both were expected to open on Friday afternoon.
There is also a new paved sidepath to Bulman Road (eight gravel-shoulder parking spaces) so you could park your vehicle there and either head into the city on the paved section or toward the airport and a rural setting.
The rail trail to the north is rougher — similar to the formerly unpaved sections toward Dilworth Drive — as if it's awaiting paving. Gibbs expects that to eventually be paved but there is currently no schedule.
There was “a lot more fines” or fine material in the rail trail gravel used from Lake Country to Coldstream, he explained. When the gravel was packed eight times, it created a flat (almost-asphalt-like surface) which will stand up to longer use, said Gibbs.
On Monday, Kelowna city council approved ($1.26-million) in additional funding for the trail in Kelowna, not completion of the trail next year, explained Gibbs.
“The North End section (Ellis Street to Gordon Drive) will be completed by 2019, or perhaps as early as late 2018. It is hoped that the section north of the airport can also be completed next year, but that is dependent in part on external factors and remains to be determined.”
The North End section would connect with the paved Rails with Trails path beside Clement Avenue (started in 2006). Completing the city's portion of the rail rail north of the airport is awaiting a federal transfer of the unimproved piece (from the city section north to Beaver Lake Road) to the Okanagan Indian Band.
An official opening ceremony for the Okanagan Rail Trail will be held at 11 a.m. on Sept. 27 in Oyama at the northeast corner of Wood Lake. More details later.
*** If there was ever an OMG moment, this would be it.
There are four trail counters on the Okanagan Rail Trail: in the District of Lake Country just north of Oyama Road and at Woodsdale tennis courts, and in the Regional District of the North Okanagan at Kick Willie Loop and Kekuli Bay Park.
This week, strategic and support services manager Matt Vader told Lake Country council that since these counters were installed in mid-April, there have been a total of 282,906 crossings.
“These are crossings, not people. We don’t have a full grasp yet of the average trip distance but just based on review, we could hypothesize that between three-four counter clicks would be equal to one person,” said Lake Country communications manager Karen Miller
“We will be doing further surveys of users once the Okanagan Rail Trail is officially open to determine a more concrete estimate of trip counting. Based on this estimate, we could say there have been between 75,000 and 90,000 users to date. Keep in mind that the trail has not been opened yet, and portions in the City of Kelowna and Okanagan Indian Band have not been built or connected to District of Lake Country and Regional District of North Okanagan.”
*** The Sheriff's Grand Triangle cycle route is based on a City of Kelowna map posted online several years ago. It has since been removed from the website, kelowna.ca, as the website was updated and improved.
It involves a great, mostly off-road cycling route, you can start anywhere along the route and loop around to your start point.
If you start at the Lakeshore Road end of Mission Creek Greenway, head up the Greenway to Mission Creek Regional Park. Backtrack slightly to Dilworth Drive (caution much traffic) and cross Harvey Avenue to Leckie Place and Mill Creek Linear Park. Turn onto Leckie Place and take the Rails With Trails down almost to Gordon Drive. Veer onto High Road, then jog down sidestreet Pheasant Street to the start of the Cawston Avenue recreation path. At Ellis Street, turn north (caution much traffic), then turn left at Manhattan Drive.
Just a short distance down (no signs), there is a gravel path through a lovely marsh with viewing area and shelter at Sunset Drive. Cross Sunset and you are in Rotary Marshes. Follow the Waterfront Promenade through City Park to the Abbott Street recreation path, then Lakeshore Road recreation path to the Greenway.
Since we live in the Glenmore Valley, we cycle over to Brandt's Creek Linear Park, starting at Millard Glen Park on Millard Court West. We then cycle through a series of beautiful neighbourhood parks with playgrounds, tennis courts and green lawns to Summit Drive, over to Glenmore Drive and down to the Rails with Trails at Spall Road and Clement Avenue.
As we cycled around the downtown on Wednesday, we checked out the new offroad bike path on Ethel Street. A great addition to the city's bike network.
*** In other outdoor news, the Regional District of Central Okanagan board on Tuesday (Aug. 27) gave conditional support to a Crown land tenure application made to FrontCounter BC.
The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development has applied to formally develop a recreational campsite to provincial standards on approximately four hectares of Crown land at Glen Lake, northwest of Eneas Lake Provincial Park.
Prior to approval by the province, the board requested several conditions including completion of an environmental assessment; that Best Management Practises be followed; and that the District of Peachland is engaged throughout the process.
*** If you join Wild Walks, you can learn some secrets and natural features of various regional parks in the Central Okanagan. A park interpreter promises to turn an ordinary walk in the park into something extraordinary.
Each of the Wild Walks lasts approximately 90 minutes, is suitable for all ages, and range from easy to moderate. Participants should dress for the conditions, wear appropriate sturdy footwear and not forget sunscreen. There’s no cost to take part but you should pre-register for Wild Walks on the following dates and locations:
• Sept. 8 at 10 a.m. and Sept. 12 at 1 p.m., participants will tour and learn about the unique geological formations in Glen Canyon Reginal Park. The round trip tour starts at the parking area located off Gellatly Road in West Kelowna.
• Oct. 13 at 10 a.m. and Oct. 17 at 1 p.m., participants will take a trip through five climatic zones and view some special flying species in Woodhaven Nature Conservancy Regional Park. Thanks to the efforts of the original property owners, this jewel in the city was saved from development. Meet at the parking lot off Raymer Road in the South Mission area of Kelowna.
To save a spot for your family on these free Wild Walks outings, drop in to the Environmental Education Centre for the Okanagan, email eeco@cord.bc.ca or phone 250-469-6140.
These free events are held in conjunction with the Community Recreational Initiatives Society (CRIS) to provide barrier-free access to regional parks. To request the services of CRIS volunteers, go to: adaptiveadventures.ca.
For more information about this or other regional park programs, go to the regional district website: regionaldistrict.com/parks or contact the EECO at 250-469-6140.
J.P. Squire, aka the Hiking, Biking, Kayaking and Horseback Riding Sheriff, is a retired Okanagan Weekend Edition reporter and an avid outdoors enthusiast. His column appears every Saturday. Email jp.squire@telus.net.