In the Okanagan Valley, catch a glimpse of Mars from the highway
Evaporation produces the otherworldly polka-dots of Kliluk, a.k.a. Spotted Lake
Over the summer, as the sun beats down on the dry Okanagan and Similkameen valleys in British Columbia, anyone passing by on the highway can witness a lake’s extraordinary transformation.
As water evaporates from the lake, it appears to don a seasonal leopard print — not made of fur, but of minerals, which materialize in colourful spotted pools.
This kidney-shaped lake, which is 800 metres long and five football fields wide, is known to the Okanag- an First Nations people as Kliluk, after the minerals they’ve used in healing ceremonies for thousands of years. More recently, others have called it “Spotted Lake” or “Polkadot Lake.”
Minimal life survives in the lake’s super salty conditions, which is why, along with a particular set of minerals, it’s been described as a terrestrial analog for ancient Martian lakes.
Like the Great Salt Lake in Utah or the Caspian Sea, Spotted Lake is endorheic, which means it’s contained within a closed basin, with no stream or river flowing out.
Groundwater, snowmelt and rainfall fill this lake during the fall. But in the summer, when the air is hot and dry, most of the water evaporates, leaving behind shallow, mineral-rich pools separated from one another by crusty salts and minerals that precipitated in the process. The pools look like spots that vary in colour depend- ing on the minerals they contain.
The Okanagan First Nations people say Kliluk has a spot for each day of the year, but others estimate about 400 briny pools rich in sulphates, magnesium, titanium, sodium and other minerals adorn this lake in the summer.
To go out onto the lake, which is privately owned, you not only have to get permission from the Okanagan Nation Alliance, but also the lake itself.
The proper way to experience the lake is to show your respect with an offering, explains Bob Etienne, a guide at the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre and First Nations Holy Man.
If you have nothing to give, you can simply take a walk around the lake. In exchange, the lake provides minerals such as Epsom salt to treat ailments.
Late July is the best time to catch a glimpse of the lake, as the pools may dry up completely after that.