Vacation Summary Part 1/2

Wednesday May 3rd we left Devon and drove to the Okanagan where we camped at Kukuli Campground near Kelwona. We have a lot of experience car camping but we have not done so for a number of years so it was a surprise when we saw the “Mongolian Yurts” available for rent for $60.00 CDN funds per night (sleeps 2 adults, 2 kids). We did not rent one. Apparently very warm and the ventilation is regulated from the inside via the clear bubble on top. The charge for just a tent site was $22.00 CDN. The site had flush toilets, but no showers. Very noisy with lots of car, truck and train traffic through the night. Not my idea of wilderness camping but it was cheaper than a motel. Here is a picture of one of the (I think there were 2 or 3) yurts:

We did not see another “yurt” on our travels. The next morning we drove to West Bank and camped at Bear Creek. It was a nice campground but like all modern campgrounds it was overpriced at $22.00 CDN and we had to keep our tent on a gravel pad. It’s all about economics these days, because no one who designed these campsites have ever camped a day in their lives, but they are good business people. Have you ever tried to drive a tent peg through a gravel pad? Still the area was nice enough and there was not so much traffic. The managers felt compelled to start weed wacking the grass all around the campsites starting around 9AM but fortunately we had been up since 7AM. Still, I think they are all insane trying to cut acres of grass with just a noisy gas powered weed wacker. I have some very passionate and uncomplimentary opinions on the topic of campgrounds, and winter closures and etc. which I will keep to myself.

I have already posted some pics of our Bear Creek trail runs, but here is one of our meals cooked on our $5.00 garage sale Coleman Stove. The last stove we had we paid $2.00 for at a garage sale but it got stolen years ago at another campground. The wine is from a local winery that does not have enough production to ship out of British Columbia:

As they say, “…good pairing, chef!” The interesting thing about this stove is that just before we left home, I discovered the previous owners had left the stove full of gasoline which had turned yellow and gooey and the stove obviously did not work properly. I replaced it with the proper naptha (white gas) but we still have trouble with performance. I will have to fix it when I get home.

This next picture is of an unknown native (we think) sunflower type plant which was everywhere and very beautiful:

And here is a picture of Bear Creek Falls:

We ran this approximately 5 km trail twice and it was very hilly in places. To our amazement, we discovered a pair of nesting Canada Geese in the darkest recesses of the deep shadowed canyon! We disturbed them as we ran by in each of our two runs, and they flew out of the canyon, circled around and returned to their nesting place. Very strange to see Canada Geese nesting in this unusual location.

The summary will continue in part two, to be posted when I get more time…