A Bert In The Bush A Bert In The Bush Rained off the TransCanada Highway late in the afternoon, the nearest reasonable camping spot was the rest area at Three Valley Gap. Reasonable meaning reasonably dry, reasonably close, and reasonably quiet. Well, quiet might be a stretch...
Once More Once More Wheel bearing issues forced a late start out of Siacamous. Talking the cart apart at Enderby for the paddle down the Shuswap and over Marla Lake, I noticed that a bearing in the opposite wheel to the one I jury-rigged in Armstrong had...
Easy Miles Easy Miles My route through all of BC consists of exactly two downstream paddles totalling less than two and a half days.The Similkameen we know about. The section of the Shuswap from Enderby to Marla Lake is the second downstream paddle. Absent are the rapids...
Weak Links Weak Links I’m always afraid that some $2.39 piece of plastic will spell the end of the entire enterprise. It’s impossible to carry spares for everything and next to the same to imagine all the problems that Murphy dreams up.Meet the weak link. I knew...
Due Upon Receipt Due Upon Receipt I paid dearly for my slothful exit from Big Bear Creek. Trusting the forecast to bring more of the same easy miles as the run up to and past Kelowna, I mosied down to the beach at the ungodly hour of...
Double for Nothing Double for NothingSail trials complete on Skaha Lake, I flew Kai Nani’s very handy lug rig for more than 4 hours on the first big leg on Okanagan Lake.Not exactly sure what the wind was going to do, I paddled dead downwind for...
Skaha Ha Ha Skaha Ha Ha One piece of gear that never got field tested was the sailing rig. Hubris aside, I fancied myself to be a quick study in the sailing department.Sometimes the best surprises are not surprisesat all. The sail, mast and lug worked exactly...
Legacy Legacy Embedded in the concrete at Yellow Lake, the summit of the Pass between the Similkameen and Okanagan Valleys, this innocuous bronze marker is a survey monument. This, and the thousands upon thousands scattered across all of Canada are in fact part and parcel of David Thompson’s...
Height of Land Height of Land In the far distance are the hills and mountains that form the eastern slopes of the Okanagan Valley. It’s very hard to believe that after walking only a few days and paddling a couple that the landscapes, the weather, and the forests...
Valour's Better Part Valour's Better Part Finally in the canoe after close to 200 km overland, the Similkameen seemed a dream. I went a grand total of 400 meters before I was out and lining the canoe. I had planned on making Keremeos in at most one...