Still Summer

It’s sure a far cry from last year when we had snow in the hills and cold temps all around.  They say it ain’t over until the fat lady sings, and at this point she’s still in her dressing room getting ready.

With highs around 24C today, Mike D’Antoni put in an appearance to check out the south Okanagan trails.

I think he found them suitable.

Although he did spend an inordinate amount of time pumping up his rear tire.  He’s been on a bit of a trip around BC, so I think it’s just the mileage catching up with him.  But if you’re going to get a flat, odds are it’s gonna be here.  At least the scenery was nice today.

We also found some trails that I’ve heard about but haven’t gotten around to checking out.  This is an older trail in the Mice called Ferngully.  Not sure why they named it that…

I also introduced Mike to another post-ride tradition in the Okanagan.   It’s not quite pizza and beer, but it’ll do**.

http://instagram.com/p/t84JPdH-cR

**We went for pizza and beer right after this.

HBD 3

It’s my birthday…still…again…

I went over to the Monashees early this morning to check out a new trail that my old friend Matt “Pinto” Devlin has put together.  Matt is one of the owners at Kingfisher Heliskiing, so it’s actually surprising that it’s taken this long for him to throw his hat into the backcountry biking ring.

This is a bit of a raw trail to say the least.  We (being myself, French Jonny, Ja Smith, and Matt) are the first people to put the rubber to the, uhhh… trail here.  After a pretty stiff climb, this is the reward on the summit of Mt. Yeoward.

Matt does the guide thing here (I got busted doing the same thing later).

Jonny and the Pinnacles.

Here’s a few shots of the edge of the back bowls of Yeoward with Matt and Jonny.

After several kilometers of rolling terrain and some stiff little climbs, we got to this awesome alpine meadow.  No trail here yet, you just follow flagging tape.  This must be epic when the flowers are out.

Beer break!   Gotta get ready for the descent to the lake.

It’s a nice ride.   Great XC on a mix of old horse trail and newly cut singletrack.  Plus it finishes at a damn nice lake.  It’s early days in this zone, but there’s sure a lot of potential.  I’ll be keeping an eye on it for sure.

And to top it all off, check out the epic sunset/moonrise I drove home under.

HBD 2

It’s my birthday…still…   Look, I’ve made it this far.  I’m going to enjoy it.  Besides, I’ve barely seen my little girl all summer, so today we’re going to the beach.

That actually looks a little bit gloomy.  It was much nicer than that if you were there.

Uncle Ash was kind enough to take us out on the boat and over to the desert.  Canada’s only real desert, dontchaknow?

Oh, and also Chevy found out that boats aren’t scary, they’re fun.

I think there is another decent bike adventure to be had tomorrow, though.