St Georges KVR – 4

That’s what I need after a rainy night.  Some serious fried up breakfast scramble.  Oh, and sunshine would be nice too.

Yesterday was the big day.  Today is the fun day.  We start off with a short downhill, a visit to the store, and then a tunnel.

On the other side of the tunnel, it’s like a whole new world…

One that has some epic Flinstones sort of geology to play in.

Oh, and dead carcasses too.  That’s an elk.  Pretty ballsy for a cougar to take down an elk, but that’s what you get in the Tulameen.  We trade off the biggest cougars on record with some place in Arizona.  Around 120 kg.  Begger than me by a long shot.

Gazebo time!

Sweet…

Alright, time to chill out and hang with your guides.

Oh, and also a good place to throw rocks.  Look close, you can see one in flight.

OK, another tunnel.

Once again, it’s like entering a new world…

This one has a nice sandy beach.

Too bad the water is so cold (as usual, I went swimming…).

My new buddy…

When we got to Coalmont, it was time for the traditional race.  Ready….

…set….

….Boom!

A million laughs.  My team got beat by a mile.  Well, I did cheat at the end, but it didn’t count.

Our crap campsite.

Another version….

Wildlife shot!  This beaver really didn’t care how close we got.

The guides enjoying a last meal together under the moon.

Hanging with the boys.  Anyone want to go to the graveyard?

Yeah dudes!

Yes, they’re all dead.  But they’re happy to see you.

Except for this guy…

Wait…did you hear something?  I think I just heard—-AUGGGGGHHHH!!!!

It’s so  Blair Witch, innit?  Meh, it’s just Coran.  Nothing to see here, move along….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr & Mrs. Marmalade – 8

Last day in the Okanagan, and the effort of the trip is beginning to tell.  Plus, it’s genuinely hot today.  So let’s do something thoroughly tourist-y and ride the KVR through Myra Canyon.

This is the famous section of trestles and tunnels that was destroyed by fire back in 2003.

They’ve since restored it, and now it’s a favourite place to ride bikes, walk dogs, train for Ironman, etc.

It’s a nice little diversion, and it’s also a lot cooler up here than the 33C in the valley.

Anyway, it’s very scenic, even if somewhat dull to ride.

At least it’s not uphill.

Of course, it’s not down hill either, but we only did about 16km of it before dropping in to some great singletrack back down to Kelowna.

Yes, there’s plenty of singletrack to access off this section of KVR.

Get a room…

Definitely some epic light today in the Crawford Canyon.

Yes, we’re still on run #1 today.  I think it turned into something like 35km.

Not like it was some kind of death march or anything, but it was pretty long.

ANOTHER viewpoint?  OK, we’ll take another break.

After a hot lunch at the Eldorado (and I mean hot.  35C on the patio), we went to Gillard for a couple more laps.  Yvonne on a teeter…

This was a good warmup for the next few days, as we are heading to the North Shore and the Sunshine Coast for the last part of the tour.

OK, so you can’t hit ‘em all.  I think Yvonne would have hit this if we hadn’t been sorta tired out already.

Al and I cranked off one more fast one on the same lap before calling it quits.

While Yvonne waited for us and managed to snap this pic of doe and fawn.