The Okanagan Valley, BC, Canada

Returning from a delightful – though too short – break in the UK (including a wonderful weekend in Paris), I was quickly reminded of the wet weather that has plagued western Canada this spring.  The 6½ hour drive from Vancouver Airport included periods of rain of biblical intensity.  Within minutes of settling into my cottage in Penticton, lightning struck nearby (no counting seconds between lightning and thunder – both seemed simultaneous!), knocking out the internet service.

In case you are not familiar with the Okanagan Valley, it is in south-central British Columbia and is considered the center of the province’s fruit orchards and, more recently, viniculture.  The Okanagan has a dry, sunny climate, and several lake-shore communities, including my favorite, Penticton.  With about 30,000 residents, Penticton supposedly is one of only two cities located between two lakes.  (I have no idea what the other one is and tend to doubt this claim in any event).  Apart from agriculture, the economy is retirement and recreation based, with outdoor summer activities such as fishing, kite boarding and wind surfing, hiking, biking, etc.

One obvious benefit to the cool, damp weather this spring, in what passes for the closest thing Canada has to a desert, is the profusion of wildflowers in bloom.  The landscape does have its attractions of course, from the blue lakes to the dramatic hills, to the snow-covered mountains in the distance, to the vineyards and orchards that dominate the valley.  But without a doubt the flowers this spring have stolen the show and feature in many of the photos in this blog post.  [Unlike some past slideshows from California and Utah, I have not attempted to identify the species of each flower, being content merely to give their common (generic) name].

My next post will likely be from the Canadian Rockies, where I have a condo for the month of July just outside of Canmore, Alberta.  The mountains will be a tad more impressive.

Happy trails,

The Vagabond Hiker