The Camino Frances

The Camino Frances

Monday, July 11, 2016

Kelowna, spring 2016, hiking with friends and family





I spent 3 weeks in Kelowna this spring, though by the weather and the gardens, it seemed like summer. The cherry blossoms were done, and the trees were in full leaf. It was too hot some afternoons to hike, as there is little shade and lots of pavement and stone, instead of all the green lawns and fields that I find in Toronto.

I hiked in Mission Creek park with the Keen Poles hiking group, then explored more of it on my own.

I hiked several times in Scenic Canyon Regional Park. The pathway was just a 10 minute walk from where Aislinn lives. If you turned right, you could walk about 12 kms to Lake Okanagan, which I did several times. If you turned left, the trail climbed gently toward the mountains. Next time I'll make time to walk further this way.



Image result for scenic canyon regional park kelowna
Mission Creek in Scenic Canyon




Overlooking the creek from the canyon



Here is the backpack I occasionally carried!








The family and I went walking in Chichester Wetland Park, looking for turtles.






Turtles spotted!





And ducks!




http://www.kelowna.ca/CM/Page4813.aspx
This is the website for Chichester.

Another park we visited is Maude Roxby Wetland, right on the lake.
We were able to walk the boardwalk around the entire wetland, and saw many birds and turtles.

 https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/26608194120_e1accd634a_b.jpg

I pursued another of my interests in Kelowna - thrifting!
There are about 13 thrift stores in Kelowna, and I met my goal of 100kms a week by walking to 10 of them.
I found a new Camino hat, and several more merino sweaters and the Tilley pants ( guaranteed for life) that I will wear on the Camino in August and September.

Kelowna is a hiker's paradise, especially if you drive into the mountains.