American World Traveler Summer 2019

70
WT Photo Library
Vernon, BC: Okanagan Playground
Article and photography by Jennifer Merrick
Our bike ride along the
newly-opened Okanagan
Rail Trail, a 50km multiuse
pathway that ran from the north end
of Kalamalka Lake to the center of
Okanagan Lake in downtown Kelowna,
took much longer than expected. It wasn’t
because we had to catch our breath. At
1.3% maximum grade, it was pretty much
flat. Nor did we have any mechanical
issues. The bikes arranged by outfitters at
Predator Ridge were in top shape and the
extra-wide tires perfectly suited to the wellgroomed
gravel trail. The weather was
also ideal, with the Spring sunshine warming
us at a time when ice still covered the
sidewalk outside my Eastern Canadian
home.
So why did the bike ride take so long?
The views! Every time we turned a corner,
a gorgeous vista appeared before us with
mirror-like glacial lakes reflecting the
peaks of the Monashee Mountains that
surrounded them. We’d stop, take out our
phones, snap a few pictures, get back on
our bikes and pedal until the next look-out,
which was inevitably more photogenic.
And once again we’d stop…well, you get
the idea. It was all just too picture-perfect
to resist.
Though the bike trail is new, the
Okanagan Region, located in south central
British Columbia, attracts Vancouverites