2009

27 September 2009 Riding the Rails The Okanagan section of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, between Midway (near Rock Creek) and Kelowna, is a route filled with wooden trestles, mountain tunnels, and historic sites.     Kelowna British Columbia - Near Kelowna, the most popular access point to the KVR is in the Myra Bellevue Provincial Park.   The Kettle Valley Rail Trail is a multi-use recreational rail trail located in the Okanagan-Boundary region of southern British Columbia.   The trail uses a rail corridor that was originally built for the now-abandoned Kettle Valley Railway.   The trail was developed during the 1990s after the Canadian Pacific Railway abandoned train service.   One of the most popular sections of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail is the section through Myra Canyon.   Myra Canyon is located south of Kelowna on Okanagan Mountain.   The section of line originally transited between Midway and Penticton.   When the railway was built, the section of railway between Myra station and June Springs station required 18 wooden trestles and two tunnels in order to traverse the deep canyon.   I am cycling through the Myra Canyon with some low-lying branches whipping at my helmet, but I hardly notice - I marvel at the incredible beauty of the rails-to-trails route.   Twice, I nearly fall off my bike because I'm obliviously taking in the spectacular views of the deep gorges and towering mountains that snake along the 12 rebuilt trestles and two tunnels of the Kettle Valley Railway Trails near Kelowna.   As I quicken my pace, my guide, Ed Kruger, owner of Monashee Adventure Tours, is trying to keep up.   I feel good, I feel alive - what a difference 1,000 feet elevation makes - up top is cooler than down below; by about 10 percent, Kruger informs me.   This section of the Kettle Valley trail is for me the most stunning of any of the historic trestle trails I've been on.   Kruger, a lifelong Kelowna resident and a cycling encyclopedia on the region, agrees.   We are 3,000 feet (910 metres) above the Okanagan Valley and in the distance we have a clear view of the Kelowna Airport, Duck Lake, and Okanagan Lake.   Kruger, appropriately nicknamed Trailhead Ed, stops me on Trestle Four for a brief history lesson.   He tells me that The Oblate Missionaries, more specifically Father Pandosy, Father Richard, and Brother Surel, arrived in the Okanagan in the fall of 1859.   The site they chose for a Mission was known as L'Anse au Sable.   With the building of the Mission, the name Okanagan Mission described the whole area for miles around.   In 1905, Kelowna, which comes from the Salish Indian word grizzly bear, was incorporated.   Later that day, while I ponder my exhilarating cycle, I contemplate the fact that I never before considered Kelowna as a vacation destination.   As I fly home, I understand why people love Kelowna. As I recount my weekend getaway to a friend, I sport a huge grin - whether I was dining on mouthwatering cuisine, or sipping on fine regional wines, or discovering the award-winning Carmelis Goat Cheese Artisan, a family-owned dairy, or breathing in the heady scent of lavender at the Okanagan Lavender Farm - Kelowna is definitely a vacation destination worthy of visit.   Michelle Hopkins.   Editor's Note:  Non-railway portions of this story removed.

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