The Last Day in Osoyoos,- Golden Sunrise, Golden hills and Golden Eagles

Woke up at 4 and blogged until 6. Considered not going for a hike but thought better of it. Decided to go for a short walk to see the southern side the area that I had not covered when I had been hiking previously.

There was a good breeze so did not wear my hat as I was pretty sure that I would not be out too long and fighting the giant hat in the wind would be a deterrent to the enjoyment of the moment.

Went through the barbed wire fence at the end of the street instead of going around and went up the trail past the old refrigerator units that the grads of the area had painted with many names over the years.A nice trail led up the hill to a large field with little hills scattered around it.

I was not too sure how far I could go as the border was only 2 kilometers away and I may have already gone 1 and a half km. I decided to play it safe and not go too much farther south.

There was what I thought was a sign on a post so I went to it thinking that It might have something to say about the border.

No, it was some kind of an electrical box ,

all shot up and not connected to anything. there was another box just like it only in worse shape on the ground not to far away.

judging by the number of empty shotgun casings laying around someone came out there pretty regular to shoot at the metal Box.

I continued on to look at more butterflys, flowers and tracks.

there lots of tracks. deer, horses, cattle dogs, people and the little tiny ones that I could not identify.

I met an older German? guy walking along the trail . We were doing the same route only in reverse of each other.

Then I spotted a small beetle bug crossing the trail and leaving wonderful little tracks in the dirt that was like talcum powder. The mystery of the lovely tiny tracks was solved.

up on the hill were some flowers that looked like little brides bouquets. an old hole that could have been the start of some prospectors hunt for gold.

I saw some funny tufts of little flower stems.

An old old sage brush tree all twisted and gnarled.

I tramped down the hill across country and was on the first road to go back home when I spotted

a very cool moth on someone's window sill. I had to kind of go into their yard to get close enough. It was very cool. When I got back to edmonton I submitted it for identification and I got this back - Your sighting has been accepted, and your regional coordinator has verified your submission as _Arctia caja_. Your sighting is now represented on the map on the species page: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Arctia-caja The sighting details page is available here: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sighting_details/550197 ) It is a garden Tiger moth

As I was considering going down the hill to go home I happened to glance back up the hill and saw two very large dark birds flying around in the distance over the hill that I had walked around this morning.

At first I thought maybe they were vultures. I climbed back up as quickly and quietly as I could. I tried zooming in as much as I could and hoped that I could get a clear shot, clear enough to identify them.

Then they started to come closer to me and they landed across the valley in the rocks so I zoomed in and took a bunch of shots just hoping that they were in focus.

I lost them in the hills.

That was when I noticed the cattle were all gathered into a little heard of about 10 cows at the bottom of the valley. The white face was there. I keep seeing that cow? Steer?

When I got home I immediately put the pictures into the computer and by cropping and enlarging them found out what the very large birds were.

Golden eagles!

a pair of them.

How exciting! and what a great way to end the trip.

A lovely breakfast of fruit salad and bagels with jam.

moving the suitcases and fruit into the car and we were off to Kelowna via Penticton to pickup sandwiches from the best sancwhich shop in the Okanogan valley.

The roads were actually quite busy with tourists, big rvs and motorcycles. we went the back way into Penticton which is very picturesque along the lake. picked up the sandwiches in a blink as Nancy had called ahead so they were all ready when we got there.

Onto the second leg of the journey and it was a lot better as the highway was four lanes, divided two in each direction for quite awhile. Kelowna was busy and we had to cross the lake and go through town to get to the airport. we got there with more than enough time to eat half of our sandwiches and get on the plane.

The flight was smooth and quick and we were at home before we knew it. Maureen picked us up which was very nice. Home sweet home.

Our Last Supper in Osoyoos (for this trip)

After a lovely breakfast Aunt Mary and Nancy did a crossword while I blogged. then Aunt Mary and I listened to a little Music while Gerry prepped and painted the shelf in the new entry way and Uncle Ron and Nancy went putting.

we had a scrumptious lunch of pizza and greek salad followed by a quiet time for everyone. Uncle Ron got on the computer and got our boarding passes, Nancy assisted.

Then Nancy and I went to the fruit stand and picked out lovely fruit to take with us back to Edmonton tomorrow. Maria the proprietress is a Portuguese lady and very nice.

Raspberries,

Blueberries,

Peaches

Apricots

and

Cherries.

Nummy.

Home again to sort and pack them for the airplane.

Supper consisted of leftovers. a feast of them with a showing

to familyfrom almost every meal for the last week. the conversation went from:

cattle farming

to napoleon

to Japan

to meals we had eaten all week

to decadent deserts

which is what Nancy made for us with one of her three pound cakes,

a fresh raspberry sauce with brandy and chocolate gelato with chocolate shavings to top it all off.

We were all licking the plates.

The guys cleaned up after while we ladies retired to the balcony.

It was a nice cool 30 C. There was a horse on the track , not running just a light working out and a trail ride off to the south had just started. About 40 RVs had gathered in the infield of the track, we think in preparation for a music festival this weekend.

A little fun for the girls once I figured out the automatic settings on my camera and then the gentlemen joined us. We still had fun. Mary and Ron's first date and then the second date. cameras and gardens. i hit the sack around 930 as I was bushed.

Thursday - 3 Aug - cows, Dirt bikers and little wrens

Woke at 530 and was out the door at 6.

I wanted to find the mine that Jo had told me about so I headed up. At the gate that said no entry there were cattle and I entered. I was surprised to see three cattle there, as I didn’t think that they came down this far. I sang a song and bravely went past them.

Following the road around the base of the hill to the trees that Jo said the mine was hiding behind. I started in. I found the old cement support bases covered with grass and sage.

I went up and found more cement blocks, I went up and found the road that I had left earlier and the mine that Jo had told me about. If I had stayed on the road the trip might have been a little easier but not nearly so challenging. The old mine was barred off and cemented in. someone at one time had lit a large fire right in front of the bars and there was a small wasp nest on the ground about 12 feet in front of it which I avoided. The inside was cool and there was a breeze.

Next I thought I would try to find the trail that Jerry had mentioned that followed the ridgeline half way up the mountain. It was a good workout and I was the only person out there. I reached a crossroads and decided to see how far I could get if I stayed on the road and did not do any cross country .So off I went up again. I did hear a wren, the one with the cascading song.

I did hear chickadees. There were lots of birds out but I do not know all their calls.

The walk was wonderful. I passed the area where Jo and I crossed the road on way up on Tuesday. I saw where we came down and where we went up. We had left the road.

I did not. It continued on and went up. There was a sign . the park boundary and an old water trough. I wasn’t sure if I was leaving the park or entering it. The road continued on. UP. My Heart was getting a great workout with this walk. What great views. Lots of butterfly’s unless it was the same three of four following me up the mountain.

I heard dirt bikes in the distance. I came to a fork in the road and a sign. The sign was for the fork to the left and said ‘No Unauthorized motorized vehicles’. It went up. I took it.

It was another workout of a walk though. When I was halfway up the dirt bike noise increased greatly and I realized that they were coming up my trail.

What nerve, I really hoped they were authorized but I doubted it. The first came by making quite a racket. I stepped over to the side to let them have all the room they would need.

I continued up. Just as I was getting to the top portion of the incline the second biker came up. I asked them how much farther to the top and they said about 20 minutes hiking. They continued on.

I thought about it. The last portion of the trail had taken me 15 minutes. It was 720 am. My legs were still OK but I went down.

The walk down was lovely, much more relaxing. . The portion that had taken me 15 minutes going up took me 5 minutes going down. I took a new road down to see where it went. I rolled up my sleeves to get the morning sun on my upper arms and I rolled up my t shirt to get some sun on my tummy which has not seen the sun in years I don’t think.

What a beautiful morning with my giant sun hat, a bottle of water, quiet and solitude (as the dirt bikers were quite now) and the perfect weather. I tried to figure out which road would take me up to a portion of the mountain I had not been to yet. I think I have a route planned for tomorrow’s hike. there are lots of grasshoppers out there.

Got back to the house around 830 and after my shower had a lovely breakfast with all around 9 then this blog while listening to music with Aunt Mary.

Later we will go to the fruit stand to get some fruit to take home with us tomorrow. We don’t have to cook today either as there are lots of leftovers from the restaurant yesterday.

the winery for lunch

I got a video of Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron using the elevator. breakfast was nice. I did not go for a walk as my legs told me that they wanted a break.

we had lunch reservations at the Hester Creek winery Restaurant for 1 we started getting ready at noon and left by 1235. I drove the car with uncle Ron, Aunt Mary and Nancy. We arrived at the winery by 110. it was very good. veggie Pizza for me duck and mushroom pizzas for the others, with two appetizers, one the same as our tomato salad (to compare) ours was better, and the other a roasted artichoke and squash salad. nummy. A little wine. a little tour of the winery tasting room where I picked up a poster of winery doors of the Okanogan.

A nice drive home as the high way was not too busy. we each went our own way . Nancy and Gerry lying down, Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron reading about cowboys and I was into the Spain research.

we had a very light late supper around 7 and hit the balcony around 8. Nice conversations. a little family history By nine which is ten in alberta I hit the sack.

Tuesday Afternoon - Maybe we Should leave this Field

We made a video with all the gang in it but me. I was the director, camera woman, sound guy and best girl. Might get an Oscar.

After Jo left we each did our own little different thing. Had a very nice lunch of slices of garden fresh tomatoes and bolocheti cheese with basil, olive oil and lemon. Also little cheese or roast beef open face sandwiches with homemade mayo and dijon mustard. After lunch everyone went in different directions again.

Nancy took Aunt Mary for a massage and then She and Uncle Ron went into town to pick up some gelato. Jerry drove me up to the kettle lakes on top of mount Krouger. It was not a long drive. We went up this small and sometimes scary road. It started out paved with small hobby farms on each side, some of which were for sale. It then became much smaller and gravel.

Parts of the trip were a little hair raising for me as I do not care for precipices, but luckily they did not last that long. ( the length of time we were driving along the precipice that is) We did have to shoo some cattle off the road at one point, but we did it from the inside of the VW van.

It is very pretty up there.

We did not see another vehicle, for which I personally was rather happy as the road is quite narrow.

we passed some cattle with long horns, two smaller very picturesque lakes, some more cattle with no horns and went over 3 different cattle guards in the road. I got the impression it was cattle country.

We came to the lake and Jerry commented that it was way down from the last he had seen it but that he usually only came up in the spring and fall. This was the first time he had been there in August. A kettle lake gets all its water from snow melt and rain.

We heard the killdeer before we saw it. It played its wounded tricks on us trying to lure us away from its babies that we spotted in the tall foxtails along the shore. Quite a good show really.

It started to rain a little but I had on my big hat so was not too worried. It is like an umbrella really. There was a plant growing in the lake along the shore and Jerry thought it might be milfoil. Will have to check it out. There was a small group of cattle down at the far end of the lake resting.

Butterflies everywhere. A beautiful bowl of a valley with the lake in the center. A nice variety of trees too.

Some very old poplar and pine, sage and grasses and flowers. there was a house at the entry end of the lake but it didn't look like anyone was home. It must have already been built before the area became a provincial park.

Two cattle came running down the hill towards the lake about 200 yards away so I tried to get them on film. At first we thought they were going for the water but one of them seemed more interested in the other cattle and so we thought maybe it was a bull and maybe we should leave the field.

On our leisurely walk back to the van, with occasional glances over our shoulder to check out the location of the cows/bull?, I spotted some outhouses.

A pair of them and went to check them out, but not too closely. they each had a quarter moon cut into them. One with the moon facing right and the other facing left. So the question is, which would be the guys and which the girls?

Let me know if you find out.

Lots of wild flowers, real native wildflowers not the invasives.

We headed back.

Jerry said we had time to go and see something I had probably never seen before. The spotted lakes. I was game.

We stopped at the middle lake and I got some nice shots of a duck, a wax wing and some damsel flies.

This lake was very different from the top lake. It was more protected with hills and trees coming right to the lake and the water reflected the green of the trees. We past the smallest lake and met our first vehicle, a big red truck but Jerry was calm and said that there was lots of room.

I was not totally disbelieving, just a little skeptical. Luckily I kept my thoughts on the matter to myself as it turned out that Jerry was correct. We continued on and met with the small herd of cattle, two moms and four babies. Well, there were four babies and 2 bigger cows so I was assuming they were the moms.

The narrow gravel road continued and suddenly a woman driving too fast for my liking, came around the corner.

With quick reactions Jerry pulled as far over to the right as was humanely possible, making me a lot more nervous as I am sure we had only two inches of road left before we tumbled over the edge.

The other driver did in fact slow down enough to pass us safely and we continued on, Jerry unruffled, me ruffled. More cows, the crossing guards and onto the pavement. We went up the highway for 5 minutes and pulled onto one of the smallest pullouts I think I have ever seen. Room for one vehicle only.

The sign with the gate locking us out and keeping us from walking down to see the spotted lakes said that in the future there would be a larger pullout ( that would not be difficult ) with a parking lot, wheelchair access and a boardwalk to tour the lake below. I look forward to that very much.

The lake was the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. It seems there are minerals in the water and when the lake dries up, the minerals form large round dots on the surface which reflect the sky or terrain depending on your angle of view. They were so cool. A spiritual place for the native tribe and a natural wonder. (I don't believe the spot with the beer? can in the middle was one of the spiritual spots unless it was an offering)

We headed back to the house where Jerry began the preparations for supper, (a tunisian themed pasta dish which was very nummy) Nancy, Mary and I went into the loom room to check out the looms and threads (Nancy is going to make me a strap for my camera) and Uncle Ron got caught up with the news. I really think he was taking a well deserved nap.

Supper was great followed by sitting on the balcony in the near perfect temperature. We have been very lucky in that it has not been so hot as it usually is at this time of year.