Last Saturday we decided to head out there on a road trip for sightseeing and photography. I have never been to this part of B.C. before except as a very young child so it was nice to see all these little towns and places that I just knew from reading. It took about 3 hours at our own pace and it turns out the Osoyoos is only 200 km from Merritt.
We passed through Princeton and Keremeos - both small towns but the largest on the way before reaching our destination. Going to Princeton is a lovely drive past small lakes, red cliffs and rugged forests.
Halfway between Princeton and Keremeos is the tiny little village of Hedley with loads of mining ruins high up on the mountains which are a major tourist attraction in the area. The highway parallels the Similkameen River which flows east and then south just after the town of Keremeos.
Keremeos and Cawston sort of blend into each other and are full of orchards - they are fruit growing communities just like the entire Okanagan region. Apple and cherry orchards as well as vineyards to name just a few fruits cover all the hill sides and are just starting to flower in Osoyoos which is seasonally about two weeks ahead of everyone else.
We are just a few kilometers from the U.S. border where the nearest town is Oroville, Washington. Just west of Osoyoos is Spotted Lake; a rather unique geological feature.
Bigger view at DA
Once we booked our room we headed east for about 40 km to the pull-out at Anarchist Mountain before turning back. The entire area looks like it's being developed into housing for rich or retired folks; the entrances to all the future sub-divisions are all laid out with big sculptures of wild life marking them. Moose, cougar, eagle...even a stature of a Sasquatch ( "Big Foot" ) !
We saw a lot of deer of the Whitetail variety which made my husband ( the hunter ) practically drool. We hoped to see wild turkey but didn't count on it so weren't to disappointed that we didn't find any. Had a great meal at the Ridge Brewing Company pub and then turned in for the night.
Bigger view at DA
In the morning we journeyed north towards Oliver and the magnitude of the fruit growing industry really starts to hit you here.There isn't that much room to expand an operation on the west side of the Okanagan River/waterway and an aerial shot of the region shows this very clearly; it seems as if these are mostly small growing operations.
Bigger view at DA
Just outside of Oliver we turned west onto the old Fairview Road which looks like it has been recently graded to facilitate the development of more residential properties. The road wound through though the mountains and came out in the back of Cawston. We took a detour up 3A which runs north of Keremeos towards the Okanagan but only as far as the Yellow Lake pull-out before turning around. There is a town called Olalla along the highway which is where I photographed mountain goats.
Stopped at Bromley Rock Provincial Park which is a gorgeous place along the Similkameen River before finishing the drive home. All in all a nice weekend. :)
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