The problem in our country isn't with books being banned, but with
people no longer reading. ... You don't have to burn books to destroy a
culture. Just get people to stop reading them. -Ray Bradbury,
science-fiction writer (22 Aug 1920-2012)
Hello Wild Horse Hikers, et al! First a tremendous thank-you to St Kilian, (and Aaturo, of course), for doing such a wonderful, wonderful job of leading the hike this past Monday. What a day! What an outing! Also, many, many thanks to Joltin' Jim for acting as a patient chauffeur and to Tia for making sure I was always fine when the rest of the pack were miles away and actually hoping to ditch me! Thanks also, it goes without saying, (forked tongue-in-cheek), to my terrific companions for making the outing so very enjoyable, if not lonely!!! All the best to one and all. Cheers, Patrizzio!
If interested or suffering from snake-bite or have been kicked by a horse, my account below is intended to accelerate your demise rather than speed your recovery!
Wild Horse and Rattlesnake Mountains: Field Report, Monday, August 22nd!
Up at 6:30 am as I had enjoyed quite a long, restful sleep. The kittens had been very quiet once we turned off our reading lights last night. Until then, Duke had been behaving like a Border Collie! Not exaggerating! A few days ago Lady Dar had played "fetch" with him. She would throw a paper ball and he would dash after it, collect it and bring it back to her to have her throw it away again. He did the very same last night, only I was the human pitcher. He'd hop onto the bed and play with the paper ball for a bit and then look at me. I'd say "Bring me your ball, Duke", and he'd either drop it closer to my hand or approach me with it in his mouth and I'd remove it to hurl it into the kitchen. He'd leap away, jumping from the bed to land with a tremendous "thump" and the whole process would start all over again. Miss Etta simply looked on, from the end of the bed!
At any rate, once I'd zapped my java I made my lunch for today's hike to Wild Horse Mountain, up Garnet Valley, and filled my camel pack. I wanted to make Etta and Duke wait until 7:00 am before I fed them. Otherwise, I knew, from much past experience, we'd be faced with earlier and earlier feeding times at the zoo! After the kittens were fed and watered I worked away at messaging and when Lady Dar had had her first few sips of morning tea I went about putting on sunscreen and donning my hiking garb. Once kitted out, she very kindly, if grumpily, laced up my boots and I was off, making for HH. No sign of fellow hikers there so I headed for Summerland. IGA parking lot was a buzzing hive of activity. Great to see Tyrannosaurus Tinka, [I was quite dismayed that he didn't join us as, aside from anything else, I certainly miss the rivalry of vying to be The Official Photographer!], and all of the others, [Luigi was the sole representative of The Sisterhood.], I'd not seen in sometime, not having joined any hikes since the Brent Mountain outing a few weeks ago.
St Kilian was the titular leader so he made sure everyone was assigned a vehicle and since there were only 10 of us, and two pooches, we only needed two vehicles. I crammed into the back seat of Joltin' Jim's car, along with Robertito and Eduardo, while Pearly Whites snagged the luxurious passenger seat, as is always his wont, while poor Tia was consigned to the luggage compartment! Once everyone was buckled up we drove north out of Summerland to make our way up Garnet Valley Road, turning off on Wildhorse Road, I believe, to park just below the Summerland Sportsmen's Association Range. Had never been to this part of Garnet Valley before so was keen to explore.
Perfect day, fair number of fluffy white clouds about but otherwise blue sky. Lovely breeze, especially as we climbed higher, so temperature was wonderful.
Once everyone had packs and poles ready and pooches were unloaded I took the first group shot, [Where is Ansel Al, the man you love to hate when you need him?], and we set off, up Wild Horse Mountain. Funnily enough, we had hardly left the shooting range behind when a woman, riding a gorgeous gray horse, came up the trail behind us. Both Tia and Bogart, although extremely well-behaved creatures, were quite excited by this appearance so had to be restrained until rider and horse were past and well ahead.
First part of hike is through grassland and we followed an easy, gradual, slightly upward trail until we headed off into the pines near the bottom of the low hills we next encountered. Couldn't really have asked for a better hike, given my spill the Friday before. My left ankle was a tad sore whenever my boot lining rubbed the nasty abrasion there but otherwise my left shoulder showed no signs of stiffness or even mild discomfort. I was worried that the action of using my poles would prove to be uncomfortable or even cause sharp pain but no sign of either, I'm more than happy to report, Dear Reader!
That being said, I was usually the last in line but the others were always very considerate and would wait, jawing all the while, until I rejoined the pack. Then a couple of reasonably steep slopes, but always with good footing, and we reached a ridge which afforded our first stunning view of Okanagan, to the north. This vista always takes my breath away, no matter from which vantage point I survey its magnificence: the jagged carpet of pines over the brown hills in the foreground, the Mediterranean blue of the lake itself bounded by the rugged, unforgiving cliffs to the east and the cerulean sky visible through the thick, puffy cloud blanket, mirrored, in darker shade, on the rounded, soft hills and sinuous mountains to the north. Whoever said "'Ain't life grand" certainly had things right!
At this point we were quite near another ridge where one can see quite a remarkable natural sculpture: a piece of burl, (According to King Ottokar!), protruding from a large stump, wedged atop a gorgeous stone pedestal, encrusted with lichen, in the shape of a cheeky duck, festooned with gorgeous moss, Forest Green, appropriately! Hard to believe it is not something created by our fellow hiker and wonderful local artist, Dorothy Tinnings. Life imitates art!
A short time later we had gained the top of Wild Horse and stopped for a short break, drinking in more stunning views of Okanagan, this time to the south, towards Rattlesnake, our goal for the day. Once refreshed we set off. From where we were we needed to descend a pretty steep, long slope. The footing was very loose here and both Luigi and I were not at all happy with the loose soil and small rocks we had to traverse. Bad Boy and Michaelo, of course, bounded down the incline like mountain sheep out for a frolic, while I slowly slip-slided my way to the bottom. Here, on the needle and pine-cone covered flat, we crossed a cattle fence through a wooden gate in the barbed wire, and came across a graveyard, bones bleached whiter than white.
Given the size of what remained of the skeletons, and one leg bone in particular, Outdoorsman Ottokar opined that the animals were wild horses, probably shot at some point. There were about four or five animals, their bones scattered, in a rough circle about 10-15 meters in diameter. Not far from here we also spied a mining claim tag, "Legal Corner Post" still bright and shiny as a sheriff's badge, although tacked up in November of 1989, if I read the date correctly.
Leaving all this behind, we climbed another intervening hill, without much difficulty, the going very easy and pleasant. This accomplished, one last dip into a small ravine and then the slog to the top of Rattlesnake, up a narrow, rocky, small, loose-pebbled trail. This grew increasingly steeper as we climbed, one short stretch, very steep and troublesome, to me at least, without much purchase. However, once through this patch it was just a matter of mind over lungs and we were certainly royally rewarded for our exertions. St Kilian and Joltin' Jim, and their dogs, along with King Ottokar, stayed at the first ridge we encountered but the rest of us pushed closer to the edge of the next ridge as we wanted a lunch spot with a view!
And what a panoramic view it was!!! The tip of Rattlesnake Island to the north, glorious, but the views across the lake and to the south were even more spectacular: the vineyards of Indian Rock and Paradise Ranch painted on the Naramata benches, swaths of glowing emeralds on what the glaciers left, well sorted sediment, sand, silt, clay and ribbons of gravel, now producing liquid sunshine. Not to forget the same picturesque vineyards on the Summerland benches, above Crescent Beach, the lovely, tiny community I've cycled to frequently, but have never, until now, seen from above.
We spent 15 or 20 minutes munching and chatting and simply luxuriating in what the day had presented to us, on this ridge, on this mountain top, without question from the very best seats in the house. What great good fortune indeed and there for the taking and enjoyment of all if one is lucky enough to enjoy a little help from more than generous hiking friends. But the idyll could not last forever and so we broke camp, King Ottokar and I setting out a bit before the rest as I knew that the descent, over the loose, small rock of the steep part near the top would give me pause. As it turned out, negotiating what had been most difficult on the way up was actually not all that bad coming down. This being the case, I was soon on more regular terrain, nimble-footed King Ottokar well-ahead of me, already crossing the first ravine below while I had more slow downward progress to make.
The rest of the group were soon behind me and then quickly ahead. A bit later, when we all regrouped, I heard Luigi remark that she found the bit she was worried about not as bad as she had imagined it would be so we were both more than pleased that this was so. The steepest part over, the rest of the hike was simply careful, reasonable downhill going and it gave one time to enjoy the peace and quiet of the well-spaced pines as Aarturo was leagues ahead with Bad Boy, the distant sounds of their chatter drifting lazily through the trees, from time to time, almost dreamlike so serene it was. Only one last thing marred the outing. Fairly close to the last cattle fence we crossed, (with the much appreciated aid of St Killian's and Robertitio's poles and Eduardo's nifty, split, hard foam tubes which covered the barbs), and on the later hillside slopes, we moved through fairly thick plantings of prickly pear or so-called "jumping cactus", I believe. I've encountered these nasty critters on many hikes and even had some on my boots earlier in the outing. Also took a snap of one on Aarturo's trouser cuff at one of the breaks.
At any rate, both dogs were particularly at risk. Not sure if Tia had some in her paws but poor Bogart managed to have quite a few in his as well as one on the tip of his snout. He was incredibly good about having these painful thorns removed. Eduardo was able to remove the one in his nose with his fingers but St Killian carries some small pliers just in case he needs to deal "surgically" with the darts. Took a couple of stops, at least for Bogart, before he was rid of the spikes, so this meant I was not the last individual to make it to the vehicles. King Ottokar held Bogey's leash while St Killian worked on his paws, on the flat road just above the range, before all was well and we welcomed the plucky dogs home. Tia took a well deserved drink while I snapped a few last pitturas, a couple being of Pearly White's home-made, duct-tape patch on his hiking pants. One of the few downsides of having dinosaur cojones, I suppose!
Most of the gang were meeting Tyrant Tinka for java and a debrief in Summerland but I was pretty tired and sore, my ankle in particular, so I bowed out, thanking everyone for the glorious outing, both at the rifle range lot and once back at the IGA parking lot. Map and Stats for hike:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1316498813#.V7t8_1Ngko8.email
Hi Patrissimo, Great story and photos. Enjoyed it! See soon, Aarturo Dear Patrizzio—Sorry you had another spill from your bike but glad to learn that it was not TOO serious. You’ll soon be running out of parts to injure!
Thanks to you and Corinne — and to Chloe — for including us in her birthday celebrations. As you said, it was a sumptuous repast. Much enjoyed. The new kittens were an added hit. Cheers, Lynne
P.S. We’d like to do a little wine tasting on the Bench with Kathleen and Steve when they are here next week. We thought we’d take them to La Frenz and/or Laughing Stock, Upper Bench, Marichel and Nichol … and maybe one other at this end of Naramata. Have you taken them to any of theses on past visits? We don’t want to duplicate any place(s) they may have already been. I’ve chosen these because they are among Petey’s and my favourites and also because we can make bookings for tasting.
So……here we are again with another hike pending and nowhere to go! However on the heels of a great hike today up Wildhorse and Rattlesnake mountains, the group discussed and decided on a bicycle ride for this Thursday August 25.. We have two options as follows;
1) Penticton to OK Falls on KVR about 35-40 kms return….for anyone not familiar with this ride its flat and right along Skaha Lake. We should be maybe 4-5 hours return including stops…..and for anyone skinny dipping etc. However there are reports of a forest fire in the Kaleden/OK Falls area so if that is an issue then we could do Plan B as follows;
2) Plan B would be Penticton north to the little tunnel on KVR above Naramata maybe 30 kms return and perhaps 3-4 hours return.
Mountain bikes are recommended due to gravel surface. Also lets meet at the same time and locations as always because I may get confused if we change things too much. So……….. 840am at Summerland IGA with your bikes and 900 am at HH in Penticton……maybe come a little early so we can shuffle any bikes if required. No need to reply just show up if you would like to go. We have several folks interested already. Cheers, Kilian
We are biking tomorrow , leaving Vancouver Pl. at 9am. I will meet you-at Poplar Grove parking lot. We will ride to Little Tunnel or as far as we want.
Colleen
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