Busy day yesterday. Kate had the day off, and had planned to take us around the Okanagan valley, looking into wineries and seeing the sights. We started out around ten in the morning, and didn't get back till after dark. Qwinn had to stay home. Marauders, y'know.
First stop was Mahoney (?) Lake, south of Penticton. A lot of the lakes in this area have high mineral content, and this one was surrounded by a rime that formed on every surface at its edge. It's also known for having an underlayer, about eight meters down, of some kind of bacteria. This separates the top half of the lake from the bottom, and prevents any kind of "turn over". Whatever's down there, has been there a long time.
Just around the corner is Green Lake, which really is an almost emerald green over much of its surface.
Took a tour and a tiny lunch at the Hawthorne Mountain Winery, and heard a brief history of the beginnings of the BC wine industry. In a nutshell, the Okanagan was planted with Concord grapes for years, used to make jug wine. Then the federal government, under the Free Trade Act (which as I understood the guide was not NAFTA, but an earlier Act), forced the grape farmers to replant with noble grapes. They also had, perforce, to invest in fancy wine-making equipment—oaken barrels, climate controlled storage areas, etc. But our very upbeat guide went on and on about how the area – arid, sunny, hot, well-ventilated – was near-perfect for growing grapes, and implied that it would have been a shame to continue wasting such conditions on plonk.
After that we headed farther south, through Oliver and into Osoyoos, where a fire's been eating away at a range of hills for several days. We watched the big bombers drop great swaths of red and white smothering and retarding chemicals, and helicopters flit up and down ravines with their pendulum buckets of water from a nearby reservoir.
Our destinations, the Nk'mip Desert Heritage Centre and the nearby Nk'mip Cellars were right in the lap of the fire area, so we had a front-row view. (They and the rest of Osoyoos were not actually threatened by the fire.)
The Nk'mip (pronounced "in-ka-meep"), one-time traders on the crossroads between the interior and the coast, now are concentrating their energies into farming, ranching and winemaking. Tasty stuff it is, too. The interp centre is beautifully done, and shows off the natural history of the region to excellent advantage. Local herpetologists study the many snakes, especially rattlesnakes, and have put together a network of trails through the land behind the centre, that lead to various viewpoints and a replica Nk'mip village. Lots of big sage bushes, antelope bushes, bunch grass, and here and there old, tall Ponderosa pines. One branch sticking over the footbridge had lush clumps of needles easily ten inches long.
It was late afternoon when we left the Nk'mip behind. We stopped for supper in Osoyoos at an indifferent Italian restaurant (excellent beer on tap, though), then detoured to see Spotted Lake (which is, in fact, spotted). Nola found what she thinks is an endangered species of native preying mantis and convinced it to sit on her palm while she cooed over it and Kate took pictures. It regarded each of us in turn, appearing to solemnly evaluate our fitness as supper and then reluctantly discard the idea. They are distinguished by being a light tan colour, and smaller than other species. This one was but an inch long.
She released it in some grasses beside the path, whose colour matched it, and watched to be sure it wasn't disoriented by its moment in the spotlight. Then we carried on to the Burrowing Owl Winery (all these wineries have really pretty web sites), which was closed for the day, so we contented ourselves with peering around in hopes of seeing burrowing owls. No luck, but beautiful near-desert all the same.
Stops I've forgotten to put in proper order include a radar installation used for outer space research, and White Lake, an alkiline lake (currently dry) beside a meadow purported to house great galloping herds of wild pigs. We only could see the one boar, but made do by imagining the thunderous hooves carrying gamey pork across the vast plains of the Serengeti. Okay, I may be the only one who did that. While everyone else demanded I demonstrate how to tie a knot in a cherry stem with my tongue. A woman's got to think of something during such moments.
Saw deer but no wild sheep near McIntyre Bluff. Admired the winning entry from the Okanagan/Thompson International Sculpture Symposium 2002 in Summerland—a bear growing out of the back end of Giant Mountain. The bear part was polished while the mountain part was mostly left rough. I'm told it looks exactly like Giant, which I've never seen. This main portion is surrounded by large stones in a ritual formation. It's an impressive piece. The artist, Stewart Steinhauer, is a Cree from Alberta, and his entry is titled Voice of Mother Earth.
Arrived back here quite late, laden with presents and dusty binoculars. Fell into bed immediately.
POSTSCRIPT: Last couple of days were more quiet. Saw Nola's dad again, then packed all our stuff plus Kate and Qwinn into the car and came home, dropping Kate off at a birthday party for a one-year-old of her acquaintance. Unpacked, showered, bed, then back to work the next morning. A wonderful time was had by all.
