2023 BC Annual Bat Count report

BC Bat Count results are in and available for readers. Each year the BC Bat Count results are published and available for review here https://bcbats.ca/bat-basics/community-bat-publications/

This report on bat counts would not be possible without all the volunteers!  Lots of great information is contained here thanks to efforts from bat volunteers all over BC. The BC Bat Community is grateful for everyone’s work and efforts throughout the past year.

We must continue in these efforts this spring and summer, so I encourage everyone to continue participating and remain involved.  Every bit of data gathering is important so we can see the “big picture” of what is happening with BC bat populations.

The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative Annual National Bat Health Report – 2023 — cites the following:

“White-nose syndrome and Pd, continue to spread across Canada, but the ability to detect this disease
has decreased drastically when compared to when it first emerged in Canada…public reporting
of bats during the WNS surveillance season of November 1 of a given year until May 31 of the following
year should be strongly encouraged through media outreach as a strategy to increase surveillance
efforts for WNS in western and northern Canada.”
(p.5).

If you are interested in helping out with this much needed research, contact Paula Rodriguez de la Vega Okanagan Region Coordinator, BC Community Bat Program www.bcbats.ca Toll free: 1-855-922-BATS (2287) ext.13.

Disease threatens BC’s Bats – Need your help

Sleeping bat – a healthy Myotis bat found hibernating in a woodpile – reporting sleeping bats helps researchers learn what is normal. Photo: C Buick

OKANAGAN AREA, BC – B.C.’s bats, including the well-known Little Brown Bat, are threatened by a fungal disease headed towards the province from Alberta and Washington State. The Okanagan Community Bat Program, in collaboration with the Province of BC, is asking the public for help in the effort to detect and prevent the spread of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). Residents are urged to report any bat activity observed in winter and any sick or dead bats found before May 31st.

What is White Nose Syndrome?

White-Nose Syndrome is a fungal disease that is harmless to humans and pets, but has devastated North American bat populations. The fungus attacks bats while they are hibernating, growing on their faces to give an appearance of a white nose. Bats often wake to clean the fungus from their skin. This uses valuable energy, and finally the bats die from starvation. Across North America, millions of bats have been killed, and two BC species are now listed as Endangered due to the disease.

First detected in New York State in 2006, the disease continues to spread, with detections on the west coast close to Seattle and in south-central Alberta. Biologists say the arrival of WNS in BC is imminent. Increasing the number of reports from the public is the best chance to understand how WNS might spread and affect local bat populations. Though there is not yet a proven cure for WNS, several promising treatment options are being developed, and it may be possible to mitigate the effects of this wildlife health crisis.

White-nose syndrome occurrence map – by year (2023). Downloaded 2023-02-07. Available at https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/where-is-wns

What you can do

If you find a dead bat or have sightings of winter bat activity, please report to the B.C. Community Bat Program online at www.bcbats.ca , via email at [email protected] or by calling 1-855-922-2287 ext.13.  All live bats should be left alone — keep your distance, snap a photo and report it to the B.C. Community Bat Program. If you must move a bat, visit www.bcbats.ca for advice and never touch a bat with your bare hands. Please note that if you or your pet has been in direct contact with the bat you will need further information regarding the risk of rabies to you and your pet.  Please contact the BC Community Bat Program for more information.

Bats – OUR Buddies

The bats of BC are key predators of many night-flying insects.  They are essential parts of BC’s ecosystems and provide billions of dollars of economic benefit by helping control agricultural, forest, and urban pests.   In partnership with the BC Ministry of Environment, the BC Community Bat Program provides information and promotes local stewardship and citizen science.  

Okanagan Resources

The BC Community Bat Program Okanagan Region extends its gratitude to partners involved in bat conservation including the Bat Education and Environmental Protection Society (Peachland), Environmental Education Centre Okanagan (Kelowna), Allan Brooks Nature Centre (Vernon), Osoyoos Desert Society (Osoyoos), BC Parks (Penticton), Grist Mill (Keremeos), The Nature Trust (Twin Lakes), Granby Wilderness Society (Grand Forks) and several Okanagan naturalist and outdoor clubs The program runs thanks to funding from  the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Forest Enhancement Society of BC, and the Habitat Stewardship Program. You can find out more about the BC Community Bat Program and options for helping local bat populations at www.bcbats.ca[email protected], or 1-855-922-2287 ext.13.

Get Outdoors! And learn about bugs: Part 2

If you missed my last article on how remarkable insects are, you’ll find it on my June 14 Facebook post. I also described the vast impoverishment of the entire insect universe — an apocalypse. But we can help turn that around. Our action is urgently needed.

The insect world is quietly disappearing. Its loss of abundance and diversity could alter the planet in unknown ways. It’s an inconspicuous diminishment we don’t see until it’s too late. And it’s hard to track.

Recent studies in Europe by amateur (the Latin root of amateur is love) entomologists show a significant decline in insect populations there in the past 30 years. No similar survey exists in North America, but most observations and data (remember plastered car windshields?) point to declines.

You’ve probably heard that bee populations are collapsing, and those are the livestock Honeybees. How about our numerous native bees that have become extinct or endangered in recent years? And the beloved, once iconic, migrating Monarch butterfly population has declined by 90% in the last twenty years.

Causes:

We know that the degradation and destruction of meadows, forests, wetlands, soil and other wildlife habitats and ecosystems for the development of buildings, roads, agriculture, forestry and other industries create massive wildlife declines including insects.

Also, we are poisoning our natural world with toxic chemicals. These deadly pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and hormonal compounds are widespread and commonly used in agriculture, around homes, on lawns and more. Nature is being destroyed including us. Evidence shows that these man-made toxic chemical compounds are killing us slowly. The same pesticides used on land are found in ocean whale blubber and even in Inuit mother’s milk and considered cancer-causing.

These toxic compounds circulate through the environment from treated plants and insects, through water in soil and circulated through vapour in the air and throughout the great water cycle. Or poisoned insects are eaten by insectivorous birds, bats, reptiles and amphibians. Compound these with air pollution, light pollution which confuses night flyers and migrants, traffic carnage, and now climate change…Oh no!!

So here’s how you can help:

Don’t plant a lawn! They are outdated sterile environments that don’t support pollinators or other wildlife, plus they require heavy amounts of water, chemical fertilizers from fossil fuels, herbicides, pesticides and gas (which we should quit using).

Grow native plants (the ones that evolved here) in your yard. Once established they don’t require watering nor any toxic poisons to grow. Saskatoons, Oregon Grape, Mock Orange and Sumac are just a few lovely natives. And the Allan Brooks Nature Centre staff can help you choose other great plants.

If we Naturescaped / Rewilded our yards we would recreate wildlife habitats, drastically reduce wildlife declines and live in a cleaner, safer and healthier environment. You’ll attract birds and butterflies. Read Douglas Tallamy’s “Bringing Nature Home” or “ Nature’s Best Hope” for inspiration – available from the library.

Become a Volunteer Citizen-scientist — Join a naturalist club, NatureKids or a park “friends” group to join others in protecting our natural environment while getting fresh air, exercise and having fun.

Become a Birder – Get out in the field and record observations.

Study wildlife directly dependent on insects — birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians.

Read Bugs of British Columbia by John Acorn — You’ll discover 125 of the biggest, colourful, most common or weird species of bugs to be found in B.C. with wonderful colour illustrations.

Best of all: Get outdoors to observe and enjoy nature and have fun!

Roseanne enthusiastically shares her knowledge of the outdoors to help readers experience and enjoy nature. Discover exciting and adventurous natural events, best trails, and wild places. Follow her on Facebook for more.

Get Outdoors! And learn about bugs

Insects are by far the most populous wildlife species on Earth, and their numbers have been drastically declining in the past few years.

Eminent biologist and author E. O. Wilson says, “If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.”

So why aren’t more people concerned? Are you?

Insects are the very backbone of ecology.

They’re nature’s vital pollinators, decomposers and recyclers of waste, soil builders, other insect and weed regulators and the base of food webs everywhere.

They pollinate almost 90 per cent of flowering plants and 3/4 of our crop species – a service worth around $500 billion annually. And they’re food for most of our songbirds, freshwater fish, reptiles, amphibians and all of our bats.

Aerial insectivores like swallows, swifts, flycatchers, bats and many others have been starving and declining over the past 50 years because of habitat destruction and insect declines.

By eating and being eaten, insects turn plants into protein, and power the growth of insectivores, then move up the food chain to power all the animals that eat them. Think about bears who depend on insects to pollinate their berries. And the insects that sustain young salmon.

And what about us? Insects are vital to the decomposition that keeps nutrients cycling, soil healthy, plants growing and ecosystems running – an invisible role until it stops. Insects are worthy of our admiration and respect.

Anyone born before 1970 will remember the problem of insect bodies plastering car windshields and grills which is rarely a problem now. So gas station attendants regularly washed windshields while gassing up. And you’d see insects in headlight beams when driving at night. Also, moths would flit around lampposts on summer nights, or be resting on your entry wall if you kept your light on overnight.

Scientists have named and described a million species of insects including 12,000 species of ants, 20,000 species of bees, 400,000 species of beetles…on and on. And there are millions of unknown species of insects and other terrestrial invertebrates (arthropods such as insects, spiders, ticks, scorpions, centipedes, etc.).

We call insects whose lives intersect most intimately with our own – mosquitoes that bite us, ants at our picnics, flies on our windows, etc. – “Bugs.” (True bugs are the 80,000 Hemiptera insect species with tube-like mouths for sucking, not chewing, such as aphids, stink bugs and cicadas.)

Sometimes we feel that we know insects too well. But really they are one of the planet’s greatest mysteries – a reminder of how little we know about the world around us.

Only about two per cent of insect species have been studied enough for us to estimate whether they are in danger of extinction, never mind what dangers that extinction might pose. The few scientists studying insects’ drastic decline call it an insect apocalypse or Armageddon.

Our natural world thrives on the richness of complexity and interaction called biodiversity. The more interactions lost, the more ecosystems break down.

Conservation tends to focus on rare and endangered species, whereas it is the common ones like insects, because of their abundance, that power the living systems of our planet.

“It’s the little things that run the natural world,” says E.O. Wilson.

Stay tuned: July’s Get Outdoors column will describe the insect decline causes and what we can do to help.

Roseanne Van Eeenthusiastically shares her knowledge of the outdoors to help readers experience and enjoy nature. Follow her on Facebook.

Get Outdoors! And explore North Okanagan trails

We’re so lucky to have many wonderful, scenic nature trails in and around Vernon.

The Grey Canal trails surrounding Vernon and Coldstream, the BX Creek trail links, trails in Kalamalka Lake and Ellison Provincial Parks, Swan Lake Nature Reserve Park, trails at Silver Star and Predator Ridge, and the 50-kilometre Okanagan Rail Trail from Coldstream to Kelowna are just some of our spectacular trail options.

These trails enhance the fitness and health of our community and environment.

Walking, hiking, jogging and cycling are mentally uplifting, physically invigorating and nonpolluting.

They can even be healthy travel corridors to school, work, shopping, etc., instead of driving.

But our trails require trail etiquette, responsible use, care and maintenance.

So we’re fortunate to have the Ribbons of Green Trail Society (ROGTS) – a group of dedicated community volunteers who advocate for local trails and their care. You’ll find the best map and trail list at ribbonsofgreen.ca with great trail descriptions.

Trail etiquette

Stay on trails to prevent erosion, stop weed spread (weed seeds easily cling to clothing and shoes) and for your own safety.

This maintains a natural, healthy habitat for wildlife, wildflowers, plants and trees, and keeps the trails and parkland beautiful and in top condition.

And staying on the trails minimizes the chance of you getting ticks, encountering rattlesnakes, cactus, poison ivy, tripping, slipping or other dangers.

Walk your dog in one of our many great dog parks. In some dog parks, they can even run free. The Regional District of North Okanagan has the best map and list of local dog parks online at rdno.ca.

Other parks and trails allow dogs only in permitted areas on trails while on leash.

This protects dogs from getting ticks, cactus or snake bites and prevents the spread of invasive weeds, protects wildlife and their habitat and prevents dog fights and dangerous encounters with other trail users. If you see any loose dogs, breaking the rules or causing problems on trails or in parks call Dog Control ASAP at 250-545-8070.

Eliminating Invasive weeds (such as Scotch Thistle and knapweed) is important to keep our wildlife habitats healthy and ecosystems intact and functioning. So please stay on the trails and learn to control these weeds.

Trained volunteers identify, properly remove these weeds before they set seeds and dispose of them. The North Okanagan Naturalist Club (NONC), Friends of the Rail Trail (FORT), and Friends of Kalamalka Lake Park all have invasive weed control programs. Join them to help out.

And we’re even more fortunate to be surrounded by many fabulous rec sites and trails around Vernon that are maintained by Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, and BC Parks.

So, get out and enjoy our trails! And help take care of them.

Roseanne Van Ee enthusiastically shares her knowledge of the outdoors to help readers experience and enjoy nature. Discover exciting and adventurous natural events, best trails, and wild places. Follow her on Facebook to learn more about the Okanagan outdoors.

Get Outdoors! And explore the historical Grey Canal Trails

Every day hundreds of people walk, jog or cycle sections of the Grey Canal’s scenic trails that surround Vernon and the Coldstream Valley.

But who remembers when water flowed from the hills through the Grey Canal’s gravity-fed open ditches, wooden flumes and pipes to supply farms and orchards with irrigation up until 50 years ago? How many marvel at the incredible engineering feat of its day?

Let’s look back into the history of this area.

For thousands of years, the original Okanagan First Nations people always chose areas near creeks, lakes or other water sources for their seasonal encampments. By the 1860s, Cornelius O’Keefe, Francis Barnard (BX Ranch) and a few other enterprising young men from Eastern Canada, Britain and Europe, acquired land in the North Okanagan and grew rich by ranching to feed the hungry Cariboo gold rush miners around Barkerville.

Thousands of cattle free-ranged the tall, lush bunchgrasses of the dry hillsides. These ranchers also settled by good water sources.

Once the goldfields dwindled away by the 1890s, new settlers were attracted to the warm, scenic Okanagan Valley. Land developers, inspired by Lord and Lady Aberdeen’s Coldstream orchards and ranch, subdivided the large ranchlands into orchard estates complete with fruit trees. But the new settlers, mostly British and Belgian aristocracy, were unfamiliar with orchards. They soon realized that more water was required for the fruit trees and demanded an irrigation system.

So in 1906, the land developers began an incredibly extensive engineering feat – an irrigation canal system that would encircle 30 miles (50 km) around Coldstream and the North Okanagan’s growing new city of Vernon. It ran from the hills above Lavington to Okanagan Lake encircling the BX, Swan Lake and Bella Vista and took until 1914 to complete. It was the largest single irrigation system in B.C.’s history. Earl Grey, the Governor General of Canada 1904-11, visited the newly constructed headgates and intake of the Lavington section in 1907 and named it the Grey Canal.

Dozens of men with horse-drawn slip scrapers ploughed the extensive wide open ditch canal.

Later a steam shovel and then another was added to speed up the process. Parts of the canal were reinforced with wood stave flumes and wire-wrapped wood siphon pipes were added to flow water through draws.

Technology for the wooden flumes and siphons came from European wine-barrels.

Irrigation water usually ran from June to October. But water loss through continual seepage, evaporation, breaks, droughts and even floods created havoc.

The canal’s expensive construction, along with ongoing repair and maintenance costs, pushed the land developers into bankruptcy. A public utility was formed – the Vernon Irrigation District (VID) in 1920 to take over.

VID kept maintaining, repairing and running the canal until metal water pipes were invented and a buried pipe system replaced the canal by 1970. Once the canal dried up, it became a natural, level walking path with spectacular valley views.

Vernon’s Ribbons of Green Trail Society has been lobbying and advocating to acquire the whole Grey Canal system for a continual trail. Check out their website ribbonsofgreen.ca for the best directions and information on the Grey Canal Trail sections.

You can see the impressive last remaining flumes and trestles on the Swan Lake East section near Glen Hayes Road. And interesting interpretive signs on the Foothills trail section and north of McLennan Road have wonderful historic photos.

Water From The Hills by Peter Tassie is an amazingly detailed history of the Grey Canal with fabulous historic photos and maps. It’s available from the museum and library.

Roseanne Van Ee enthusiastically shares her knowledge of the outdoors to help readers experience and enjoy nature. Discover exciting and adventurous natural events, best trails, and wild places. Follow her on Facebook for more.

Going Barefoot

When was the last time you walked barefoot outdoors? Do you remember feeling your feet skimming grass, sand, dirt, stones — or even the sensation of soles-on-pavement in the driveway? 

We might not think of going barefoot outside as desirable or even safe, but, in fact, walking shoeless is so beneficial that it can be used as a therapeutic practice. Here in the North Okanagan, now that the snow has melted and the grass is growing green, it is time to ditch the winter boots and step on the Earth itself with our feet uncovered.

Having toes in contact with the ground contributes to our well-being. It helps with the maintenance of our musculoskeletal system and restores our natural walking pattern. The entire body benefits from the stimulation of foot reflex zones. Note how you feel tickles in different parts of your body when you step, for example, on pebbles at the beach – that’s your nervous system being stimulated.

There’s more. Earthing, or grounding, consists of having direct contact with the planet (by going barefoot, laying hands on the ground or a tree or lying down on a patch of grass or sand), and its enthusiasts claim that the practice speeds healing, enhances vitality, lowers blood pressure, reduces inflammation and improves sleep. 

Connecting to the ground drains stagnated energies from our bodies. At the same time, we are stimulated by the negative ions and antioxidants coming straight from the Earth’s electric field. It works pretty much like an electrical circuit – the fields of our bodies and the Earth exchange charges. 

Spring is a great time to start practicing earthing. Be mindful, though: having worn shoes for most of our lives, our feet have become conditioned for comfort. Start slowly and choose your terrain, but don’t get intimidated by dirt or dust . My trick is to wear slip-off shoes so I can take them off without much fuss whenever there’s a chance. 

If you want to learn more, a good place to start your research is https://earthinginstitute.net/, where you’ll find an inspiring documentary you can watch for free.

Grounding is a much-overlooked form of natural therapy. It’s simple, has no side effects and costs nothing. It brings not only physical benefits but also fulfills our inherent need for connection with our natural environment – something many of us lack nowadays, whether in lockdown or not, in our busy urban lives. 

Grounding is medicine for body and soul.

Silmara Emde is an artist whose main medium is photography. She draws inspiration from daily life and the people she connects with. Nature is both her studio space and her greatest teacher. She lives in Vernon with her husband and their five year-old son, and you can follow her on Instagram @silmaraemde

Meditative Walking – leave your earphones behind & listen to what nature can tell us

The healing powers of being in close contact with nature have been described in a number of scientific studies and psychological experiments. Most of us can attest to the benefits of a walk in the woods, a weekend in the mountains or a good afternoon spent at the lakeshore. The benefits are partially physical – walking is wonderful exercise – but, as Covid-19 restrictions over the past year changed the ways we live and work, a walk outdoors became one of the most important things we could do for our mental health. 

For me and my 4 year-old son George, the ‘small’ patch of ‘forest’ near our home became our refuge, a place we’d frequently explore to breathe fresh air, exercise, forget about everything else in the world, and, in a sense, stay out of each other’s way for a while (but still be together). We visited the forest so frequently during the spring and summer of 2020 that we could follow the changes in foliage, the blooming and death of flowers, the growth of the blackberries; the work of the park rangers. For George, the forest was a playground – just like everything else in his life. For me it was a sacred sanctuary that bore witness to days of joy and high energy, and, on other days, of sadness and melancholy. 

The woods provided me with wild flowers for my home, special toys for George, and a canvas for fleeting art: arranging rocks and branches on the ground in beautiful patterns for the sake of doing it, and not for an audience, was liberating. Most of all, our little patch of forest was a place I could listen to my thoughts, calm my mind and find my centre. Invariably I would come back home in a very different state of mind – usually feeling lighter, energized and clear-minded.

There is a range of ways we can spend time in nature. The one I’d like to explore here is walking with intention in order to listen to the innate wisdom of nature. Doing so can help answer questions – or to formulate the right questions in the first place.

Have you got a problem you’re keen to solve? Make that your intention with a statement such as, “I’m ready to find the solution for [name the problem].” Is there something you’d like to release from your life? Make that your intention, saying to yourself just before you head out, “I’m ready to release [this situation] from my life now.” Is there anything you want to call into your life? Ask for it, then put your shoes on, grab your water bottle and head outside.

Note that in each case, the intention is not a goal or aim. There’s nothing to be accomplished. The key lies in making space in your mind for the solution to pop up when you least expect it. It might not even come during your walk and it certainly won’t come on demand. But the more you let go of expectations, the sooner the solutions will appear. Of course, when we ask questions we want answers, but the answer might not come the way we predict or hope. The secret is to ask, and then to let go of all expectations. 

A few things might help the process; turn off your gadgets, stay alert but relaxed; breathe deeply and freely. Don’t consciously think about your intention. Instead pay attention to the sights, scents, textures and sounds around you. Breathe, move and stay in the present. 

Our modern lives have disconnected us, to a large extent, from the natural world but we are still ‘natural beings.’ We are nature. Time spent in natural environments is so deeply rewarding because it’s time re-integrating ourselves with universal wisdom. You will find answers as the result of your walk in nature, but more importantly, you will also find yourself.

Silmara Emde is an artist whose main medium is photography. She draws inspiration from daily life and the people she connects with. Nature is both her studio space and her greatest teacher. She lives in Vernon with her husband and their five year-old son, and you can follow her on Instagram @silmaraemde

Get Outdoors!: It’s a berry merry season for Vernon songbirds

California Quails like Saskatoons. (Harold Sellers - Contributed)Our birds need winter berries; they’re the perfect size fruit. Resident birds that don’t migrate, but remain here year-round, need food and warmth to survive the harsh winters. Most songbirds (aka passerines or perching birds) are seed and berry eaters.

Native plants and birds have evolved together. A number of shrubs have berries that ripen in the fall and remain on their branches through winter. This refrigerated fruit is an important food source for frugivorous (fruit-eating) birds. The berry’s pulp is typically rich in carbohydrates and vitamins while the seeds inside are concentrated sources of fat and protein. Berries are delicious little packets of fruit pulp that attract birds and other wildlife to disperse their seeds. Many berry seeds survive passing through an animal’s digestive tract and are dropped in a new place with a bit of fertilizer.

Birds tend to be more territorial during winter to protect their food sources. They’ll often band up in protective flocks to stay warm by huddling together and creating “portable” territories with boundaries defined by available food. Once consumed, they move on to reestablish a new territory. Flocking helps individuals survive if a predator has other targets to choose. Domestic cats and hawks are songbirds’ main predators.

Seed and berry eaters such as jays, crossbills, waxwings, finches, sparrows, grosbeaks, chickadees and nuthatches are mostly found on coniferous trees, berry shrubs and in weedy fields. These perching birds are easier to spot on winter’s leafless trees and shrubs. Scan your binoculars up the trunks of trees in sheltered draws to find them. Birds metabolic rate rises during cold weather requiring almost continual eating. They seek sheltered spots to stay warm. Remember, birds often look “chubbier” under their downy, puffed up winter coats.

Large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings provide lots of entertainment in winter gorging on big, frozen Mountain Ash berries. They don’t get drunk as some people think. Sometimes they will pass berries from bird to bird to bond. Grouse, pheasants and quail eat snowberries found throughout the valley wilderness. But don’t you try them — they’re toxic to us. Other humanly toxic berries that birds eat are the fleshy coral-red yew berry and poison ivy berries. Good grief!

There’s a debate over feeding wild birds. In urban areas, where native plants have been removed, feeders may be helpful, but they’re like fast food outlets. It’s better to grow the native plants that they depend on or leave natural areas for birds and other wildlife to forage, nest and rest on. We can help birds by observing their natural behaviours and by rewilding (aka Naturescaping) — landscaping with native trees, shrubs and flowers to enhance our yards for wildlife.

Do you wonder why some people are “birders”? Borrow a pair of binoculars to find out. The variety of colours, markings, shapes, sizes, songs, sounds and characteristics distinguish the various bird species. Getting to recognize them is like getting to know friends from a crowd.

Discover our local winter birds on the North Okanagan Naturalists Club Saturday hikes open to the public — nonc.ca. Great places to find winter birds is with the berries at Bishop Wild Bird Sanctuary on Coldstream Creek Road, BX Creek trail from Star Road, the lower BX Creek trail behind Walmart from Deleenheer Rd to 48th Avenue, the lower Foothills Grey Canal trail, the Polson Park boardwalk, Marshall Fields, Swan Lake Nature Reserve Park off Old Kamloops Road and the Okanagan Rail Trail.

This article is written for the Vernon Morning Star by Roseanne Van Ee. Roseanne enthusiastically shares her knowledge of the outdoors to help readers experience and enjoy nature. Discover exciting and adventurous natural events, best trails, and wild places. Follow her on Facebook for more.