Photos: Throne Mountain and Whistler Canyon Hike

Spring has sprung here in the Okanagan and every sunny day beckons my Mr and I out of doors.  We had a beautiful hike a few weeks ago to a local spot called Throne Mountain which is situated behind the beautiful Burrowing Owl Winery.  Here are a few from our day on Throne Mountain (we did not go all the way to the top) 

Even though this was taken at the earliest part of March the moss was out in brilliant greens.

The lichen captures me and my Mr needs to drag me onward and upward!

A view looking south from Throne Mountain, overlooking Osoyoos Lake taken with my iphone.

Overlooking the Burrowing Owl Winery, Osoyoos - taken with my iphone.

The last vestiges of snow, overlooking the Burrowing Owl.

How can one not respect this fellow? 

And then this past week we took a drive “south of the border” into the USA to Tonasket, Washington to eat lunch at Rancho Chico and on our way home we spied a new sign pointing toward a hiking trail we were not aware of, so I BEGGED my Mr to block out our Sunday afternoon after church to explore and he went for it.  

It is called the Whistler Canyon Trail 

We started our trek at this information sign

The trail is clearly marked with both signage and cairns.

Buttercups a sure sign that Spring is really here!  Buttercups always make me feel hopeful.

These bluffs look as if they are assembled together like puzzle pieces.

Overlook of the Similkameen River.

I like the burnt orange hue of this lichen.

Lush moss here too, there is water seeping through many rock faces which dry up during the hot summer. 

The normally placid creek is alive!

We went at a really fast pace but could only hike for over an hour before we came to this impasse and, not having waterproof boots on, decided to call it a day and save some for next time.  After we turned around we sought a sunny ledge to eat our snack on, and when my Mr got up we found a tick crawling on his fleece pullover.  Sigh.

Enjoying a bit of sunshine on the way down.

Thats our little VW Vanagon “Seb (short for Sebastian an ancient cartographer and explorer) sitting down in the parking lot waiting for us.  The parking lot and trail head are gravelled with calcium carbonate and is almost blinding on a sunny day. 

Thanks for coming on our hikes  

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