Idabel Lake to Chute Lake

Day 3 - June 11, 2008

Weather: A few clouds early; sunny in the afternoon

Trail description: From Idabel Lake we made our way back to the intersection of the Okanagan Falls Forest Service Road and the KVR. Once back on the trail we found that the steady uphill of yesterday was over, replaced by gentler grades that were barely noticeable. But the rocky firm ground of yesterday was gone too, the trail surface now soft and earthy in places, and the wet spring had saturated the trail creating mud and numerous puddles, some so deep they reached the axles of our bikes. The mud itself wasn't a problem until we reached a six kilometer section of trail shared with heavy logging vehicles which had churned the mud into a thick gumbo, forcing us to walk.

Special concerns: This is another portion of the KVR where water is limited, except perhaps at McCulloch resort which we passed early in our day so water wasn't yet a concern. A few streams cross the trail but may require some scrambling to get to them. Being June the weather wasn't hot so we paid little attention to water sources and each survived on our two water bottles.

Wildlife: None.

Distance and elevation: Distance cycled was about 4 kilometers from our B&B at Idabel Lake back to the KVR, then 54 kilometers on the trail to Chute Lake Resort (no end-of-day detour required as the Lodge at Chute Lake sits almost astride the KVR). At an elevation of 1236 m.a.s.l. Chute Lake Resort is only an 11 meter difference in elevation from Idabel Lake. Elapsed road time was about 7 hours.

Average speed and time on the trail: We left Idabel Lake at 9:00 AM and reached Chute Lake at 4:00 PM. Our average speed including all stops (and walking most of six kilometers in mud) was 8.3 kilometers per hour.

GPS tracking: We used a Garmin Forerunner 305 to record our distance and elevation changes.

Our third day on the KVR and it was as varied as each of the first two days. We were no longer steadily climbing and spent most of the day between 1230 and 1274 m.a.s.l. but seemed to have traded a sloping KVR for one that has less ability to drain itself. Today was the day of puddles and mud

The trail passes the new McCulloch lake resort on Hydraulic Lake. The quaint little cabins of the old resort were being replaced by $1.2 million dollar lakefront homes, $1 million dollar lake-view homes, and a string of cheaper $945,000 homes along the line of the KVR

Past the resort the KVR gets a bit boggy, with plastic culverts crossing the trail, and more puddles. Yesterday, cyclists going the other way told us about a big puddle near Myra Canyon with water over their axles, so we approached each new puddle wondering whether this was the one

The KVR crosses a corner of Hydraulic Lake on a man-made causeway

There's lots of blow-down along this stretch, but it's all been cut and pushed aside by some nice people

We all felt that this had to be the renowned big puddle

Pauline goes for it after listening to a gabble of advice about the best path through the water, hollered at her by the rest of us who had already crossed

This cattle guard stops vagrant cattle from wandering onto the Myra Canyon trestles. While we take an extended break to change wet socks, Ann decides to hone her cattle guard crossing skills, although from her facial expression she is not quite comfortable with them yet

We reach the much anticipated Myra Canyon, with its new trestles only recently reopened after the 2003 Kelowna fire destroyed 12 of the wooden trestles completely and the decking from 2 steel trestles

Myra Canyon is easily accessible from both ends using Forest Service roads, so lots of non-cyclists are walking the KVR and we get one of them to snap our picture. In the background you can see four trestles that we will eventually get to as we circumnavigate the amoeba-shaped canyon

A beautiful example of Shrubby Penstemon

The new trestles really stand out in the fire-ravaged landscape

Below one of the rebuilt trestles are the charred timbers of its predecessor

Our first tunnel. We walked it without using lights. Water was dripping from the ceiling in places

No of course this isn't a posed shot. ("Click the picture Bill, so I can veer away from the puddle!")

This trestle at kilometer 138.2 (from Midway) is the anticlimactic summit of the Carmi subdivision: elevation 1274 m.a.s.l. It's all downhill from here

Five years later and lots of greenery pokes through the grey of the fire-killed landscape

A little stream finds its way through the devastation

It's time for lunch!

How do you even find people who know how to rebuild wooden railway trestles―the yellow pages? What an amazing job they did

Looking back across the canyon at our previous hour's ride

As we approached the western end of the canyon we were surprised to find what no one doubted was the real big puddle. Bob looks like a speedboat with his panniers dragging in the water. So much for the dry socks that we'd changed into

The view begins to open up towards Kelowna ("I think I can see a Starbucks!")

The last trestle. We meet more cyclists coming the other way who tell us that there is a long stretch of deep mud ahead. Why doesn't anyone have any good news for us?

The mud started where the KVR crosses the Little White Forest Service road. Heavy logging vehicles needing access to the forest above the trail, traverse this section of the KVR churning the surface into gumbo, too deep and sticky to ride through: so we walk

We stopped occasionally to regroup and trade mud stories with each other

Six kilometers of (mostly) walking came to an abrupt end at the beautiful Bellevue Creek trestle. West of the trestle the trail surface was firm and rideable again

The KVR crosses Gillard Creek on fill. Next to it is the remains of the original trestle

The area above Kelowna has suffered a one-two punch from the 2003 fire and Mountain Pine Beetle infestation

A rocky hill crowned with fire-killed trees

The KVR merges with Chute Lake Road (an unpaved backroad linking Kelowna and Naramata) so our last ten kilometers of the day had traffic and potholes

We arrive at Chute Lake Resort

The Lodge at Chute Lake Resort

How do you get seriously mud-caked bikes clean? Throw them into Chute Lake and walk in after them (it also helps get your muddy shoes clean)

A well-earned rest in rustic Chute Lake Lodge

Chute Lake Lodge is like a time capsule...

...including a lot of old telegraph and telephone equipment. I like the display case of coloured glass insulators

Next page: Chute Lake to Penticton