A Week in Penticton with Jon

Over the years Dianne and I have had numerous trips to Penticton to spend time with our good friend Jon Jones. We're not climbing anymore but a high priority for this trip was to spend some quality time with Jon. It's been a decade since we've had a chance to enjoy each other's company. Here's where we have made our way to ...

You can find Penticton in the lower middle of the map

Penticton enjoys a very pleasant climate for most of the year and, amongst other things, plays host to Ironman Canada.

Skaha Bluffs North Side

After travelling down from Kamloops Dianne felt very much like just taking it easy on our first full day here in Penticton. The day's forecast was for possible light showers so it seemed a good idea for Jon and I to wander up to the Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park which is one of Canada's best sport climbing destinations and definitely the best sport climbing crag in British Columbia. Jon wanted to show me around the new developments which have occurred in the northern end of the park. 

Before we arrived in Penticton Jon had sent a link to Wouda's Bakery, which happened to be on the way to the crag. I was pretty tickled to see what they had on offer in the way of Cinnamon Buns ...

Five types of Cinnamon Buns: Apple Pecan; Raisin; Frosted; Original; Glazed

After a coffee and a bun (I opted for a frosted one) we made our way to the Bluffs, which are located about five kilometres south of Penticton ...

Skaha Bluffs is located to the east of the northern end of Skaha Lake

The weekend before we arrived, local climbers held the first ever Skaha Climbing Festival. Here is a little news video showcasing the event;

For anyone who's intrigued to know more about the Bluffs, here's quite a nice video that gives glimpses of the area's beauty as well as some lead climbing (Dianne and I have actually done one of the climbs in the video, which is kind of neat) ...

More than anything though, it was a chance for Jon and me to wander around together enjoying the environment where we've spent many hours together in years past. Here's a more intimate sampling of what the place is like ...

Arrow-leaved Balsam Root alongside the trail

Larkspur

Hummingbird's nest

Wild Roses

Ponderosa Pine cones

Climbers enjoying a relaxed outing

Bitter Root

Thread-leafed Phalecia

Paintbrush

Soaking it in (including the light drizzle)

As expected we bumped into a few people whom Jon knew. He's been a fixture here for decades and has been instrumental in developing the area and fostering safe climbing practices. 

Time for a Ride

After Dianne and I'd had a short walk the next morning there was a nice weather window so I thought I'd take myself off for a spin. I remembered the east side of Skaha Lake as being very pleasant with smaller volumes of traffic than the main highway on the other side so elected to go that way. 

Early views looking south along Skaha Lake

As I expected, the riding was very nice, with a slight tailwind heading southwards. The road along the east side of the lake is, funnily enough called "Eastside Road". Along the way I discovered I was on the Ironman Canada Gran Fondo course. Once at the bottom of the lake I discovered another beautiful byway, the Oliver Ranch Road. It is lined with vineyards. Here's an example ...

It was nice rolling, winding route which kept new views appearing along the way. I stopped to photograph a couple of vineyard signs on the way back ...

 

After generally retracing my outward route I found I'd done a very enjoyable 50+ kilometres and not long after my return rain started to fall so I felt I'd made good use of my weather window.

Back to the Bluffs with Di

Since we arrived in normally sunny Penticton the weather has been pretty unsettled, including a short but very sharp thunderstorm after I got back from my ride. Yesterday we had a little wander around the Penticton Farmers Market early ...

Penticton Farmers Market

Afterwards things seemed pretty stable so we thought we would chance a short stroll around the southern end of the Bluffs so Di could enjoy the flowers and look at a few of the crags that we'd climbed on in the past.

Here's a photo of Di with Jon enjoying a bit of brightness, if not actual sunshine ...

A couple of septuagenarians eyeing up some action on the crag

There were a couple of groups playing about on the rock not that far from the parking lot ...

Contemplating the next move

There were some different flowers up at this end of the park ...

Jon and I had a chin wag about another section of cliff where we'd done some really good routes together ...

I was impressed with the way Di managed to get around on the rough ground (very great care at times, I assure you!) but we kept the visit nice and short so she wouldn't get overtired this early in her recovery.

A Very Nice Ride Indeed

Vaseaux Lake and MacIntyre Bluff

Our second last day in Penticton promised to be the best so far for weather so I decided to take myself off for a ride There looked to be a very nice loop, beginning with the first half of my previous ride.

The first half was quite flat, the second fairly lumpy ...

Route map and profile

Early on I passed a chap who'd just got back on his bike after a stop ...

G'day mate

... but of course he promptly went right past me a few hundred metres further along the road. 

There were many vineyards along the way ...

One of many

At the southern end of Vaseaux Lake MacIntyre Bluff rears right up ...

MacIntyre Bluff with young vines in the foreground

The hilly section starts with all guns blazing ...

Just past MacIntyre Bluff I started up Secrest Hill Road

The graphic above shows a maximum gradient of 14.3%, but my Garmin was telling me it got up to 16% for a time. I was glad that didn't last very long! Further along and puffing away, I managed to extract my GoPro from my pocket to get quite a nice photo just near the top of that steep bit where the hills on either side of the road pinched in a bit ...

Nearly up the steep bit

Some beautiful riding along a very quiet road followed ...

Along Fairview White Lake Road

Up near the high point the views open out with more gently rolling hills spattered with sagebrush ...

Typical Okanagan high country vista

The ride and views were so good I thought it might be worthwhile making a Relive video, which turned out quite well. 

Battenski on the Mend

I must make mention of the fact that Dianne had a 6 km walk today, the longest she's had since here accident: 2 brisk kms on her own and another leisurely 4 kms with Jon's partner Chris who arrived a couple of days ago. She's sleeping much better and generally feels on the up and up. Hurray!!!

Di under the Ginko tree on Main Street

Chris under the Ginko tree

A quick word about Chris: she and Jon have known each other since they were kids, and were in fact born 9 days apart in the same hospital. They were "quite friendly" as teenagers, kept in touch over the years and became an item again several years ago. Now in their mid-seventies they conduct a long distance relationship between Penticton and Toronto. Now THAT'S what I call a love story.

Jon and Chris

A fast-flowing stream that empties in Lake Okanagan

Sculpture along the lakeshore 

Last Day in Penticton

The forecast for our last day in Penticton promised spectacular weather, so we all made plans for morning adventures. Jon's friend Rolf had enquired if Jon would be available for a "catch" (sport climber speak for "belay") on his latest project at Skaha Bluffs. Dianne and Chris thought a coffee and stroll around town would be a good thing. As for me ... well ... I thought if these other folks were making a bunch of plans to occupy themselves I might as well go off for a ride. 😉 

For the afternoon, it was Dianne's and my pleasure to take Jon and Chris off to the Lake Breeze Vineyards for a leisurely lunch to show our appreciation of their  company and Jon's excellent hospitality. We'd hoped to be a lot more active with Jon while we were here with a more extended visit to the Bluffs and perhaps a longer walk somewhere else. As it was, a familiar sanctuary for Di to rest up for a week was just what we needed. She has made significant strides in her recovery in the time that we've been here. Consequently both of us feel ready to push on with the next phase of our odyssey in southern British Columbia.

Anyway, lunch in the Patio Restaurant was outstanding as was the bottle of Aura Pinot Noir (price a little steeper than shown on their webpage!) we had with it.  Absolutely grand to be eating al fresco on a day with mid twenties temperatures and just a gentle breeze stirring the trees surrounding the enclosed area of the patio. 

Like many of the vineyards on the Naramata Bench the views over Okanagan Lake are terrific ...

Entry to Lake Breeze Winery

... and the gardens created a perfect welcome ...

Jon and Chris on the way in

Another view of the garden

We did the obligatory photo ...

A quick snap while we could all still stand up

On the way out I spied a couple of friezes that I'd missed on the way in ...

And that about wraps up our stay in Penticton. Tomorrow morning Dianne and I will depart for a westward swing that will take us briefly into the Rockies before making our way back west to the coast via a mostly different route. In the meantime lots more adventures await.