Oct 13, 2022, 5:30pm · ☀️ 19 °C Altitude: 21 m
CanadaBritish ColumbiaHastings-SunrisePlayland at the PNE49°16’57” N 123°2’24” W- Show trip
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Kettle Valley Rail Trail
October 13, 2022 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Thur 13 Oct: It was a WOW day today, absolutely loved the KVR trail. It was a another chilly start but such a bluebird day. The rail line was open in May 1915 to link the interior, especially the mineral rich West Kootenay to the port of Vancouver. This portion of the KVR was closed in May 1973, and in 1993 the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society (MCTRS) was formed to make the 18 trestles safe for public recreation. After many hours of volunteer work and fundraising, they applied and got granted in January 2003 the trail as a National Historic Site. However in the summer 2003, disastrous wildfires destroyed or damaged 14 of the 18 trestles. The federal and provincial governments funded the reconstructions. The trail was reopened in June 2008. The trestle part of the trail is 12 km long, 18 trestles, 2 tunnels and great views looking down the valley to Kelowna and completely flat on a great surface so very easy riding - just have to watch out for the chipmunks that dart across the track right in front of you. Such a great ride, and so interesting with its information boards and its history. We started at the Myra station end and rode to Ruth Station, here there was a short walk to the remains of one of the 1913 construction camps, which was only discovered during the 2003 fires by firefighters. We biked another 9 km along the KVR to the Bellevue Trestle, while looking for the Boulderfields which I had seen mentioned on the map, however I didn't take the map with me and wasn't sure exactly where they were so we turned around here and biked back to the start. Once back at the van, I saw we only needed to go another couple of kms past the Bellevue Trestle and we would had found them. Bugger. We left this morning about 10 am, and thought it would take us 3 hrs so we didn't bother taking lunch, but we found it so interesting and taking heaps of photos we didn't get back until 3 pm, so we decided to just have some crackers and cheese and a small glass of one of our wines purchased yesterday. Somehow the small glass of wine each ended up using all the bottle 🤔. At least it's a great place to Camp for the night so we will be staying put.Read more
Traveler Wow, that sounds (and looks) awesome
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