Hiking the McDougall Rim in Westbank, BC.
This past September when we visited my sons in Kelowna and Westbank, we hiked up the McDougall Rim trail where much of the forest fires had raged in late summer.
The trails are very rocky and dry and one could see how easily fire could have started in the tinder dry forests of the mountainsides.
The trail traverses over the McDougall Rim of the mountains surrounding the Okanagan Valley. In the picture above, my son Iain is standing on a cliff that looks out over the valley. 
The view from the top is incredible with the beautiful blue Lake Okanagan stretching out below and the new floating bridge which joins Westbank to Kelowna seems small in the distance.
The incredible beauty of Kelowna is very evident from the top of the trail with a sandy ribbon of beach following the coast of the city.
Remnants of the fire are clearly evident on one side of the trail where all that's left of the forest are blackened stumps rising from the dusty soil and rock.
We had a beautiful afternoon hiking and I'm looking forward to hiking the trail again next year.
©2009JoSmith
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Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Brekland Realty Group, Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.Oakville-BurlingtonHomes.com |
