Page 1 Preview: Preface (Trails Heading North)
With this collection of yarns, I hope to foster an appreciation of where southern British Columbia ends and particularly where “the North” begins. A trip through the first segment, "Where Does Northern British Columbia Begin?" provides an overview of the entire route to the Omineca region in the north. Returning to the south Okanagan Valley I explore various well-used, as well as some lesser-travelled, portions of the route to offer a better understanding of the immensity of this land and give some insight into a few of the pioneers who helped develop it. Along the way there's time to explore and experience some of nature's diverse offerings of landscape and wildlife, always being vigilant for clues of those who walked before me. The writing is generously sprinkled with a seasoning that blends into a theme of then and now.
To those of you who may be unfamiliar with British Columbia's geography, the Okanagan Valley lies in the south-central part of the province. The northern anchor-point of the valley is the city of Vernon located at the north end of eighty-four mile long Okanagan Lake. The scenic and ever more popular Okanagan Valley drains southward to the Canadian/United States border via the Okanagan River. Upon crossing this frontier at Osoyoos, the river switches to its American spelling “Okanogan” and continues its journey to the Columbia River. If you're not familiar with the locals you will find they are very proud of their province and are in a hurry to tell you about its virtues. For this reason, they seldom spout the full name... [continued on page 2]
