Princeton to Penticton

We had breakfast at Coco’s Bistro. It opens at 4:30 am to serve the miners (we weren’t there that early!) We had intended to follow the Kettle Valley Railway trail/Trans-Canada trail to Summerland, but were told, over coffee, that off-road motorcycles were chewing up the trail. After checking out the start of the route it was clear that our touring bikes would not work on the unpaved surface, at any rate.  Carrying two large freshly baked cinnamon buns, we headed off on the Crowsnest highway instead, to Keremeos and Penticton. This proved to be a serendipitous choice as the first half was mostly downhill with a wide shoulder. The weather was good and we followed the Similkameen Valley, through sage brush country, past the old gold mine at Hedley and then into orchard land. After an ice-cream stop at Keremeos, we climbed until we were overlooking the Okanagan Valley. Although not steep, the hills were tough after a long cycle and we were glad when we could see Penticton in the distance.

Tomorrow is a day off!

We travelled through the Upper and Lower Similkameen Band’s land and remained within the territory of the Okanagan First Nations.