Practise Journey Two: Naramata to Osoyoos for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
See Practice Journey 1- Carmi to Kelowna – and Trans Canada Trail – KVR pictures.
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Journey – The final Trip
A dream soon became reality as we packed the vehicle that would deliver us to the start of our first journey and then follow us as safety vehicles. This was to become my first practise journey. Over the 2002-2003 season we made a total of three trips. For me, this entailed two practise journeys and my qualifying journey.
In mid March we headed out towards Naramata and regained the Kettle Valley Railway just below the snow level. We set off towards Penticton, stopping on the way to have lunch and later to visit the gravesite of Andrew McCulloch and his family. This man was greatly responsible for the planning and building of major portions of the Kettle Valley Railway. The Railway is often referred to as McCulloch’s Wonder. We spent the first night in Keledon and the second night in a Forestry camp south of Vaseux Lake and continued riding until we finished in Osoyoos. Much of the Kettle Valley Railway has been destroyed by farmers’ fields and in the last section and you must ride a paved bike trail for a considerable time.
What little of the rail bed still exists lies in farmers’ fields and is not accessible. The trip totalled about 100 kilometres in length and lasted three days.