Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Farewell Okanagan

My last few weeks have been filled with awesome rides with strong riders in the Okanagan valley. Long distance rides with Leah Goldstein who is off to storm the ultra race Furnace Creek 508 this weekend. Wicked fast rides with lots of elevation while glued onto the wheel of pro-Ironman athlete Scott Neyedli.
Marg & Scotty at the IM-Canada famed spot in Keremeos
Dipping into the lake was a treat after any of these rides. The great Sunday road group ride and very social Tuesday night mtnbike rides were awesome ending with a good meal with the mtnbikers after. I got one last epic mountain bike ride in with an old Edmonton rider Andrea Bergen. We were in awe of the fall colours and the wicked singletrack.
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A few cool sitings... sitting in the chalet, movement outdoors caught my eye. Three bears strolled into the yard!
The little black bear warned his mom I was watching so she had both of the cubs climb trees. The brown one climbed 30 feet and the black one climbed 50 feet - amazing to watch up close! Mom stayed guard below.
Later I caught them leaving on the beautiful rock face next to the chalet. It was cool to see them though I'm tired of cleaning up their poop!

My least favourite uninvited visitors are the raccoons who now come in little packs of adolescent teenagers at dark. They party it up, create havoc until I chase them out with the broom. Other sitings were California Quail and deer. No mice seen this year, yay. The coyotes howl in the early morning on a regular basis - pretty wild to hear.

2 comments:

Dallas said...

I love bears. I'd swear people could have evolved from them... except we're way more aggresive.

Marg Fedyna said...

The bears look cuddly until I see their strong paws with sharp claws. The raccoons are a nuisance and give that "we're so cute" look.