02.10.2010
October 2, 2010, we, in West Kelowna on the west shore of Okanagan Lake climbed up to the summit of the remnants of a stratovolcano created nearly 60 million years ago called Mount Boucherie.
We began our hike from Eain Lamont Park taking the right trail heading northeast through the woods. In the woods we came upon large broken columns, or pipes, of crystallized igneous volcanic rock called dacite. In color they are black to dark gray. Each column forms hexagonal geometric shapes, which are formed by contraction during the cooling of the lava. Naomi did not resist the temptation to climb up the first one she saw.
Soon enough we began climbing up the very steep northeast face trail where we needed to be cautious with our footing on the many loose rocks. As we climbed the views below expanded where we could see Highway 97 below and major businesses such as Bylands Nurseries and Kelowna Pick-N-Pull. We climbed about 200 meters to the top elevation of 758 m (2,487 ft). This is only 417 meters above the nearby lake level. Originally the elevation of this mountain was about 2000 meters or more.
After a lot of sweat and a few “catch your breath” stops we found ourselves standing on the summit giving us a great 360 degree panora of the Central Okanagan Valley. Off to our northeast was Kelowna and off to the southeast across the lake was Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park. At our feet we stood on the top of the dacite columns with their geometric shapes. We lingered here for awhile taking in the wonderful vistas all around on this fine autumn day with a sunshine filled blue sky and a kaleidoscope of natural colors on the mountains. No less than awesome!
The path continued along the top heading southward and we followed it, lead where it may. All we had for a map was a brochure called the Westside Trail Guide showing a very vague trail system in a small image. We passed through a zone of burned out trees. Back in the early evening of May 7, 1992, a forest fire was accidentally started by two 11-year-old boys playing with matches behind Mount Boucherie Secondary School. This led to the evacuation of about 100 people while the blaze consumed 60 hectares of forest on the steep north and east slopes. All we had for a map was a brochure called the Westside Trail Guide showing a very vague trail system.
Here and there we came upon trail junctions and guessed our way along until we were at the south end of the mountain looking down toward the South Okanagan Valley. Here again we stopped and took some time relaxing and taking in the scenes. Josh munched on an apple and I tempered my growing appetite with a granola bar and a drink of water. At the top there was a nicely built inukshuk which looked great against the Okanagan Lake below. All along I had been taking photographs as I like to do and here was a good picture opportunity. In the perspective I took Josh looked like he was being overshadowed by a giant man of rock.
According to our crude map the trail continued down the southwest corner of the mountain and may have looped around the north flank. However the trails were uncertain so we retreated back the way we had come to a fairly well worn junction and took the option to descend down the east side. If this didn’t work we would need to retrace our steps down the very steep rocky northeast face we originally came up. The east trail was well trod and descended down a steep trail on which we had to be careful not to slip on the small loose stones to land on our buttsides. I soon recognized a large circular water supply tank I had seen last night when I previewed Mount Boucherie on Google Earth. I knew this was near our starting point and sure enough Naomi spotted our van in the parking area below. Josh and Naomi quickly made tracks for the finish line while I stopped to chat briefly with an elderly man out for awalk around the mountain with his two dogs.
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