October trip to Oliver ...

Here we go again ... down the path. The light is thin and the air cold.
We walk in to see the largest Tamarak tree ... slow growing and hundreds of years old. Dark areas mark the bark in the lower 10 feet and show how the fire damage has healed.

The Tamarak is the only coniferous tree with needles that turn golden in autumn and shed in the fall.

We were staying with good friends who invited us to join them. The leader of the hike showed us his favorite places in the woods.

This is an amazing phenomenon - a rock balencing on two points. It is about 15 feet high and 20 feet wide.

There is also a little creek that was golden on the edges with Tamarak needles. The forest is sparce with a lot of dead wood.

This once proud tree has fallen to provide nutrients for new growth. The twisted nature of the growth is from top to bottom and even in the branches.

The hills above Oliver, B.C.

The road is a bumpy climb through golden leaves.

As we climb, the poplar trees disappear, the pines are more compact growth and there is evidence of past fires.

Wolf Lichen coats the trees ... stiffer than moss, it drops to the ground to feed the deer during the winter.

This big boy had a harem of healthy looking cows ... surprising since there is a scarcity of available food sources.
Ever wondered what an elderberry looks like ... as in 'elderberry wine'?

The lowly thistle grows smaller here.

Nature produces another abstract.

Oregon grape produces spots of deep wine-red foliage, still sporting a few blue berries.

The higher we go, the more lichens grow, this time on rocks. These plants can be decades old.

Looking from the hilltop down to Madden Lake.

Home ... through the 'fruit basket' of B.C.

Exuberance! These horses were kicking up their heels and racing around the large paddock.

A hawk watches for dinner.

The Okanagan is famous for it's tree fruits: apples, cheeries, peaches and plums.

However like everything else, change marches on. These old varieties of trees are disappearing. They are being replaced with low growing, high yield fruit trees or, more often with wine grape vines.

Layers of colours flood the valley.

California Mountain Sheep. This small band was on the rocky hills above Keremeos. A male with large horns was with several females and a few adolescents. The big male hid and the 'big momma' of the group stood sentury on the rock. They seemed aware that the male could be shot ... but the females wouldn't be.

These photos were taken by my husband.

The cactus was nearby. The spikes are lethal!

Heading home ... along the Similkameen River and down the Hope-Princeton Hwy.