September | 2017 | Richard McGuire Photo

Drive to Kilpoola Lake

Around Kilpoola Lake, grasslands spread over low mountains with the sweet smell of sagebrush. (Richard McGuire photo)

Whenever I need to take my mind off the stresses of work and be surrounded by nature, I take a trip up to Kilpoola Lake to the west of Osoyoos. It’s about 20 minutes away, but it’s like stepping into another world. The road — better described as a “track” — is rough, but the used truck I bought in July is better able to handle it than my car. I took a trip there in late July when water levels were still high from the wet spring, but the effects of drought were starting to take hold. (Richard McGuire photos)

I’ve heard this little lake on the way to Kilpoola referred to as “Turtle Lake,” but I can’t find any official reference to its name, so I don’t know what its real name is. It’s pretty, nonetheless. (Richard McGuire photo)

Up Kruger Mountain road, you come to this little lake, which appears to be an extension of Blue Lake. The landscape is very diverse with forests, grasslands and low mountains. (Richard McGuire photo)

Blue Lake is the largest lake on the way to Kilpoola Lake. It’s set in the midst of forests, grasslands and low mountains. (Richard McGuire photo)

Around Kilpoola Lake, grasslands spread over low mountains with the sweet smell of sagebrush. (Richard McGuire photo)

A breeze blows through grasses near Kilpoola lake. Although a drought is underway, there’s still a lot of green after the spring flooding. (Richard McGuire photo)

The road past Kilpoola Lake is just a rough track across the grasslands. There was still a lot of green in late July here despite concerns about dry vegetation and the possiblility of fire elsewhere. (Richard McGuire photo)

Around Kilpoola Lake, grasslands spread over low mountains with the sweet smell of sagebrush. (Richard McGuire photo)

Flooding in the spring has left the water high in Kilpoola Lake. Even at the end of July, the lower road was still submerged under water, despite widespread drought elsewhere. (Richard McGuire photo)

With higher clearance, the used truck I bought in July was good for travelling on the dirt tracks around Kilpoola Lake. (Richard McGuire photo)

Blue Lake is the largest lake on the way to Kilpoola Lake. It’s set in the midst of forests, grasslands and low mountains. (Richard McGuire photo)

Trip to Mount Kobau and Spotted Lake

Okanagan, Photography

Richard McGuire

From the road up Mount Kobau, you can look down on Spotted Lake, a unique lake known for its rings of mineral-rich mud. With water levels still quite high from the rainfall in the spring, despite the summer drought, the rings aren’t as visible as they usually are at this time of year. (Richard McGuire photo)

Mount Kobau and Spotted Lake, both west of Osoyoos, BC, are areas of great natural beauty that are also sacred in local Indigenous tradition. I took a drive part way up Mount Kobau late in the afternoon on the last Sunday of August when the wildfire smoke was lighter than usual for this year. From viewpoints on Mount Kobau, you can look down on Spotted Lake in the distance, with the help of a long lens. Later, I stopped at a highway pullout to admire Spotted Lake from closer. With all the flooding this spring, the mud rings in the lake are less visible, despite the summer drought. (Richard McGuire photos)

I encountered this black bear on a drive up Mount Kobau at the end of August. He or she didn’t stick around long enough for me to get a decent shot before heading off into the brush. And no, I didn’t try to walk up and take a selfie with it using my smart phone. This used a long lens and was taken from my car. (Richard McGuire photo)

Two years ago, in 2015, fire tore up the side of Mount Kobau near Osoyoos leaving charred trees behind. Today there is new plant growth, though the charred trees still remain. (Richard McGuire photo)

I took these photos of Spotted Lake just west of Osoyoos from behind the gate at the highway using a long lens. The lake is considered sacred by local First Nations. The Okanagan Nation Alliance, which owns the land, restricts entry. (Richard McGuire photo)

There was relatively little of the smoke that has plagued the Okanagan most of this summer when I took this photo at Osoyoos Airport in late August. The sun was about to go down and the sagebrush and antelope brush were lit up in gold light. (Richard McGuire photo)

Nightfall at the Osoyoos Desert Centre

Okanagan, Photography

Richard McGuire

The Osoyoos Desert Centre is a protected island of endangered antelope brush habitat on 67 acres outside Osoyoos.

The interpretive nature facility provides a 1.5-km boardwalk taking visitors into the dry, shrub-grassland sometimes referred to as a “pocket desert.”

Last month I took one of the evening tours when animals are often more visible than they are in the hot daytime.

The Desert Centre remains open until early October. Check my stream for earlier photos I took there in a previous spring when flowers abound.

(Richard McGuire photos)

A young buck deer at the Osoyoos Desert Centre is well camouflaged among the sagebrush, antelope brush and tall grass. Animals are often more active in the evening. Although night tours at the centre concluded last week, the days are getting shorter. (© Richard McGuire photo)

This small species of prickly pear cactus is native to the South Okanagan and is often seen growing at the Osoyoos Desert Centre. It’s much smaller than the cacti seen growing in other areas, such as the U.S. Southwest or Mexico. But brush against it when you’re walking and it can stick to you and give you great respect for it. (© Richard McGuire photo)

Sagebrush (left) and antelope brush (background) are some of the main vegetation preserved at the Osoyoos Desert Centre. There’s very little left of this environment that is unique in Canada as much of the surrounding land is farmed or otherwise developed. (© Richard McGuire photo)

Antelope brush grows on a hillside at the Osoyoos Desert Centre along with other plants unique to this arid corner of Canada. There are also non-native grasses that were introduced when the land was used for grazing. (© Richard McGuire photo)

Antelope brush rises from non-native grass at the Osoyoos Desert Centre. The air is thick with smoke from burning wildfires in other parts of B.C. (© Richard McGuire photo)

Antelope brush spreads out at the roots with the same plant often covering a larger area. In the spring it is covered with a small yellow flower. (Richard McGuire photo)