Monday 9 April 2018

Thinking of an Adventure? Bike the Kettle Valley Rail Trail or Hike The Grey Owl Trail, Free this Week on Amazon


Thinking of an Adventure? Bike the Kettle Valley Rail Trail or Hike The Grey Owl Trail, Free this Week on Amazon

It’s getting warmer, so it’s time to start thinking of an outdoor adventure.  So, pick up either of these e-book trip journals for free this week, April 11-15.

A Ride on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail

The Kettle Valley Rail Trail is one of the longest and most scenic biking and hiking trails in Canada. It covers a good stretch of the south-central interior of British Columbia, about 600 kilometers of scenic countryside. British Columbia is one of the most beautiful areas of Canada, which is itself a beautiful country, ideal for those who appreciate natural splendour and achievable adventure in the great outdoors.

The trail passes through a great variety of geographical and geological regions, from mountains to valleys, along scenic lakes and rivers, to dry near-desert condition grasslands. It often features towering canyons, spanned by a combination of high trestle bridges and long tunnels, as it passes through wild, unpopulated country. At other times, it remains quite low, in populated valleys, alongside spectacular water features such as beautiful Lake Okanagan, an area that is home to hundreds of vineyards, as well as other civilized comforts.

The trail is a nice test of one’s physical fitness, as well as one’s wits and adaptability, as much of it does travel through true wilderness. The views are spectacular, the wildlife is plentiful and the people are friendly. What more could one ask for?
What follows is a journal of two summers of adventure, biking most of the trail in the late 1990s. It is about 33,000 words in length (2 to 3 hours reading), and contains numerous photographs of the trail. There are also sections containing a brief history of the trail, geology, flora and fauna, and associated information.

After reading this account, you should have a good sense of whether the trail is right for you. If you do decide to ride the trail, it will be an experience you will never forget.

 On Grey Owl’s Trail – A Hiking Journal, free on Amazon, this weekend


This weekend (April 11 to 16, 2018), the travel book "On Grey Owl’s Trail – A Hiking Journal" (a detailed journal of a back-country hiking trip, along with historical notes on the controversial mid-20th century conservationist Grey Owl and his wife), will be on a free promotion on Amazon.  At other time’s it is 99 cents.

While not as spectacular as some of the more well-known Canadian coastal trails (e.g. The Juan de Fuca Trail) or mountain trails (e.g. The Kettle Valley Trail), the Grey Owl Trail, in north-central Saskatchewan, has a charm all of its own. It is a very fine hiking or canoeing route, that can be done in a leisurely three days, or faster, if one prefers. It is also part of a much larger national park, Prince Albert National Park, which includes a variety of other trails and canoe routes, as well as a pleasant small town-site (Waskesiu), which includes many “civilized” amenities, such as restaurants, hotels, cabins, stores, and pubs.

Those qualities also make it a good site tor a family hike, as it is only moderately physically challenging, and therefore a nice introduction to the activity of multi-day hiking. At any rate, that was my family’s experience.

The journal is about 20,000 words, a length that can usually be read in an hour to 90 minutes. It includes notes from the trip, some history of Grey Owl and the trail, as well as selected quotations from the writings of Grey Owl and his wife Anahareo (who were both excellent, humorous and engaging writers).

                      

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