Sunday, February 19, 2006

Feb. 19 These pictures were taken in a buddies front yard near Black Mntn. in Kelowna in spite of the fact that there were two dogs between them and the house
4 happy whitetail does


1 Lucky buck

posted by AL COTTON @ 5:00 PM 0 comments

Feb. 19 These shots were taken along Deep Creek about 25 minutes South of Kelowna. This creek is a spawning ground for Kokanee and empties into Okanagan Lake just south of Peachland at Antlers Beach. The falls is the farthest upstream the fish can go to spawn and is about a 15 minute walk from the trail head. In the fall when they enter the creek they turn red like a salmon and some of them get quite large (5-10#). The creek has been modified to sustain the spawning beds by inserting risers every 100' or so. The trail consists of numerous bridges which criss cross the creek to provide better viewing. It is wheelchair accessible and also has many benches. Signs in the fall warn of bears in the vicinity who eat the fish that died during the spawning process. (a fate that I percieve as the ultimate way to go)

















posted by AL COTTON @ 2:00 PM 0 comments

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Feb 18 Big White Road
Just after leaving Hwy. 33 and turning onto the Big White road you come across this small corral. It's used in the spring and fall for loading and unloading range cattle. In the fall when the weather gets colder the cattle move out onto the road and make their way down to the cattle guard where this corral is located. In the Spring they're returned to forage in the woods and fatten up until fall.



posted by AL COTTON @ 3:00 PM 0 comments

Feb 18 BIG WHITE is located 45 minutes from downtown. These pictures were taken up near the top of the ski hill and the trees covered in snow are known as SNOW GHOSTS. They are a unique formation caused by the build up of frost and snow due to the cold dry conditions prevailing in this area. After a heavy snowfall they resemble large pieces of popcorn.














This is the summit of Big White taken from a backroad just off the Big White road



Deer tracks




Snow piled up on some of the lower chalets


The skating rink below the ski hill and near the lower end of the gondola lift.




Some of the chalets near the lower parking lot and at the bottom of the ski hill part of which is known as Snowpine Estates. This view is looking up towards the top of the Ridge Rocket high speed quad chair

posted by AL COTTON @ 2:14 PM 0 comments