I was out on the Commonage today, south of Vernon and above Kalamalka Lake, and found some Giant Wild Rye Grass growing on the road margins of a riparian area. The tallest […]
King of the Grass
Water Cress
Here’s some wild Okanagan water cress I found at the end of last week. It goes to prove that dry, grassland habitats are really aquatic habitats, rich in ponds and secret water […]
The Headwaters of Okanagan Lake
While following coyote tracks through an abandoned orchard in Okanagan Landing, I found the unknown (and unexpected) headwaters of Okanagan Lake. You can just make this water source out in the middle […]
Burning Water
There are two major uses to which contemporary society puts the high country above the dry Okanagan Valley: water collection for settlement use, and forestry. As I suggested yesterday, the two are […]
The Elegance of a Landscape (Within a Landscape) [Within a landscape]
Sometimes beauty is not just what we can see with our eyes. Take these leaves of rabbitbrush, for instance: Wet Season Rabbitbrush In the heat, its leaves will be far more silver […]
Water at Home
I am fascinated with the difference between how humans manage water in the desert and what the water is actually doing. Where, for instance, does the water go? Into the ground. What […]
Water, Slowed Down, Wayyyy Down
Today, we’re continuing to follow the water down from the high slopes. Here’s the obvious water in the Okanagan, and the seeming destination of any water flowing down off the hills. Okanagan […]
Hills of Water
At first glance, the grassland slopes of the Okanagan and the Okanogan appear to have little to do with water. They look dry indeed, perhaps with the lightest scattering of snow. High […]
Whose Water?
The 2011 Ice Wine season looks like it’s going to be a long time coming yet, deep into January or even February 2012. Maybe it’s time to think of making a late […]
The Glory of the Sun
Late in the year, when summer visitors are at home, the Okanagan light comes into its own. This is the season when the sun just crests the hills, blows in almost horizontally […]
Okanagan Okanogan 