Okanagan Mountain Circuit: Over the Top
After a long day of backpacking through Wild Horse Canyon, we were left with the second leg of the loop, a 13 km route, most of it uphill. The day was warm and we were out in the treeless south-facing slopes of Okangan Mountain, so we got an early start. From Goode's Creek (15 km from the start), the trail climbs back up to the bench for a kilometre, then continues southeast, climbing 438 metres (1437 feet) around rocky hills and over ridges for the next 6.2 km. Much of this section is overgrown with new shrubs and the trail is often hard to follow.
After 7.2 km of steady hiking a junction is reached. One trail crosses Frederick Creek and heads east towards the South Parking Area on the Chute Lake Road. The other (left turn) climbs steeply up over the mountain for 4km with a 473m (1552 feet) rise. The trail was also hard to follow. Someone has placed orange trail markers on trees which helped a lot, but many have fallen since they were placed on burned trees.
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After 11 km of hard work, we spotted Baker Lake to the north of the hilltop we had crested. We followed the trail for another kilometre to the campsite on the rocky shores of the lake.
We thought the Baker Lake Campsite was an excellent backcountry destination. It had a few tent spaces, an outhouse, a user-made cooking-eating area, an open feeling, and the lake right below us. The lake seemed to be deep and we watched fish jumping. We enjoyed a late afternoon swim and we were able to rehydrate with filtered water from the lake.
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On our third day, we got an early start to the day and hefted our backpacks to go over the mountain as the first part of the final leg of our loop route. This section of trail had lots of deadfall, but we climbed to the summit of Okanagan Mountain in a little over an hour, climbing 244 metres (800 feet). The trail meets a gravel road right by the rounded summit. The view here is limited and the presence of telecommunications towers seems out of place. From there, the route followed the road down to Divide Lake and another campsite, a spot for our first break.
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From Divide Lake, the route is all downhill, 10km on a road. Near the bottom, we chose to continue down the road to the Rimrock Road trailhead rather than take the CN Trail (there had been a landslide on the trail). Our vehicles were 3.5 km away, so we dropped our packs and two of us walked out to get them.
The whole loop was 42 km on trails. The first two legs were very rugged and demanding, especially with a large backpack. The advantages of choosing Okanagan Mountain Park include the opportunity for an early season start and nice campsites, but the disadvantages are the burned trees, lack of shade, grown-over trails, and rough terrain. We will probably return to this park, but will choose a day hike if we do.