Black Sage Loop

For our second and last day ride from Penticton, we went south to Oliver. We worked our way through the urban part of Penticton to Eastside Road (on the east side of Skaha Lake) and continued through Okanagan Falls on Oliver Ranch Road, along the highway past Vaseaux Lake (no alternate route) and turned onto Tucelnuit Drive to continue south along the bench to Black Sage Road. This part of the Okanagan is wine country and we passed wineries like we were riding in Burgundy.

We took a connector road down to Ryegrass Road and started our return northward. After crossing the highway, it was up and up to Willowbrook Road. We continued north on Fairview White Lake Road, reversing part of yesterday's route, and turned east to ride a new part of White Lake Road out to Hwy 97. After a short distance on the highway, we zoomed down the hill through Kaleden to connect to the KVR South Spur and on back to Penticton motel.

The rows are labelled in many of the vineyards.

Looking across Oliver to the western slopes

Before the Okanagan became famous for wine, it was a tree-fruit-producing area. The apple orchards are mostly modern now, heavy with fruit on espalier trees.

We passed this yesterday and our curiosity was piqued. I had to get a photo this time! The Hotel Kaleden was built in 1910 as one of the cornerstone buildings of the town of Kaleden and was one of the first buildings in the area to feature electric light, running water, private sleeping porches, and exclusive dining rooms. Opened in 1911, the Hotel operated until the beginning of World War I when the economy of many BC communities collapsed. The building sat empty until the early 1940s when it was sold and dismantled. The shell of the building still stands and is the most photographed building in Kaleden. It is currently owned by the Regional District of Okanagan&dash;Similkameen and is part of the Kaleden Hotel Regional Park.

After another beer on the beach, we walked a few blocks to Tratto and ate the best pizza we've had in a very long time. We'll be back!

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Today's ride: 104 km (65 miles)
Total: 283 km (176 miles)

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Scott AndersonHave you ever stayed in Oliver? I was thinking it might be a nice base for a few days when we drove through on our way to Nelson.
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10 months ago