THURSDAY August 12, 2021 • 13
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TRAIL TREKS: Upper Scenic Trail In the latest edition of our Trail Treks column, Darch Oborne takes a look at the Upper Scenic Trail.
Darch Oborne CONTRIBUTOR
This lovely local trail is super for hikers or bikers; a Blue Trail (moderate degree of strenuous exercise, but nothing scary); almost any time of year as it is ‘South Slope’ and gets/retains very little snow. And the views are superb; especially if you go off trail for 100 meters in a couple of special spots (see if you can find them) to look down on our beautiful Nicola Valley. Do it as an ONB (Out and Back); start at the flagpole and follow Tom Lacey Trail for half a kilometre, then a sharp left following ‘Scenic’ Trail for another half a kilometre; then keep left at the ‘Scenic’ junction. The trail meanders up gradually (it was built as a two-way trail by mountain bikers in the 1990’s), passes the entry to Supra Scenic heading northeast and has lots of shady areas, and one small stream about three kilometres along. After seven kilometres, you will finally get to the double track and to the drop in for Dangle; a Double Black trail I built five years ago. Do not descend it on bike or by foot, as it is appropriately categorized. This is the Upper Scenic trail end; so retrace your route back, and enjoy the trail and views in the new Westerly direction. You may encounter an occasional horse rider, or a moto, but rarely, as this trail is a bit off the beaten path; that’s what makes it so nice; the solitude as well as the views. And if you have to bail out, there are several moto tracks which go right down to the North Bench. Please pack out all your litter. You will see deer on Upper Scenic so control your dogs, and bears and cougars have been seen in the area this year. Upper Scenic is part of the Merritt Crown mountain bike race course. You can see the entire course on the Trailforks App, under Merritt Trails. You can do this on your computer and just print a copy; or get the app on your phone for GPS tracking. Ride On!
Olympic hopes for pair of Kamloops curlers released, but Curling Canada notes the top three women’s teams and top two men’s teams will qualify for the Tim
Hortons Curling Trials in Saskatoon. “We’ve planned accordingly to make sure we can get as many events and training
weekends as we can prior to make sure we’re bringing our best once we get there,” said Brown, whose rink will make its season debut next week at a cashspiel in Leduc, Alta. In Ottawa, the field on the women’s side will include Brown, Suzanne Birt (Charlottetown), Kelsey Rocque (Edmonton), Laura Walker (Edmonton) and Casey Scheidegger (Lethbridge, Alta.). Dunstone, Colton Flasch (Saskatoon), Jason Gunnlaugson (Winnipeg), Glenn Howard (Penetanguishene,
Ont.) and Mike McEwen (Winnipeg) will compete on the men’s side. Trials DirectEntry Event teams that do not qualify for the Tim Hortons Curling Trials in Ottawa will have a second chance at the Home Hardware Curling Pre-Trials, which will take place from Oct. 26 to Oct. 31 in Liverpool, N.S. “It’s definitely interesting, to say the least,” Dunstone said. “It seems like everybody and their dog has a shot at the Olympic trials this year, just with all the other different
Robert Hack, Lee Quillen, Doug Oakey, and hounddog Ace are pictured riding the Upper Scenic Trail near the north end of Merritt. Photo submitted
Views of the valley from the peak of the Upper Scenic Trail.
events and formats. I’m not going to complain about anything, considering the season we had last year. It’s just nice to be playing again.” Brown and Dunstone won provincial titles in 2020 and were unable to defend their crowns in 2021, as B.C. and Saskatchewan cancelled provincial championship tournaments amid the pandemic. Both were selected by their respective provincial curling governing bodies to compete at the 2021 national championships, which were held inside the Calgary curling
bubble earlier this year. Team Dunstone claimed its second consecutive bronze medal at the Brier. Team Brown, which placed sixth at the national Scotties in 2020 in Moose Jaw, posted a 4-4 record in round-robin action in Calgary to fall short of the Championship Pool. The major events held inside the Calgary curling bubble were preceded by a campaign ravaged by the pandemic. Brown’s season came to an abrupt halt on Nov. 12, 2020, and did not resume until the
national championship began in February. Team members have fingers crossed for a return to relative normalcy in 2021-2022. “As far as I know, most of the events are a go and if they aren’t, it’s not necessarily due to COVID reasons in B.C.,” Brown said.
The Kamloops Curling Club halted operations in September of 2020. BC Housing took over the building in October of 2020, using it as shelter space until its lease expired at the end of July. Ice could return to the KCC as early as Sept. 7, said club general manager Rob Nordin.
Merritt Otters Swim Club
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Thursday, August 12 6:30 pm 2675 Garcia Street
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