White Lake HIkes

White Lake Hikes

There is a nice hiking area east of White Lake, just past the Dominion Radio Observatory and down the road towards Willowbrook. Once past the lake you will come to a parking area and a walkers gate on your left. White Lake is an alkaline lake and once the spring waters have evaporated looks white as its name implies. As with most hiking, take an adequate supply of liquids for even when there is water it is often alkaline or otherwise not fit to drink. Some hikers and camper carry water filters and purification tablets, something to consider if you plan on lots of back-country travel.

From the gate the trail follows an old road 420 metres down to an old corral and the first junction. To the east there are bluffs that are likely volcanic in nature, while the bottom consists of sagebrush flats down to the lake. There are several bird boxes on the old fence and we were able to watch the bluebirds darting about. Off over the ridges a couple of eagles circled and very high we could hear flocks of sand hill cranes flying north.

If you continue straight ahead at the junction you soon come to a draw and a creek. The old road and trail here are somewhat enclosed in trees and offers shelter to deer and many birds. There is a healthy supply of deer in the area, mostly mule deer but I have seen a few white tailed deer around. Keeping your eyes open you can see a fair number of tracks and droppings while hoping for a glimpse of these graceful animals.
We decided to enjoy the sun and the gentle spring breeze , turned left and began the climb upwards. The terrain generally was quite gentle after the first little climb and the sage covered hills were pleasantly spotted with little yellow flowers like buttercups, yellow bells and spring beauties. Both the yellow bells and spring beauties have been an important food source for the local peoples. A few areas were depression slightly and given decent moisture would be a little swampy. There were also some nice looking juniper trees in the distance and jack pine and fir trees on the ridges. This section was 1.4 kilometres to a pond and another junction.

The old right hand road heads uphill to the bluffs where you can look down on the ranches, the observatory and just a little of the Saint Andrews development. One could spend a fair amount of time up that way, but we wanted to check out what kind of ducks where on the pond further along. Carrying on straight ahead, we skirted this pond by what looks like aspen trees.

The higher we went there seemed to be more grass and a little less sagebrush. 506 metres further we came to another pond. This is what I was hoping for -- some different ducks. I managed to snap a picture and looking through the Audubon bird books thought they appeared to be ring necked ducks. Closer on the shore a killdeer scuttled about.

An old trail carries on past this pond for another 630 metres to the ridges overlooking the draw between Willowbrook and Okanagan Falls. I’m not sure, though, whether this is posted private land or not. There was a gate here and as always, you must leave any gate as found, either open or closed. This is vital on all rangeland to keep cattle where they belong both for the protection of the rancher and the environment.
Protecting the environment also means not spreading unwanted plants. I believe that hikers should wear clothing that does not pick up burrs and spread unwanted plants. If you do happen to catch any on your clothing, carefully pick them off and dispose at home with the household garbage.