Bikepacking the Kettle Valley Rail Trail - Othello Tunnels 2020

This is another Redux from my cross Canada trip. This is from the first half in 2020 and includes some footage of the Othello tunnels that were recently heavily damaged in the 2021 Floods. I feel so fortunate to have seen them before this happened as some of the damage may be unrepairable. This is truly one of the most magical places I have ever been and I truly hope they can at least restore most of it.
The KVR would go on to be my favorite trail that I rode on the trip. It is truly a Bikepacking paradise!
I have also included some photos of the recent flood damage for comparison of the before and after.
I hope you enjoy and thanks for following my adventures. Cheers
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Пікірлер: 36

  • @shelleyshell1150
    @shelleyshell11502 жыл бұрын

    The tunnels and views were outstanding!!!!

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks. Yes It was a incredible area! Thanks for watching and if you would consider subscribing to help me get to 1000 subs and join our community I would be honored. Take good care. :)

  • @shelleyshell1150

    @shelleyshell1150

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures yes, I’m subscribed

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@shelleyshell1150 thank you so much I really do appreciate it. Cheers

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures
    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures2 жыл бұрын

    What a difference a year makes! I am so glad I was able to experience the Othello tunnels before the flooding. Cheers

  • @WheelsonaBike
    @WheelsonaBike2 жыл бұрын

    This was one of my favourite episodes last year. The tunnels are spectacular! They won't be rideable for a while, nature does what it does. Thanks for showing the before and the after.

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    2 жыл бұрын

    They may never open all the way through ever again. The erosion at the one end is really bad from what I have seen. As always thanks for watching and since we are both from Ontario if you ever want to do a colaberation maybe we could set up a tour! just a thought. :)

  • @WheelsonaBike

    @WheelsonaBike

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures Well that's an idea! Let's see what net year brings.

  • @TravelingThru222
    @TravelingThru2222 жыл бұрын

    Wow, what an awesome trail. Those Othello Tunnels are incredible. Catch you on the trail.

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    2 жыл бұрын

    They really are incredible! Hopefully they can be restored after the flooding. Cheers

  • @julieibbott3239
    @julieibbott32392 жыл бұрын

    You must be very grateful to have experienced that great trail before the most recent devastation. Hopefully there can be some repairs. The tunnels look wonderful!

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    2 жыл бұрын

    Beyond grateful. And I almost skipped that section because of all the rain! Cheers

  • @Biking360
    @Biking3602 жыл бұрын

    Great location. One of my favourite videos to date. JP

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks Jay. This is actually one of the areas I would definitely want to show you if you come to Canada. I hope they are able to restore the tunnels before then. Safe travels

  • @Biking360

    @Biking360

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures👍 Definitely an area I'd love to visit

  • @register1430
    @register14302 жыл бұрын

    50 yrs here and no one bothered to tell me about these until seeing your clip last yr. I took them in this past August ( and even then was after a long covid and geotech fix shut down of over a year) - very glad now that I did. I overnighted in the parking lot and had it to myself in the morning. The walk up to the first tunnel was like being in movie set ( last tunnel you get the Rambo shots that were done here) , even then you could see how slide prone the mountain is. Bolders the size of cars. I had plans to visit again in Dec with a bike ride prior to the floods but now only from the last tunnel side looks to be only option and a fence hop. It will be years before this gets back to what i got to visit first time. Or ever.

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    2 жыл бұрын

    They may never fully reopen. I am glad I got there when I did. Cheers

  • @HermannKerr
    @HermannKerr2 жыл бұрын

    My very first time I cycled across the Coquihalla (1988) was the first time I saw the Othello Tunnels. I was truly impressive. I encounter a park ranger at the far end stopping me and anyone else from proceed to Hope. The Othello Tunnels really piqued my interest in the KVR. Later that year, I took a long weekend and I cycled from Hydraulic Lake thru to Chute lake using Kelowna as the first and last apex of the triangle. Back then it was a bit more hair raising as in places the trail ties had been removed from some of the trestles and I had to walk the beam to get across. It was sort of like vandalism but it kept the 4x4s off the KVR at least in Myra Canyon. A true piece of luck for us all was the Myra Canyon section being declared a National Historic Site, so when the forest fire burned down most of the Myra Canyon trestles the Canadian Government via Parks Canada and National Historic Sites rebuilt them to railway spec unlike the Kinsol, which looks nearly as good but it was not. Thanks for another post.

  • @Rainy2255
    @Rainy22552 жыл бұрын

    Beautiful Dean .I remember commenting on the 1st video of this location.

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    2 жыл бұрын

    Magical place! ❤

  • @ThatMountainMoment
    @ThatMountainMoment2 жыл бұрын

    Wow this rail trail looks incredible. That flood really did some significant damage in Hope. Have you heard how the towns recovery is going, I would imagine that's a long term process to fully bounce back from that.

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yes it will take time for the recovery process. Many roads and bridges were washed out. The Othello Tunnels may never be able to open all the way through ever again because of soil erosion at the one end. Yes the Kettle Valley Rail Trail is the trail I would choose if I were taking you guys on a true Canadian Bikepacking experience! Cheers

  • @petesig93
    @petesig932 жыл бұрын

    Crikey! What a flood that must have been; river levels rose up 20-30 metres. Sure hope they repair the bridges and make the KVR practical to ride. I have been wanting to do a tour of BC including the KBR.

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yes it will be interesting to see how the trails will be altered going forward. The flood levels were at historic levels. Cheers

  • @register1430

    @register1430

    2 жыл бұрын

    The canyon is quite narrow it got dammed with debris. The back up caused the river upstream to jump the bank and made a new path , took out the road and some homes.

  • @paxrat5893
    @paxrat58932 жыл бұрын

    I haven't had a chance to watch the whole series, but I'm curious about he performance of the tent you used. Would you recommend it?

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for watching! No I do not recommend this tent. you will see in a earlier video that it was a spur of the moment decision. I actually started with a very good 1 man North Face tent but when I got to Vancouver Island I thought I wanted more room for gear in tent. The tent body itself is fine but the fly is simply put a pain in the ass. For the second half of the cross Canada trip I used a Eureka Midori 1 and I highly recommend this tent to anyone looking for a really good quality tent at a great price. I would be honored if you might consider subbing to the channel and me get to 1000 subs! Cheers

  • @BretSchnitzer
    @BretSchnitzer Жыл бұрын

    How much of the KVT were you able to do between Hope and Princeton? How long did you have to ride on highways? Do you have any more videos than this one of thst section? Thanks! Good job!

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    Жыл бұрын

    The only time I had to ride on the road was just after the tunnels and only for a short time. But I am not sure how things are now days since they had that massive flooding there. These are the only videos. I would send you my route but I was using Ride with GPS app and had major issues and ended up losing everything. Safe travels

  • @BretSchnitzer

    @BretSchnitzer

    Жыл бұрын

    @@WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures thank you! Yes, it looks pretty bad after the flooding. Thanks for the info. It appears most folks take highway 3 for 84 miles or so. I did see a few videos of a guy who did it, but it looks sketchy now after the flooding. It’s a real shame. I’m trying to get as much intel on that section as it currently now is . As an aside, looks like you are in Windsor, Ontario. Very familiar, we are in Southwest, MI. Good to see your videos. Very inspiring! Thank you.

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    Жыл бұрын

    @@BretSchnitzer Yes it is a shame. I did have someone tell me that they heard the tunnels would be open this summer. Yes I am in Windsor! i have spent alot of time in Michigan! Cheers

  • @BretSchnitzer

    @BretSchnitzer

    Жыл бұрын

    @@WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures yes, I’ve spent a lot of time in Detroit. I hope it opens. A big bridge near Princeton was washed out and alot of the trails along the river. There’s a tremendous amount of debris too.

  • @tandemcompound2
    @tandemcompound2 Жыл бұрын

    You went the WRONG way. Start at Coquihalla Lakes and ride DOWNHILL; really nice trip. Coq lakes to Shylock is off the highway and a bit rocky cus half of it is on the pipeline service road. What is the rail trail at Jessica and Soquakwa Pullout like? Sorry you had such bad weather

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    Жыл бұрын

    @tandem compound. I was riding across Canada...so it was the right for me lol. Some sections of the Soquakwa were rough but the scenery was spectacular! I am actually going to do the whole thing again this coming summer. Except I am going to do it in the opposite direction starting in Fernie BC. Cheers

  • @BretSchnitzer

    @BretSchnitzer

    Жыл бұрын

    @@WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures is it passable in summer 2023? I don’t want to ride on highway 3. Thanks

  • @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    @WanderingEyeOutdoorAdventures

    Жыл бұрын

    @@BretSchnitzer I am not sure. You would have to look into that, maybe contact local tourism or something like that. All the best in your travels! Cheers