April

Spring is here and that typically means good weather and lots of wind in Merritt. Recent outdoor events included a local car show, the fish and game club's Black Powder Shoot fest, and an Easter oriented event in the park. My sister was visiting from the coast and quite enjoyed the medieval re-inveners and rendezvou-ers at the black powder shoot.

I offered to show her 'Windy Canyon' (formerly Coal Gully) but she was too tired and passed but Othmar came with me. In hindsight it was for the best as it was surprisingly soggy in the canyon because of a small stream of runoff that made the clay and sandstone extremely slippery.

It was quite fascinating to find remnants of what Merritt was founded on- coal. There were visible outcrops of coal seams to be seen as well as scraps of metal from the ore mining operations. At the top of the gully we had a great view of Merritt. It was much easier coming back down, as there are very good dirt bike trails all along the hillsides. A few other notable events were the Valley Visual Artists 18th annual Art show and sale on March 23rd-25th, a hunting promo in Kelowna, and a Whitetail Deer hunting seminar last Saturday to benefit the Nicola Valley Fish and Game Club.