The morning of our second full day in Osoyoss, and despite a forecast high of at 36 C, we decided to go on a geocaching run. Our aim was to drive as far north a Okanagan Falls, so that we could log an earthcache just off Green Lake Road, and then to head back to Osoyoos and end the day with another earthcache just outside town, on the highway headed to Vancouver.

In an attempt to beat the heat, we left Grandma and Grandpa GeoKs’ by about 8:30 and headed north towards OK Falls, geocaching along the way. Early on, we found a really good hide: GC214VN Walking The Dog, placed by a relatively new geocacher with the screen name kassi. Later in the day, we discovered that kassi used to ride (road bicycles) with Mrs. GeoKs’ brother. Once again, geocaching showed us that it truly is a small world.

While driving some of the back roads between Osoyoos and Oliver, we came across some old barns. Signage informed us that they were part of the original Haynes Ranch and that there are plans to restore these amazing old buildings…

A little north of Oliver, where Highway 97 runs along the shore of Vaseaux Lake, we took a small side road up to a bluff area frequented by Bighorn Sheep. Not only was there a nice hide up top, but we enjoyed some terrific views up and down the valley…

A couple hours (and 15 geocaches) after heading out, we finally reached our first objective: GC17T36 Mahoney Lake earthcache. This is definitely a "road less travelled" destination. Grandma and Grandpa GeoK, who’ve lived in the area for more than 45 years, had never heard  of Mahoney Lake or what makes it so unique. Thanks to Calgary Area Cacher One Bad Ant for setting this one up…

It took a while to retrace our route to Osoyoos; we went almost as far as the Canada / U.S. border crossing in order to collect a few smileys for geocaches hidden south of the townsite. Then, to finish off our geocaching adventure for the day we drove a few km up the pass towards Vancouver before stopping at GC289B0, the Spotted Lake earthcache…

Altogether, we were gone 7 hours and we wrote 30 "found it" logs. We’ve geocached in this area before, so would estimate that there’s a total of about 50 geocaches to be found in this area. If you’re ever in the area, enjoy a day geocaching. Just remember to bring along lots of water. And to watch for snakes, scorpions and other dessert critters!!