From Highway 6, turn north onto Noble Canyon Road 17.0 kilometres east of the intersection with 32 Street (Highway 97) in Vernon or 8.8 kilometres west of the intersection with Shuswap Avenue in Lumby.  Drive 400 metres and pass a gate where the pavement ends and Noble Canyon Road becomes Coldstream Creek Forest Service Road (FSR; 2WD gravel).  Drive 2.6 kilometres and keep left at the start of several switchbacks.  Drive 1.4 kilometres and turn left onto Becker FSR.  Ignore all side roads and drive 8.5 kilometres to reach the first of two turnoffs on the left to Becker Lake Recreation Site.  Stay on the main road and drive another 3.3 kilometres to a 4-way junction with the access road to Vernon Hill on the right.  Park here (50.26524, -119.19176).  Vehicles with high-clearance/4WD could possibly drive further up the access road.

Heading east from the 4-way junction, Zosia and I hiked up the access road for about 800 metres before turning right onto a narrower road continuing uphill.  By this point, a light drizzle had started, but it did not hinder us from marching up the remainder of the road to the unremarkable high point of Vernon Hill.  The entire ascent took only 50 minutes, but with little to see from the high point, we promptly began our descent.  The road appeared to continue down the south side of the high point, and because there are numerous dirt bike trails in the vicinity, I was curious if we could find a short cut to eliminate a few of the switchbacks we climbed on ascent.  This alternate route looked promising at first, but eventually, we began to veer eastward further away from our starting point.  We quickly abandoned the alternate route, and after backtracking a short distance, we bushwhacked downhill until we intersected the same road we came up.  From there, we had no further problems walking back to the 4-way junction where we parked.

	Here is a view of Kalamalka Lake (left) and Okanagan Lake (right) from the forest service road on Vernon Hill.
	Zosia begins hiking up the access road to Vernon Hill from a 4-way junction.
	The access road is very easy to walk.
	Near the top, the road becomes steeper and rougher.
	Sonny and Zosia stand on the high point of Vernon Hill (1383 metres).
	On this day, wild strawberries can be found along the access road.
	Zosia gets a glimpse of Terrace Mountain in the distance as she descends the road.
	Zosia returns to the 4-way junction which is ironically more scenic than the high point of Vernon Hill.
	Total Distance:  4.8 kilometres Round-Trip Time:  1 hour 36 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain:  208 metres GPX Data

With the weather slowly improving, Zosia and I drove out from Vernon Hill and headed to Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park for our second hike of the day.  Using AllTrails.com, I had found a popular loop hike which utilizes a number of mountain biking trails to climb over a scrubby hill with numerous scenic viewpoints along the way.  Although the hill is officially unnamed, the park map interestingly names its western high point, "Rattlesnake Hill".  Oddly enough, no name is given to the eastern high point which is actually higher but located a little more than a kilometre to the northeast.

Deviating a bit from the AllTrails route, Zosia and I started our hike from the "Red Gate" trailhead (vault toilet available) located along Kidston Road (50.21134, -119.27076).  This is a very busy trailhead, but we did not have any trouble finding a parking spot.  For the loop, we opted to go in a counter-clockwise direction which entailed hiking the following named trails:  "Corral Trail", "Little Moab", "Lookout Trail", "The Wall", "The Parabola", and "Comin' Round the Mountain".  All important junctions are signed, and we had no trouble navigating the trail network.  The loop was fairly busy with both hikers and mountain bikers, but we never felt like it was overcrowded.  To tag the high point of Rattlesnake Hill, we had to venture off-trail a little, but the grassy terrain here is not difficult.  The numerous viewpoints scattered throughout the loop did not disappoint and more than made up for the lack of scenery on Vernon Hill earlier in the day.

When we finished the loop hike, Zosia and I drove to a nearby municipal park for an early supper before heading elsewhere to camp for the night.

	Zosia begins her hike up "Rattlesnake Hill" from the trailhead known as "Red Gate".
	Sonny ascends "Little Moab". Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

Open slopes along the western half of "Lookout Trail" grant superb views of Cosens Bay which is part of Kalamalka Lake.  The end of the peninsula at far right is known as "Rattlesnake Point".

 

	Sonny is amused that this cyclist appears to be having a hard time pushing her electric mountain bike up the trail. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	The high point of Rattlesnake Hill is on the grassy mound just left of centre.
	Sonny and Zosia stand on the high point of Rattlesnake Hill (717 metres).
	Zosia takes a last look at Cosens Bay from this perch not far from the high point of Rattlesnake Hill.
	Zosia gets a glimpse of Vernon Hill in the distance to the northeast.

This bench along "The Parabola" is a nice spot to relax and enjoy views of the north end of Kalamalka Lake.

 

Total Distance:  6.2 kilometres Round-Trip Time:  2 hours 53 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain:  237 metres GPX Data