Mount Boucherie is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

located in

West Kelowna West Kelowna, formerly known as Westbank and colloquially known as Westside, is a city in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. The city encompasses several distinct neighbourhoods, including Casa Loma, Gellatly, Glenrosa, Lakeview Heights, Shan ...

on the west shore of

Okanagan Lake Okanagan Lake ( oka, kɬúsx̌nítkw) is a lake in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. The lake is long, between wide, and has a surface area of 348 km2 (135 sq. mi.). Hydrography Okanagan Lake is called a fjord lake as i ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, opposite the city of

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

. It is the remnants of a former

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

created nearly 60 million years ago. Between four and six different glacial periods over the past 50 million years have eroded the volcano to produce Mount Boucherie. Though it now only rises 417 metres above the nearby lake level, it is estimated to once have had an elevation of or more.

Origin of the name

Mount Boucherie is named after Isadore Boucherie, a farmer, stock-raiser, and an early settler to both

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

and the west side of the lake. In the late 1880s, Isadore purchased the land which is still known today as ''Boucherie Ranch'', and the mountain behind the ranch still carries his name. Other names for the mountain are also documented in various historical documents: * ''Mount Edgar'', named after

Edgar Dewdney Edgar Dewdney, (November 5, 1835 – August 8, 1916) was a Canadian surveyor, road builder, Indian commissioner and politician born in Devonshire, England. He emigrated to British Columbia in 1859 in order to act as surveyor for the Dewdney T ...

, a former

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

of British Columbia. It is uncertain how common this name may have been, or when it ceased to be used. * ''Mount Bouchier'', or ''Bouchier Mountain'', named after ''Isadore Bouchier'' * ''Mount Boucherie'', named after ''E. Boucherie'', not Isadore Boucherie.

Geology

Mount Boucherie is composed primarily of

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

and

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...

, which gives the mountain its yellow, tan and pinkish colours on the north and south flanks. The more prominent black and dark gray east and north-east face is

dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

. The ''columns'', or ''pipes'', were formed in the later stages of Mount Boucherie's volcanic period, as evidenced by the fact that the dacite columns intersect older

and

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic r ...

. Above the valley floor, the east cliff face is composed of folded volcanic flows of dacite. The early

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

was a tectonically active time in southern British Columbia, and the landscape of the time probably reflected the volcanism and

faulting In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

that was occurring.

Park access

Mount Boucherie Regional Park

Mount Boucherie Regional Park covers 36.4 hectares (90 acres), but is generally accessible only through Eain Lamont Community Park.

Eain Lamont Community Park

Eain Lamont Community Park is 2.54 hectares (6.28 acres) in size, located on Lakeview Cove Place at . This park serves as the starting location for the various summit trails and perimeter trails around the base of Mount Boucherie.

Forest fire of 1992

In the early evening of May 7, 1992, a forest fire was accidentally started by two 11-year-old boys playing with matches behind Mount Boucherie Secondary School. This led to the evacuation of about 100 people while the blaze consumed 60 hectares of forest on the steep north and east slopes of Mount Boucherie. No houses were destroyed, and the fire eventually cost $170,000 to extinguish.

Gallery

Mount Boucherie.jpg, Looking up at the east face of Mount Boucherie. Mount Boucherie east face.jpg, Another view of the east face, with a broken column of crystalline

in the foreground. Mount Boucherie top eastern view towards Kelowna.jpg, From the top east ridge, looking over

towards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boucherie, Mount Mountains of the Okanagan Mountains of British Columbia under 1000 metres Volcanoes of British Columbia Stratovolcanoes of Canada Extinct volcanoes Paleocene volcanoes Polygenetic volcanoes Okanagan Osoyoos Division Yale Land District