Author: jake idaho

I am retiring after working forty years in the parks and recreation field. I have lived and played in the Inland Pacific Northwest for the past 18 years and would like to share some of the best outdoor experiences I have discovered and hopefully many more ones in the near future.

Blue Lake and the Coeur d’Alene River.

Today I finally made it to Blue Lake, one of the chain of lakes along the Coeur d’Alene River. I put in at the Thompson Lake Access and took a quick look at that lake as well.

I drove down State Road 97, also known as the Lake Coeur d’Alene Scenic Byway to just short of Harrison. Before I started my kayak trip, I took a dirt road around Thompson Lake. Here is a view of the backwaters of Harrison Slough and the State Road 97 bridge over the Coeur d’Alene River.

I stopped to take a photo of weedy Thompson Lake. Didn’t realize that I parked right below some old boys deck. We chatted and he told me how after forty years the view still wasn’t old to him. Told me about all the bear, elk and moose he’s seen recently. Only in Idaho.

I made my way around the lake and admired the old buildings off to the side. Idaho may be one of the fastest growing states in the country, but this area actually had more people half a century ago.

At the Thompson Lake Access, which was on the river, I made a sharp left and paddled under the rural road bridge to take a quick look at Thompson Lake.

Thompson Lake was pretty but it’s not the lake I drove all the way here to see. About two thirds of the lake basin was covered in weeds and the rest looked to be awfully shallow. It was cool to see the old farms along the shore.

At the primitive boat ramp, the state had a nice map showing the Chain of Lakes. Upstream you can see Swan Lake which I recently visited.

I returned to the river and headed upstream. There’s pretty much no current this time of year and on week days the boat traffic is light. The ones who know what they’re doing stay on a plane when they pass. That makes for a lot smaller wakes. Across the way are some rocky slopes.

About halfway to Blue Lake I found a river bank to land on. A narrow band of dry ground separated the river from an extensive marshland.

Across the river the path of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s was in sight. You can see the bank along the river as well as the beginning of the small rock cut in the hillside.

I thought this was a nice picture of the river bank and some cottonwood trees. At this point I was very close to the channel that accesses Blue Lake.

There is a bridge at the start of the channel. I am not aware of a railroad ever being at this location and assume that the steel was salvaged from one that was abandoned. If I’m mistaken it would be nice if someone would enlighten me. The Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s was a railroad, but it’s on the opposite side of the river.

A short but scenic channel leads to the lake. A sign on the way in informs the boater that all of the shoreline of this lake is privately owned and that trespassers will be prosecuted.

When you arrive at the lake, you’re on the western side of it. The eastern shore looks much more inviting.

So I headed that way and was soon treated to views that show just how big this hidden little gem of a lake is. Unlike most lakes in the chain, Blue Lake is mostly weed free and appears to be much deeper than the others in the chain. Specific information about this lake is hard to find.

The eastern shore featured a series of small rocky headlands interspaced with green forested coves.

I kayaked to the north end of the lake were a larger wetland continued around the bend. If the water was higher I would have liked to push up a little ways to see if this was a seasonal creek that fed the lake.

I turned around and followed the eastern shore back enjoying the views, There was one other boat on the lake and they mostly stayed at anchor to let their little ones swim.

I stopped in one of the coves to savor the solitude and the views. Blue Lake is a very pretty body of water and very few people visit it.

Sometimes the small things are the ones where you find the most beauty. I didn’t “land” but I did get out of the kayak here.

So I headed back to the boat ramp and ran into a big commercial group of tourism kayakers preparing to launch. I would have been miffed that they blocked the ramp, but a nice young lady helped me carry my twelve foot Old Town Loon to my truck, so it was all good. On the way out I snapped this photo of the old Springston Bridge that now sits condemned. This is a common turn around point for some of my bike rides.

So I stopped in beautiful Harrison Idaho and treated myself to a single scoop waffle cone at the Harrison Creamery and then took the longer but better way home on State Road 3.

On the way back I stopped at a scenic overlook to take a photo of Swan Lake, the site of one of my recent kayak adventures.

I ended up paddling for a little under four hours. Blue Lake is definitely a hidden gem and I’ve wanted to check it out for years. It is a little hard to get to as Harrison is the furthest point on the lake away from my house and the paddle up the river takes over half an hour. This one s right up there with Swan and Killarney as far as scenery goes.

Spokane River Centennial Trail, Riverside State Park.

Today I rode the twelve miles of the Spokane River Centennial Trail inside of Riverside State Park, out and back. It was the first time in at least a decade.

I tried to access the trail at the T J Meenach bridge at the base of Doomsday Hill, but a crazed meth-head was yelling at me and anyone else driving down the road so I opted to start at the Fort George Wright Military Cemetery Trailhead instead.

This is the warning sign I was greeted with. I really never see these in Idaho. There were several other cars already parked so I decided to take my chances.

The old military post cemetery was well kept by the staff of nearby Fairchild Airforce Base. This area used to be an army post named after George Wright, a man who had a controversial past as it related to his treatment of native Americans. Apparently as part of the recent movement to rewrite history, the old post and the nearby major roadway were renamed. The only reference to the original name is the cemetery.

Immediately after the cemetery, the trail descends on a screaming grade down towards the river. This is by far the steepest grade I’ve ever encountered on a bike trail. I smoked by brakes to keep from gaining to much speed to control my bike. The photo doesn’t do it justice but we’re talking about maybe a 10% grade for a half a mile. I had to walk my bike back up the hill. There was no way I could have pedaled it.

Additionally, the first two miles of the trail had just about the worst surface I’ve ever encountered on a bike trail. The bumps were big enough to throw you off the bike and the weird gaps in the trail (expansion joints?) could easily catch and pretzel a bike wheel. I thought about giving up for a minute.

So it was with great trepidation when I saw the sign that told me the bikeway was ending and that the next part was going to be on share the roads. Surprisingly the grades were milder and the pavement in far better shape.

The old park scenic drive had been segmented many years ago so that the sections that still supported automobile traffic were by and large dead ends to trailheads used by hikers and bicyclist. There was next to no traffic on them and they were well maintained.

Soon I came across an old scenic overlook. This is looking back to the east up the river towards downtown Spokane.

Looking the other way there was a commanding view of the Bowl and Pitcher rock formations. These are the most popular places in Riverside State Park, but are usually accessed from the other side of the river.

Using the zoom on my basic phone camera revealed a nice view of downtown Spokane maybe five miles to the southeast. The highlands behind it are Dishman Hills, a popular in close to town place to hike.

Looking down the river from the bluff the view was of a flood plain pine forest between dry grassland slopes.

The old park scenic road was largely built during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps. At the trailhead, the roadway was blocked to vehicles and was truly a bikeway again, only this time with a much better surface. As it was made for cars, some of the hills were fairly challenging for a bicycle.

A little further was the site of the camp for the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). The only reminder of this camp that supported a couple of hundred young men working on park improvements is the old fireplace from the recreation building.

At the McLellan Trailhead there was a nice map to show you where you’ve been and how far you have to go.

The trail continued along the old park road, some of which was open to vehicle traffic and most closed to it. For much of the ride, the Spokane River was near the trail with pretty views.

This one was one of the nicest. I thought it looked a little what I imagine Ireland looks like with the emerald green and peaceful water.

There are some nice rock (basalt) formations along the way. Most of the canyon carved by the Spokane River in the park is basalt.

A steep grade brought me to a place I recognized and yes, I had to walk my bike back up this one too. My brakes got a work out.

Around the bend was the bridge over Deep Creek, a place I hiked and posted about last spring. A lot of people land here in kayaks to swim and hang out.

Deep Creek here is a backwater of the Spokane River. There is no flow at all this time of year. The hike up the canyon is scenic but with it being in the mid-nineties today I rather be on a bike. It was a little on the toasty side.

In addition to the “bikeway” and sections of the old scenic park road, two short sections of the trail were share the road on public streets with generous shoulders. These parts of the trail were lightly traveled mostly by the few folks that live off of them and in really good shape. It was an easy way to get from point A to point B.

A couple of miles before the trail ends it passes by Nine Mile Falls and the dam of the same name. This hydroelectric plant is well over a hundred years old and still in use.

The last time I rode this trail this is were it ended. Since then they added a couple of miles starting behind this elementary school and continuing through pine flat woods.

The two miles of brand new pavement winds through an open ponderosa pine forest on the way to it’s final destination.

Just before the end of the trail, it descends towards the river on a series of well made switchbacks.

The trail ended at a recreation area with a boat ramp and a swim beach. It wasn’t anyplace special, but it was a place to end the trail While standing on the dock, I got one last pleasant surprise.

A low flying B-52 out of Fairchild Airforce Base orbited the lake. I used to see those regularly in Florida back when Orlando International Airport was McCoy Airforce Base. They are an impressive sight. Hard to believe a few are still in service after sixty years.

Combined with the Spokane Valley section and the urban section of the Spokane River Centennial Trail, the twelve miles or so of the Riverside State Park section makes for a forty mile long bike way from the Idaho State line to the Nine Mile Campground and Boat Launch. The North Idaho Centennial Trail continues east to Higgins Point for another twenty four miles. This twelve miles of the trail is by far the most challenging.

Priest Lake Road Trip, Day Two, Kayaking on the big lake, Kalispell and Bartoo Islands.

After a full day of kayaking and hiking out of the Lion Head unit of Priest Lake State Park I called it an evening and got ready of the next day. I got up at about 5:00 AM, packed up my camp as quietly as possible so as to not disturb my camping neighbors and headed to the opposite side of the lake.

My destination was the Kalispell Bay boat ramp an hour and a half around the lake. On the way I made a quick stop at the public docks in the town of Coolin to snap a couple of photos.

In the distance I could see my goals for todays paddle. Kalispell Island is on the left, tiny Papoose Island in the middle and Bartoo Island on the right. That’s a lot of open water to cross. Lower Priest Lake is over nineteen miles long and over three hundred feet deep.

The Lake is so large, it took me almost an hour and a half to drive from Lion Head on the north end to Kalispell Bay around the bottom of the lake and back up the other side on the southwest shore. This was the view of my islands from the boat ramp. I launched about 7:00 AM and was the only one doing so at that hour. It would get a lot busier later.

I aimed for the far south point of Kalispell Island with the glare of the rising sun in my face. This point is off limits to boat campers and open for day use only, so I landed and took a brief break.

From here I had a nice view across the water to Papoose and Bartoo Islands. Kalispell is the more accessible and poplar of the islands for camping. You can see the water clarity here.

Priest Lake is called North Idaho’s crown jewel for a reason. It is the most remote of the big lakes in the panhandle and a water sports destination for the entire region.

This was the first of my three landing spots for the day. Boat camping on Kalispell and Bartoo Islands is a very popular pastime. If I had a boat and the time in my younger days I would have loved to have brought the family here.

On the way to Bartoo Island I passed by tiny Papoose Island. This little piece of land is closed to all public use. There’s not much on it anyway, it’s just a halfway point in the middle of a lot of open water on the way to Bartoo Island.

Off of Papoose Island there are some dangerous submerged rocks that are marked by a buoy warning boaters of the hazard. It would suck to hit one of these while speeding through an otherwise deep channel.

I paddled around the south end of Bartoo Island exploring the scenery which varied from rocky bluffs to sand beached and even marshland. A lot of the camp sites were full.

I almost expected to see a moose, but the island usually has a lot of folks on it.

Some of the rock formations on Bartoo Island must be two hundred feet above the shore.

This was my second landing place on Bartoo Island with Papoose and Kalispell Islands in the background. This particular campsite was unoccupied. Unlike a lot of lakes in North Idaho, Priest Lake is known for its clean sandy beaches.

Bartoo Island has it’s share of hazardous off shore rocks as well. Luckily my kayak only needs about six inches of water.

So I paddled back across the straight by Papoose Island and aimed for the center of the south shore of Kalispell Island when I came across about the most beautiful cove you could imagine.

There were three camp sites on this cove and I was shocked to find all of them unoccupied but all had reserved signs on them. I had the place to myself. It was the perfect place for one last swim in the lake.

There were amazing headlands on both sides of the cove. From the the west side I had a very nice view of the islands I had recently visited or kayaked around.

The headland on the east side of the cove had tall rock bluffs and a view of these amazing camp sites.

I wondered why these of all the sites on the island were empty. I ran into a volunteer worker for the campground and he explained that entitled folks with money to burn book the three sites all summer in two week blocks using different names to continue the reservation charade so they can come out anytime the weather is nice and it’s convenient. If I wanted to camp that would suck. For me as a day user it was awfully nice to have the place to myself.

So I finally had to head back to the boat ramp by circling the island. It’s bigger than it looks at first. I got to watch this bird do it’s thing hammering at the dead wood for a few minutes.

By the time I got to the boat ramp four hours later the place had turned in to a zoo. All the parking was gone and it seemed like a hundred people were just milling around waiting for their rides to the islands. Early bird gets the worm. On my way back I made one last stop at the bridge over the Priest River not too far from the outlet to the lake to take one last photo. Apparently this river is very popular with rafters and tubers in the summer. During melt off it’s a class five challenge for the real white water enthusiast.

The drive home took me only an hour and a half as I left from the southern end of the lake instead of Lion Head at the north end. On the way home it hit one hundred and three degrees Fahrenheit. That’s about 39 Celsius for my foreign exchange students. Glad I was off the water before noon.

Priest Lake Road Trip, Day One the Thoroughfare, Upper Priest Lake and the Sliding Rocks.

On Tuesday I made the two and a half hour drive to the north end of Priest Lake with my camping gear. I had a reservation at the Lion Head unit of Priest Lake State Park.

The first thing I noticed at Lion Head is that this amazing wreck that I photographed years ago has finally fallen apart to the point that it isn’t all that recognizable anymore. This old wreck is right next to the boat ramp. That’s my old rig in the background with my kayak on top.

On a bright sunny day were the temps were heading into the triple digits, I launched my kayak at 9:00 AM and made my way across aptly named Mosquito Bay towards the entrance of the channel that connects Lower Priest Lake to the upper lake.

Looking back across Mosquito Bay towards the campground I noticed a notch in the mountains east of it. If I had time after my ride my plan was to check out a place about six miles up that valley. On the right side of the photo you can see the end of the replacement breakwater that protects the outlet of the Thoroughfare.

The Thoroughfare is an about two and a half mile long flat water stream that connects the two lakes. The entire course of the waterway is a strict no wake zone which makes kayaking it much more enjoyable than it otherwise would be.

As it is wide and relatively deep, the waterway has a minimal current and the paddling is easy. A lazy river indeed, at least after the snow melts. I read that it can be very challenging in the late spring.

About half way to Upper Priest Lake, a small stream called Caribou Creek flows into the waterway from the east. It is just big enough to push a kayak up about a thousand feet and around several bends. The ice cold water is crystal clear.

Caribou Creek was so cold I could hear my kayak contracting from the temperature difference. My feet got cold in a hurry too. Not a place you would want to go for a swim.

It was fun pushing it as far up this stream as I could in my Free State America brand kayak. This tree across the creek finally told me I shall not pass.

It was a short trip back to the Thoroughfare. I wish I could have traveled up this amazing creek all day, but even if I got around the deadfall across the stream, it was getting awfully shallow in a hurry.

Around one more bend is the lake with the Selkirk Mountains in the background.

As soon as you enter Upper Priest lake there is a camping area complete with bear boxes and picnic tables on the east side of the river. Here is where the rules for the lake are posted. Upper Priest Lake is a no water ski zone. Tubing and wake boarding are prohibited as well.

Upper Priest is a lot smaller than the main or Lower Priest Lake, but it’s still an impressive body of water at about two miles long north to south and an average of half a mile wide. The deepest spot is about 119 feet below the surface.

This interesting rock is well off shore near the south end of the lake.

Rocky bluffs dominate the eastern shoreline.

About two thirds of the way towards the north end of the lake I found this wonderful little beach and had it to myself. By now it was hot so I cooled off in the clear blue water. It almost looked tropical.

It would have been a nice place to camp. There are several beaches mostly on the eastern side of the lake and most of them had someone camping or visiting in a boat. This one was unoccupied.

The Selkirk crest is east of both Lower and Upper Priest Lakes. Many of the granite peaks are over seven thousand feet above sea level making them the highest mountains in the Idaho panhandle.

Four and a half hours after I started, I was back at my campsite and took another swim, this time in Lower Priest. This is the beach behind my campsite.

The kayak trip in itself would have made for a successful trip, but I still had five or six hours of daylight left so I decided to check out the Natural Sliding Rocks east of the campground.

This stream, Lion Creek enters the lake just south of the campground. A forest road follows it up the canyon for five miles before it ends at a trailhead for the sliding rocks.

Large granite outcroppings loom over the trailhead. Here you’re getting into the heart of the American Selkirks. This mountains continue into Canada.

The peaks on the south side of the creek are even bigger.

The rocky single track trail was a little over a mile and a half long each way. It had a bit of a grade and numerous small stream crossings, one of which was at the base of a pretty little waterfall.

About half a mile in I came to this beautiful place with bare slabs of granite and open views down the canyon. It was a nice place to linger but these are not the sliding rocks. These rocks would kill you if you tried to slide down them.

The trail overlooked the creek at many places. Here a deeper pool of emerald green water made for a nice picture.

I love me some giant red cedars and here I did come across a nice grove of old growth. By now the rays of the sun were noticeably hitting the ground at a lower angle indicating time was getting short.

Just before the Natural Sliding Rocks, the trail forces you to cross Lion Creek itself. It was about mid thigh deep and extremely cold.

And finally I reached the sliding rocks. I wasn’t about to try them myself. I was the last person here for the day and an injury would have been a big problem. Beside that, I didn’t feel like hiking the mile and a half back soaked and cold.

I heard there was a sizable waterfall or to be more accurate a cascade just above the sliding rocks so I found it. I pushed a little further looking for the pool at the top in the failing daylight, briefly lost the trail and decided that it was time to turn around. This is a popular place for folks to visit, but the idea of being the last one out in the dimming light and knowing there are serious critters in the Selkirks encouraged me to make good time on the way back.

On the way out I paused to take one more photo of this impressive cleft in the granite canyon wall. Those are probably one hundred foot tall trees on the top.

Just before the trailhead I caught up with a few stragglers with kids in tow so I grabbed one more photo, this time of that pretty little waterfall I saw on the way up. Next came the five mile drive back down the canyon to the campground on the lake.

Due to the heatwave dusk turned into a purple haze as I enjoyed the view from behind my campsite. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one kayaking on this beautiful day on this beautiful lake.

I called it an evening and made plans for the next morning. A four and a half hour paddle followed by a three and a half mile hike and two lake swims made for a full day, oh and let’s not forget the two and a half hour drive to the campground.

Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s, a return to the west end of the trail.

I recently revisited the section of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s from Plummer to Harrison and back. For an earlier description of this ride check this post.

The first fourteen miles of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s is located on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation and managed by the tribe. My starting point is the trailhead just off US-95 in Plummer.

Plummer is the headquarters of the tribe and the trailhead features a memorial to all of it’s members who gave their lives in defense of their country, be it the United States and also those who defended their homeland against the United States.

Plummer is located on the Palouse Prairie, an area of extremely productive and beautiful farmland. The first mile goes through a small piece of it.

Just before entering Plummer Canyon, the trail crosses an active rail line with branches to a lumber mill south of town and another that crosses the lake to St. Maries. The continuation of the line to Santa was the subject of an earlier post.

The next six miles of the trail follows Plummer Creek on it’s almost seven hundred foot descent to the lake at Heyburn State Park. For an old railroad, it is extremely steep.

Early on the trail uses an old railroad bridge to cross the creek. There is a noticeable lack of shade here.

That’s because the upper part of the canyon experienced a stand replacement fire a couple of years ago. It seem like lots of my recent trips have been through areas effected by wildfires in the last few years.

It will be interesting to see who the habitat recovers over the next couple of decades.

As you approach Heyburn State Park, Idaho’s oldest state park, you pass through an area that has been managed to restore an open canopy ponderosa pine forest. These areas did not burn during the recent wildfires.

About seven miles in the trail finally reaches the shore of Chatcolet Lake which is basically an extension of Lake Coeur d’Alene due to the water level being raised about eight feet a century ago. Across the lake there’s a nice view of the St. Joe Mountains.

The state park has a trailhead next to the park’s boat ramp.

Past the park the trail crosses the lake on a modified old swing railroad bridge. This is one of the highlights of the trip.

The original structure including the bridge tenders shack was elevated and new approaches utilizing a stair step configuration were built so that the bridge can always be open. When used as a railroad, the bridge was typically swung in an open position to allow unimpeded boat traffic and closed when trains passed over the channel.

The stair step design makes climbing to the top relatively easy and descending can be exciting. If no one is coming towards you and you feel a little reckless, you can get a little air on the way down.

The next seven miles of the trail follows the shore line of Lake Coeur d’Alene. In places some of the bays were shortened to maker the old railroad straighter. The areas inside these berms have become wetlands instead of open water.

Conversely where promontories were bypassed scenic rock cuts reveal the underlaying geology dominated by basalt.

At mile marker 15 the trail enters Harrison. Harrison is one of the oldest towns in Kootenai County and was even briefly the county seat. It is a great place to stop and enjoy an ice cream cone or an adult beverage, take your pick. I find the two of those don’t mix very well.

The best is yet to come. Now you get to recrosse that amazing bridge and then grind it up a very steep seven mile long grade usually in the face of the prevailing winds. At least you have time to appreciate the rock cuts along the way.

Mica Peak Conservation Area

For My Fourth of July, I hiked the Mica Peak Conservation Area outside of Spokane Washington. This 1700 acre preserve is owned and managed by Spokane County and was acquired as part of their conservation futures program.

Mica Peak at 5200 feet is a prominent landmark in the area made more distinctive because of the large radar dome at the summit which is visible throughout the region. The Federal Aviation Administration owns the site and for that reason the top of the mountain is off limits to hikers.

The trailhead for the property is located at the end of Belmont Road out of the small community of Mica which is about six miles south of Interstate 90 on State Road 27.

The first part of the hike travels on an old service road through about one mile of private property with open ponderosa pine forests on both sides. The climb is surprisingly steep and you can clearly see the mountain you’ll be walking up ahead.

The open forest with mostly a grass understory is typical of drier, hotter and often south and west facing slopes.

As you gain elevation the views open up. In this photo you can see three other hiking spots in the same frame. The high peak in the background is Mt. Spokane, a Washington State Park I visited earlier this year. The bare hills in the foreground are in Spokane County’s Saltese Uplands Preserve and the ridge to the left and in front of Mt. Spokane is Antione Peak which I recently visited and wrote about.

The variety of wildflowers along the trail was impressive.

As you gain elevation, the habitat becomes thicker with more fir trees and dense shrubs limiting views in sections. The main trail (service road) up the mountain is called Moonshine for some reason. I used the California Creek Trail, a single track, to make the nine mile loop.

This trail uses several switchbacks to climb the mountain. As usual the trails on Spokane County Conservation Areas are extremely well built and well marked. You’d have to try to get lost.

Near the high point of the California Creek Trail you hit open slopes with some outstanding views. The habitat also changes to something resembling an alpine landscape. It really isn’t one but it does look a little bit like it.

You are rewarded with big views of the Spokane Valley. Not everything out there is urbanized yet. There’s still some pretty farmland between the mountain and the city.

You can also see out to the southwest and part of the Palouse Prairie on the other side of the mountain.

This is about as close as the trail gets to the summit and the radar dome. It’s still a good half mile and two hundred feet of elevation away. A short descent from the trails high point brings you back to the Moonshine Trail and the long trip back down.

Fitting colors of some wildflowers for the day of the hike.

On the way down you pass by a couple more open ridges. Sometimes it’s nice to pause and appreciate small views too.

After this open ridge, the trail rapidly descends back through much thicker vegetation.

One more view out to the Palouse Prairie earned a look of that geological oddity, Steptoe Butte another place I have visited recently.

After four hours, nine steep miles and more wildflowers, I was back at the trailhead.

There’s considerably more trails that can be explored on this site. One trail connects to Liberty Lake Regional Park. Liberty Lake Park is a great place to hike, but I will have to wait until an extensive improvement project that is currently underway is completed.

Swan Lake and the Coeur d’Alene River.

For the first time in a decade, I kayaked to and through Swan Lake in the Chain of Lakes near Medimont Idaho.

I started my journey at the Rainey Hill Boat Launch on Medicine Lake in Medimont. This very basic launch is perfect for launching kayaks.

As soon as I left the boat launch, I turned right and passed under a small road bridge and entered an amazing winding channel that connects Medicine Lake to the river.

The channel is less than half a mile long, but it is a beautiful half mile. Just before it empties into the Coeur d’Alene River, the channel passes under an old railroad bridge that is now a bike trail bridge.

The Coeur d’Alene River downstream of Cataldo has almost no current during the summer months. Wind direction is a bigger factor than water flow. The main river channel is realitively wide and deep.

On weekends this river supports a lot of recreational boat traffic. Today I was on it over two hours and was passed by a total of four boats. That’s traffic I can live with.

Just downstream of Medimont, I checked out a small gap in the river bank that allowed me to explore a marshland between the river and Cave Lake. The bike trail also separated the wetland from the lake.

I thought the small aquatic plants made a fascinating pattern. It was extremely peaceful in the still waters.

Before I left the marshland, I took another photo looking back towards Medimont. The row of trees on the right is on the berm created by the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s and the small hill surrounded by lakes, wetlands and the river is presumably what Medimont is named for.

After enjoying exploring the marshland for a while, I headed back to the cut in the river bank to resume my trip down the river. Across the way are the bluffs near the east end of the lake I was heading towards, but first I had to go all the way to the west end of the lake to get to the outlet channel.

It took well over an hour paddling downstream but against the wind to get to the channel that connected the river to Swan Lake but it was a scenic ride.

Finally I made it to the outlet for Swan Lake and covered the quarter mile that led to open water. There was a heron rookery near the outlet. You could tell from the stand of trees that all died from being covered in the birds waste.

Their were a lot of these birds, I just wish I could have gotten a better picture of them. They don’t like to pose.

The south side of the lake is very weedy. the north shore has the deeper water and is at the base of some impressive rocky cliffs. There is not a single house on the lake.

Swan Lake is sizable. I’m guessing its about six or seven hundred acres and maybe a mile across. It’s big enough for the wind to generate decent waves but I’m glad I choose this trip over a return to Pend Oreille today. The waves on this lake just made for a workout, not a near death experience.

The far shore on the north side looked interesting with several big coves and rock formations, but that’s were the rougher water was so I stayed “in the weeds” on the south side.

There is an island in Swan lake that I later found out is privately owned. I headed towards it and saw that it was not posted and I needed a place for a quick break. I can only hope the land owners would tolerate a kayaker seeking refuge here. I’m guessing that they use it for a camping spot.

It is a beautiful spot. The area between the island and the south shore of the lake is covered in thick aquatic grasses and looks to be too thick to paddle a kayak through. I had to go around the north end of the island.

This is the north end of the island. There was more water to the east so that’s were I headed next. The wind really picked up at this time.

I hugged the edge of the weed line to avoid the waves. At the east end of the lake there is a short (maybe one thousand foot) slough that is well worth exploring.

The slough is fascinating. I only wish that it was a lot longer. To me it was obvious that this was once the main river channel.

Instead of the middle of the flood plain, this slough was located right at the bottom of the bluffs descending from the mountains to the north. I only wish that there was a way to portage the kayak across the nearby river bank to the river itself saving a return trip through Swan Lake. It would make for an interesting loop as the slough ended not that far downstream from Medimont.

So I paddled back the same way I came for a five hour trip. Recrossing the lake in the face of a building west wind was a grind. At least I had a tail wind on the river back to Medimont. Later I found out that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game owns a piece of property (parcel number 48N02W290100) that would allow for a portage between the east end of the slough and the river. I’m thinking about lobbying them to do just that. A kayak “loop” would be awesome.

I’ve never met anyone else who has ever kayaked on Swan Lake. This is truly a hidden gem, over shadowed by more popular and/or accessible water bodies. The water clarity was good, the scenery amazing and the length of the trip made it quite a workout. The trip had a little bit of everything.

The Fish Lake Trail

The Fish Lake Trail is a nine mile former railroad line that was acquired and converted in to a bike trail by the City of Spokane. It ends about one mile before Fish Lake, but the trail starts again at this point. However it is called the Columbia Plateau Trail from that point on. Are you confused yet? Good, we wouldn’t want that.

The trail starts just west of downtown Spokane at a trailhead off of Government Way under a couple of impressive railroad bridges in a really sketchy neighborhood. I’ve never had a problem here, but let’s just say I’m relieved every time I return to my intact vehicle.

Apparently that is Latah Junction above the trail, the place were the mainlines to Pasco and Wenatchee split.

Immediately after leaving the trailhead, you cross a bridge over Interstate 90 with an stunning view of downtown Spokane.

The first mile of the trail is between busy highway US-195 and an area experiencing rapid construction of much needed residential developments. For the most part they look like nice neighborhoods. Fortunately much of the trail through this stretch is located in a deep cut, screening riders from both.

The basalt rock formations and thick vegetation make the place seem more remote than it is.

Just over one mile in, the urban landscape ends and the trail takes on a more rural flavor. It’s hard to believe that this is only three miles from downtown. The traffic noise fades as the trail slowly curves away from US-195.

This is one of the very few road crossings on the trail. There’s not a lot of traffic to worry about on the ride.

The trail slowly curves towards the west. At this point it passes through an area that was effected by a recent wildfire. Wildfires suddenly seem to be a reocuring theme in many of my recent posts.

Since the prevailing summer winds here are out of the southwest, in addition to a headwind you are climbing a one percent grade. The good news is that you’re paying it forward. The return trip is all downhill and usually with a tailwind.

At a place called Marshall, the trail crosses under this impressive bridge. Two active railroad lines also pass under the bridge. For much of the length of the trail, it is sandwiched between two active railroad lines.

One of the other railroad lines passes over the trail here. One good thing about the Fish lake Trail is there is a lot of railroad infrastructure to admire.

And you get to see trains! Hey, that might be my brother grinding it up the high side heading towards Pasco.

The further you get from Spokane, the emptier the countryside gets. Towards the end of the trail it passes through this little valley.

The trail is just over nine miles long and the last mile and a half of that is a dead end. It is possible to back track to the last road crossing and ride on very bikable roads the three miles of so to the beginning of the Columbia Plateau Trail the first four miles or so of which is paved.

So here is the end. Two active lines cross each other just past this point making a safe passage impossible. Spokane would like to extend the trail, but bridging this gap would be prohibitively expensive.

It has been a couple of years since I rode this trail. The good is how easy it is to access, the true scenic beauty of the trail and for the most part a good surface. The bad is that its only nine miles long and the trailhead is in a bad part of town. When I get a chance, I’ll ride the gap from the end to the Columbia Plateau Trail and create an updated post with added material.

Lake Pend Oreille, Kayaking Farragut State Park to Lakeview

Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced Ponderay) is an amazing body of water. It is Idaho’s largest lake and the fifth deepest lake in the United States. The lake is easily accessible from Coeur d’Alene and Spokane. During World Wat II, a naval training center was built on the south end of the lake. Farragut Navy Base is now Farragut State Park, the most popular park in Idaho.

Today I launched at Farragut State Park at the Eagle Bay Boat Ramp. About half a mile further on the park entrance road is a nice overlook. My destination for the day is the far shore almost dead center but I was going to cross the bay and follow the shoreline.

I checked the weather forecast carefully before I headed to the lake. The forecast called for very light winds. This is a big lake and I’ve had a couple of bad experiences over the years due to the wind rapidly picking up. At the start of my paddle as I crossed Idlewilde Bay heading towards the base of Bernard Peak the water was a lot rougher than I would like.

There were quite a few sail boats out and I briefly considered turning around. I’m glad I didn’t.

Just as I rounded the point in to the main body of the lake, the winds died down. I spent the next half hour skirting the base of the cliffs below Bernard Peak on an almost glass surface.

Bernard Peak dominates the south end of the lake. A serious wildfire raced through the forest from the beach to the ridge top a coup[le of years ago. I happened to be hiking on a nearby mountain that day and spent a couple of hours watching the air borne efforts to contain (unsuccessfully) the blaze.

About an hour in to the trip, I took a break on one of the very few beaches along the shore. Most of the shoreline is a rocky cliff side. This spot is a popular place for people to land and sometimes camp. It was probably a camper that started the wildfire a couple of years ago.

The mountain on the left side of this photo is Cape Horn just north of Bayview and Farragut State Park. My goal is on the right side of the photo.

I snapped this picture from the beach looking up the mountain. That is a lot of dead wood.

Looking north across about twelve miles and twelve hundred feet of water, about 300 feet deeper than Lake Michigan. Some of the mountains on the north end of the lake reach seven thousand feet, five thousand above the lake.

After leaving the beach, I continued following the shoreline east and then northeast. The rocky cliffs across the way are a favorite place for local mountain goats. I’ve seen them there several times while kayaking this section of the shore.

I paddled past this abandoned industrial site. I believe that they used to mine lime here and ship it across the lake to Bayview as part of a process to make concrete. The site is called Concrete on old maps.

Most of the eastern shore of lake Pend Oreille is National Forest land and open to the public. This old mine site is an exception. It is heavily posted and landing here is prohibited.

If you just have to check out an old mine site there is another one about one mile past Lakeview. I visited this place last year and these two pictures are from that trip.

My trip to Lakeview and back took about four and a half hours. Continuing to this old mine site would have added over an hour to the trip. Maybe some other time.

After Concrete and just before Lakeview there is one more must see. In this basalt wall there is a little crack that needs to be checked out.

Most boaters never notice this opening as unless you’re very close to the shore, it’s hard to see. They couldn’t fit through it anyway but I can.

At the tiny community of Lakeview, there are public docks and a dirt boat ramp. It is a good place to stop for a rest and stretch your legs. This is looking back across the lake towards Bayview.

Now it was time to head back. Of course I couldn’t resist paddling through the slot again. I did see several Bald Eagles and a mountain goat during the trip, but the photos didn’t do them justice.

Four and a half hours later I was back at the Eagle Bay Boat Ramp. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

My journey only covered a small area of the southern most part of this lake. Other trips for future posts include Garfield Bay to the islands near Hope and paddling the Clark Fork Delta.

Spokane River Centennial Trail update. New Pavement!

A couple of months ago I wrote a post about the Spokane River Centennial Trail, specifically the first fourteen miles and how it was going to be closed for the summer for a much needed rebuilding. Well they finished the project much sooner than originally scheduled so I checked out the results.

I rode the entire section out and back plus three and a half miles each way on the North Idaho Centennial Trail so I could get to the new pavement from my house. Here’s the trail at the Harvard Road bridge.

It was really nice pedaling on a smooth surface after all of these years. Hopefully it will stay that way for a while.

I did notice about a dozen Lime Scooters abandoned along the trail. I’m not sure why these things are even allowed on the trail. I’m not a fan of E-bikes either. They are consistently misused by many of the knuckleheads that drive them.

Since I started riding on this trail seventeen years ago many improvements have been made to it.

It’s always a thrill to watch trains pass over the trail.

Now if we can get the first four miles of the trail on the Idaho side of the state-line rebuilt. Actually I heard that this might be in the works as the local managing agencies are working with the North Idaho Centennial Trail Foundation to secure a grant for this project. Let’s hope this happens.