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Peewee Falls, Z Canyon and Sullivan Lake Kayaking Trip

Thursday I headed to Boundary Dam near the Canadian border to check out a couple of places I always wanted to kayak, explore the area a little and spend the night camping.

My first stop was at the overlook for the Box Canyon Dam and old railroad bridge outside of Ione along the Pend Oreille River. This old rail line is now abandoned, but as recently as ten years ago they operated a tourist train along this stretch.

A little further along the scenic byway there’s a rest area from which a short walk brings you to Sweet Creek Falls. Two trails access the falls. This is the lower trail.

The upper falls trail provides a different perspective of the cascade.

Sweet Creek Falls is a gem and easily worth a thirty minute delay. They’re are even picnic tables along the trail, some with views of the falls.

After about three hours of driving with a couple of stops, I arrived at my destination for the day, a recreation area just above Boundary Dam. You can see the dam’s Vista House on the right side of the picture on top of the bluff but it was closed and they weren’t giving tours either. I wanted to take a photo of the face of the dam. This is the dam that was used as the set for Bridgetown in the Kevin Costner movie, The Postman. Tom Petty played the mayor of this fictional post apocalyptic settlement.

The dam wasn’t the main reason I came all this way, well sort of. It did create the reservoir I planned to kayak on so there’s that. Boundary Dam is over three hundred feet high and backs up the Pend Oreille River over seventeen miles to the town of Metaline Falls. Immediately above the dam is Forebay, a substansial body of water with a campground on it. All of this is managed by Seattle Power and Light.

After picking my campsite, I unloaded the kayak and headed around the bend to check out Peewee Falls. This amazing waterfall drops straight in to the lake at the end of a deep cove. It is not visible from the recreation area or the dam.

I lingered around the falls and took a few photos. The sun was heading down putting the waterfall in the shade and the wind was picking up so I headed to my next destination.

A narrow opening at the south end of Forebay lead me to Z Canyon. This spectacular canyon was flooded by the dam a century ago and is now very popular with boaters and kayakers despite it’s remote location.

All along the way upstream there are interesting rock walls and a new view around every bend. The wind was intermittently building up which made for a lot of work. The few boats that came by created much more turbulence than I expected because the steep rock walls of the canyon reflected the wakes and in places it was like being in a washing machine.

After a mile or so, I came to the end of Z Canyon and at this point there is an island separating the main channel from a more protected slough. the Everett Slough Campground is located here and here I was able to land and take a break.

While floating over shallow water I came across this sight. Apparently the level of the water fluctuates daily depending on the power generation needs the result being that flowers and weeds that grow on the wetlands are sometimes covered in water.

I captured this amazing image and thought it looked a lot like an impressionist painting. Drowned daisies.

On my way back down the canyon, I came across an upside down tree. It looked like this Western Red Cedar had been growing like this for many years.

After getting back to the campground I took a trip exploring the area in the couple of hours I had before sundown. I checked out Gardner Caves in Crawford State Park and saw a hole in the ground surrounded by a fence. They have a very limited tour schedule and I missed the last one so I took a little hike and came across a sign that let me know I should turn around.

I drove across the river and towards Canada to find the Vista House and that’s when I found out it was closed. At least I got this view of Hooknose Mountain from a scenic overlook.

The next morning the lake was like glass and with the light coming from the east I decided to take the same trip again looking for a more relaxing and photogenic experience.

I got one. The waterfall was in full light creating a rainbow effect and the skies were perfectly clear and blue and the moon made a cameo.

It was early and I had the place to myself.

At least until the first boat showed up. Now it was time to explore Z Canyon again only this time wind and boat free.

It was much more relaxing this time.

There are a few small caves in the cliff sides along the canyon. I’m not sure how far they go in and wasn’t interested in the tricky landing and steep scramble up the bank to find out. After all there might be a grizzly inside.

Z Canyon is an amazing place and I would be happy to kayak it again. From the boat launch to Peewee Falls and then up the canyon and back only took three hours.

On the way back since the lake was still glass flat, I took the longer way across and was treated to this view of the falls with Hooknose Mountain in the background. It was still early so I packed up and headed to my next adventure.

Sullivan Lake was about a forty minute drive through Metaline Falls and east another few miles.

On the way I stopped at the Old Mill Pond Historic Site as was recommended by a friend of mine. This is the view of Sullivan Creek downstream from the old dam site. The creek drains Sullivan Lake and ends up emptying in to the Pend Oreille River in Metaline Fall.

I don’t know how long ago my buddy was here but it turned out they removed the dam seven years ago draining the 64 acre lake to restore the place to a riverain habitat. The dam hadn’t been used for power generation in over fifty years but they kept it in place as people liked to use the lake for recreating. There was a bunch of interpretive signage explaining the reasons and benefits of removing the dam.

So it was back to Sullivan Lake. I launched at the day use area for the west campground. A grass airstrip separates the east and west campgrounds. This bluff was just east of the east campground.

Sullivan Lake is over three hundred feet deep. It is a natural lake that was raised twenty-five feet by a small dam at the outlet. The west side of the lake is bordered by a scenic road and the east side is basically uninhabited, just steep slopes down to the shore.

The shoreline was to be honest kind of boring. The main draw for this body of water is the incredible water quality. Kayaking, you could see the bottom in thirty feet of water. I didn’t swim at Boundary Dam because, well because it is downstream from Missoula and Butte Montana, Sandpoint Idaho, Newport Washington and lots of other smaller town. The water looked okay but I knew where it came from. Sullivan was a much better place to take a swim.

So I found the only place on the eastern shore with a small beach and did just that. There was not one other boat or kayak on the lake in the middle of a warm clear summer Friday.

So I started the two and a half hour drive back to Post Falls and took the less traveled county road on the east side of the Pend Oreille River when I discovered a pull out for Manresa Grotto. They had a vault toilet so I decided to stop.

I’m glad I did. It was a fascinating place with small caves and historical significance.

It was a great place to stretch my legs for a few minutes. I was surprised that I had never heard of it. Another hidden gem in the Pacific Northwest.

The only downside was that the place seemed to be popular with vandals and was heavily graffitied. The biggest cave smelled like they sacrificed skunks in there over the years.

So I finished my tour of the Pend Oreille Scenic Byway and drove the rest of the way home. Three decent kayak trips in two days was the highlight. All of my short on foot walks weren’t long enough to call hikes but did add a little variety. I liked Peewee Falls and Z Canyon so much I paddled them twice and would be happy to do so again.

The Latah Trail

I drove down to Moscow Idaho to ride the Latah Trail and the extension through Troy down Bear Creek Canyon.

The Latah Trail starts right at the edge of Moscow Idaho the home of the University of Idaho. A bike trail continues west through Moscow and on to Pullman Washington. Both towns are in the area known as the Palouse Prairie, one of the premier wheat growing regions in America.

The Palouse Prairie is in both Washington and Idaho. On our side of the state line it covers large parts of Latah and Benewah counties as well as a small corner of Kootenai County. Moscow is the largest town in the Idaho portion of this region of rolling hills and pretty farmland.

The first seven miles of the trail parallels State Road 8 on an old railroad grade south of the highway mostly through rolling farmland.

On the way, the trail crosses over several small bridges that were built to give farmers access to there fields. There is one short section were it appears that the local governments could not secure the railroad right-of-way so the trail had to be routed down the hill to the highway and along that road until it rejoined the original alignment.

The trail slopes up to a tunnel under State Road 8 and them continues another mile paralleling the highway through a landscape that slowly becomes more forested.

The underpass looked fairly new. A bridge over the old rail road had to have had a lot more clearance.

The four mile section of the trail between the underpass with State Road 8 and the City of Troy is very scenic.

A local road is crossed on what is obviously a replacement bridge.

Along the way there are still various signs left over from the trails days as an active railroad. According to interpretive signage, the railroad used to connect Moscow to Lewiston in a round about way. Moscow is about two thousand feet higher in elevation than Lewiston.

At eleven miles, the trail hits the zero mile mark at a little park as you enter Troy. Troy is a very pleasant small Idaho farming and lumber town. A one mile long connection trail continues towards Bear Creek Canyon, but it’s just as easy and more scenic to pedal through downtown.

On the south end of town there is an interpretive sign showing the four mile long extension of the Latah Trail down Bear Creek Canyon. This part of the trail is relatively new and wasn’t here the last time I biked the route.

There were several old steel frame bridges over Bear Creek along this section. The creek was barely flowing this time of the year.

The last four miles of the trail descended steeply into the canyon. The area felt extremely remote and I saw not a single other person on the trail either going out or coming back.

It was a warm and hazy day. The skies were full of high level smoke from a wildfire in Montana. At least I couldn’t smell the smoke, but blue skies would have been nice.

All in all the Bear Creek Canyon extension of the Latah Trail was very nice with smooth pavement, no road crossings and lots of scenery.

It did however come to an abrupt end. The grade down to this point was steep enough that you could coast all the way. That meant only one thing. It was going to be a climb back to town.

Four miles back to Troy, another mile through it and then two more uphill and it was nice to see this sign. This is the high point of the line. After this it was mostly downhill all the way to Moscow.

Now I was almost back to the town it’s residents purposely mispronounce the name of just to be weird. Being Idaho’s college town that’s not the only thing they do to be different in Moscow. It was surprising how hard online information from the managing agencies is to get especially as this is the home of the University of Idaho. I did a little research and am still not certain who the managing agency is.

Right at the trailhead I found a tiny piece of history imbedded in the pavement of the side street.

I ended up pedaling 32 miles on this trail. The main drawback from my point of view is that it is a ninety minute drive from my house. The Palouse is beautiful and Bear Creek Canyon remote. There is a six mile gap in this old rail line due to a washout and a private land ownership issue before another public trail, the five and a half mile Ed Corkill Trail between Kendrick and Juliaetta picks it up again.

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.

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.

Antione Peak Conservation Area, the Emerald Necklace and Summit.

The Antione Peak Conservation Area is an over one thousand acre preserve owned and managed by Spokane County. It is located on the north side of Spokane Valley and has three easily accessible trailheads. Today I hiked the entire length of the Emerald Necklace Trail with a side trip to the summit.

I started my hike at the West Trailhead off of Brevier Road. From the parking lot there is a clear view across the Peone Prairie of Mt. Spokane, the highest point in the county.

As soon as you leave the trailhead, you find your self in the “tall grass”. It appears that this part of the preserve was pasture or farmland in the not too distant past.

The trail system is very easy to follow and well maintained. At this point you’re less than a mile from the edge of suburbia but it feels like another world.

The old fields were carpeted with wildflowers.

As I gained elevation, the views opened up. To the south is the urban area of Spokane and to the west and south are views of the rural areas outside of town.

After less than a mile, the trail enters a more forested area dominated by open Ponderosa Pine habitat. This one appears to have grown out of a rock.

This part of the trail skirts to the south of the ridge line and summit. The south side of the ridges are also the sunny side.

A view looking up the hill on a clear cool sunny day.

Signage along the trail is very good. If you come to a fork with an unmarked trail it is not part of the trail system. After a little more than two miles, the Emerald Necklace Trail intersects the Summit Trail east of the peak. If you take the Summit Trail downhill, it leads to another trailhead.

A couple of weeks ago, I walked the loop from the Canfield Gulch Trail and came across this small pond.

On that trip I also came across a small moose. It is surprising how often I cross paths with these animals. I even see them swimming in the lakes when I’m paddling my kayak.

On the backside or in this case the north side of the ridge the habitat is dominated by fir trees and thicker shrubs limiting the views. In this opening there is a nice view of nearby Rathdrum Mountain in Idaho.

This little guy didn’t seem fazed by me walking past his stump.

Another opening along the trail revealed a nice view of the Peone Prairie. This area of farmland is on the way to Green Bluff, a local agri-tourist area.

The Emerald Necklace eventually reconnects to the Summit Trail and a short hike uphill gets you to the high point. Of course there’s a communication tower or more like three of them at the top.

The summit is partially forested and you have to walk around to see the views. This one is looking across the valley towards Mica Peak Idaho, AKA Signal Point.

On the way back to the trailhead I got to enjoy the meadows covered in wildflowers again. It was a very enjoyable and relatively easy hike. I estimate I got in about six miles with maybe seven hundred feet of elevation gain. It was a nice way to spend the last day of my first month of retirement.

After completing my hike, I headed over to a friends house to watch the Stanley Cup Finals. As the sunset, I noticed they have a nice view of Antione Peak from their backyard.

Spokane County has several very nice conservation areas, many of which I have hiked. Unlike state owned sites, Spokane County does not require a pass or permit. I plan on visiting some of these places this summer and hope to share my experiences hiking on them.

Bonnie Lake Washington

Today I returned to Bonnie Lake for the third time ever. This fascinating lake is located on the edge of the Palouse Prairie and the Channel Scablands about an hour south of Spokane between Rosalia and Cheney. It’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

I drove from Rosalia through Malden and Pine City to most aptly named Hole in the Ground Road. This is the ‘Hole in the Ground’. The gravel road lead me to a basalt canyon that as is typical in the region, runs from the northeast to southwest as is generally accepted did the flood waters when the ice dams broke creating the Channel Scablands.

Bonnie Lake shares this canyon with it’s much larger sibling, Rock lake. I posted photos of Rock Lake when I hiked a section of the Palouse Cascade Trail a couple on months ago. Unlike Rock Lake, Bonnie Lake is a destination for kayakers as well as fishermen.

The only access to Bonnie Lake is from a primitive boat launch suitable for kayaks and very small fishing boats where Hole in the Ground Road crosses the small creek that flows out of Bonnie Lake towards Rock Lake.

The winding and in places very narrow water way passes through active cattle ranches. It’s kind of fun to watch the cattle watching you.

In places the water way is a glorified ditch. In addition to cattle, the bird life is amazing, especially Red Wing Blackbirds. I tried to get a good photo of them, but paddling the narrow channel took all of my concentration.

While zig zagging up the stream, I was treated to views of the basalt canyon rim including a fairly impressive arch.

Here’s a better view. maybe someday the proto arch on the right will break through too. A double arch would be very cool.

As you approach the lake the stream widens a little. I watched turtles bail off logs and rocks and marmots ‘rock chucks’ scramble through the basalt boulders at the base of the cliffs.

The ride through the channel is one of the highlights of this paddle. It’s maybe a little over a mile from the bridge to open water and in my opinion the most enjoyable part of the trip.

When you get to the lake itself you are are surrounded by impressive basalt cliffs.

After entering the lake if you stay to the left or west side, you pass a long section of undercut cliffs that are the home to a huge population of swallows. They make their nests in the crevasses of the basalt walls. There must have been close to a thousand nests on this short stretch.

The lake opens up and after a while I was exposed to the prevailing winds. I was looking for a safe harbor.

Around one more point there is a granite island in the middle of a basalt canyon. This place is owned by the State of Washington and is the only public property on the lake. The rest of the shoreline is owned by cattle ranches and is posted.

This is a great place to land and stretch your legs. I’m guessing the island is less than ten acres, but because of the topography and complex shoreline it can take a while to explore.

The channel between the island and the west side of the canyon usually has some of the flattest water on the lake, a welcomed respite from the waves.

There are lots of informal trails on the island and several places that people have used to camp. Unfortunately since my last visit a few years ago, someone managed to burn down most of the trees on the island. Since there’s no evidence of wildfires around the canyon I can only assume that the island fire was started by people either camping or picknicing on the island.

My original plan was to kayak all the way to the north end of the lake and then up the creek that feeds it as far as I could make it, unfortunately the weather had other ideas. As soon as I left the island the winds picked up and created white caps on the lake. Such is life in the Channel Scablands. I called it good and fought the wind back to the bridge.

I didn’t get any photos of the white caps because I was too busy trying to paddle back. I did snap one just before I returned to the ramp with my rig in the back ground.

On the way back, I checked out Steptoe Butte. It seems like a joke to have a small mountain in the middle of a thousand square miles of farmland, but that’s pretty much what it is.

I used my Discover Pass which was probably a wash with the extra fuel I used for this detour. It does give you a perspective on how amazing the Palouse Prairie is when it comes to farming. The sign at the county line proudly informs you that Withman County is the nations leading wheat growing county.

At least I can see the mountains close to my house from here.

Bonnie Lake is a completely different experience from my usual kayaking on our lakes in North Idaho. It is much more remote and the scenery is unique. It is in the same canyon as Rock Lake. The drive each way from my base in Post Falls is about ninety minutes.