Yesterday I tool a sixteen mile trip on a section of the Palouse Cascades Trail on my old trusty mountain bike.
I started my trip in the small town of Tekoa. It is one of the nicer towns in the Palouse and has several historic buildings including this old art deco movie theater. Across the street is a small park with a public restroom, a rare amenity out here in farm country.
The landmark Tekoa trestle dominates the local landscape. This 976 foot long and 125 foot high structure carried the transcontinental Milwaukee Road rail line over Hangman Creek, State Road 27 and another old railroad easement.
There is a trailhead off Washington Street on the east side of the trestle with interpretive signage and a picnic table. This trail is managed as a Washington State Park and extends from the Idaho state line almost to the Seattle area.
From the trestle there is a view of the town looking up Hangman Creek. In the background is Liberty Butte, one of several large hills embedded in the middle of an expanse of wheat fields.
The trail winds through miles of agricultural land alternating between cuts through the hills and embankments between them.
About three miles in you come to Lone Pine. There are the remains of an old grain loading facility here and not much else.
Wheat is the main crop here and in places they cultivate it right to the edge of the trail bed. About eighty percent of the fields I rode by were already harvested but some were still waiting for the combines.
Tekoa is in Whitman County which bills itself as the largest wheat producing county in the United States.
Amber waves as far as the eye can see. From the trail you get to see scattered farm buildings and spacious skies.
I crossed under one old bridge. The trail surface varied from rough ballast to fresh gravel and some areas of dried compacted dirt. I don’t usually ride on gravel and going sixteen miles on it was like riding forty on pavement.
I came across two places where small bridges had been removed and the state build a bypass trail.
Just before my turn around place, I arrived at the historic Seabury Bridge. I walked the bike across as some of the gaps in the decking could easily catch a bicycle tire and eight miles is a long way to walk back. There is a lot of useful information about the trail on the home page for the Palouse Cascade Trail Coalition, a non-profit group dedicated to supporting improvements to the trail.
The Seabury Bridge crossed over another railroad which is now also abandoned. Here you can see the cut of the Spokane Inland Empire branch that at one time extended all the way to Lewiston.
Here is the best view I could get of this impressive structure. It’s long way down to the bottom and the land down there is privately owned.
So here was the end of my ride. Washington State Parks put up these mile markers at the same spots the railroad at one time had them. They show the distance from the start of the railroad in Chicago.
The way back was pretty but I did have to deal with a decent head wind. Winds on the Palouse are usually out of the southwest or west. Today it was out of the northeast.
It was a relief to make it back to Tekoa. That’s Tekoa Mountain in the background looking northeast from the deck of the trestle.
The 287 mile long trail almost spans Washington. Through Eastern Washington it is lightly used. I was the only one on it for all sixteen miles. Earlier this summer I had hiked the section along Pine Creek and Rock Lake. This was the first time I rode part of it. Next time I’ll bring a couple of replacement inner tubes just in case.
Dishman Hills is a natural area made up of three units. Iller Creek is the northern most and highest of them. The Iller Creek trailhead is located west of Dishman Mica Road in a residential area of Spokane Valley.
The trailhead has limited parking which usually isn’t an issue on weekdays. As soon as you start there is a fork. I always take the right path and hike the loop counter clockwise.
This trail follows a dry creek bed at a moderate grade through a thick forest. It isn’t very exciting but it gets you to where your going.
At two and a half miles in you come to the Rocks of Sharon. These massive boulders are a popular local rock climbing destination.
I typically spend over an hour exploring the rocks. There are over a dozen of these monoliths lined up on the south side of the high ridge.
This is a perfect place to stop for a break and enjoy the views.
And the view is of the Palouse Prairie, an area of rolling farmland that extends a hundred miles to the south.
North of the rocks is probably the largest collection of antennas and satellite dishes I’ve ever seen. Pretty much every television and radio station in greater Spokane uses this site to transmit their signals.
Another view of interesting rock formations.
At the Rocks of Sharon there is a junction with the Stevens Creek Trailhead connector. By using this access point it is possible to get to the rocks by hiking less than half the distance and a third of the elevation. Drive there though takes an extra hour.
I had the place to myself for a good hour. I highly recommend hiking this trail on weekdays. It can get awfully busy on weekends.
I just wish I hadn’t tried to drive my truck up the trail. No really, this isn’t the first old abandoned vehicle I’ve come across hiking close to Spokane. This was on the East Ridge Trail just after I started my return.
If you hike the loop counter clockwise, you will return to the Iller Creek Trailhead vis the East Ridge Trail.
The East Ridge Trail is more open and you get views of Spokane Valley and Mt. Spokane in the distance.
To the west you can see Mica Peak with it’s distinctive radar dome.
Five miles and twelve hundred feet later, you return to the starting point. Here is a picture at the trailhead of a mountain ash tree.
I first saw this place while flying out of the Spokane airport over a decade ago. It looked so cool from above I did a little research, found the trailheads and have since hiked it about a dozen times. I was a little surprised that the elevation gain turned out to be well over a thousand feet. It is one of the best little hikes close to Spokane that I know of.
I drove to Bend Oregon and spent a couple of nights in an affordable motel. I planned to visit several places that I always wanted to see and had alternatives in mind in case plans change. That turned out to be a good thing.
After I checked in my room, I drove a few miles south of Bend to check out Lava Butte, a National Forest site showcasing an old cinder cone and lava field.
By the time I got there it was late and the visitor center was closed. I walked a little through the lava field in the lengthening shadows. The place reminded me of a scaled down version of Craters of the Moon in southern Idaho.
So I got up the next morning again at 6:00 AM and made a beeline to Crater Lake National Park. The nice folks at the motel said it was about a two hour drive. It would have been if the north entrance was open. It wasn’t due to fire activity. I had to drive another hour around the park to the south entrance and back track to the park.
So it took me a good three hours to make it to the rim and boy was I in for a disappointment. The higher I got, the worse the smoke got. I could barely see the lake below me. At least they weren’t charging the entrance fee which was also a bummer as I had my America the Beautiful pass and didn’t even get to use it.
The smoke was so thick it hurt to breath and my eyes watered. I’ve had several people tell me that they thought Crater Lake was one of the most beautiful spots they had ever been to. I’ll have to take their word for it. I planned to hike Scott Peak but that was pointless and I later found out they had the trailhead closed anyway due to road construction.
This picture of Wizard Island through the smoke was the best I could do. I stayed about a minute and a half before I decided to try and salvage the rest of the day. I was disgusted by the situation. Damn Oregon wildfires. Additionally the facilities I visited were covered in graffiti and litter was everywhere. Even though you couldn’t really see anything the park was surprisingly busy. Visiting this park has been on my bucket list and sadly I will probably never go back.
So I drove almost three more hours taking the longer and less scenic way near Klamath Falls and went with my plan B, the Newberry Caldera south of Bend. Here I used my America the Beautiful Pass to cover the entrance fee. There wasn’t smoke but the previous nights storm left lingering low clouds and fog. At least I could breath.
My first stop was the Big Obsidian Flow. A nice trail with interpretive signs gave me access to all the lava rocks you could ever ask to see.
There was a lot of obsidian which is basically black glass. It was kind of pretty.
The caldera has two lakes in it.
By now the clouds were starting to lift so I decided to hike to the high point of the caldera rim, Paulina Peak. From where I started to the top and back was about a four mile hike. About half way up the views opened and I could see both lakes as well as the central cinder cone.
I even caught a couple of patches of blue skies near the top. I had the trail to myself on the way up.
When I reached the summit, the weather closed in again. It was time to head back down.
On the way down I could see just how big the cliffs I had recently been on top of were.
On my way out I made one more stop to see a pretty little waterfall. They are winding down this time of year but this one was still pretty nice. I bet it’s real impressive during melt off.
Newberry Volcanic National Monument was a cool place to explore. I’m glad I had a backup plan for Crater Lake but it would have been nice to have clear skies here as well. Still clouds are a lot better than smoke. I finished the day by sitting in a traffic jam that closed the freeway back to Bend for two hours. Probably not my best day on a road trip ever.
I left Bend early the next morning and took the long way home. I headed east on US 26 out of Redmond to see the John Jay Fossil Beds. My first stop was the Painted Hills Unit.
The Painted Hills outside of the hamlet of Mitchell is a colorful series of clay hills that are famous both for their striking appearance and also as the site of huge deposits of fossils. Here they are mostly fossils of plants.
I walked several short trails covering maybe a mile and a half to enjoy the view points and read the interpretive signage.
After about an hour and a half I left and headed towards my next stop.
After checking out the visitor center on the advice of the host, I drove a couple of miles south and checked out the Blue Basin.
These eroded deposits of blue/green clay contain the fossils of mostly mammals from prehistoric times. The striking color made the place feel otherworldly.
The round trip on this trail was about a mile and a half.
Eastern Oregon is a big place. Including my short hikes it took me over thirteen hours to get home. At least most of the drive was scenic and lonely.
So my three day trip cost me two nights in an affordable motel and about a hundred dollars in gasoline. I got to see a lot of places I never had before which is a good thing. Crater Lake was disappointing. I had planned to make a lengthy stand alone post about the National Park. Hopefully the next National Park I visit won’t be covered in wildfire smoke.
I took a seven hour drive to the high desert country of central Oregon to spend a couple of nights and explore. On my way to Bend, I stopped at Smith Rock State Park.
This wonderful park is located a couple of miles east of US 97 near the town of Terrebonne about twenty miles north of Bend. I paid the five dollar admission and started walking.
The Misery Ridge Trail is across the river the Crooked River from the parking areas and visitor center. This part of the park is crowded with sightseers.
I walked the loop counter clockwise and would highly recommend that direction. The hike begins with a series of steep switchbacks that soon get you away from most of the crowd. To your left are some shear rock walls that are a Mecca for rock climbers.
And to your right and soon way below you is the river that almost encircles the rocks. The switchbacks are challenging and wooden steps help you in s0me of the steepest sections.
It only takes six tenths of a mile to gain the little over seven hundred feet of elevation to the top. The vegetation on the summit consists of sparse desert shrubs and large juniper trees.
The views from the top are outstanding. You can see the distant Cascade Mountains to the west and appreciate the stunning rock formations below you.
I stayed up here a while to enjoy the view. It was sunny and for the time of year, reasonably cool. Signs at the trailhead warn hikers to bring plenty of water and I did. You can get dehydrated here in a hurry.
A short walk further and you begin the descent on the other side of the ridge next to a prominent rock pillar called Monkey Face.
Here’s the view of this rock from below. It’s pretty clear how it came to acquire such an unusual name. There are rock climbing routes up this feature as well.
Soon you find yourself next to the Crooked River on the far side of Misery Ridge from the trailhead. It is a photogenic stream.
You get to follow the river for a couple of miles back to the starting point which is a great way to wind down after getting your heart pumping crossing over the ridge. Here you can still see Monkey Face just left of center.
The River Trail has a new view around every bend.
At one point you can hear a decent size waterfall across the river but can only get a fleeting view of it through the trees covering the far cliff side. What you can see is awfully nice too.
About half way back to the trailhead I saw a couple of raptors circling overhead. It took me a minute to realize that they were a pair of Golden Eagles. They’re bigger than Bald Eagles.
The rocks are fascinating. The park has dozens of rock wall climbing routes.
And here are a couple of folks trying out one of them.
It took me almost three hours to complete the 3.6 mile loop with a total elevation gain of 908 feet. A lot of that time was spent just stopping to enjoy the views. There are other trails in the park that I would have loved to had time to check out.
I even got to see a couple of lizards. We don’t get them much in the Idaho Panhandle.
I made one last short walk to an overlook on the east side of the canyon to get another perspective.
I enjoyed hiking in Smith Rock State Park. The State of Oregon does a nice job of maintaining this beautiful site. I don’t know if I’ll ever make it out this way again but if I do I’d gladly hike this route again.
Smith Rock State Park turned out to be the highlight of my three day Oregon Road trip and the only adventure along the way worthy of it’s own post. You can check out the rest of the trip here.
Today I took an hour and a half drive to the far east end of Idaho’s largest lake to kayak the Clark Fork Delta about twenty miles from Sandpoint.
Lake Pend Oreille is Idaho’s private little ocean. The lake is amazing. It is the fifth deepest lake in the United States at well over one thousand feet deep, is over thirty miles long from end to end and has it’s own small archipelago islands as you can see in the photograph. Two river deltas enter the lake, one of which is the largest in the inland western U.S. Over half of the shore line of this massive lake is publicly owned.
Today I accessed the Clark Fork Delta, the larger of the two, from the Clark Fork Drift Yard site. Idaho manages the recreational end of it and the Army Corps of Engineers owns and uses the site to maintain structures related to navigation and protecting the delta itself from erosion.
This basic boat ramp with primitive camping is right off of State Road 200 and a couple of miles before you get to the town of Clark Fork. There are no fee’s for use. It is located right where the main channel of the river enters the lake.
A short paddle across the bay leads to a narrow opening. The shore line was “armored” with boulders to mitigate erosion. The summer pool level Lake Pend Oreille was raised about ten feet by the construction of Albeni Falls Dam twenty miles downstream causing significant adverse effects to this delta as well as the Pack River Delta. Idaho and the U.S. Government have spent a lot of resources trying to limit the damage with some positive results.
The delta consists of a mixture of marshlands, wooded areas and open water, There are over a dozen distinct large islands and many smaller ones as well as four major channels and several more small creeks that connect them. It takes a little effort to get the lay of the land.
The northern most channel is the largest and is really open to the wind, so I paddled a little way south and found this much narrower creek that parallels it almost to the beginning of the delta. It was a beautiful trip upstream.
You couldn’t have asked for better scenery. I passed not a single other boat on this stretch.
Here is a view of the Idaho part of the Cabinet Mountains including the highest peak on our side of the state line, Scotchman Peak. I’ve been to the top twice and hope to make it one more time. It is one of the most difficult hikes in the area.
Towards the end of this channel, there were a few vacation cabins accessible only by boat. Soon my creek rejoined the main north channel and I jogged downstream to catch another small creek to get further upstream.
Just before this creek rejoined the main stream at the top of the delta it shoaled out on a rocky bar. I had to dismount and walk my kayak the last hundred feet back to deep water.
Now I was upstream of all of the braided channels so I turned around and let the current carry me to the third branch. A couple of private bridges connected to these islands to provide access to private land owners.
This was the second to two bridges. The southern main stream was much smaller than the northern one.
Off of the channel there were many small side channels some of which dead ended in the middle of one or another of the islands. They were still fun to explore though.
The southern main channel ended up going next to the mountains making for dramatic scenery. I saw a couple of bald eagles at this point.
Soon I came across the Johnson Creek Access Area. Johnson Creek looked like it might be worth exploring but it was barricaded by a low bridge with no obvious way around or through it.
Now I was getting close to the lake again. A side channel veered off to the left so I took it.
This lead me to the most southerly of the four major outlets to the lake and another public access point, this time only for boaters. It was a nice place to take a break before crossing the delta to get back the the Driftwood Access.
It is a big lake. This is looking southwest towards the Green Monarch Ridge. Twenty more miles or so to the south is where I kayaked to Lakeview and back earlier this summer The water clarity is pretty impressive.
So I headed north towards my starting point across a rather large bay near the mouth of the delta. Much of the shore of the island I was heading towards was “armored” as it protected the rest of the delta from the deep open waters of the lake.
I did get to see three more bald eagles on the way and this time got a photograph. The third one was a juvenile and lower in the tree. He’s hard to see.
I ended up paddling almost five hours, my longest trip of the season so far. It was nice to appreciate the beauty along the way.
I saw many Great Blue Herons but had the darndest time catching them on camera. This one finally stayed still long enough.
Here is one of the four major outlets to the lake from inside the delta. Near the lake, the channels open up in to bays and you have to cross some pretty big stretches of open water.
It was an awesome trip and only my second time paddling the delta. I would love to do it again. You can if you try get lost in the little channels that lead into hidden wetlands. If only I had seen a moose it would have been perfect.
I do want to check out the smaller delta on the lake also. The Pack River Delta has been the subject of a major restoration effort recently. North Idaho has some epic landscape for those of us that like to push our limits. After seventy-seven miles of bike riding on some of my favorite trails over the weekend, a nice peaceful kayak trip was just what the doctor ordered.
I drove out to Heyburn State Park on the south end of Lake Coeur d’Alene to take a short hike on the Indian Cliffs Trail and to check out Idaho’s oldest state park.
Heyburn State Park was established in 1908 and is the oldest state park in the Pacific Northwest. The park is located between Plummer and St. Maries Idaho about an hour south of the City of Coeur d’Alene. The St. Joe River empties in to the lake within the park.
The trailhead for the Indian Cliffs hike was about two miles in to the park from the visitor center on State Road 5. Just after you cross the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s after Plummer Creek there is a parking area. At the first junction take a left for an easier limb and better views.
After the junction, the trail climbs at a moderate grade through a forest that slowly becomes more open above and parallel to Plummer Creek.
After three quarters of a mile the trail passes through an area that was impacted by a wild fire thirty years ago. The fire left many surviving ponderosa pines and the state worked to restore the original open floor habitat after that. It reminded me of long leaf pine/wire grass habitat in Florida.
After climbing about five hundred feet, we were treated to views of the lakes and wetlands below. That’s the mouth of Plummer Creek where it enters the lake.
Across the canyon we had a view of the railroad that still services the lumber mill in St. Maries. We got to see the weekly or so train that still runs on this line. This is the same line that I hiked on beyond St. Maries that is now abandoned.
As we got towards the top of the ridge the views got better. You can see the channel of the St. Joe River in the middle of the lake. Over a hundred years ago the Post Falls Dam raised the level of the lake flooding the lowlands on the south end of the lake. The river banks being somewhat higher still bracket the old river channel creating a “river in a lake”.
It was a overcast and for this time of year, a very humid day. It was the first time I sweated in seventy degree weather in many years. It did end up raining a little which is god send for the guys and gals that work so hard to keep wild fires contained. This tree looked like it had experienced more than one serious weather event in its time.
Further along the ridge there were rock outcroppings. For about a mile the views across the lake were unimpeded.
Indian Cliffs are not a straight drop off but there are boulder fields at the base covered in moss. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
After descending down the slope we were treated to a couple of surprises. Those of you that follow this blog know I love Western Red Cedars and this little grove was a gem.
A little further we came across one of the largest White Pines I.ve seen. Western White Pine were decimated many decades ago by an invasive disease and almost became extinct in there native range. Luckily some trees were resistant and the U.S. Forest Service has been working on using the genetics from these trees to breed a new generation of White Pines. This one obviously predated the blister rust.
After completing the just over three mile loop with a five hundred foot elevation gain we checked out the day use area for the park. The Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s passes through it and in the distance you can see the bridge for the trail over the lake.
If not here’s a better view. The bike ride from Plummer to here is about seven miles and all down hill. The lake looked a littler rough today due to passing thunder storms. Glad I didn’t choose to kayak.
I took a sixty mile drive east to the Montana border at Thompson Pass to complete my annual pilgrimage to one of my favorite mountain lakes and as usual took a side trip on the way home to see some big trees.
From the turnout on the state line at the top of the pass, a short gravel road leads you to the trailhead for the Lake Revett Trail. The trail is very well made and easy to follow.
Unlike a lot of these trails that pass through thick second brush with limited views, the Lake Revett Trail quickly brings you to open rock slopes with big views down the canyon.
After crossing open rock slopes, the trail descends in to a mature forest with lots of big trees.
The trees, mostly hemlocks are covered with moss. Thompson Pass is just about the wettest place in Idaho receiving as much precipitation as the southern Appalachians mostly in the form of snow. This little corner of the Inland Northwest is almost a temperate rain forest.
By the end of August all of the snow is long gone and the streams start to dry up. Here the outlet creek from the lake above still has enough flow for a pretty little waterfall.
After crossing the creek, the trail climbs using a long gentle switchback. Somebody spent a lot of effort making this trail many years ago.
The walk to the lake takes less than an hour even with lots of stops to enjoy the scenery. The mountain to the west of the lake is Granite Peak.
To get a better view of Lake Revett I scrambled a little way up the lower slopes of Granite Peak. Going off trail can be rewarding and risky. The worst part is going back down hill. Without a trail the foot placement takes some serious care.
This is about as far as I wanted to push it. The ridge on the other side of the lake separates it from Blossom Lake, another mountain lake with a trail that starts right at the turnout on Thompson Pass.
It was a beautiful day for a hike.
The hardest part of the hike was bushwacking back down to the lake. A rough trail follows the shoreline. This photo shows the effects of snow loads on the trees as they grow. Almost anyplace with a steep slope had trees with curved trunks like these.
It was time to head back to the trailhead while taking plenty of time to appreciate the big views along the open slopes.
Sometimes it nice to check out the little views too.
One last look at the mountain scenery before returning to the trailhead. I wonder what the name of the mountain in the far distance is.
The ratio of effort verses reward makes this one of the best little hikes around. The drive time is well over an hour from my house, probably closer to two, but it is a scenic drive as well.
On my way back down the valley towards my next destination I made a quick stop in Murray, an old gold mining town. They still have a few of the original buildings from it’s mining days. Now the place is mostly a stop along the road for folks seeking outdoor adventures.
I love the old Masonic Lodge building. Murray has not one but two family friendly eating establishments and a museum. It is a great place to grab a meal and a cold beer.
Three miles west of Murray I turned off on Eagle Creek Road. A six mile ride on a road the becomes progressively narrower and rougher brought me to the trailhead for Settlers Grove. On the way I passed through a large area that experienced a devastating wild fire a few years ago.
A footbridge over Eagle Creek leads in to the old cedar grove.
The Eagle Creek fire burned all around the old grove. It took a heroic effort to save the old trees and I’m glad they did. It would have been ashamed to lose these survivors of the Big Burn in 1910. Only a few old growth groves managed to avoid being destroyed from that event.
Walking among these trees is a treat.
It’s hard to convey the size of these trees through pictures without something use for a scale. Some of them are estimated to be over 600 years old.
After walking through the grove it was time to drive back to Coeur d’Alene. Until next time.
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.
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.
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.
