Swankie Lives: 6th State: ID - Priest Lakes (Oct. 18, 2009)

SIXTH STATE PADDLED
October 18, 2009
Left Wenatchee, WA and passed through the mountains, across the amber waves of grain and finally arriving at the small little town of Waterville on top of the mesa East of the Columbia River Valley.

I imagined that if I were to live closer to my younger grandchildren, this might be the place for me. Away from the pollution of the valley. Very interesting little town. Loved the brick work on this church.

Then leaving Eastern Washington State on Route 2 eastward through Coulee City (sure wanted to stop there and paddle).

Then on past Spokane, then north on Rt. 2 to Newport, WA and finally I crossed into the upper panhandle of Idaho. A guy at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival had told me about a great paddle between Upper Priest Lake and Lower Priest Lake… a throughway of 2.5 miles one way.

I then went north on Rt. 57 to the Lower Priest Lake. Snow is chasing me. I need to get my ID paddle in and head south.
There is no development along this waterway and no power boats allowed. Pure wilderness.

Heading out from Lower Priest Lake, aiming toward that light spot on the shoreline… then north through the throughway.

Fantastic.

Up ahead a little ways was a loud noise, I thought (in my mind’s eye) it was a couple bear fighting in the water. I didn’t know which way to go, retreat, rush ahead to get the shot, stand still (the current had different ideas. Before I could sort out what to do, a moose family came walking through the tall grasses along the right shore… only about 20 foot from me. By then I had managed to get my video camera out… and did get some good footage. Now I just have to learn how to upload it here.

This is the opening at the north end of the throughway… that’s Upper Priest Lake. Well, that fellow at the Port Townsend Boat Show was certainly right about this being a great paddle. But now I only have about two hours of daylight left and want to get back to the van and get loaded up and head out.

I have felt that snow was chasing me… so I needed to get this paddle in and head south.

Took me about 30 minutes to load up and as I headed down the road, it began to rain on me, or was that sleet?

Following Rt. 200 toward Missoula along the Clark Fork River, beautiful.

The Great Glacial Lake Missoula ice rose four times higher than the Seattle 605ft Space Needle. Ice was 3,500ft deep to the lake’s bedrock filling Lake Pend Oreille. Only mountains with peaks taller than 4,500 foot would have been visible from the top of the glacier.