Priest Lake in the snow...rain...sleet...hail...etc.

Yesterday Walter and I went on a little outing to Priest Lake. Honestly, I have been in a mood most foul and thought maybe getting the hell out of the house would be a good thing. I have not done any outdoor recreating since my trip to Illinois over Christmas and it has been taking a toll. I have been spending a lot of time studying and it pisses me off because my 20 somethings classmates don't study and they pretty much get the same grades that I do (or better). The weather has been grey for over a month and Morgan's deathday is Wednesday so I have not been a very happy camper. I know, bitch bitch bitch.

I spent the first half of the day carrying the grouchies around with me. By the time we got into the state of Idaho, the sunny weather was gone and was replaced by something resembling rain at times only to turn into snow or sleet five minutes later.

It has been a few years since I have been over to the east side of the lake so we headed over there first. I stopped at the Indian Creek campground to take a look around and maybe walk down by the water. For the first 20 minutes we were there the sun was shining but the wind coming off the frozen lake was intense. The two or so feet of snow was in the process of melting and Walter was drenched within a short amount of time (he was really excited to be out of the car). Ok, he made me smile...for about a second, then I got a hold of myself.

Sort of feeling like I should take a hike since I was there and it usually makes me feel better, we headed north to the top of the lake. Now, the road had been plowed...at some point this winter. There were patches that were bare and then other patches covered with 6-8 inches of tire sucking slush. Even though I have four-wheel drive, I decided that the probability rating of getting stuck anyway was pretty high...and I forgot to put my shovel back in the Blazer after I used it the last time. So after about 6 miles I did a spectacular twenty point turn in the middle of the road and we headed back in a southerly direction. Just before we got to Coolin though, as I was feeling like maybe I should just bag the day and go home and study, we saw a little moose calf chewing on moose moss by the side of the road. He was soooo cute!!!! He reminded me of Walter when he was a baby. Ok, not really. He was a yearling (I am guessing) and his head probably came up to my shoulder. After seeing him, I felt a bit more like walking in the woods even though when I looked across to the west side of the lake I could see a horrid squall line and big black clouds.

The west side road is plowed as far as Granite Creek and from there it is 8 miles to Beaver Creek and the trail to the upper lake. We parked at the end of the road and as I was getting my stuff together this absolutely intense snow started falling. Within the 30 seconds or so that it took me to get my poncho on, my polar fleece was drenched. But never fear!!! I always have more polar fleece!!!! I strapped on my snow shoes and Walter and I headed down the road to the trailhead in that stuff as the grouchies were closing in on me again. Luckily the snow only lasted for about 20 minutes but it was intense enough that on the way back I noticed that our footprints had been totally obliterated.

Walter was so happy. I had him off his leash on the road and he just jumped and skipped and hopped around in his little red coat. He loves me no matter what kind of mood I am in. By the time we got to the Lakeshore trailhead I was feeling a bit better. We got into the trees and it was like I had switched into a different reality. I finally, after weeks of feeling like an Edgar Munch painting, found some air in my soul. We wound around in the cedar trees and turned a corner and there was just the most amazing sight. Our side of the lake was dark and ugly, and half of the lake was covered in black, but the east shore and the mountains behind it were bathed in beautiful sunlight. Behind the mountains the clouds were dark as ever, but part of the scene was spectacular. If I were a deep sort of gal I am sure I could find some ethereal meaning to it all. I was able to snap one picture before my batteries died.

We walked about two miles then turned around and got back to the car just as it was getting too dark to see. I stopped at the store in Nordman and the bartender made me a hot chocolate with whipped cream. She also made me laugh. Between Nordman and Priest River the precipitation changed with every mile but after we hit Highway 2 I was able to watch the sliver of a moon set in the west. Walter was snoring in the back seat, I had some damn good hot chocolate, and it turned into a pretty good day after all.