Horseshoe Lake

Looking across the lake from the boat ramp

Today Nancy and I went out in the tiny boats to check out the falls at Horseshoe Lake just north of Spokane. The water is raging down from the mountains (taking part of the Mt. Spokane road with it) and much of it empties into Horseshoe Lake and then into the Little Spokane River. There is so much water around that the county sheriff said that if you end up in the river there is a good chance no one will come get you because it is so dangerous. But the lakes are just fine.

The falls in the distance

Up a bit closer

Nancy up close

We paddled from the boat ramp directly over to the waterfall. We could hear the falls when we got out of the car. In the summer they are just a trickle. It was pretty darn cool. I do not know how tall they are...maybe 50 feet or so, but the cascade is just beautiful.

Looking sort of back the way we came

After admiring the falls we hugged the shore to paddle back to the boat ramp. We saw lots of birds and fowl and a huge beaver dam that had some fresh sticks on top. The flowers along the shore were gorgeous. I always like identifying what is out there...something Nancy is particularly good at.

Checking out the beaver dam

Phlox on the rocks

Though it was just a short paddle, we had a nice time and actually beat the rain. I was sure it was going to start falling when we were mid-paddle but we made it with about 10 minutes to spare. I am looking forward to more paddling this summer.

Free at Last!!!!

Wally

Walter and I finally got out of town for a couple of nights. The original plan was to do a short backpack up along lower Priest Lake. I got my pack all loaded and just as an afterthought I decided to call the Forest Circus to see if the Beaver Creek Campground was open in case we got up there a bit too late. To my complete and total astonishment, I was told that the road is still closed because there is too much snow on it! There is still a ton of snow around the lake as well. Scratch that plan.

Our favorite spot in the park

So, I threw a lawnchair in the car and a couple of buckets of wood and we headed to the old standby of Farragut State Park. The Whitetail campground was open and we got our favorite spot. The weather was glorious. It was a bit cloudy and windy when we got there but soon cleared up. The temp was in the 80s during the day, but the first night was really darn cold. I had to zip up all the way in my mummy bag and pull the hood over me. I hate doing that because it makes me a bit claustrophobic, but I was at least warm then.

The powerline trail

Looking toward the lake and the snow still in the mountains

I had a nice fire of scrap wood each night. I would read until it got too dark to see and then just sit there for a couple of hours staring at the flames. On the first whole day there Walter and took a good little hike down and around the bay. There is a weird trail that traverses the park that I had never been on before. It basically parellels the road for most of the way and is under the powerlines. It was kind of weird and made me think of all the powerline surveys I did as an archaeologist. But it was fun. The trail end at the swimming beach and meets up with another trail. We took the view trail around the lake and crossed over to the island that is not really an island right now because the water is low. There, we sat in the sun and had lunch and watched the baby geese and just looked around for about an hour. Then we walked back to the campground and had a little nap which felt pretty darn decadent. I read The Lovely Bones while I was there. It is pretty good but sort of sad. Walter did not read anything.

A gaggle

It was sort of bizzare not having very much stuff with me. Usually when I car camp I cram in all sorts of comfort items, but aside from the chair and firewood, it was just the contents of my backpack. I was very excited about two new food items I have discovered for backpacking. One is the little cups of peanut butter. I used to always take the refillable tubes with me but they were a pain in the butt. The cups have enough for a thick sandwich and the foil top can be folded into a spreader. The other item is Easy Mac. It is mac and cheese for the microwave but I tried it on the campstove with ok results. I sort of over cooked it a bit, so next time I will not cook it as long. It was just as boring as the Mountain High mac and cheese and cost a lot less. They also have Easy Stroganoff, cheddar mac, and lasagna but they all have meat in them.

Lake Pend Oreille

It is once again my weekend but I am staying home to get some things done. I am hoping to take off the next weekend. Maybe the snow will be gone from Priest Lake by then. Probably, with the warm weather we have had and the rain.