After July 4

This report describes one of my many day paddles on Lake Pend Oreille. I have made about 20 paddles this year, none quite the same as the others. Most are round trips, whereas this one was one way.

After the 4th of July, our lake gets busy. 'Busy' is a relative term. Much of the 110 mile lake shore is unpopulated and difficult to approach from land. My recollection is that much of the shore is Forest Service or BLM land. Further, some stretches, like beneath the Green Monarchs, are not only heavily forested but also precipitous.

On Sunday, July 9, my wife was visiting friends in Sunnyside for a hike, so my kayak and I hitched a ride. I launched at about 8:20 AM from Shaw Bay along Sunnyside Road. This narrow bay is shallow and allows access to Fisherman Island to the south. Short of that island, I headed west toward Sandpoint (maybe 9 miles via kayak), first crossing a glassy Oden Bay. The winds remained very mild during my trip. There were perhaps 3 boats on this large bay, each boat motionless with occupants who were fishing - identifiable once I was close enough to see them. Of course it was early on a Sunday morning in North Idaho, where 7% of the population attends church services and another 13% are too hung over to arise so soon (the percentages are random guesses). At any rate, there were scarcely any people on the lake at the start of my paddle.

On my journey, I saw an eagle, an osprey, ducks with maturing ducklings, and swallows. In spring, when the waterfowl migrate through, it is much more exciting. Now by July 9 the water was warmish, maybe about 68 °F. That being the case, I saw no need to stick near shore, paddling point-to-point, cutting directly across each bay along the way. This significantly shortened the distance.

As time evolved and Sandpoint neared, I saw more and more boaters such as wake boarders and lake lice (aka jet skis). My goal was 3rd Street Pier so I needed to cross Sand Creek and go under the train bridge and the Hwy 95 bridge. The train bridge is the site of the 'Long Bridge Swim', a 1.75 mile swim from the south end of the bridge to Dog Beach. There are several marinas on Sand Creek, so one must cross the creek with care. 

After paddling under the Hwy 95 bridge, it's only about 15 more minutes to land at 3rd Street Pier. There locals have a small sand beach, a good place to land. Upon landing I opened the rear kayak hatch and was pleased to find my disassembled kayak cart. Lastly I assembled the cart, loaded the kayak, and walked for 10 minutes to home.