08/18 - 08/25 - Lake Pend Oreille Gathering, 2007

[Chester]

The timing is off by two weels for us, too bad.
I found a little tidbit for your brousing entertainment. www.48north.com/jan_2005/lake.htm

[B~C]

we made a lake loop around that country several years ago. Farragut State park is a good place to launch and park, Sandpoint has a nice dock for overnighting right downtown. If you have time for a little road trip, Wallace is a interesting town to explore.

Wish we could go with ya's but summer is booked

[digger]

Farragut at Bayview is probably the best parking/launching facilities on Pend o'reille, the town of Sandpoint about 10 boat miles N or the launch, a floating restaurant near Hope, east of Sandpoint. Not a lot of camping/moorage other than Sandpoint, and in Bayview. However really nice scenery near Bayview, and up the east side of the lake where old mining adits can be seen, and shear rock slopes. If you decide to try Lake Coeur d'Alene, there are a couple of good options. The N end of Coeur d'Alene lake is very busy with a lot of tourist trade, although there are really nice tourist spots within a very short walk to town. Also, on the N end there is a public launch about 1 1/2 miles down the Spokane River, the drainage for Lake Coeur d'Alene, and at the mouth of the river a wonder floating restuarant called the Cedars. Sunup Bay, about 1/2 way down lake (south) off HWY 95 is nice, and free with 48 hours parking -- easy if done during week, but small for weekend. There are a couple of nice boat-in only camp areas, one in Windy Bay, and one at Gassar Point, all within 2-5 miles of the launch. Harrison, ID is within 6 miles of Sunup Bay, and has nice dock facilities, very quaint small town on a 75mile bike path where the old railroad grade has been replaced with paved bike trail. If you go south to the ST.Joe RVR, about 8 miles, you can pass under the old swinging railroad tressle that is part of the bike trail, go up river which is flowing within the So. end of Coeur d'Alene lake and take a beautiful scenic ride up the St. Joe to Saint Maries, Idaho, about 20 miles. There is a nice park up there, and you can walk into town from some of the dock facilities. If you come to this N.Idaho area, I suggest you try to make both lakes.

[El and Bill]

Great suggestions, folks -- thanks.

[colobear]

We've never been on a lake with C-Cakes. What do you do about charts? I'm relatively sure I could find my way back to a launch point but wonder about various underwater obstructions.

[Overload]

Just my luck ! Something on our side of the mountains and we'll be in Alaska. Oh well, hopefully next time.

Doug

[digger]

Underwater hazards are few on these lakes...mainly watch other boat traffic, and the depth finder. Be cautious when near the shoreline.

[El and Bill]

Pat --

Sounds like you have a better idea than Jack Benny -- just skip the birthday bash, and without the birthday you don't gain a year. Hmmm -- what if we hold two for you when you arrive?

[El and Bill]

Milehog --
That's a great post you suggested -- whew -- sure whets the appetite. Ready to leave tomorrow.

[DaveS]

[El and Bill]

Barry --

Most lakes we have cruised have a waterproof fishing map that shows depths and other useful information. They are made by the Fish-n-map Co.. This company has a map for Lake Pend Orielle (#761428 092106) with a 5' contour available for $6.95. They also have a fishing map for Priest and Couer d'Alene lakes (#761428 092106) also for $6.95. You can buy the maps (charts) on line or, I'm sure, they will be available at marinas at the launch sites.

We have used Fish-n-maps all over the US and have found them to be accurate, useful, and interesting.

[Doryman]

For the Lake Powell cruise I bought the Navionics HotMaps card for the western US. This includes charts for all of the lakes in ID and MT (boundary is eastern border of the Dakotas, WY, CO & AZ.) I thought that was a good deal!

Warren

[Seaboldski]

Hey, great idea folks! It’s possible we might even be able to get in on this event. Our new TomCat, “Stray Cat” should be ready for pickup around the dates Pat mentioned. We recently moved to the area (July 2006) so it would all be new to us too, but we would love to do some exploring, especially with C-Brats.

Speaking of dates, the Coeur d'Alene Wooden Boat Festival takes place August 18-19th this year. This is a great event and downtown Coeur d’Alene is only a few blocks away.
http://www.coeurdalene.org/calendarmonth.asp
If you have any interest in meticulously restored wooden boats, it would be worth your time to make it to the show on either the 18th or 19th. Free to the public.
By car it’s about 45 minutes from Bayview to Coeur d’Alene.

As I said, we live in the area, so if there is anything you would want us to check out personally, let us know.


Steve and Lorraine

[Pat Anderson]

As an added benefit, it appears that Snoqualmie beer is available at Yokes Sandpoint! Will have to check it out!

[hardee]

LPO is a really great lake . We have met with a group of fellow "blow boater's" there for several years and it is fabulous. The state park "Farragut", on the southern end, is a great launch site with plenty of parking, and the fee is reasonable, either day or annual, and when we were there it was fairly well patrolled. I would advise to arrive there before 3-4PM to be able to check in for the duration without having to drive back to check in the next day to get the permits. Just to the south a few minutes by C-Dory time, is Button Hook Bay, with substancial docking, good anchoring, and 360 wind/wave protection. In August, fair warning, it will probably be HOT and it is not uncommon to have late evening, or night time thunderstorms. There are several "forest camps" along the (NE) shore, Whiskey Rock was one of our favorites. As I remember there are some shallows around the Clark Fork Delta, but I didn't know about the "Fishn Map"s then so we just watched for the bottom, since the water was clear enough to see down 20 feet or so.
Also, The Wooden boat show is great. There are some real spectacular restorations there. Priest Lake is another nice stop, close and beautiful as well, with some sandy beaches and islands.
At this time, don't know if we could make it but sure would love to. It's about a full days tow from home now. Hard to do for a weekend, but maybe we could stretch it a little.