Upper Priest Lake - FAIL
After a lengthy going-away party for my boss Friday night, I awoke...kinda...groggy. My plan for the weekend was to head to Priest Lake, then paddle the canoe up the Thorofare to upper Priest. It's a short 2-mile stretch of crystal clear water, so I thought it'd be no big deal. Scenery, lake fishing, quiet canoe trip, solo = a neat trip in my head.
Loaded up the canoe and was on the road by 10:15. At 11:00 I had only made it to about Chilco! 45 minutes to get 17 miles...on HIGHWAY 95. Ugh, it wasn't starting out good. Finally made it to Priest River and headed up the 35 miles or so to the lake. Turns out they're doing construction on THAT road too...so instead of being able to cruise at 60 mph, it was restricted to 45 mph. Hmmm...after reaching the lake I still had another 30 minutes or so of driving. Taking a lot longer than I thought. I reached the small town of Priest Lake and found masses upon masses of people obviously up there for the annual "Huckleberry Festival." The ONE weekend out of the summer that they have it is the one I decide to try and find solitude on a canoe trip.
Again..hmmm, not looking so good. As I poked further and further up the lake, the crowds seemed to intensify. Every turnout had at least 10 cars jammed in it. The traffic was unbelievable for that area. Every campground had a little sign out front that said it was full. "No worries, I'll be able to get away from people by putting in a little paddling" I thought quietly to myself in between yelling at folks tailgating me. So I made it to the trail that led down to the lake. Wait a minute...a PORTAGE? I figured there would be some nice little ramp / access so I wouldn't have to carry my weighty "scanoe" to the water. (It doesn't even have a yoke.) I walked down the portage thinking maybe it'd be short...negative...about 1/4 of a mile and a decent grade to boot! Got to the water and the first thing I saw was a party barge with a bunch of people on it headed to the upper lake...with the radio BLARING! Not exactly the solitude I was in the mood for. No good.
Drink a beer and think about things.
While thinking...I happened to notice that I had to park in the street just to stop at this large parking lot. Looking around, I counted about 30 cars...all there for the same reason. To get to the upper lake. Hmmm...I wonder if it'll be crowded up there?
Drove down to the campground which, as it turns out, was CLOSER TO THE LAKE than the portage. I'm thinking someone in the planning staff wasn't thinking too clearly when they came up with that idea. But, lo and behold, there was another canoe access point! I cruised down to look at that. Short trail, easy to drag the canoe to the water. But getting down there through the throngs of beachgoers and motorboats cluttering the beach was going to be an issue. It was still a 50 yard drag...literally and figuratively. The plethora of motorboats in the lake was almost amazing...and their wakes combined with the gusty wind was making the water pretty choppy. No good.
Drink another beer and think about things.
I turned around and figured I'd circle all the way around the lake then come up on the other side and see how that access looked. However, I made it to Nordman...again being tailed and cut off over and over...when I decided I was NOT in the mood for that scene. And what happens if I was to push through all the folks, play slalom with other boaters in the Thorofare, then not be able to find a campsite up there? It would be about 6 o'clock and 2+ miles in with no chance to come back to the car campgrounds to sleep. (Oh, and they say the camping areas in upper Priest are "free" but they still charge you $7 / day to PARK THERE.) No good.
So I did what seemed to make the most sense. I put the hammer down and drove the 2.5 hours back to Coeur d'Alene. All in all, I drove for a little more than five hours for a 1/2 mile walk.
I am not pleased. Perhaps tomorrow I can go find a secluded patch of huckleberries and try THAT on for size.
By the way, can someone please tell me why, when people are on a road one lane in each direction...that they go 10 mph under the speed limit. THEN, when the road opens up to three lanes providing an unencumbered passing lane...all of a sudden they're doing at least 5 mph OVER the speed limit? I just don't understand that at all.
Interesting side note:
My landlord has had someone in the "B&B" behind my apartment for the past week. (There has been someone in there for basically the whole summer. Many strangers, with unlockable access to MY apartment and the opportunity to "share" my deck and look in MY windows....all summer. That isn't a crime waiting to happen.) Anyways, I came home and there was a note on the door and a new car out front..."Tom, I have people staying at the B&B tonight." With her daughter, son-in-law, child, and dog staying upstairs with her for the past two weeks as well...it just cements in my brain that I am living in a f***ing hotel! No good.
As soon as I got most of the stuff out of the truck...who shows up...but my landlord. She has a great ability at being here whenever I'm around. I used that opportunity and my pissed off state of mind to tell her I was going to be moving...basically giving her my 30 days notice on a lease that hasn't been signed in two years, but was only "good" for one year. (Being a nice guy.) She asked when I'd be leaving and I told her I'd begin moving out around the 8th of August into a nice stand-alone house...downtown...gorgeous...with Sarah. I then said, "and I figure we'll just pro-rate my rent for however long I'm here in August.
SHE ACTUALLY HAD AN ISSUE WITH THAT AND WANTED ME TO PAY FOR THE FULL MONTH!!! She said, "Well Tom, most of the time landlords need 30 days notice." I politely (beginning to shake at this point) told her that it WAS basically 30 days. (Let's see...July 18th to August 15th...)
After I played the game of explaining why she wasn't making any sense and kind of being a bitch about trying to just grab an extra $800 from me, we finally came to an agreement that I would pay 1/2 of August. (Which, when one thinks about it...is PRO-RATING!!) Ugh, she's a different critter.
I am so glad I'm leaving here.
I'm tired of today.
Loaded up the canoe and was on the road by 10:15. At 11:00 I had only made it to about Chilco! 45 minutes to get 17 miles...on HIGHWAY 95. Ugh, it wasn't starting out good. Finally made it to Priest River and headed up the 35 miles or so to the lake. Turns out they're doing construction on THAT road too...so instead of being able to cruise at 60 mph, it was restricted to 45 mph. Hmmm...after reaching the lake I still had another 30 minutes or so of driving. Taking a lot longer than I thought. I reached the small town of Priest Lake and found masses upon masses of people obviously up there for the annual "Huckleberry Festival." The ONE weekend out of the summer that they have it is the one I decide to try and find solitude on a canoe trip.
Again..hmmm, not looking so good. As I poked further and further up the lake, the crowds seemed to intensify. Every turnout had at least 10 cars jammed in it. The traffic was unbelievable for that area. Every campground had a little sign out front that said it was full. "No worries, I'll be able to get away from people by putting in a little paddling" I thought quietly to myself in between yelling at folks tailgating me. So I made it to the trail that led down to the lake. Wait a minute...a PORTAGE? I figured there would be some nice little ramp / access so I wouldn't have to carry my weighty "scanoe" to the water. (It doesn't even have a yoke.) I walked down the portage thinking maybe it'd be short...negative...about 1/4 of a mile and a decent grade to boot! Got to the water and the first thing I saw was a party barge with a bunch of people on it headed to the upper lake...with the radio BLARING! Not exactly the solitude I was in the mood for. No good.
Drink a beer and think about things.
While thinking...I happened to notice that I had to park in the street just to stop at this large parking lot. Looking around, I counted about 30 cars...all there for the same reason. To get to the upper lake. Hmmm...I wonder if it'll be crowded up there?
Drove down to the campground which, as it turns out, was CLOSER TO THE LAKE than the portage. I'm thinking someone in the planning staff wasn't thinking too clearly when they came up with that idea. But, lo and behold, there was another canoe access point! I cruised down to look at that. Short trail, easy to drag the canoe to the water. But getting down there through the throngs of beachgoers and motorboats cluttering the beach was going to be an issue. It was still a 50 yard drag...literally and figuratively. The plethora of motorboats in the lake was almost amazing...and their wakes combined with the gusty wind was making the water pretty choppy. No good.
Drink another beer and think about things.
I turned around and figured I'd circle all the way around the lake then come up on the other side and see how that access looked. However, I made it to Nordman...again being tailed and cut off over and over...when I decided I was NOT in the mood for that scene. And what happens if I was to push through all the folks, play slalom with other boaters in the Thorofare, then not be able to find a campsite up there? It would be about 6 o'clock and 2+ miles in with no chance to come back to the car campgrounds to sleep. (Oh, and they say the camping areas in upper Priest are "free" but they still charge you $7 / day to PARK THERE.) No good.
So I did what seemed to make the most sense. I put the hammer down and drove the 2.5 hours back to Coeur d'Alene. All in all, I drove for a little more than five hours for a 1/2 mile walk.
I am not pleased. Perhaps tomorrow I can go find a secluded patch of huckleberries and try THAT on for size.
By the way, can someone please tell me why, when people are on a road one lane in each direction...that they go 10 mph under the speed limit. THEN, when the road opens up to three lanes providing an unencumbered passing lane...all of a sudden they're doing at least 5 mph OVER the speed limit? I just don't understand that at all.
Interesting side note:
My landlord has had someone in the "B&B" behind my apartment for the past week. (There has been someone in there for basically the whole summer. Many strangers, with unlockable access to MY apartment and the opportunity to "share" my deck and look in MY windows....all summer. That isn't a crime waiting to happen.) Anyways, I came home and there was a note on the door and a new car out front..."Tom, I have people staying at the B&B tonight." With her daughter, son-in-law, child, and dog staying upstairs with her for the past two weeks as well...it just cements in my brain that I am living in a f***ing hotel! No good.
As soon as I got most of the stuff out of the truck...who shows up...but my landlord. She has a great ability at being here whenever I'm around. I used that opportunity and my pissed off state of mind to tell her I was going to be moving...basically giving her my 30 days notice on a lease that hasn't been signed in two years, but was only "good" for one year. (Being a nice guy.) She asked when I'd be leaving and I told her I'd begin moving out around the 8th of August into a nice stand-alone house...downtown...gorgeous...with Sarah. I then said, "and I figure we'll just pro-rate my rent for however long I'm here in August.
SHE ACTUALLY HAD AN ISSUE WITH THAT AND WANTED ME TO PAY FOR THE FULL MONTH!!! She said, "Well Tom, most of the time landlords need 30 days notice." I politely (beginning to shake at this point) told her that it WAS basically 30 days. (Let's see...July 18th to August 15th...)
After I played the game of explaining why she wasn't making any sense and kind of being a bitch about trying to just grab an extra $800 from me, we finally came to an agreement that I would pay 1/2 of August. (Which, when one thinks about it...is PRO-RATING!!) Ugh, she's a different critter.
I am so glad I'm leaving here.
I'm tired of today.
posted by geotracker12 at 4:02 PM
1 Comments:
Oh Tom! Man...quite the story...
So... you are moving in together..did her parents come this month already?
Sounds exciting..did you find a good one (house) or will you share hers?
Let's catch up - I am leaving for Texas on Thursday this week but am returning the 28th...let's talk!
KE
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