My wife, a friend and I decided to do something outdoorsy for the weekend so we went canoeing on Wolf Lodge Creek.
Couer d'Alene is a massive lake.
(Note that that downtown Spokane is east along the highway of where the screencap cuts off.
You may be familiar with the Couer d'Alene Resort and Golf Course and its famous floating green. This is where the privileged congregate,....yeah we headed east and got dirty instead.
We put in at a boat launch on Wolf Lodge Bay on eastern Couer d'Alene. It's after where the road dips down and around the bend in the lower left of this Google Earth screencap. We ultimately paddled as far as the trail bridge that is just under the I-90 sign in the upper right of the screencap.
We paddled through the open waters of the bay in relatively calm conditions, under the roadway ("route 97" in the screencap) and into Wolf Lodge Creek.
There we kinda paddled around the little pond and did some unsuccessful light fishing.
After we realized we sucked at fishing....
...we decided to paddle up the creek a little more,....where we encountered a female Moose...
I think she was just checking us out. There is a KOA Campground nearby and she ran/swam in that direction and turned around and came back in our direction. We decided not to tempt fate and went on our way,...she sort of flanked us for a bit before loosing interest and heading off towards the highway. It was pretty intense and if it had been a bull,...we may have been in a bit of trouble.
We got to bring our Min Pin Maggie along with us and after being a little tentative at first she started to feel right at home on the canoe.
She was the perfect size for it and didn't really get in the way. I don't think she had ever gotten to go canoeing before, but she seems to make a great outdoor dog for a "toy".
After we saw the moose we heard what sounded like a litter of wolf or coyote puppies yelping in the hills. I tried to see If I could see them with a pair of binoculars but it was for our ears only. They all seem to quiet down in unison as if mom was alerted to our or someone elses presence. It got our dog's attention.
The wildlife was amazing. A lot of songbirds and in areas they were flying all around us and surrounding. I couldn't get a good picture of that so I tried to get some shots of this red winged blackbird.
This is prime Bald Eagle habitat too and while we definitely saw some birds of prey,...they were flying high and too far to identify.
After a little while we decided to beach and take a break,...we found ourselves in this open prairie. I'm guessing this is flood plain during the melt off,....or not,...but the soil seemed pretty fertile and everything was really green as you can see by the picture.
You can see a full-time residence in the background there so we weren't completely cut off from civilization. Here is where the dog got to run around off leash and go crazy and be a super dog. She found some scat to roll around in (I'll spare you the photographs).
We put in again and paddled a bit further up the creek. We had come across this momma mallard and her brood but weren't really close enough for photos. After we put in again we a little closer so I took the opportunity to snap some shots.
One baby got separated on a bank and called to momma,...who dutifully called back,...here's the baby trying to catch up.
The wife after harassing the wildlife.
This was our last stop before turning around. I'm not sure what to make of this,...some sort of trail bridge but there was no road,...no railroad ties, or anything of the sort,...perhaps it is some sort of utilities thing,...<shruggs>
We beached underneath and had a bit of a light lunch and sat and relaxed in the field.
After putting in again we decided we had enough and turned back around. We had passed this hunting cabin and grain silo on the side and it just seemed to Deliverance to not take a picture of it.
Just some scenery before enter the bay again. We could feel the breeze picking up and creating some light chop on the pond. It was blowing like crazy in the trees,....
...but none of us had the experience to know what was about to happen. I think the fact that there are no pictures of us trying to get back to where we originally put in speaks for itself. The wind on the bay created way too much chop for a canoe,..it was paddle or get capsized. It was really difficult to keep the boat perpendicular to the waves and we had a couple close calls. The dog fared well and hunkered down in the back.
We made our way to the a beach on the outcropping of land just after the road dips down and comes back up before the boat lauch. Our friend walked back to her truck (maybe about a ten minute walk) and came back for the canoe. It was a harrowing and adrenaline pumping experience. We paddled our arses off.
One final parting shot.
Lessons learned,...put in closer to the mouth of the creek,...or on the creek. Paddle close to shore in choppy open waters. Learn how to (fly) fish. 3 people rowing a canoe are better than two. Pack in a Coleman stove and have fresh french press on a pond. Pack in camping gear and make and actual weekend out of it.
