Thanks for the lovely daydream - a great addition to an already great start tot his week. I have to get to work but that won't be so difficult now that I spent yesterday at one of our Beautiful BC lakes soaking up the views of mountain forests, calm water while sitting on the shore sometimes soaking in the cool lake and then hiking through the spagnum draped, forest of amazing Douglas Fir, cedar and maple 'giants'. Your Idaho wilderness is spectacular! You had that place to yourselves and the lovely mode of transport your kayaks - I've been dreaming of doing that for years; your video has really motivated me to make that dream come true.
I would strongly recommend that if you have been wanting to try kayaking to just jump in. My wife and I had been wanting to for years as well, now we look at each other and wonder why we haven't kayaked much earlier in our lives.
Hey forgot to tell you we found a wonderful patch of - yes!! those big dark blue huckleberries and stopped to eat a few - they aren't very sweet but I thought they'd make great preserves especially combined with a sweeter berry. We soon turned onto a larger trail that had more sun exposure and there found the best of the bright red huckleberries I've ever found - those were twice as big as what we find down the mountain and delicious so we stayed and ate handfuls. I hope to go back soon with a bucket and try my hand at making preserves or pie. Still a little nervous about going too deep into those forests and encountering a berry eating bear family. Loved this video - felt like I got to go along through that peaceful Thoroughfare a real treat on a stay-on-task work-day Monday morning. You two are my kind of people!!
I definitely hope you can gather enough for the preserves or pie! We love huckleberry pie at our place! The Thoroughfare was truly a treat, we want to go back and do it again some day for sure!
Headed up to Priest from Coeur d'Alene next week. Thanks for videos! Why did you drive all the way around the lake and not just go up to Lionhead Campground to enter? I have been planning parking at Lionhead should I be aware of an issue?
Did it cost to park your vehicle at Beaver Creek Camp ground? Last summer I took 4 days to kayak all of lower Priest Lake. We started at the very southern end at a boat launch. I would do it again. The islands are fun to camp on, you just have to reserve your spot(s) prior and keep an eye on the weather. The lake was very choppy but nothing I could not navigate. Kayak camping is epic.
Thanks for the video! We are in North Idaho and plan on checking out Priest Lake and found out about this Thorofare. Is there somewhere to rent kayaks close to it? Also I read the current is rough this time of year so is it dangerous? I'll check with the rangers when we get there but we would love to enjoy the peace and quiet and scenery there.
Hello! I believe Elkins is the northern most boat rental on the west side of the lake (where we put in to go through the throrfare.) www.elkinsresort.com/activities/rentals-at-priest-lake/ However, they are not all that close to the spot you put in, so you would need to have a trailer or means to pull them or rack them. In regards to the current, yes. We did this mid June and the thorofare was still a little high. I would strongly recommend speaking with the rangers to see how they feel about it. Runoff and water levels are different every year based on snowfall. I do want to offer one tip however as we became very discouraged at one point in our trip. Probably 2,000 feet before we reached where Caribou Creek flows into the thorofare we received some much more difficult currents we were paddling against. We didn't realize the creek entered the thorofare and thought it would be that way to the upper lake, we had almost decided we wouldn't make the full trip. The moment we passed the section where Caribou Creek entered the thorofare the paddling became pretty easy again. So, don't get discouraged, work hard to get past that part then the paddling is smooth after that. Also keep in mind that the paddle back won't be nearly as hard as it was going to the upper lake. The paddle back was relaxing and easy going, which was good because we were tired! I hope you have the time of your life! Please report back, I'd love to hear about it!
It took us a few hours but we were in no hurry. Honestly, you could probably do it in 2 hours or a little less. Kind of depends on your kayak, the shape your in, wind and other things. I recommend however, to leave yourself a lot of time and take as long as it takes to make it fun. Coming back is down stream and much faster. The place we stopped at was on the upper Priest Lake. It wasn't too far from the entrance of the lake. It's easy to find on maps because there was a big rock sticking out of the water right next to it. Its on the East side toward the entrance. Not sure it has a name, but it was a nice little camping spot. It was not in a an actual campground.
Your volume is too low. I turned my volume up all the way and tried to turn the video up farther, but I'm older and my hearing is not so good. And no, I don't have a hearing aid.
Thanks for the lovely daydream - a great addition to an already great start tot his week.
I have to get to work but that won't be so difficult now that I spent yesterday at one of our Beautiful BC lakes soaking up the views of mountain forests, calm water while sitting on the shore sometimes soaking in the cool lake and then hiking through the spagnum draped, forest of amazing Douglas Fir, cedar and maple 'giants'. Your Idaho wilderness is spectacular! You had that place to yourselves and the lovely mode of transport your kayaks - I've been dreaming of doing that for years; your video has really motivated me to make that dream come true.
I would strongly recommend that if you have been wanting to try kayaking to just jump in. My wife and I had been wanting to for years as well, now we look at each other and wonder why we haven't kayaked much earlier in our lives.
Hey forgot to tell you we found a wonderful patch of - yes!! those big dark blue huckleberries and stopped to eat a few - they aren't very sweet but I thought they'd make great preserves especially combined with a sweeter berry. We soon turned onto a larger trail that had more sun exposure and there found the best of the bright red huckleberries I've ever found - those were twice as big as what we find down the mountain and delicious so we stayed and ate handfuls. I hope to go back soon with a bucket and try my hand at making preserves or pie. Still a little nervous about going too deep into those forests and encountering a berry eating bear family. Loved this video - felt like I got to go along through that peaceful Thoroughfare a real treat on a stay-on-task work-day Monday morning. You two are my kind of people!!
I definitely hope you can gather enough for the preserves or pie! We love huckleberry pie at our place! The Thoroughfare was truly a treat, we want to go back and do it again some day for sure!
Headed up to Priest from Coeur d'Alene next week. Thanks for videos! Why did you drive all the way around the lake and not just go up to Lionhead Campground to enter? I have been planning parking at Lionhead should I be aware of an issue?
Did it cost to park your vehicle at Beaver Creek Camp ground? Last summer I took 4 days to kayak all of lower Priest Lake. We started at the very southern end at a boat launch. I would do it again. The islands are fun to camp on, you just have to reserve your spot(s) prior and keep an eye on the weather. The lake was very choppy but nothing I could not navigate. Kayak camping is epic.
Thank you for the video’s , we are heading over there July 20.
Right on Robert, hope you guys have an amazing time!
Thanks for the video! We are in North Idaho and plan on checking out Priest Lake and found out about this Thorofare. Is there somewhere to rent kayaks close to it? Also I read the current is rough this time of year so is it dangerous? I'll check with the rangers when we get there but we would love to enjoy the peace and quiet and scenery there.
Hello! I believe Elkins is the northern most boat rental on the west side of the lake (where we put in to go through the throrfare.) www.elkinsresort.com/activities/rentals-at-priest-lake/ However, they are not all that close to the spot you put in, so you would need to have a trailer or means to pull them or rack them. In regards to the current, yes. We did this mid June and the thorofare was still a little high. I would strongly recommend speaking with the rangers to see how they feel about it. Runoff and water levels are different every year based on snowfall. I do want to offer one tip however as we became very discouraged at one point in our trip. Probably 2,000 feet before we reached where Caribou Creek flows into the thorofare we received some much more difficult currents we were paddling against. We didn't realize the creek entered the thorofare and thought it would be that way to the upper lake, we had almost decided we wouldn't make the full trip. The moment we passed the section where Caribou Creek entered the thorofare the paddling became pretty easy again. So, don't get discouraged, work hard to get past that part then the paddling is smooth after that. Also keep in mind that the paddle back won't be nearly as hard as it was going to the upper lake. The paddle back was relaxing and easy going, which was good because we were tired! I hope you have the time of your life! Please report back, I'd love to hear about it!
Which campground did you stop at and how long did it take you to kayak to it?
It took us a few hours but we were in no hurry. Honestly, you could probably do it in 2 hours or a little less. Kind of depends on your kayak, the shape your in, wind and other things. I recommend however, to leave yourself a lot of time and take as long as it takes to make it fun. Coming back is down stream and much faster. The place we stopped at was on the upper Priest Lake. It wasn't too far from the entrance of the lake. It's easy to find on maps because there was a big rock sticking out of the water right next to it. Its on the East side toward the entrance. Not sure it has a name, but it was a nice little camping spot. It was not in a an actual campground.
Your volume is too low. I turned my volume up all the way and tried to turn the video up farther, but I'm older and my hearing is not so good. And no, I don't have a hearing aid.
Mike, thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate that. I will definitely keep that in mind on future videos.