Paddling the Thorofare to Upper Priest Lake

Hi Blog!

Friday, July 14, 2017, was our first full day in Coolin, Idaho on the banks of Priest Lake. The history of the lake dates back almost 10,000 years to the end of the last ice age. After the vast glaciers that covered most of the area receded and vegetation started to re-grow, humans started to resettle the area. This is evident from historical artifacts found in the area and ancient rock art along the lake.

The first white settlers arrived in the early 19th century. These early settlers were mainly fur trappers who quickly established trade with the native Kalispel Tribe. Jesuit Priests would eventually settle the lake in the 1840s and establish a base camp at Kalispell Bay. The Indians had called the lake Kaniksu but Father DeSmet renamed it “Roothaan Lake” in honor of a childhood friend, Father Roothan. People had a hard time spelling and pronouncing this name, and by 1865 Captain John Mullan had renamed the lake back to Kaniksu. The Indian word "Kaniksu" translates in English to “black robe," which is what the Priests wore. From this reference, the name slowly changed from Kaniksu to Priest Lake over time, along with the river flowing from it becoming Priest River.

This was our first view of Priest Lake as we prepared to set out in the kayaks:

The lower part of Priest Lake is almost 19 miles long. That's a little too much for a single day's kayak. We learned there is a three mile long channel that leads from Priest Lake to Upper Priest Lake, known as the Thoroughfare. Upper Priest Lake is a Scenic Area completely surround by National Forest. In contrast to the lower, larger, main Priest Lake, which has been heavily developed, the only development in the area of Upper Priest Lake is national forest campsites that are only accessible by foot or by boat.

We started our journey at the Beaver Creek Campground boat launch.

In order to reach the Thoroughfare, we had to paddle around a 1,400-foot-long timber breakwater at the north end of Priest Lake, which was intended to manage sediment from the upper lake while providing wave and erosion protection to landowners at the north end of Priest Lake. It wasn't until after we paddled around the full length of the breakwater - both out and back - that we discovered a short portage. We took note of the location for our return trip.

It wasn't long before we left the speedboats and water skiiers behind. Motor boats are allowed on Upper Priest Lake, but the entire Thoroughfare is a "No Wake Zone." Every once in a while, an adventurous boater would putt-putt by. Along this portion of the Thoroughfare, we were buzzed by an osprey and glared at by a doe.

While the motorboats had to take care to keep to the deepest part of the river, we were free to paddle about. We each paddled a different side of this little island.

We heard a very strange sound coming down from Upper Priest Lake. As the sound got closer, we could make out three kayaks. It wasn't until they were in shouting distance that we realized:  one of the kayakers had a huskie dog in the kayak with them. The dog was whining either because Dad wasn't paddling fast enough or because the puppy wanted to take a swim.

Before long, we arrived at Upper Priest Lake. Earlier, we had asked a paddle boarder for a recommendation for a lunch spot. He told us to turn right and we would see the sandy beaches of Geisingers Campground. From our lunch spot, we could see the north end of the lake. Cananda is only 24 miles further north.

After lunch, we took a short spin around the southern end of the lake. We got a late start today, so there wasn't enough time to paddle the whole lake.

We did spend a few minutes paddling through these spooky reeds. When you looked down at them, they appeared to grow larger and looked like they were reaching up to grab you.

As it was getting later in the day, boat traffic up and down the Thoroughfare had lessened. The locals were now starting to come out to play. Here Daddy duck was leading his brood across the channel while Mommy duck was bringing up the rear.

Unfortunately, with all the human traffic on waterway, some of the locals have taken to begging. We feel bad, but a fed duck is a dead duck.

On the way to Upper Priest Lake, we had passed the entrance to Caribou Creek and had promised ourselves we would explore it on the way back. Just after we entered the creek, there were a number of tree trunks blocking our way. We had just enough draft to clear the obstacles. We are so glad we did. The late afternoon light and the crystal clear water made for mystical kayaking.

It was so calm and still, we hated to even paddle for fear of disturbing the picture.

After about a half mile or serene beauty, we encountered another treefall -- only this would required a portage to get around; so we decided to make this our turnaround point. We let the current bring us back and just enjoyed floating on the still water.

Back in the Thoroughfare we encountered this boat pulling a bunch of people on a floating matt. Three of the revelers were trying to sit on camp chairs on top of the mat.   They shouted something about how much harder it is to do when you've been drinking.  Just another day on Priest Lake. While most boaters respected the No Wake Zone, there were a few who zipped by us blaring their music as loud as they could. We will keep this in mind next time we look for a lake to paddle.

We found the sandy area we noted earlier at the start of the breakwater and pulled our kayaks up and over. This saved us about a half mile of paddling. It was already 4:30 and we still had another mile or so to go to get back to the boat launch.

We were worried when the wind picked up earlier in the afternoon that we would have to fight a headwind getting back to the launch once we crossed the breakwater back into the larger lake. However, we found the lake much calmer than when we left it originally to head up the Thoroughfare. Just lucky, I guess.

Tomorrow is the Priest Lake Huckleberry Festival. Looking forward to some berry good eats!