08/16/02:
Got a haircut in Columbia Falls yesterday and came on over to Hungry Horse Reservoir. Stopped off at the first dirt road on the west shore and found a nice campsite. The dirt road led down to the reservoir but several tents and a trailer were already there. A short ways of the main road I found a free campground but it too was jammed with many campers and trailers parked on the stone beach.
I had company for breakfast this morning. No sooner had I gotten up than a doe showed up 100 feet away. I watched her for a while and then went about making breakfast. When I looked up she was about 50 feet away. Sitting there having a cup of tea she came within 20-30 feet of me. She didn't seem to mind noise but if I moved my hand she'd take off... but then would return.
Disappointed this morning with high winds and storm clouds. Took a drive around the reservoir. Big waves and lots of white caps. Dark clouds and some light rain. Very pretty lake with no development, forested ridges with peaks and ranges behind them. Will hang around to see if I can get on the water over the coming weekend.
With all the people already here I suspect things might really get crowded over the weekend.
08/16/02 Paddling Hungry Horse Reservoir:
I found some nice campsites in a small cove yesterday, just before the rains came. Days like that make me glad I'm camping out of the truck now and not a tent.
A short inlet leads from the cove out into the reservoir. After the rains I took a quick paddle out to see what I would see. Very nice.
Temperatures in the low 30's last night. Lots of dew and condensation but no frost or ice. My fingers were pretty cold making breakfast though. Had wool socks, gloves, fleece vest and windbreaker on when I hit the water at 7:45am.
A heavy mist was rising off the cove and inlet when I launched. A woman later told me she watched me as I paddled away and I just gradually disappeared into the mist and she wished she'd had her camera. Of course all the women say that when they see me coming... ha, ha!
Bright sun awaited me on the reservoir and no mist at all. I had kinda planned on heading north for no particular reason but a 10mph wind and 1 foot waves convinced me I'd rather have them against me early in the morning than on the way back.
The east side of the lake is all forested hills and slopes backed by ranges and peaks. Very pretty. The west side is kinda the same but on a smaller scale. The reservoir is 2+ miles wide at this point, somewhere near the north end.
Crashing into the small waves soon convinced me to put the spray skirt on. I can do that in the Perception Acadia because it is wide enough and stable enough for the squirming around required.
Around 10am the wind and waves died down and I continued on for another hour or so. The GPS said about 6 miles and I thought that was far enough for today. I turned back into some wind but after a half hour or so it died out and the water was almost like glass.
08/18/02 Paddling Hungry Horse Reservoir:
40's last night, some thunder and lightning and some rain. Just a little mist rising off the inlet as I paddled out. Small waves in the inlet became larger ones as I paddled out. 10 mph wind generating 1.5+ waves.
I was out bouncing around in them when I felt water lapping against my ankle.
Checked the spray skirt but it was dry and firmly attached. Popped the
spray skirt and sure enough, lots of water in the bottom swirling around. Hmmmm!
Got the big sponge and started bailing, slopping as much on my legs as I dumped back in the lake. After a couple of minutes I hadn't made any progress. If it wasn't coming in from the top, it must be coming in from the bottom. OMAGOD! I'm sinking.
Got back to shore and pulled the kayak up on the beach and water just poured out from the stern. Since I paddle alone, to get the kayak on and off the truck I have to set it up on end, lean it against the truck and go from there. Over the last 2.5 years that has caused a lot of wear on the little keel thing I rest it on. I thought that was a solid piece of plastic but apparently not.
I went in to Kalispell for some marine sealant and applied it to the inside and put a lot of duct tape on the outside. A couple hours later I checked to see if it was dry yet but is was still runny. Reading the directions I find it takes 48 hours before its not tacky and 7 days to cure. Sh*t!
08/23/02:
I can't paddle because the sealant hasn't set yet and I didn't feel like hiking so spent the last couple of days exploring. The West Side Road is closed 30 miles into the Hungry Horse Reservoir so I went all the way back out and headed up the East Side Road.
Lots of camping, paddling and hiking opportunities over there too, including several boat launches with free campsites. Spotted Bear Wilderness Area is back there too, all the way at the end of the 55 mile long, dusty road.
Then I drove up to Lake Koocanusa on the Montana/Idaho/Canada border. This lake is 50 miles or so long with big, steep slopes, ranges and peaks all around it and no development. Lots of camping, paddling and hiking opportunities over there too and I definitely want to spend a couple of weeks there.
I'm back at Hungry Horse Reservoir again with another couple days to wait for the sealant. I'll be looking into hiking in Jewel Basin over the weekend.
08/27/02 Paddling From Doris Creek Landing:
It's been 8 days since I applied the initial dose of sealant to the inside of the sea kayak. I did apply more to the outside the next day and still more the day after. Some of it is still a little soft but I can't wait no more, I gotta get out on the water.
I was passing the Doris Creek Landing yesterday when I saw it wasn't wall to wall people as it had been. This is the most popular of the free camping areas on the west side of the reservoir.
I parked on the stone covered beach last night and was raring to go this morning. I taped a wash cloth to the stern to absorb any pressure and dumped it in the water. Pressing down on the stern left the inside nice and dry. So, off I went.
Skies were gray and overcast but didn't really feel like rain. Low lieing clouds and fog swirled amongst the peaks and valleys as I paddled out the small inlet into the larger channel and then out into the reservoir. Passed a couple of coves, one with a couple of cars near the shore, the other with a boat ramp. Presumably that is Doris Creek Campground.
Out in the reservoir there was some wind but only small waves. Steep, rounded, forested hills surround the lake from the east, south and west. To the north, however, is a long range of peaks, some visible, some obscured by haze, clouds and fog.
I didn't want to go west because the Hungry Horse Dam is down there 4-5 miles. I thought I'd go east tomorrow so that left north, across the reservoir, 2.5 miles or so.
About the time I got over there it started to rain, nothing heavy but it got my attention. I had my rain gear on but prudence dictated I head back anyway. It continued to rain the rest of the morning.
08/28/02 Paddling From Doris Creek Landing:
Waited much of the day for the guy I was supposed to go paddling with and finally went out by myself. Kinda late so I headed down towards the dam, 4-5 miles in the distance. Just paddled down to a small island you can see from the dam and then came back.
08/29/02 Paddling From Doris Creek Landing:
40's last night and a lot of condensation this morning. Sun was out but things were still kinda hazy. When I turned east, up the reservoir I got the sun full force reflecting off the water and dug out the sunglasses right away.
Heavily forested hills rising 200-400 feet to the south. Lower hills to the north but high enough to block out the range of peaks beyond. 30 minutes into the trip a 5-10mph wind from the northeast created 1 foot swells and that slowed me down some.
15-20 minutes of that the lake widened from 1/2 mile to 1 1/2 miles and the peaks came back into view. These peaks seemed a little more dramatic than the ones closer to the dam and a little more interesting. The position of the sun caused them to be fronted by some fairly thick haze.
I paddled out 6 miles or so in 2.5 hours, took a break and paddled back in about 2 hours.
08/30/02 Paddling From Lid Creek Boat Ramp:
Wrote this report this other day but lost it fooling around with the web site so here goes again, from memory this time.
Put in at the Lid Creek Boat Ramp around 8:30am. Temperature in the 50's with 5-10mph wind.
I could see right away I had paddled a couple of miles past this point yesterday but its worth doing again.
1.5 foot waves kept my paddling speed down where I wouldn't get wind burn. I may have overdone things just a bit yesterday. My left shoulder has been cracking when I paddle in a relaxed position and use my arms rather than my shoulders for most of the power. Sitting up straight, with my arms extended and using my back and shoulders for power seems OK. I did have a continuous ache and turned back after 2.5 miles or so.
09/01/02 Hiking Clayton Creek Trail (7.5 miles round trip):
The goal today is Clayton Lake, part of the Jewel Basin. Big winds hit me as I approached the trailhead. Sure glad I'm not out paddling today. 50's at 8:30am and 4500 feet.
Looking at a Jewel Basin map I bought at the ranger station I estimated 600 feet up and then 600 feet down and then back up again. I dunno what I was looking at because that wasn't right.
The trail begins with a moderate upward slope and continued that way for the entire hike. The trail was overgrown with grasses, lots of raspberries and huckleberries. Some red raspberries but most had already been picked over leaving mostly green ones. The huckleberries, if that's what they were, were still green at this altitude.
The berries and several big piles of bear scat had me banging my walking stick on any handy rocks or trees to announce my presence to any nearby bears.
Got to Clayton Lake after 2.3 miles and the wind was really howling. The trail continues around the lake. I chose the trail to the left because of the mountains over there. I wanted to get the ups and downs out of the way.
Several nice lakeside campsites and a couple fishermen on the windward side of the lake. Coming back the other side of the lake found large black clouds moving around and I picked up the pace a little.
Met 20 or more people heading up the trail as I started down, most carrying fishing poles. Got back to the trailhead before the rains.
09/07/02:
Just been hanging out with some new friends from Colorado and letting my shoulder heal for the past several days. I have a large tape collection and they do too. For all of that there were fewer duplicates than expected. Taped 15 90 minutes tapes or so and gave them a similar amount back.
I was showing a guy with a white water kayak how to do a self rescue, the first time I tried it with my Perception Acadia. It has a rear, leaky, Styrofoam bulkhead but none in the front. The rear hatch cover popped off during the rescue allowing the boat to become completely full of water. I got into it in perfectly calm water (hey, where else are you going to be able to do a self rescue?) but I was the only thing above waterline. I insisted on pulling the boat out by myself and had a really hard time of it. Lessons learned!
He, of course had no bulkheads in his white water kayak but he did have a rear floatation bag. His result were a little different. When he got back into his kayak, the front was filled with water and sank while he and the stern were vertical. Sitting there with just his chest and head and the rear of his yellow kayak above water he looked like one of those coneheads from the 60's or 70's. I laughed at him till I cried but more lessons learned.