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Coeur d'Alene, Cataldo to Rose Lake

By Tracy Wilson-Burns

An optimistic weather forecast of partly cloudy, partly sunny skies and seasonably warm temperatures in the mid 40s turned into the more predictable cold, rainy, Northern Idaho day that we've come to expect. However, on November 23rd, ten of us hardy souls braved the dismal weather for a flatwater trip on the Coeur d'Alene River, from Cataldo to Rose Lake.

As Brian and I loaded our boats at 5:30am, it was dark and drizzling. When we met up with Jim Harless (who was going to paddle tandem with Brian while I paddled solo in my sea kayak) at the Starbucks on Argonne at 6:30am, it was dark and cold. While we scouted possible take-outs near Rose Lake around 7:30am, it was drizzling and gloomy.

We arrived at the Snakepit early, around 8:10am and raced inside through the rain. As we finished our breakfast we were joined by Mernie and Charlie Matthews, and Rosemarie Bisiar and Harvey Brown, all of whom reported that it was still raining.

We headed for the put-in at the boat launch at Cataldo where we met up with Jill and Bob Kassa and Nancy Anderson. It continued to rain. It was feeling colder. We set the shuttle.

We put on around 10:45 with two solo sea kayaks, one tandem Klepper sea kayak, and three tandem canoes. Our launch coincided perfectly with a drying of the skies and we set a relaxed paddling pace, enjoying the scenery. We had occasional spits of drizzle, but nothing more. Around 12:30 we stopped for lunch alongside the new bicycle trail and made use of a picnic table under a canopy of pines. A few folks had chilled toes, but for the most part we weren't too uncomfortable.

After lunch we paddled for the take-out, about two hours away. The scenery was the quiet, haunting scenery of the area, predominated by greenery and cold white mist.

We arrived at the take-out around 2:30 and we were done unloading our gear and loading our cars by 2:45.

This was a fun trip in less than ideal conditions (we discussed during lunch that "ideal" meant Hawaii on the beach under palm trees), but it gave us a chance to get outside and spend time on the water with friends.

Thanks to everyone who braved the trip and special thanks to the shuttle drivers and carpooling drivers.

This was a pick-up-trip that was posted on both the SCKC web site and the SCKC group email list. To get notice of other pick-up-trips, visit the SCKC web site www.sckc.ws and/or join the SCKC group email list at yahoogroups.com, described in the Eddy Line newsletter.