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Horseshoe Lake, July 7

By Gary Pagac

This mid summer waterfall cool-down paddle included six-plus folks: Fred, Kelly the scuba person, Clark Johnston, Barbara Taketa, Myself, my lovely wife Ruth, and our soon to be born son, Hunter. Right off the bat, Fred had a problem with his golf-cart trailer/kayak trailer...it broke on the gravel road to the lake. Clark and Barbara noticed the problem straight-away and helped them.

We all launched together, checked out that little-spit-of-a-creek flowing in, then headed straight for the waterfall..with it's cooling, medicinal qualities. That is such a wonderful waterfall in summer...and it was flowing better than I had hoped for. It is the West Branch of the Little Spokane River. Clark hiked up around the waterfall and reported back that the trail was severely overgrown and was impassable. This is definitely an odd occurrence. None of us ventured the hike after that...we were happy with the waterfall pounding upon our paddling muscles. Ruth snorkeled around looking for fish and what-have-you, then we proceeded on.

We paddled on to the shallow leg of the lake...saw turtles, fish, and my pregnant wife abruptly blurted "Stork!!!" I see a Great Blue Heron starting to fly. Ruth is clearly thinking baby..we all laughed with her, and she thought it was good EddyLine material! I mean, I have our son on my mind a lot these days since she's due on August 20, but sheese, she's got a more direct perspective for sure!

Fred and Kelly left us shortly thereafter since they had other engagements, but I'll tell you, we all had a great time. While it is a semi-popular local lake, it has a lot of fabulous qualities: fishing is OK (despite what the Paddle Trails book says), the cooling waterfall, and the resort that Cliff and Marvel run - these all make that lake a great place to visit!

I cannot help myself - this Resort, Westbrook Resort, is a grand addition to the experience. Ruth and I spent part of our Honeymoon there. They have A-Frames, a large Cabin, and tent camping spots for rent. They do not allow radios or other obnoxious items to be used there. It is a quiet, laid-back experience.

This was a fabulous paddling trip, and we hope other folks will experience this lake.