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Base Camp
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- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: June 3, 2000
- Miles Hiked: 12.0
- Elevation Gain: 200'
- Hiking Partner(s): None
- Description:
- Navigation Trail is located on
the west shores of Upper Priest Lake, which is located approximately 45
miles north of Priest River (ID). After calling around to the
local Ranger Stations, I determined that this would be a good trail to
take for my first backpacking trip of the year. We had 70°
weather all weekend, but there is still a considerable amount of snow
above 5,000'. So not only did I avoid any snow, it was a very mild
hike in terms of difficulty.
- Because of the ease of the
trail, this hike could certainly be a day hike as you can cover a lot of
miles when no elevation gain exists. As a result of this, I
started late in the day in order to arrive at the campground around 7:00
p.m. to allow me just enough time to set up camp and do a little
exploring.
- About 1 1/2 miles into the hike
was Armstrong Meadows where the trail was consideralbly wet and
muddy. Aside from that, the rest of it was already maintained and
looked as though several bikers had already been in the area.
After the meadows you reach Pioneer Cabin and Plowboy Campground at 3
miles. The cabin has definitely seen its better days, and there
were no campers at Plowboy.
- From here, you hike along Upper
Priest Lake for most of the way until reaching Navigation
Campground. This lake is only accessible by foot travel, bike, or
water transportation. Across the lake from Navigation is Trapper
Creek campground. I was under the impression that both sites get
most of their use by boaters.
- I set up camp, had some dinner
and then shared a campfire with another couple that was backpacking at
Navigation before turning in for the night. I think that my wife's
complaining about me hiking alone may have had an effect on my sleeping
also. She disouraged me from going and warned me about being in
bear country. I blew her off (in other words, begged her to let me
go) and went anyways. Well, as I was saying, although I slept ok,
I did have a dream that several bears visited me during the night and
disturbed my camp. She must have psyched me out or something.
- Anyway, I hiked out early the
next morning as I watched the sun rise over the mountains to the east of
the lake. Oh ya, I saw my first two moose of the season too.
I startled a cow and calf near Armstrong Meadows on my way out.
- Maps:
- As you can see, there is minimal
elevation gain as the trail mainly skirts the shore of Upper Priest Lake. The 3D map faces
west.
- Click here to view a 2D map of
the area where this hike is located.
- Click here to view a
3D map of
the area where this hike is located.
- Photographs:
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www.
just
hiking
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