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Upper Priest Lake
September 21, 2018
Mile 286.3 - Mile 293.3
Trail 37, Lucky Creek Rd. 43, E Shore Rd.
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Friday started with a bumpy, but much appreciated ride up to our starting point. After a brief conversation with an unsuccessful bear hunter, we began our trek down the mountain. We began about a mile and a half from the top of Lookout Mountain. Although we knew, more or less, where we needed to end up, a lack of signs or markers on this section made things tricky, but not worrisome. We did backtrack a few times but managed to find our way to Lucky Creek Rd which in turn led us to our vehicle on E Shore Rd. As we traveled primarily down hill, we passed through lush green forests, wet tall grassy areas and over a few dark needle covered forest floors. At on trail/road junction the fall colors in contrast to the dark blues of the lake below made for a breathtaking view. This was a wonderful, gentle walk that took us a little over 3 hours with a lunch break and a couple of backtracks.
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September 22, 2018
Mile 293.3 - Mile 298.1
Idaho Centenial Trail
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Late Friday night we were joined by three more friends for our first overnighter on the PNT. We began Saturday morning where we left off on Friday. Our starting location was where the PNT merges with the Idaho Centennial Trail. From start to finish, this trail was well defined with quite good signage. For 5 miles we followed trail 42, crossing Caribou Creek, and continuing north along the east shore of Upper Priest Lake. We used a footbridge to cross Trapper Creek and arrived at our destination, Trapper Campground. We were able to nab a great campsite on a northwest facing beach of Upper Priest Lake.
September 23, 2018
Mile 298.1 - Mile 302.6
Upper Priest Lake Trail 302, Bugle Pass FR 655
After a soggy night and morning we packed up, covered up and headed north, again following the east shoreline. About a half a mile later, we left the shoreline and walked through a damp forest thick with ferns and moss covered logs. 4 miles from camp we intersected with Bugle Pass FR 655. A half mile walk west on this gravel road brought us to our waiting...dry and warm...vehicle. It was a beautiful 2 days in the Priest lake area and we are looking forward to hiking more PNT sections in Idaho! Thanks to my faithful hiking friends and our generous mountain top chauffeur!
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