Okanogan Day 3: Lake Beth to Curlew Lake via Curlew by Emily

July 21
45 Miles, 1,066' Climbing.

We knew today was about 800' of climbing, so I was expecting it to be an easy day.  "Easy."  Hmm.  My legs were pretty shot from yesterday.

First we said goodbye to Lake Beth, and admired the reflections of pine forests again.  It was a long, lovely ride to the town of Curlew, along rivers and lakes, surrounded by stunning geology.   We were delighted to see several more pairs of loons in the larger lakes we passed.

Goodbye Lake Beth!!

As we admired the geology along the way, we pulled from our knowledge gained at the Ginko petrified forest place.  It was lava flows and glacial work, Earth's art work.  I could see the vertical grooves in the rock, from glaciers, and the layers and layers of lava, different colors and densities.  

We emerged from the pine forest to a river valley of grasslands and more deciduous trees, dotted with cattle ranches and creeks.   It continued to be a long, dry travel to Curlew, with some strong winds.  At one point, as we neared town, I was startled by a white truck that refused to give us any room and blasted its horn.  The kind of driver who insists that the lane is theirs, and if we're on the road we ought to be going traffic speed or get out of the way.  Sign.  It really scared me, and then I felt mad and wanted to chase the driver down to speak my mind.    Jay talked me out of it.  

Great food and great service.  Good people here.

Along our left was a beautiful wide river.  Several trucks full of inner tubes and families passed us. It looked to be a perfect river for tubing, and they were getting an early start before the sun really started baking.  We arrived in the town of Curlew which struck me as a depressed, down on its luck town. The people I met did not seem friendly or welcoming.  We ate a bit at the store (I had a bean burrito) and then headed on our way.    As we left Curlew, we passed Tugboats, which came highly recommended. they had a sign up for fish and chips, so we decided to add some fuel to our bodies and split an order, along with coffee/chai.  YUM.   And the owner was so congeniel and helpful. He regularly hosts large numbers of bicyclists and motorcyclists, as this region is frequented by many.  The owner was a tugboat operator and when he retired he moved to Curlew and started the store.  

Map of Curlew Lake

Looking at our maps, we had a dry 10 mile trip down to Curlew State Park, so we filled all bottles with ice water.  The rail trail there (which runs all the way into Canada and is a pride and joy of the local community) went directly to Curlew lake, so we took it for a while out of Curlew until it turned to rough gravel. Then we jumped back on the main highway (a 2 lane main thoroughfare with low traffic).  We were passed innumerable times by a rude person with fishing poles in his small red car. He kept dashing past us, only to turn in front of us to get off the road to check a fishing hole.

Shade in Malo, but that was all!

A spot of shade on the hot, hot road we found in the stop of Malo. The store there was closed, couldn't tell if it was permanent or temporary. We rested, guzzled water, and got back on the road.      Eventually, we got back onto the rail trail which was hard-packed gravel, and a delight after the traffic of the day. It wound serenely around the lake, and dropped us off on the road, with a very steep short hill (Heron Road!) up to the highway, and then backtracked 2 miles against a headwind on a slight uphill to the entrance to the park.  Though our route around the lake on the rail trail added 5 miles to our route, and an additional 200' of climbing (that short hill!), it was so worth it.    Ferry County Rail Trail:  http://www.ferrycountyrailtrail.com/maps.htm   (trail map at link.  this trail goes all the way into Canada, but is for mountain bikes due to gravel/dirt).

Rail trail dappled shade.

Crown jewel of the Ferry County rail trail, this bridge.

The lake, from the rail trail looking across to the state park where we would camp.

The view from our hiker biker camp back across lake to the rail trail!

The Hiker/biker camp was on an exposed hill, over looking the lake.  We set up camp, did laundry so it could hang in the warm breeze on our exposed hill.     This lake is very dirty, not like Lake Beth.  Motor boats are allowed on this lake, and there are lots of geese at the shoreline leaving their dropping.  I enjoyed watching a pair of what we assumed to be teens, one on a jet ski, and the other on an inner tube attached to the jet ski with a rope.  They were having a fine good time trying to give each other whip-lash.   We did go swimming--you just had to get far enough out to get past the vegetation.  Then we walked to the camp host to get ice cream, thanks to Jay's folks (happy birthday, Jay!). 

Late afternoon by the lake.

A special moment was recognizing that the trees around us were Jeffrey Pines. These are the same trees that Scott Willison introduced me to, in McCall, ID when our graduate cohort did the ropes course. These trees have bark that smells sweet, like butterscotch or vanilla.   Seeing these trees, and smelling them, brings a smile to my eyes, remembering Scott's joy in sharing them with us.  

Here is a photo of the tree that Scott showed us:

Scott's Jeffery Pine, McCall.

Cribbage by the lake.

The swimming area.

The view from our cribbage spot.

Incredible sky.

   

We returned to the lake edge to play cribbage and take another dip before a "shower" in the outdoor shower.  Dinner was beans and couscous with cheese. And seseme cookies for dessert that I picked up in the Curlew store.  Our sunset was so beautiful, with stunning layers of pink.  then, the stars came out. With so little light pollution in the area, it was unreal how many stars there were.  

Dinner in a pot.   The green bucket by Jay is our wash bucket....$1 Store, and it works great!

All our clothes were dry before bed.   Blue herons flew by in the dusk, as we headed to bed.

Sunset (photo doesn't do it justice).