Camping at Bell Bay

When the pioneers were heading west they would send out scouts to blaze the trail and find the best areas in which their group could set up camp.  In the modern sense of the word our scouts did the same thing.  John and Loretta Sutherland loaded up their camper and Scout, their dog, and drove down to Bell Bay on Thursday and established our camp for the weekend.  In doing so the Sutherlands base camp, infamous #14, was claimed for the party of truck campers. 

Linda and I were able to leave Coeur d’Alene early Friday morning after loading the gear in the camper, attaching the boat and making sure we had everything you could possibly want with us.   Our game plan was developed and we had talked it through, I would drive us down to Harrison and unload the boat then Linda would drive over to Bell Bay with the truck and trailer.  In the mean time I would drive the boat quickly over to the docks at Bell Bay and then walk up and then park the trailer and camper for the weekend.  Everything went flawless!  The only minor glitch happened when I finished up putting through the no wake zone and I hit the throttle. I made the classic beginner boaters mistake, I looked up over the windshield and immediately lost my hat!  I circled round and picked up the hat with my fish net and was off.

Linda proceeded to Bell Bay campground where John and Loretta were camped.  The Sutherlands met me at the dock and we tied up the boat. By that time Linda had arrived and we all worked to get me backed into our spot and get the trailer off and in its weekend resting place.  Once all that was complete we had some lunch and settled in for the weekend.

After lunch John and I headed for the boat and we went out fishing.  We motored down towards Harrison fishing for Kokanee as we went. We picked up a few but we came to the conclusion that we were going a wee bit too fast.  I started the kicker, but it was not running very well.  John confirmed that he felt it needed adjusting so we shut it down and headed for Thompson Lake.  I have an appointment on Tuesday to get the motor checked so I wasn’t disappointed; I kind of figured it needed some attention.  We fished the afternoon away.  John caught a nice small mouth, but I haven’t fished enough to be able to get into the lake and massacre the fish. That will come with more time on the water and a lot more experience.

As it got a bit later in the day we headed home where the ladies were sitting in the sun and reading.  We ate dinner that evening and sat around the campfire, John and I talking about fishing, my boat and our next adventure Linda and Loretta rolling their eyes and smiling.

Saturday Linda got up and went for her usual morning run.  She ran south on the road leading to Harrison.  When she was about halfway to her “out” distance she spotted something just off the road in the woods.  She said “My first thought was that it was an emu, and then as I looked longer it looked more like an elk or moose!”  She said it turned and ran and when that happened she was able to rule out Emu.  With this announcement we all started laughing.  We were all wondering how she could mix up an elk or moose with and emu.

John and I went out trolling for Kokanee and Chinook salmon. I did the Kokanee thing; John tried for the big guys. Once again it was clear that we needed the kicker motor.  We had hits and caught fish when we were trolling into the wind, downwind we were a bit too fast for those little guys.  About 1 PM we called it quits and came into get some lunch.

While we were out Beth dropped in for a visit and a chance to catch some sun at our magnificent view lot. John and I arrived to find the three ladies lounging in the sun drinking margaritas.  Everyone sat around telling stories and enjoying the day.  Linda recounted the Emu encounter for Beth’s behalf and someone asked Linda if she was sure it was and emu and not and ostrich. Linda didn’t really know the difference so Beth Googled up Emu Vs Ostrich and we all learned much more then we want to about the two flightless birds.

As the afternoon grew shorter Beth had to leave and make her way back to Post Falls.  Just a few minutes later Linda got a text message from Beth.  She said she had spotted an emoose along the road into town. It confirmed that Linda had come across a moose that morning as she ran.

Linda and I loaded Kobi up into the boat and we took a slow cruise down the lake.  It was Linda’s second time in the boat and Kobi’s first so we went slow and let both get accustomed to the boats sounds and movements.  We were only out about an hour; both of my guests did quite well in the boat.  Kobi was a bit nervous when we hit higher speeds.  Linda was a great help when it came to docking the boat.

Again, at the end of the evening we all sat around the campfire until all the wood was burned.  It was a beautiful evening and by 9:30 PM we were all ready for bed.

Sunday we got up and everyone put their gear away. John and Loretta left Bell Bay first, we followed close behind.  I drove the boat over to Harrison and Linda met me there with the camper and trailer.  We loaded the boat with no problems and drove back to Post Falls.  The entire trip back was spent planning out next outing.