River Discovery

Explorers scam sponsors, spend fortunes and span the globe looking for unique, far-flung adventures.

Mike Aho found a cheap expedition in Spokane’s backyard.

“I’d never seen the Spokane River in its entirety, and as I started looking for information, I realized I’d never talked to anyone who’d been on the river from beginning to end,” said the outdoor program director for the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department.

Surely others have done it, he said, but touring the entire 112 river miles from Lake Coeur d’Alene to the Columbia is a remarkably rare accomplishment.

No arm twisting was required to recruit partner John Robinson, who became equally enamored with the quest to tour the route by kayak.

Aho said sit-on-top touring kayaks are the perfect vessel for the trip because they are maneuverable enough for the whitewater, sea-worthy for the reservoirs behind the river’s six dams and light enough to portage around the dams and other obstacles.

July is a good month for optimum water flows, and after dropping too low in August, the flows pick up again in fall.

“The best thing is that even though I figured it would take up to eight days of paddling, I didn’t have to take any vacation to do it,” Aho said. “We did it a day or two at a time over a few weeks in between work and family obligations.”

Yet the sense of discovery was remarkable, he said. The river ranges from highly developed to surprisingly wild, from the buzz of Interstate 90 to isolated wildlife sanctuaries and from river frontage lined with some of the region’s most expensive homes to stretches settled by hobo camps.

Coeur d’Alene to Post Falls

“10 miles

From their put-in near Cedars restaurant, the paddlers found bustling activity in the first stretch of almost current-less river from its origin at Lake Coeur d’Alene to Post Falls Dam.

“I was struck by the diversity of uses,” Aho said. “We saw powerboats, rowing shells, jet skis, kids on inflatable air mattresses. And the parks in Post Falls — boy those are great little parks in there, one on river right and one on river left.

“Jet skis were being ridden by people of virtually every age. We even saw one being ridden by a guy wearing a business suit.

“We paddled that stretch in the evening and people were sitting on their docks eating dinner and we could smell the barbecues. Lots of houses in that stretch, but it still has a few wild areas.”

They ended their first day at Post Falls City Park and returned the next morning for a long day, starting with some serious grunt work at Post Falls before paddling to Spokane’s Riverfront Park.

Post Falls to Spokane

“28 miles

There’s no formal portage route around Post Falls Dam, and the going was rugged, Aho said.

“I think we picked the wrong channel,” he admitted. “We’re going down over the rocks for a half a mile and then we hit another channel that has all the water in it. Real explorers might have done it a little easier.”

But their effort was rewarded by one of Aho’s favorite stretches of the river.

“It surprising how suddenly the river becomes wild and gorgeous with big rocks and cliffs, tons of wildlife, an amazing number of ospreys. Parts of it were like being in the wilderness, yet there were four or five spots you could access the river with a hand-carried boat, including Corbin Park.”

Aho and Robinson were challenged by rocky stretches that required maneuvering and rapids ranging to Class 3. Flora and Sullivan rapids just upstream from Sullivan Road were “a gas,” Aho said.

The modern river has its curses, such as the bridge construction at Argonne Road, but also its benefits, such as the Spokane Valley Mall. “We didn’t carry any food; we planned to take a break at the mall, but our hardest decision of the day was which place to eat,” he said.

After negotiating a few more small rapids at the Donkey Islands downstream from Plante’s Ferry Park, the river is smooth, easy paddling toward downtown.

“We kind of laid back and relaxed,” Aho said. “We even stopped at a little beach just downstream from Argonne Road and walked up to the Rocket Bakery. A guy could gain weight exploring this stretch of river.”

With a pace powered by pastries, they ventured into a river of another character. “It was packed with people,” he said. “We could hear the hum of people at Boulder Beach before we even arrived. There must have been 2,000 people in that area.

“John was paddling down through these buoys and he was wondering what they were for when a ski boat came ripping through. Whoa! The river isn’t wide there and they were not happy to find him in their water skiing course. Before we could clear out, they must have passed us four times. We had waves coming at us from every direction.”

Despite signs posted on the beach warning of the danger from heavy metals in the shoreline dirt, families were everywhere, he said.

“Kids were on rope swings and jumping off rocks and they were on inner tubes, air mattresses and everything that floats.”

The chaos had dimmed by the time the paddlers reached Upriver Dam, and they dragged their kayaks up the steep bank to the Centennial Trail. “I recommend doing that on a day when it’s not 100 degrees,” he said in retrospect.

Avista has a boat launch downstream from the dam and the paddlers soon entered a river stretch with yet another different mood.

“From the dam to Division Street I was struck at how under-used and under-appreciated the river is,” Aho said. “It’s a different kind of wild, with lots of big trees draping over the shore. No rapids, just a gentle river in the heart of town with very little activity, except for a few camps for transients who’ve figured out this is a great piece of river frontage where nobody will bother them.

“Spokane Community College turned its back on this stretch,” he said. “I couldn’t help but wonder why the Student Union Building wasn’t built there with a deck overlooking the river.”

Going past Gonzaga University, the riverside development gets classy, he said. “We pulled out after a long day at the Opera House steps — we started at 7 a.m. and took out at 8 p.m. and had to force ourselves not to go over and have dinner at Shenanigans. I mean, we’re trying to do this trip on a budget, right?

“Okay, so we kicked back and had a beer.”

Spokane to Plese Flats

“10 miles

The next leg of the tour started downstream from Spokane Falls near the Maple Street Bridge at Peaceful Valley.

“We launched early in the morning so we missed all the action at the nude beach at the mouth of Latah Creek,” Aho said. “There was still enough water in the river in late July so we didn’t hit too many rocks through that stretch, but John managed to dump after getting sideway on a boulder. The shore is rough in there and it was quite a while before he could get out of the current enough to get it back together.”

But the stretch of river is remarkable for being within the city and very lightly developed. “We saw a bald eagle, ospreys, deer and other wildlife along there all doing just fine below the neighborhoods up above,” Aho said.

The two most difficult rapids in the modern river are in Riverside State Park. “We scouted the Bowl and Pitcher and Devil’s Toenail, and decided to make the short carries around them,” Aho said, noting that their touring kayaks aren’t the maneuverable whitewater varieties.

“John got to comparing the Toenail with that little boulder that dumped him and we decided to be safe rather than sorry.”

They passed the Spokane Rifle Club range and ended their day at the developed river access at Plese Flats.

Plese Flats to Nine Mile Resort

“9 miles

“Almost everybody pulls out at Plese Flats, and when we launched the next day and headed downstream toward Seven Mile we had the river to ourselves again,” Aho said.

“It’s pleasant flatwater paddling (on Nine Mile Reservoir) with forest along the shores and a few houses here and there. The river gets wide and I caught myself lying back and staring up at big basalt cliffs.”

The portage around Nine Mile Dam was surprisingly easy, Aho said. “We pulled out on river left and walked on road or trail all the way down to below the dam.”

Aho and Robinson had to be focused as they launched out of the eddy. “The water flies out of the dam and rips pretty good there,” Aho said. “The river heads north and you do this horseshoe as you pass the boat launch at mouth of the Little Spokane River. We saw some paddlers there, but we saw a lot more wildlife.”

The river gets wide and shallow and plugged with aquatic weeds in this stretch, limiting where you can boat, even in a kayak.

“After making that big bend, we realized we probably could have walked from Nine Mile Dam to Nine Mile resort in 30 minutes but it took us more than two hours to paddle around,” he said.

Nine Mile Resort to Long Lake Dam

“20 miles

Now that Willow Bay Resort is private, Aho said he could find only one public access in the 22 miles of river between Nine Mile Resort and Tumtum area.

“You have to commit yourself to a long day on Long Lake,” he said, referring to the stretch that’s also known as Lake Spokane. “And this is powerboat heaven.”

They pulled out for a break at the Department of Natural Resources boat launch at Corkscrew Canyon just upstream from the dam.

But instead of taking this easy way out, they continued another couple miles to Long Lake Dam and pulled out on river left.

“You can drive to within a half-mile of the water, but it’s a monster uphill carry up to the road,” Aho said.

Long Lake Dam to Little Falls Dam

“4 miles

Avista has a small park at Long Lake Dam and the paddlers easily launched their kayaks downstream from the dam near the bathrooms and playground off the river north of Reardan.

“The river is flatwater here and it would make a great family trip,” Aho said. “It’s about four miles down to Little Falls with no current, just a few houses and a lot of forest and natural vegetation along the shores. We saw a ton of birds and sign of deer and other critters.”

Aho said he was surprised to find rock cliffs and placid little bays with lily pads and several small sandy beaches for picnicking and swimming.

“The only powerboat we saw as a little aluminum car-topper,” he said. “Quite a contrast from Long Lake.”

They found a little spot to pull out at Little Falls Dam, but Aho said the paddling was so pleasant that he’d recommend that day trippers do out-and-back trips from Long Lake Dam and avoid the shuttle.

“That was a lazy wonderful day,” he said. “We went swimming four times.”

Little Falls Dam to Columbia River

“29 miles

No provisions were made for launching a kayak below Little Falls Dam.

“It’s a tough little put-in with a rocky carry,” Aho said. “But we really enjoyed the first few miles on the water,” he said, noting that the north shore becomes the Spokane Indian Reservation. “The river is narrow and goes through forest. The aquifer pours into the river at several spots. The few houses in there are set back.

“We pulled off on beaches several times and swam that day.”

However, the river widens after six miles and gets busy with boaters coming up from downstream recreation areas in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.

“We probably should have camped on one of the sandy beaches, but we wanted to see what it was like at Porcupine Bay,” Aho said. “We were a little out of place there, carrying our little kayaks up that expansive boat ramp and camping with our backpacking gear among all those RVs and big tents and camp kitchens wall to wall across the campground.

“People just kind of looked at us over their barbecues as we chowed down on bagels and jerky for dinner. We were definitely out of place.”

The next day the odds of bad weather finally caught up to the paddlers. “We had waves breaking over our bows and there was thunder and lightning and we had to sit some of it out on shore,” he said.

Eventually, they paddled past Fort Spokane and out to the Columbia and then retreated from a pounding rain to pull out at Two Rivers Resort.

“The only trouble with doing something like this is that you seem to always want more,” Aho said. “We no sooner got to the Columbia before we started thinking about paddling that, or maybe heading to the headwaters of the Spokane and floating the St. Joe and Coeur d’Alene Rivers.

“It never ends.”