Lochsa River Pilgrimage
Printed From: ProfessorPaddle.com
Category: General
Forum Name: Whitewater Forum
Forum Discription: Open Discussion Forum. Whitewater related subjects only
URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11988
Printed Date: 16 Jun 2025 at 4:11pm
Topic: Lochsa River Pilgrimage
Posted By: Fish
Subject: Lochsa River Pilgrimage
Date Posted: 07 May 2012 at 12:34pm
|
Hey paddlers, Ellie, Chris and I are planning to be at the Lochsa River this year over Memorial Day weekend (May 25-28th) right after some multidays trips earlier in the month. I wanted to put the word out in hopes of getting more people to join us over there. We'll be camping at the free campground accross from "Wilderness Gateway Campground" right on the Lochsa River. We'll be there early to rope off an area for friends that plan on coming over, and would love to see some of you come out and join us for the long weekend. Mark your calendars! http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/570/ - http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/570/ http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/569/ - http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/569/ |
Replies:
Posted By: FLUID
Date Posted: 07 May 2012 at 2:06pm
|
Idaho !!!!! Land of big water, multi-day rivers, beautiful remote wilderness and hot springs.. lots and lots of hot springs !!!
Get the car pools organized and join us for sure !! its such a fun party with friends from Montana and everywhere coming to the Lochsa. Really fun BIG friendly whitewater.....and did I mention hot springs !!
First beers on scott and I if you make it ...... (sh*t , watch now 30 people come)
|
Posted By: PaddleGirl
Date Posted: 07 May 2012 at 2:39pm
|
I totally thought this post was going to be Emily's!! I'm thinkin' about it....
|
Posted By: edickerson2
Date Posted: 07 May 2012 at 5:14pm
| Anyone, please... let's go to the Lochsa! Rally!!!! |
Posted By: osmelendez
Date Posted: 07 May 2012 at 8:49pm
|
what's the closest town to Lochsa?
|
Posted By: edickerson2
Date Posted: 07 May 2012 at 9:22pm
| The closest "larger" town is Grangeville (we're talking rural Idaho here people), which is like an hour before you hit the Lochsa. The closest tiny town is Kooskia, ID, probably. Missoula is about 2 hours in the opposite direction. Would love a ride if anyone is headed out there!! |
Posted By: BIGWATER
Date Posted: 07 May 2012 at 11:20pm
|
ill be heading out to the Lochsa on memorial day weekend .... but i think i may stay longer then the weekend .... gona hit up some play parks and other runs also....may be out for 2 weeks not sure yet, depends on work the closest town is actualy Lowel but its hard to call it a town... all it has is a gas station , a dinner and the three rivers campground ... its right at the confluence of the lochsa and the selway i sure love the lochsa .... its bigwater playboating paradice .. i cant wait
|
Posted By: BIGWATER
Date Posted: 07 May 2012 at 11:32pm
|
hey fish, just so ya know 2 years ago when i was at the free campground a ranger stoped by and he told me that the may need to close that area or make it a fee site due to overuse/ missuse and the other day some folks from hoodriver told me that it is closed now , just a rumor but you may wana have a back up camp site just incase the rumor is true see ya out there !!
|
Posted By: FLUID
Date Posted: 08 May 2012 at 9:50am
| Well the good news is I was there last year and it was still open with no rangers.... My friends from Missoula are heading up again this year with us and they have never had any issues there... It's a huge space !!! let's keep our fingers crossed....... |
Posted By: WhiteWaterWheat
Date Posted: 08 May 2012 at 3:21pm
|
It would be so great to see some Washington faces on the Lochsa! Come rally for the weekend! How can you beat big water fun and river festivals? We'll stake out a spot, so just come find us at the Free camping spot Scott mentioned or hit us up on the way. Stoked!
-Ellie |
Posted By: osmelendez
Date Posted: 08 May 2012 at 5:54pm
| I hate to be retarded, but could someone map the route out for me. for instance. from Seattle get on 90 east, then head to Yakima or Spokane? etc... my wife and I are considering this trip so we're crunching numbers and trying to figure gas cost. you know how it is. |
Posted By: osmelendez
Date Posted: 08 May 2012 at 6:02pm
| Ellie, you mentioned river festival? Is there a river festival near the Lochsa on Memorial Day weekend? By-the-way, is this the same Ellie I boated with on the Green a few weeks back? |
Posted By: Fish
Date Posted: 08 May 2012 at 7:07pm
|
Hey Oscar, Check out this American Whitewater link http://americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/570/ - http://americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/570/ All the info you could want, including directions, are on the link above. Its about 400 miles or so to the Wilderness Gateway area from Seattle. A long ways to go, but worth it. Its a classic! |
Posted By: osmelendez
Date Posted: 08 May 2012 at 7:15pm
| wow! that's a great website. Thanks. |
Posted By: JoesKayak
Date Posted: 08 May 2012 at 8:57pm
|
Originally posted by osmelendez I hate to be retarded, but could someone map the route out for me. for instance. from Seattle get on 90 east, then head to Yakima or Spokane? etc... my wife and I are considering this trip so we're crunching numbers and trying to figure gas cost. you know how it is. The most direct route is: Mileage starting at the 405/I-90 interchange for reference I-90 East - 127 miles Cross Columbia RIver & immediately after: Merge onto WA Hwy 26 - continue 133 miles At Colfax turn onto US Hwy 195 South - continue approx 50 miles At bottom of Lewsiton grade merge onto Hwy 12 (for the next 12 miles or so the Hwy will continue as both 12 and 195) 12 Miles past Lewiston, stay on Hwy 12 (not 195) Continue another 112 miles Kooskia will be the last town of any size if you want to get gas/food etc. 25 miles or so past Kooskia you'll pass the confluence of the Lochsa/Selway and 3 Rivers Resort. In another 25 miles you'll come to the turn off for Wilderness Gateway camp. It's a right turn and goes over a bridge. The camp Fish is hoping to be at is right before that. HOWEVER! If you've never made this drive, a slightly more complicated and much more scenic drive I would suggest you do either going or coming is as follows.... and allows a easy side trip to check out Palouse Falls. And... it takes about the same amount of time. (except that you'll be hanging at Palouse a while.  I-90 East - 127 miles Cross Columbia RIver & immediately after: Merge onto WA Hwy 26 - continue 42 miles Turn right to merge onto WA Hwy 17 S towards Pasco - continue 13.7 Miles Turn LEFT onto WA Hwy 260 E - Continue 31.5 miles Turn RIGHT onto WA-261 S (the scenic Starbuck highway) in 8.7 miles turn left into Palouse Falls State Park for a little stop then continue on 261 for 20.6 more miles Turn left onto US Hwy 12 - Continue 50 miles to Clarkston When you get to Clarkston, either just stay on Hwy 12 the rest of the way if you want to stop and get gas/groceries in Clarkston/Lewiston or if you want to bypass these cities, Cross the Red Wolf bridge as you enter Clarkston as shown below: Turn left on 15th ST - which becomes ID Hwy 128 as you cross the Red Wolf bridge into Idaho At the end of the Bridge turn RIGHT onto ID Hwy 128 E - cont. 3.8 miles Continue onto US Hwy 12 - Keep on Hwy 12 the rest of the way. Hope this helps Either route is about 420 miles from 405/i90. |
Posted By: JD_G
Date Posted: 08 May 2012 at 9:23pm
| Good call to stop and check out Palouse Falls. Very scenic. Good directions too. One additional add to shave a little time is to stay on Hwy 26 until Hatton Road which drops down to Kahlotus, where you make a left towards Washtucna and then the right turn onto Hwy 261 to the falls and then Starbuck. Lochsa is great! |
Posted By: osmelendez
Date Posted: 09 May 2012 at 8:01pm
| Thanks for the stellar routing. I'll definitely let you know if this works out for us. |
Posted By: chuckj
Date Posted: 09 May 2012 at 10:45pm
| Unless things have changed in the tears since I was out there, there's great camping along Fishcreek. |
Posted By: melger
Date Posted: 10 May 2012 at 7:58am
| The gf and I are planning to make the trek out for some Lochsa action! We probably won't know until the week of on what time we will be leaving, but we may be interested in some carpool action. |
Posted By: osmelendez
Date Posted: 10 May 2012 at 4:34pm
| what's a reasonable carpool rate? That's a legitimate question right? For me the number one perk is meeting people and establishing a community of boaters for a short road trip adventure and river run. But, one of the obvious upsides is that everyone shares the gas burden. Any thoughts on this? |
Posted By: osmelendez
Date Posted: 10 May 2012 at 4:43pm
| let's say your vehicle is a gas guzzler like mine, but it's reliable, will hold like 4 people fairly comfortably (could do five), and all their food, and all their boats and boat gear. Round trip is 860 miles. At 13 miles to the gallon thats 66.15 gallons. 66.15 gallons at $4.40 per gallon is like $291. (this post is making me laugh by the way). Okay so if I ask for $50 dollars is that too much? My wife and I pay the majority of the gas bill because we'd be making the trip anyway. Is $50 dollars too low? |
Posted By: KBfree
Date Posted: 10 May 2012 at 5:16pm
|
I say we pool our money and get this 72 passenger Bus... Its up for aution ending tomorrow. currently $1400
http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/state,wa/auction/view?auc=716398 - http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/state,wa/auction/view?auc=716398
 ------------- Kirk B |
Posted By: JD_G
Date Posted: 10 May 2012 at 5:39pm
|
Good folks should be okay with splitting the cost of gas evenly amongst the group. On a bigger trip like this it's sometimes easier for each person to pay for a tank as the trip progresses. Settle up any differences at the end.
Like the idea of the old bus, but bet it gets worse mileage than Oscars truck. |
Posted By: osmelendez
Date Posted: 10 May 2012 at 7:52pm
| LOL! on the passenger bus! |
Posted By: edickerson2
Date Posted: 10 May 2012 at 9:48pm
|
Ok guys, so split the gas equally in all directions... because your car will be the one taking the beating with boaters and gear, etc. Everyone splits gas equally? That's at least what I want to do if I ride with someone (or if we take my car...)
Good math though... very detailed of you! Are people rallying?!? I love the sound of this!!! Lochsa rally!!! Big water, hot springs (there are a couple good ones), and for the ladies, Idaho and Montana eye candy. That's right, there is nothing to get you ladies going like a good old flannel and beard... I know I'm excited. Rally ladies (and gents...) RALLY!!!! |
Posted By: edickerson2
Date Posted: 10 May 2012 at 9:49pm
| Ps I'm serious about the flannel and beards... no, they don't have V-neck T shirts, skinny jeans, and Toms to match their flannel. This flannel is legit. It looks damn good on a mountain man. In Idaho, we grow them right. That's right, ladies, rally. |
Posted By: BobClass4
Date Posted: 11 May 2012 at 12:51am
|
I live in Richland, Wa., and make quite a few trips to the Lochsa - love the big water class 3 and 4. I'm 48 now and have been boating there since I was 30. For about the first 10 or 12 of those years, I always knew big groups of people who were going there to camp and boat, but about all of those people I used to hang out with either got out of boating or moved on to harder rivers. I generally have good luck finding people to boat with, usually Montanans, and I'm totally indebted to them for letting me tag along on countless trips over the years and sit at their camp fires. However, it would be great to find some partners who live in Washington and make trips to the Lochsa. I'm planning to camp there from May 19th through May 28th.
|
Posted By: huckin harms
Date Posted: 25 May 2012 at 6:34am
|
Bring your rain jackets and tarps! http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=LOWELL&state=ID&site=MSO&textField1=46.1442&textField2=-115.595&e=0 - http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=LOWELL&state=ID&site=MSO&textField1=46.1442&textField2=-115.595&e=0 ------------- |
Posted By: Liz
Date Posted: 25 May 2012 at 2:16pm
| Me, by brother, my husband and 3 friends will be there! |