Fri., July 7, 2017, 6 a.m.
WILDLIFE -- Following several bear encounters in the past week, including the terrifying attack on a woman and her dogs hiking near Priest Lake, the Idaho Panhandle National Forest is putting out more education on living and recreating in bear country, especially in this season...
Wed., March 8, 2017, 9:02 a.m.
WINTERSPORTS -- Here's an update on the great snowmobiling conditions and services I reported 3 weeks ago at Priest Lake, Idaho: Little has changed. Conditions are great. If anything, conditions are better. "We have close to 5 more feet of new snow in the mountains...
Wed., Feb. 15, 2017, 6 a.m.
WINTERSPORTS -- More than 22 classes of snowmobiles built before 1985 will roar around an oval track during the Vintage Snowmobile Races at Priest Lake airstrip near Nordman on Sunday, Feb. 19. Events in the second of two racing days this winter are set for...
Fri., Oct. 14, 2016, 7:12 a.m.
WILD EDIBLES -- People who prize the famous variety of mushrooms found in the Priest Lake area were shocked this week to see visitors wasting coveted fungi. "I am an avid mushroomer (as in hunting them) and I experienced some horrible "tourist invasion" of mushrooms...
Tue., Feb. 16, 2016, 4:38 p.m.
LAKES -- No boaters, blimps or angels were taking advantage of the "dock in the clouds," photographed this afternoon at Priest Lake by area blogger Pecky Cox. "So glassy still at the lake... not a sound," she said.
Tue., Jan. 19, 2016, 7:13 a.m.
WINTERSPORTS -- Kids big and small seemed to have a great time this weekend at the 2016 Vintage Snowmobile Races at Priest Lake, as indicated below in video shot by Pecky Cox.
Mon., July 13, 2015, 10:57 a.m.
WILDFIRES -- With all the publicity about fire danger, not to mention all the smoke in the air, it's hard to believe that some people still don't get it. Dumping smoldering briquettes in the woods? Unattended campfires? Can anyone be that clueless this summer? Here's...
Tue., April 28, 2015, 7:16 a.m.
FISHING -- How many of the lake trout die after being caught from the depths of Priest Lake and released? Idaho Fish and Game Department fisheries biologists have launched a study to find out. The study survival rates will help biologists understand whether mortality of...
Wed., April 1, 2015, 9:50 a.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- In the latest and worst-case scenario of federal government overreach, huckleberry picking will be prohibited on the Idaho Panhandle National Forests in 2015. Although the formal announcement hasn't been made, Priest Lake blogger Pecky Cox spilled the berries today after beating the...
Wed., Jan. 21, 2015, 12:50 p.m.
FISHING -- Note to self: Go fly fishing for cutthroats at Priest Lake this year. In the late 1970s, I wrote a story about the excellent cutthroat fishing fly fishers enjoyed for the Idaho state fish at Priest Lake an Upper Priest Lake. One day...
Mon., Sept. 15, 2014, 2:06 p.m.
PADDLING -- Walking the dog, Priest Lake style. Thanks to Pecky Cox and her "As the Lake Churns" posts.
Thu., Aug. 28, 2014, 9:06 a.m.
OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY -- It pays to lose yourself watching the stars on a clear summer night. In the photo above, Craig Goodwin, pastor of Millwood Community Presbyterian Church, sits by the still-glowing embers of a fire some other Priest Lake visitors to Hill's Resort had...
Thu., Aug. 7, 2014, 8:27 a.m.
CAMPING -- Priest Lake blogger Pecky Cox offers this observation from her post at As the Lake Churns.
Thu., July 17, 2014, 8:41 a.m.
WILD EDIBLES -- The huckleberry harvest season is underway at lower elevations and the pleasure is working its way up the region’s mountainsides as the berries ripen. People and communities have taken note: The Priest Lake Huckleberry Festival is set for Saturday, July 19, at...
Fri., June 27, 2014, 10:07 a.m.
CAMPING -- The Forest Service has re-opened Stagger Inn, the Roosevelt Grove of Ancient Cedars and Granite Falls, but visitors will be allowed in the area only during daytime. Camping will not be allowed this season. The sites were closed last summer for removing hazardous...
Wed., June 18, 2014, 5:49 p.m.
NATURE -- This week's damp June weather is a gift from God for mushroom gatherers, and Priest Lake is a hot spot for variety. Indeed, Pecky Cox, producer of the everything-about-Priest Lake website, found this beauty in her neck of the woods on Wednesday. Can...
Sun., March 2, 2014, 1:07 p.m.
FISHING -- Micah Smith caught this huge mackinaw while ice fishing at Priest Lake on Saturday, says lakeside reporter Pecky Cox in her As the Lake Churns blog. No other details, however. Most lake trout caught by ice fishermen are in the 3- to 6-pound...
Wed., Aug. 28, 2013, 10:54 a.m.
CAMPING -- Beaver Creek Campground at the northwest end of Priest Lake has been closed today and visitors are being evacuated after Forest Service inspectors discovered more than 40 hazardous trees that must be removed for visitor safety. The Beaver Creek boat launch and canoe...
Thu., Aug. 15, 2013, 2:37 p.m.
WILDLIFE -- Relax and enjoy yourself if you vist Bartoo Island at Priest Lake. Rumors of a cougar roaming the island have been dispelled. Here's the report just issued by the Idaho Fish and Game Department. On Monday, August 12, 2013, campers on Bartoo Island...
Wed., July 3, 2013, 6:32 a.m.
CAMPING – Idaho State Parks has partnered with The North Face to loan camping equipment at no charge to first-time campers through September. The Explore Your Parks program is underway at two North Idaho state parks: Hells Gate, (208) 799-5015. Priest Lake, (208) 443-2200. The...
Sun., June 23, 2013, 5:31 p.m.
PADDLING -- Spokane kayaker Brian Jamieson and some friends had a hoot paddling the slick granite slides of Lion Creek near Priest Lake on Saturday, as you can see in his helmet-cam video above. Lion Creek is a popular destination for Priest Lake visitors, who...
Sun., June 9, 2013, 5:45 a.m.
SKYWATCHING -- The Milky Way and the northern lights were putting on a light show over Priest Lake, Idaho, Friday night for Spokane photographer Craig Goodwin. This is why some people don't sleep after dark. Says Goodwin: I was surprised to find so few shots...
Tue., June 4, 2013, 1:10 p.m.
FISHING -- More than 4,000 lake trout were caught and handled -- most of them released -- during the first phase of a Priest Lake fisheries assessment that ended May 17, the Idaho Fish and Game Department reports. Most of those lake trout were tagged...
Wed., May 22, 2013, 6 a.m.
RIVERS – The best time to float the Priest River comes and goes, but the next couple of weeks will be worth checking out. At its extremes – up to 10,500 cubic feet per second and down to 165 cfs – the river is basically...
Mon., March 18, 2013, 2:19 p.m.
BOATING -- Idaho boaters may want to upgrade their vessels to the equivalent of old Iron Sides if a court ruling on negligent boat driving holds. Bonner County is appealing a North Idaho magistrate court judge’s ruling that the state’s statute regarding the negligent operation...
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.