Bernard Peak, Farragut State Park, Athol, Idaho
Farragut State Park is an incredible place, but somehow only one trail made it into 100 Hikes in the Inland Northwest, and it ended up on the last page of the Appendix: Farragut is a sprawling park on a former military camp on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille east of US Highway 95 and Athol, Idaho. The trailhead for this hike is just past the park headquarters off South Road. Hike up through impressive rock formations for views of the lake. The trail and its spurs make several options for easier or extended hikes, including a link for a trek all the way up Bernard Peak.
Here is Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s deepest and largest lake. This was my last photo before my phone died. I brought my solar charger…but not the connector.
I hiked the Scout Trail to Bernard Peak. It was spectacular, but I got more lost than usual… more lost than ever before. So lost that I was thinking about how if I crossed a bear, I’d not even bother trying to prevent myself from being mauled; I thought about all the times I turned down food, I thought about how if I died, my dog wouldn’t understand why I didn’t go home to him. There were many fallen trees to climb over and under, as well as places where it appeared the trail ended, but it was just very overgrown. I am not afraid of getting lost. As a matter of fact, it is kind of exhilarating, and I admit my pride likes the boost each time I am able to get myself back on track accurately. I am better at reading maps than I am at actually using them, but my sense of time and direction has kept me safe and having fun this entire time, so I remain unphased. And in this case, as always, I found myself again and completed 16 miles overflowing with sunshine and happiness- my favorite things!
Farragut is an incredible location for adventures in North Idaho, but especially for those who live closer to Couer d’Alene than Priest River. It is available all year for hiking, snowshoeing, horseback riding, and mountain biking, and hundreds of campsites exist. From Idaho State Parks: The creation of Farragut State Park is an unintended result of a compact between Adolf Hitler and the Japanese Emperor Hirohito. The intent to invade the United States and divide its land between them led to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The U.S. response to this attack included the building of the Farragut Naval Training Station inland, so that it would be protected from coastal invasion. Though that coastal attack never came, the world’s second largest naval training station was built along the shore of Lake Pend Oreille. Named after the first Admiral of the Navy, David Glasgow Farragut, the station operated from 1942 to 1946 and had 293,381 men from across the nation train here. Carved from the remote forests of North Idaho, it became the largest city in Idaho with a population over 50,000. At the end of World War II, the station continued to provide services to sailors through its extensive hospital complex and as Farragut Junior College. By the end of the 1940’s, most of the 776 buildings had been sold off or removed and the U.S. government initiated putting the land up for sale. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game bought parcels along the shoreline, and these acquisitions led to a larger agreement wherein the majority of the remaining land was given to the State of Idaho as the Farragut Wildlife Management Area. A 20- acre parcel was retained for an acoustic research detachment, which is still in operation today for the U.S. Navy.
LAR is currently a student at the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command and has confirmed that there are still Naval operations in Lake Pend Oreille but cannot disclose or confirm what the operations are for performed. Wikipedia provides expanded information: The Navy has maintained a presence on Lake Pend Oreille at Bayview with its Acoustic Research Detachment, part of the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. In the deep (1,150 feet (350 m) and isolated waters of Lake Pend Oreille, scaled-down prototypes of submarines are tested; a free-field ocean-like environment is available without the problems and costs.
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[…] This building is not open to civilians or anyone without special clearance. It is called the Rickover, named after “the father of the nuclear Navy.” All of the students who completed their program waited to be seated. It was HOT. They were seated in the back, instead of the front, like normal graduations. I am pretty sure it was because their command knew it would be impossible for them to sit still on this day after such a long and difficult year. The Color Guard. They may have been too excited or nervous to be perfect – notice the cover (hat) on the ground. Lining up to cross the stage. I do not care if I took too many photos; this was such an important day. Accepting his diploma from his commander. I had no fucks to give – I walked right up to the stage to get photos of my boy. He gave me a tour of as much as he could, which was not much because everything there is classified. But, inside the Bowman Center, there is this recognition of operations completed in Idaho. I sort of wrote about that here. […]
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