Roman Nose Lake, Northern Idaho

Nestled like a blue sapphire in the rugged mountains of Northern idaho, is Roman Nose Lake. Actually, there are least three little lakes up near the top of Roman Nose Peak, and you can drive to the first one on an old Forest Service road. The other two require either a sure-footed mule, or a good pair of hiking boots. I am not sure when my folks started going fishing up there, but I remember camping near the lake when I was pretty young.

To get to the lake, you had to travel up a narrow dirt road, barely wide enough for a short-chassis Jeep, and certainly not designed for the average car. Our car was a 1953 Buick Special, not the largest car on the road perhaps; but certainly not a small car either. I doubt that Buick had designed it with mountain climbing in mind.

Nevertheless, we would slowly make our way up the winding, narrow road, which had many switchbacks, and was often straight up one side, and straight down on the other side. (this was NOT my favorite lake to go to as a child or even as an adult). My grandfather followed behind us in his old 51 Ford with the boat on top.

Once we actually reached the lake, it was awesomely beautiful...... except for the mosquitoes. There were very few campers that went to Roman Nose, so the mosquitoes were literally "starving" to find a human being. They loved us!! (it was not reciprocated) The trout were the best tasting ever, that water was fresh, pure, and cold. Very cold. Even in the heat of summer, it was too cold to swim there. After I grew up, we also made trips up to the lake with our children, and now my oldest son takes my grandsons up there hiking and camping; so I guess we can call it a family tradition at this point. Here is a picture that they took while hiking up on Roman Nose last summer. This is one of the lakes that can only be reached on foot.

 

I hope that you can still take those memory journeys. There are so many opportunities for car camping in state parks and the like. A good chunk of folks are into RVing, Van and Camper trailers making it more comfortable for those who like/need a tad of home comfort. I'm still very much into tent camping in all its aspects. I have nine of tents; two specifically designed for winter adventure that I'm planning to take part in this winter season.


Is this kind of vehicle you are talking about? Looks like a mighty fine car.