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Aquatic Life
- Rainbow Trout
- Lake Trout
- Perch
- Crappie
- Bass
- Whitefish
- Kamloops
Interesting Items
- Train Wreck (see Solo Diver’s comments)
Lake Diver Forum Member Solo Diver’s input on Lake Pend Oreille: (22 Oct 2006)
Lake Pend Oreille - 1919 train wreck resting in 112' of fresh water.
It's
been said that there are two box cars (one you can swim into) and an
engine. There is no engine. But there are two box cars and you can swim
into one of them. The other one is half buried and closed at the top.
The
wreck is located in the northern tip of Lake Pend Oreille, just
northeast of Sandpoint Idaho. Look for Trestle Creek Recreation Area,
and park near the small dock. The Rec Area has nice grass picnic areas
with BBQs and public restrooms.
The
entrance is an easy pebble beach. Do a surface swim out along the rock
ledge for about 150', then submerge. Continue south along the wall
until you see the trench on the west side. Descend into the trench and
continue south, hugging the east side of the trench as it descends.
When you get to about 45' deep, you should see some old rails for the
tracks that collapsed into the lake with the train cars. Keep going. At
about 65', look for a "line", which is actually said to be a phone line
of some sort (I've also heard it called a string). Much of it may be
buried in silt, so if you see a few inches of it, just lift it up and
follow it down. It leads right to the cars.
You'll
come over the top of the first car at about 92'. It's half buried and
you can't get in. The second car is at about 102' and is open at the
top (some parts of the hinged door are still there) and you can swim
down into it. Because it is open from the top, there is no overhead.
When
you swim over the end of the second car and down to the bottom at 112',
you can see the large connectors that link the cars together. You can
also look under the car and see some axle and wheel parts.
The
old train box cars are in remarkably good condition considering their
age, which I credit to the cold fresh water. Water temp. today was 62f
at the surface and in the mid 40s at depth. There's other train parts
scattered throughout the area and lots of bass in the shallows.
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Lake Pend Oreille 
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