Forest Service Office in Sandpoint, ID

I neglected to mention yesterday that Farragot State Park is on the southern tip of Lake Pend Oreille (pond-o-ray) which is the largest lake in Idaho and is the second largest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi. The lake is 43-miles long, 6-miles wide and has depths of more than 1,000 feet. It is a very beautiful lake.

We wanted to go to the Forest Service office in Sandpoint today to pick up a Forest Service map for the Idaho Panhandle. We also had identified a couple of lakes that we wanted to stop at to review for a kayak location. To drive to Sandpoint, you have to cross a two-mile bridge that stretches across a part of Lake Pend Oreille. The local’s call it “the long bridge”.

The area around Sandpoint is beautiful and we would like to spend some time in the area at a later date. We ended up speaking with a guy who was checking out our kayak rack as we came out of the Forest Service Office. He even took pictures of it so he could show an outfitter as he wants the same arrangement. He was quite the talker and had been a resident for 20 plus years and really loves the area.

After we left the Forest Service Office, we took a drive to Gamlin Lake Reserve. It would have been a beautiful lake to paddle but there was no place to unload the kayaks without blocking the road and parking was more than a half-mile away. Neither John nor I wanted to carry our 14 foot kayaks that far. Our wildlife book said it was a great place to observe wildlife and it looks like it would have been. I might have seen a moose but I will never know.
Now on to plan B, we stopped at Round Lake State Park. It is a pretty little lake that does not allow motorized watercraft and has the potential to spot some wildlife. We’ve decided we will get up early tomorrow so we can be out on the water relatively early. The nice part is it won’t cost us anything other than fuel as we are staying at a state park. I had packed a lunch for us so we sat in the shade of tall pines at a picnic table at Round Lake and enjoyed our surroundings.

We stopped at the Farragot SP Visitors Center. We learned that the Navy had a full military base in Bayside (few miles from here) and that they still have a presence there today. I also learned that the plants I’ve seen in bloom everywhere is a form of lilac although the correct plant name escapes me.

We returned home and sat outside watching the hummingbirds that have discovered our feeders. We actually had three different species. I believe one is an Anna’s Hummingbird but the other two I’m not sure about. Whatever the species, I sure enjoy watching them. The other bird activity was rather slow this afternoon.

John barbequed hamburgers and we sat outside in the lovely evening air enjoying our meal. Surprisingly, we weren’t bothered by too many bugs. After dishes, John trounced me in four games of ladder ball. Jeesh, I never even got close to winning one game. My throwing arm stinks!

John went outside to get a picture of the nearly full moon and got to see a Kestrel fly over. Very neat. Now he is snoozing in his chair so it must be time to call it a night.