Wild Rivers and Lakes

We decided to take a drive up north on Hwy 95 that is suppose very scenic. We stopped three miles off the highway at Moyie Springs that has some interpretive artwork alongside the river. Not sure why but someone put a lot of work into it. The fish are metal. The view along the river is beautiful and a couple of people were fly fishing.

Then it was off to Copper Falls as we were told these falls were a must see. Now, you know going up in to the mountains that you are in bear country but it is a little unsettling to be reminded that you are in grizzly and black bear country. It was a hike back to the falls (maybe a half-mile or so) but you don't know how far back they are when you started out and you've just been reminded that you are in grizzly country. A little disconcerting, I must say. The falls were a little anticlimactic after the ones we saw in Yellowstone. Copper Falls was pretty and fell into a small pond at the bottom. Unfortunately, the loop to the base of the falls were closed due to trail damage so we could only see them from above. I had spotted this little gem of a spot on our way up to the falls. We decided this would be a perfect spot to have lunch on our way out.

After lunch, we headed back south and stopped at Robinson's Lake to check it out. Not sure how big it was because it dog-legged out of view. It certainly looked like it was a haven for moose (no, we didn't see one) but we did see fisherman out in kayaks fishing. The bugs were rather troublesome there. Time to go!

We then headed to the Kootenai Wildlife Refuge six miles outside of Bonners Ferry. This is a wildlife haven. It is our understanding that it is a magnificent spot to be during the fall bird migration. We saw lots of Canadian Geese, ducks of all sorts, Osprey, and other birds of prey.
Did anyone spot a moose? We did! What a wonderful surprise and they just appeared beside the levee we were driving on. It might not have been a bull moose but a cow and baby is certainly a wonderful second. We watched them for quite a while as mom walked down the middle of the canal scooping up grasses while baby swam when the water got too deep.
Another wonderful afternoon taken up with nature. So we headed home and to enjoy the calm surroundings of the campground. John barbecued and the rest of the evening was spent doing much of nothing.