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7/6
A beautiful morning with blue, blue skies, a few scattered white, white clouds & the promise of a nice summer day. We start off this pretty day with a trip to Bonners Ferry to enjoy a breakfast at The Badger’s Den-Café & Latte. Ted & Gary had a chat with the local outfitter shop about which ‘flies’ the fish were jumping for, purchased a few & Gary got his fishing license. (Have you ever noticed there is no end to the variety of flies that fish will go for? And, no matter how many flies you have, they’re biting on something else. I never knew there were so many varieties of ‘flies’ in existence until Gary started fly fishing.) Back to the campground so Gary can assemble his boat. Once ready, the boats were put in a few hundred feet from the campground. At the confluence of the two rivers, Moyie & Kootenai, the guys gently rowed their boats to catch the current. A beautiful scene straight out of a movie. They floated for several hours & Anne & I met them at a fishing access near downtown Bonners Ferry. The setting there was just as majestic. The mountains, the thick forests and the big blue sky. The guys had some luck with the fishing. Rainbow, cutthroat & white fish were on the ends of their lines at least once. We finished off the day with pizza at Poppa Byrd’s Bistro. Ted declared it the best pizza he’d had in a long time. We all agreed. If you visit here, you might try it. Very good. We wound our way down the mountain into the campground & called it a day. A very satisfying day for the fishing duo.
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The Kootenai River is one of the views along the switch-back road into the campground.
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Part of the dreaded switch-back road. You criss-cross the mountainside 4 times before reaching the bottom.
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Another view of our campsite. Cannot get over the height of the trees throughout the campground.
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Doesn’t look much like a boat, does it? This pontoon boat fits in a fairly small bag that fits nicely in the back of our pickup.
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We meet at Ted & Anne’s campsite to proceed to the fishing access at the end of the campground. The pontoon boats now look ready for action.
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Thought this view was particularly pretty. I’m looking upriver at the fishing access site. On the right side of the picture is a flat line with bushes in the foreground & trees in the background. There are railroad tracks there. Quite a sight seeing those trains so close to the water.
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Off they go! They’re on their way to Bonners Ferry fishing access, about a 3 hour float. Anne & I will drive to the access point there & pick them up. Ted, in the foreground, has a new addition to his boat...a small motor. This is its maiden voyage. Proved to be a great addition.
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To the right of center is Gary rowing into the joining of the Kootenai & Moyie Rivers.
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The bridge crossing the Kootenai River is part of Hwy. 95. This is the highway that goes through Bonners Ferry. Beautiful country.
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Here they come! A heron sitting on the branch in the river is watching them & trying to fish at the same time. The river is moving very slowly & Ted’s motor is working hard so he doesn’t have to.
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Aaah, the difference a motor makes. Note Gary has both oars in the water. Ted has one oar in, which helps steer the craft as they head for the boat ramp. Also note how calm & reflective the water is.
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The beach at the pond. Looks pretty inviting as temps continue to climb.
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As the sun sinks in the west, this is the result. It won’t be dark for another couple hours. This picture was taken just outside Bonners Ferry.
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7/7
Another beautiful beginning. It promises to be hot today-over 90*. Not my thing. However, it is cool as the 4 of us set out for the 7-mile marker on Hwy.2 in Montana. This necessitated a stop at a fly shop for Gary to get a four-day Montana fishing license. The guys floated the Kootenai River across state lines to the campground 16 miles (as the crow flies) downstream. After dropping them off, Anne & I then drove the vehicles back, stopped at a Mennonite-run produce stand & had a good time selecting some choice veggies & fruit to take back to our coaches. I spent the rest of the time doing the chore thing. We suddenly heard the voice of Ted on our handi-talkies. So we went to meet them at the fishing access at the edge of the campground. The trip took about 7 hours & they did some fancy fishing along the way. They each caught several of this & that variety. Even being hot, tired & behind-sore from the hours in the pontoon seats, they had a great experience. We loaded the boats on our vehicles & drove the short distance, a few football fields, back to our RVs. Went to bed early & slept very well.
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About 7 am, I spotted this white-tail deer about 50 ft. away from our coach. Very cautious, she ultimately quietly disappeared into the forest.
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From far above the river, Anne & I observe Ted & Gary embark on a 7 hour float. They had a great day on an extremely beautiful stretch of river. See the story above. Once again, a great day on the river.
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If there’s a will, there’s a way. In spite of walking issues, she is out there enjoying the camping experience. We often see people challenged by various physical failings. But they never give up. They adapt. They may enjoy their outings in a different way than others. But they’re out there, enjoying. What a lovely thing.
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