Today I thought I'd go down to the Lake and see how the lake was doing. I figured it must by now be back to full pool or maybe more. Well, I wasn't disappointed. The lake has come a millon miles from it's lows in May. Record Lows at Lake Koocanusa
It utterly amazes me to ponder the amount of water required to fill this lake back up and just how quickly it happened once it got started. I drove down 37 on the east side of the lake and stopped in at Peck Gulch. The spot was loaded with boaters who must be delighted they can finally reach the water to launch their boats.
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| Lake Koocanusa looking off across the lake towards the west. |
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| Along the shore at Peck Gulch |
Koty and I scrambled along the rocky shore as far as we could until we were stopped by huge boulders that had collapsed making further progress impossible. Koty had such a good time snapping at the water and getting his belly wet. Like me, Koty is not a big fan of the heat. Funny thing is he doesn't like water very much either and will only go in up to his belly. I have often wondered if his loathing of water has to do with him falling in a swimming pool when he was only 9 weeks old. Had I not been present when it happened he would have drowned.
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| Koty at Peck Gulch on Lake Koocanusa |
Down where the rock slide was I found what looked like a perfect stone carving. It looked like an Aztec idol. Of course, there have never been any Aztecs in this area and it wasn't a carving at all but just the way the rocks random collapsed. I think a documentarian could use this as proof of ancient alien visitations.
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| Ancient idol carved in stone. Well, not exactly. |
I decided to drive on down 37 looking for a trail that would take me to a high view. The first place I tried was McGuire Creek. That didn't turn out to be a very good choice. I got about a quarter of a mile up and hit road not suitable for Shadow (Ford Focus). There wasn't any place to turn round so I had to back back down. Not fun.
I decided to go another five miles or so and if I didn't find anything I'd call it a day. Right at my limit I saw a stop sign and a road. There was a forest service numbered but my forest sservicce map doesn' show it. Probably because a short way in is a barrier and about a three quarters of a mile beyond that the road deadends altogether. Well, now, I won't try these again. I did get high enough to take one photo of the lake below. I have to admit it was a beautiful vista of the Koocanua. Hard to believe how full it is now.
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| Lake Koocanusa looking south toward Libby |
After the short hike up the dead end. I decided to call it a day.
©Kinsey Barnard
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