Our second stop in Idaho was on the shores of Pend Oreille Lake (pronounced Pond-or-ay) in Farragut State Park. The site formerly held the Farragut Naval Training Station, a major training base of the U.S. Navy during World War II. The base was named after David Farragut (1801–1870), the first admiral in the U.S. Navy and the leading naval officer during the Civil War. Everyone knows his famous quote, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" Today, the area is one of Idaho's largest state parks.
On Wednesday, July 19, 2017, we decided to take our kayaks out on the lake and explore Buttonhook Bay. We started at the boat launch and decided to paddle to the far side of the lake. It was a little hazy with smoke from the forest fires up north, but the winds were light and the surface of the lake was extremely calm. Here we are about to shove off on our "three hour tour."
We've only had our kayaks for a few months, but we find we really like paddling as close to shore as possible. It gives us a great opportunity to check out all the nooks and crannies or in this case, the rock falls.
Kathy thought about taking one of the boulders home with her, but it just wouldn't fit in her kayak.
On the east side of Pend Oreille Lake is the Coeur d'Alene National Forest. This side of the lake is very steep with a number of small waterfalls many of which we heard but could not see due to the dense foliage. We were able to get a peek at this little one.
As we paddle around, sometime photos just present themselves.
We spent some time watching this sailboat as it tacked its way back and forth across the lake in the shadow of Blacktail Mountain.
The sunny spots were full of wildflowers.
In his no wake zone, Dave did his best not to wake as he passed through the zone.
Buttonhook Bay is a quiet, secluded place at the southwest corner of Lake Pend Oreille. There are a couple of docks you can tie up to and boaters can camp overnight with a permit.
We decided land our kayaks and have a picnic on the beach.
A favorite spot in the park is Beaver Bay swimming beach. We paddled by as the boys played keep-a-way and the girls worked on their tans.
An old dock rested against the shore.
Kathy found a piece of driftwood and tried to bring it home. After coaxing it about a half mile, she eventually left it on the beach to play with some other driftwood.
The seagulls keep watch as the boats come and go.
After paddling north along our side of the shoreline to get a view of nearby Bayview, we finished our paddle and headed back to camp. Tomorrow we plan to bike around the park and explore its history as a World War II Navy training camp.
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