Mooney

Things have been a bit low key for the past couple of weeks. On the 24th Nancy and I went for a full moon paddle on Fishtrap Lake. I do not have any pictures because; a) it was dark and b) I forgot the camera. It was darn cool. The moon was full and the cliffs around the lake were a glowing blue. A heron buzzed over us twice about 10 feet above. It was unbelievably cold and luckily I had some extra clothing in the back of the car. I love paddling in the dark even though it is rather eerie. I guess that is part of the draw. We paddled around 6 miles and got home around 1:00am. Last week we also took a little hike up at Mt. Spokane. Yup, I forgot the camera that time as well. We picked huckleberries and had a nice picnic.

I found some really cool spots the other day. It started out with a trip to Mt. Gear to get some bear spray. Walter went with me because he likes to visit everyone there. Then I decided to go down and check out the river above the 9 mile dam to see if the water level has gone up. I have been wanting to paddle there but the water has been too low. It is still low so we walked around on the bank for a bit. Then I decided to go check out the river below the dam. I ended up taking a 60 some mile detour. I found all sorts of cool places before the river dumps into the Columbia. I think I have been in that area once or twice. I checked out a couple more dams and found a really cool wildlife area called the Devil's Gap where Walter and I got out in the rain and went for a walk. Yesterday I stopped by Northwest Maps and picked up a good Spokane River and Lake Roosevelt/Columbia River map. I feel like a whole new world just opened up for me not far from my house. The area between 9 mile dam and Fort Spokane is definitely going to be on the "too explore" list.

But before I do that...I AM GOING TO GLACIER PARK!!!! I am totally jacked. It is one of my favorite places on the planet and late summer is my favorite time to visit. And I will be there soon...