Libby, MT & Libby Dam (Lake Koocanusa)

Woodland RV Park, Libby, MT

We've enjoyed our weekend here in Libby.  We chose it by accident - looking for a halfway point between Coolin, ID and Kalispell, MT to spend the weekend.  We're moving on to Kalispell, MT in about an hour or so.  We didn't realize that we were so close to where Randy & Shirley volunteered several years ago at Libby Dam.  Consequently, we needed to check out where they'd spent a summer.

Libby Dam and Lake Koocanusa are major attractions in the area along the Kootenai River.  The Dam was built in 1968 and finished sometime during 1973 - if I remember correctly.  It's here to control downstream flooding and generate electricity.

Here's some pics from our visit to the dam.  David

 

Ross Creek Cedars, Kootenai National Forest

About 45 miles west of Libby, MT is the Ross Creek Cedars - a grove of old growth cedar trees.  Reminded us of the redwoods we walked amongst in northern California.  It's about a 30 minute walk along the nature trail depending on how often you stop to take pictures or take small side trips.  Really nice picnic area.  If you visit note that the last four miles of road is paved, but only one lane wide. David

 

Kootenai Falls (Libby, MT)

Located a few miles west of Libby, MT is the county park of Kootenai Falls.  Not a lot of hiking in the area. You can get in about 3/4 of a mile hike plus get some beautiful views of the falls & the surrounding area.  Here's some pictures of what we saw this morning.  David

 

Granite Falls (Priest Lake area, Idaho and near the Roosevelt Grove of Giant Cedars)

Granite Falls is a pretty water fall near the Roosevelt Grove of Giant Cedars.  It's actually located in Washington state, but I can't recall the name of the area.  It's located about an hour north of Coolin, ID and definitely back in the northwest woods.   I just felt it deserved it's own little blog post.  David

Area below the falls

Cooling, ID and the Priest Lake Area

It's been an eventful time since we left Cody, WY (June 13th) and headed to Coolin, ID.  The day we left Cody is the day Yellowstone NP was closed due to heavy flooding and damage.  We weren't aware of anything as we traveled except that both the Yellowstone and Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone Rivers were extremely high, full of debris and definitely in flood stage.  We arrived in Bozeman, MT that afternoon to find our Facebook pages full of people checking up on us.  Other than it was a normal travel day in foul weather, we were clueless as to what was going on.

After an overnight stop in Bozeman, we traveled to Missoula, MT staying two nights in Jim & Mary's RV Park.  We like this little park and, apparently, someone in the family is a master gardener.  We made one more stop on the east side of Spokane, WA before arriving in Coolin, ID on the 17th and starting our week's visit with Donna's cousin and his wife.  Donna's brother David and his wife arrived the following Monday, so we ended up with a small family reunion for a few days.

We left Coolin, ID yesterday, the 24th, and moved over to Libby, MT for the weekend. Unusual for us, we didn't experience any rain traveling to Libby! There'll be a separate blog post for Libby.

Here's some pics from our time in the Cooling and Priest Lake area.

Buffalo Bill Center of the West (A.K.A. info overload)

Big draw in Cody, WY is the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.  One ticket lets you visit for two days.  Lots to see and - as I stated in the title - information overload.  The center covers five museums & research libraries plus any special showings of art.  Worth a stop.  Here's some pics to give you an idea of what it's like.

Most impressive to me were the digital reproductions of the initial Yellowstone area photos from the 1871 survey. 

 

Yellowstone NP

Yellowstone Lake

This past Tuesday we checked off one of my "bucket list" items which was to enter Yellowstone NP via all its entrances.  Tuesday we enter via the east entrance and traveled to the Fishing Bridge area, down to the Thumb Basin, and then back north along the Yellowstone River to the Lehardy Rapids before returning to Cody, WY.  

Yellowstone not crowded, and we eventually read where the visitation at Yellowstone NO for Memorial day was some 30% less that 2021. Here's some pics of what we saw.

Thumb Basin

Kayakers along Thumb Basin

Lehardy Rapids along Yellowstone River

That's the Grand Tetons back in the background