Fun on the Fourth

Chris and I got to spend the fourth alone together (if that makes any sense!) It was very nice just spending some time with eachother. We decided to take a drive to Dworshak Reservoir via Elk River, which is the round-about back-road way of getting there but is a beautiful drive. Neither of us had ever been that way before. Here is the reservoir from the Elk River side.



We both thought it looked a lot like Lake Coeur d'Alene did from this angle. We got to see the Dent Bridge for the first time, which apparently was the largest structure in the Inland Northwest when it was built.





It is actually 1,550 feet long, which I think is disguised in the angles of these photos. From the boat access down the shore it can be seen from the side and it looks much, much longer! Too bad I didn't think to take a picture of it from there. According to the sign it was judged as one of the 18 most beautiful structures in America. Chris agreed but I'm still having a hard time calling a bunch of concrete and metal in the middle of such peaceful, natural surroundings "beautiful." I guess if they had to put a bridge in such a beautiful location, it doesn't look too bad.

The osprey must like the bridge towers as there were large nests on each one. Chris managed to capture one of the birds as it looked out from its perch.





The second photo is just enlarged and cropped so you can see the side of its head (it's looking to the right).

We hiked from the bridge along the reservoir on a trail that apparently doesn't get much use. We figured we walked about 8-9 miles and the only other people we saw were at a campground we passed, but they had obviously gotten there by boat. It was really nice to get out and hike together again! The trail was a bit overgrown and my legs got pretty scrached up (I should know by now to wear long pants when hiking!) but worse than that it was very hot and we were by the water which means mosquito-ville! I'm still finding new bites! But all in all it was a great time. The whole area is just beautiful.





We stopped by Dworshak Dam on the way home since Chris had never been there. Unfortunately, they were closing the visitor center about the time we got there. Oh well. We got a few photos from the parking area. There were a bunch of trees in the way, but you can get an idea of how tall it is.





At 717 feet, Dworshak is the tallest straight-axis concrete dam in the Western Hemishphere, the third tallest dam in the U.S and the 22nd tallest in the world. Kind of neat. The reservoir it holds back is 53 miles long. Makes me glad I don't live in Orofino (4 miles away) or Lewiston (47 miles downriver through the canyon).

OK, so you learned lots more useless trivia than you thought you would reading this! Hope everyone had a fun holiday!