A Swinging Good Time

September 4, 2017
Elks Lodge #1254
Coeur D'Alene, Idaho

The wind was blowing very hard when we got up but we decided to leave Columbia Falls anyway.  The Glacier fire grew over the weekend and the entire portion of the park west of Logan Pass was closed and evacuated causing more smoke in Columbia Falls.


As we drove west the air got smokier and smokier.  We didn't make too many stops because of the smoke but we couldn't pass up Kootenai Falls. 

There were three flights of stairs to get on the bridge over the railroad tracks and then a short hike to the falls.

It was amazing how much water was coming down this river.  Since this was September during a drought I have a hard time imagining what it must be like during spring.

We hiked downstream until we got to the Swinging Bridge.

I wasn't real sure about this after I read all the signage.

I went over quickly and it wasn't too bad as long as the wind didn't blow.










This is the view upstream from the bridge.

That's Dave hanging on for dear life.  When another person got on the bridge, it would start to "swing".
















The smoke got thicker as we got closer to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.  There were many warnings about the smoke and hazardous air quality. Today the air in Coeur D'Alene was the worst in the entire United States. 

There were no clouds today but the sun still wasn't very bright.



Tomorrow we will drive to Washington.  I hope we get out of the smoke by the time we get to the coast.