A visit to Roman Nose Lake

One of the nicer outings in our area for guests is a trip to Roman Nose Lakes in the Selkirk Mountains, northwest of Sandpoint. For the scenic drive, take HWY 95 north, turn left and drive on into downtown Naples and pick up your nibbling supplies at the Naples General Store.

That's precisely what four Loves and four Border Collies did yesterday. After gathering munchies and drinks, we drove on through Deep Creek, past the infamous media gathering site for the Ruby Ridge Stand-off of the early 1990s and on to the Snow Creek Road at Moravia.

The drive to Roman Nose Lakes is on good roads and offers some breath-taking views of the rocky mountainsides in the Selkirk Range. We like going to the lake because just about anyone of any size, shape or physical conditioning could find enjoyment there. You can walk the boardwalk trails and admire the clean, alpine lake surrounded by rocks, trees and wildflowers, or you can take one of the network of trails for views above the lake or to the other lakes nearby.

Bill did a little fishing yesterday. I snapped a lot of photos. Willie and Debbie enjoyed the sights of nature and of the four dogs having a great time splashing in the water, racing down the trails or glassading off the leftover snow on the south side of the lake.

I also enjoyed visiting with two young men from the Idaho Fish and Game who were conducting fish surveys on North Idaho Alpine lakes. They had just returned from putting out a net at one of the other Roman Nose lakes and planned to collect data from the site this morning. One of them turned out to be the son of one of Bill's Idaho Dept. of Lands colleagues, so that made the visit all the more interesting.

We munched on Oreos and dried mangos (thanks, Annie) on the way down and then filled our stomachs with thousands of tasty calories at the Elmira Store----milkshakes, fries, onion rings and hamburgers.

One of the more amazing aspects of the day occurred in the car outside the cafe. We figured that once we walked inside the four dogs would play rank and pick their desired seats in the car. Not so. Border Collies are, without a doubt, the best behaved dogs in the world. During the hour we were dining, not one dog moved from the spot where we left it. They were well rewarded for their good behavior with a doggie bag full of fries.

Definitely a good day all the way around.