Journeys›Photograph

A Sunny April Day on Lake Coeur d'Alene

·Kootenai County, Idaho·#boating#spring#lake#coeur-d'alene#idaho
Two smiling people in sunglasses on a boat, with a vast lake, distant mountains, and a blue sky with clouds.

Up in Idaho, and the plan was a boat on Lake Coeur d'Alene — a sunny April day, which on this lake apparently still means wind. Took a Cobalt out from a marina in Kootenai County and ran the open water for a few hours, the two of us in fleece and sunglasses, because sun or not it was cold moving across that chop.

The lake is bigger than it reads from shore: about 25 miles long, 109 miles of shoreline, fed by the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe rivers, draining out the north end as the Spokane River. Out in the middle the water went a dark blue and the wind stood it up into real waves, so we quartered along the timbered east shore where it lay down some, then swung back past the resort grounds toward town.

Back at the dock the marina was still mostly empty slips and bare trees — the season hasn't started here yet, which meant we had most of the lake to ourselves.

Two smiling people in sunglasses outdoors, with a lake, distant hills, and a blue cloudy sky in the background.Wavy dark blue water in the foreground, with tree-covered land and mountains under a blue sky with white clouds.Choppy dark blue water in the foreground, with forested mountains under a blue sky with white clouds in the background.A wide view of a blue lake with distant treed hills, buildings, and a clear blue sky with white clouds.A boat's bow on a sparkling lake with forested hills under a blue sky with scattered clouds.The front of a white boat on a lake, with sunlit sparkling water, forested hills, and a blue sky with clouds.A person in a red shirt stands in a white boat docked at a pier in a marina under a partly cloudy sky.A man in a boat with a blue canopy is docked at a pier, with other boats and a marina behind him.

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