Loon Lake

On Labor Day, September 5, the couple who pastures their horses at the ranch invited me to spend an afternoon at one of their rental properties with them and another couple they know.  The rental property is on Loon Lake.  This lake is SE of Bigfork in Lake County near the Lake and Flathead county border.  There is somewhat of a public access via a 4H camp, but mostly the lake is ringed by private properties.

The lake is decent sized lake. A few people were out on the lake, but mostly it was quiet.

The couple who invited me had two cheap 'kayaks'.  I saw kayaks loosely as these kayaks were little more than Styrofoam shaped like a kayak.  The 'kayak' had a few holes in the bottom which let water in while still allowing the 'kayak' to float.  My butt got wet.  While that felt fine on a warm day like this one, that feature limits the 'kayak's' use to warm days.

I kayaked all around the lake.  One woman who used the other kayak said that she saw a black bear near the lake on the south side (left side of the following photo) but the bear was heading up the hillside.  The bear was gone by the time I reached that side of the lake.

View looking west

View looking east / NE with the Swan Mountain Range in the background

A large beaver house?

One end of the lake was covered in lily pads.

I was surprised at the number of yellow jackets walking on the lily pads.  They didn't want anything to do with me even when I disturbed some of the lily pads as I kayaked through the pads.

Kayaking for the first time

As I mentioned in the previous post, after Patti, Mary and I returned from our hike to Numa Ridge Lookout, we relaxed by Bowman Lake.  Patti brought her kayak along so I could try it out.  I had never kayaked before.

Patti's kayak is wide so it doesn't tip easily. It was easy to learn to use.  One disadvantage of her wide kayak is that it didn't track straight.  Often I would have to make extra strokes on one side to keep the kayak straight as equal strokes sometimes would cause the kayak veer one way or the other.

Once I completed a test run I got my camera and headed out on the lake.  Bowman Lake is long.  I believe it may be 7 miles long and 1 mile wide.  I don't know how far I paddled, but I guess less than 1 mile of its length.  I did paddle up one side, cross the lake, then paddled back to the foot where Patti and Mary were waiting.  I paddled near, but not beyond, the narrow point in the following photo.

Lots of other people were on the lake in kayaks, canoes, and two guys on stand-up paddle-boards.

I had fun kayaking and now I want to get a kayak.

Views of Bowman Lake.

Looking towards Numa Ridge Lookout.

This view is looking back at the foot of the lake.