Idaho's gems: western lakes are no small potatoes

"With a lake this size and this depth, it's possible that there is some large creature out there that we can't explain," he says, adding, "Hey, why not?"

But Mike Alfano ain't buying any of it.

"I've never seen the Paddler and never met anyone who has, but I don't believe there's a Loch Ness Monster, either," Alfano says. "I suspect these stories have to do more with alcohol consumption than any real phenomenon."

Then, as an afterthought, he adds, "But you know, every now and then, you'll see a really big roller come in off the lake. You can be sitting in your boat in the marina in perfectly calm conditions, and all of a sudden, the boat will start to roll, moving back and forth.

"You'll look up and there's nothing going on out there; no boats going by, no wakes, no submarines," he reports. "Nothing. It's really weird."

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

For more information about boating on Lake Pend Oreille and in northern Idaho, contact:

www.Idahoparks.org/rec.boating.html

Bayview: www.Bayviewidaho.org

Sandpoint: www.Sandpointchamber.org

Couer d'Alene: www.Couerdalene.org

Priest Lake: www.Priestlake.org

Farragut State Park:

www.ldahoparks.org/parks/farragut.html

Naval Sea Systems Command weather buoy: http://lpo.dt.navy.mil/buoy_info.html

Scenic Bay Marina and Motel Bayview, ID

www.Scenicbaymarina.com

120 open and covered slips with transient dockage, short-term slip rentals and motel rooms with waterfront decks.

MacDonald's Hudson Bay Resort Bayview, ID

www.macdonaldsresort.com

200 open and covered slips, boat maintenance and repair services, fuel (gas and diesel), transient docks, store and cabins plus rental sailboats, canoes and outboard fishing skiffs. Can arrange PWC, pontoon and ski boat rentals.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Boat Owners Assn.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group