Day 3: Goodbye summer, hello winter!

What a difference a day makes! A cold front pushed through last night, dropping temperatures into the low 40s. It never got above 51 degrees today and was rainy and overcast nearly all day. Glacier National Park had a winter storm warning for up to four inches of snow at higher elevations! Good thing we're a day behind schedule. It's supposed to be sunny and much warmer tomorrow.

Gray skies and beautiful scenery near Bonners Ferry, ID

We continued north this morning to Bonners Ferry, situated along the Kootenai River. Just north of there, we hung a hard right onto U.S. Highway 2, which I intend to stay on or near all the way to Michigan. We quickly arrived at a viewpoint high above the Moyie River, a tributary of the Kootenai. An impressively long and high steel truss bridge spans the river just below a hydroelectric dam.

Informational sign at Moyie River overlook.

Bridge over the River Moyie

Continuing eastward, we soon crossed into Montana (state number four of the trip) and entered the Mountain Time Zone.  We drove past the small community of Troy to a trailhead for Kootenai Falls and a suspension bridge over the Kootenai River. The thundering falls only drop a short distance, but span the width of the river and interesting geology is exposed in the steep-walled canyon. Crossing the suspension bridge was an adrenaline rush! Multiple signs warned of imminent doom for a misstep, but we proceeded on. Only three boards wide (some of them rotting and splitting), it bounced and swayed with every step.

Railroad tracks near the falls. This image disturbs me. Probably because I have a one-track mind. :-)

Safely back across the bridge of doom. Most people turned back without crossing, but a few adventurous souls dared to cross the watery chasm.

Folded rock strata near Kootenai Falls.

 We spent a couple of hours hiking and photographing at Kootenai Falls. Fortunately, the speed limit on all Montana highways (even narrow two lane ones) is 70 mph, so we made good time to Kalispell.

Kalispell, MT

Interesting cloud formations at sunset at Kalispell.