First of all, here is an image of the region of the US I'm referring to. The US/Canada border is at the very top of the image. Spokane, Washington is at the lower left. The town of Bonner's Ferry, Idaho is marked, because the items we hiked to are near there.
Click image to enlarge or improve clarity.
The first place we hiked to was Lower Snow Creek Falls. It's very close to the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge, but is not a part of it. The wildlife refuge is awesome, and we've seen some really amazing wildlife there, but not on this trip.
Below, the town of Bonner's Ferry is to the right. The Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge is marked near the top, and Snow Creek Falls is marked near the bottom left.
Now that you know more or less know where we are, here's a couple of pictures of what it looks like, in case you don't have the interest or desire to make the trip.
Below: Lower Snow Creek Falls from the viewing platform.
Another picture of Lower Cold Creek Falls, from downstream. I hopped on rocks until I made it to the middle of the stream, and took a picture of the falls from there.
There is also an Upper Cold Creek Falls, quite a bit more of a hike from the trailhead. It was also more difficult to get a good picture of the falls and the pool, due to terrain.
The next hike was to Old Eileen Dam, north of the town of Moyie Springs. In this image, Bonner's Ferry is at the bottom left, Moyie Springs is just right of center, and Old Eileen Dam is marked at the top right.
I had spotted Eileen dam while using Google Earth, zoomed in on it, and wondered what the heck it was. I put it on my bucket list to visit.
Google Earth close-up picture below:
The road to Eileen Dam was a mixed bag. The road was dirt, but well-maintained most of the way. The road became very rough when we started descending into the canyon as we got near the dam, Tire ruts were cut really deep, and due to trees and brush crowding the shoulder of the road, it wasn't possible to drive to one side and use the center high spot. After scraping the bottom of the car a few times, we found a wide spot and parked. We decided to walk the rest of the way.
Fortunately, it was only about 1/4 mile to the trail. Unlike the waterfall trails, this trail wasn't maintained at all. It was more like a mountain goat path than a hiking trail - it was quite steep, with dry powdery dirt on slick round rocks. There was a very real possibility of slipping and falling a long way, with accompanying injuries.
I made it most of the way down - about to the point where I was level with the top of the dam. I decided against going all the way down to the river, because I had separated from my daughter. I told her to cling to a tree about halfway down the trail. I took a couple of pictures, then hiked back up. The hike up was just as dangerous, but with the added complication of being extremely cardio-intensive. Still, it was worth the effort.
Below: Old Eileen Dam. The dam is broken and abandoned. It's a small dam - about 50 feet high and maybe two feet thick at the top. The far side is not connected to the canyon wall. The river runs around the dam on the far side, and there is a small hole eroded under the dam at the bottom.
Below is picture taken with a drone. It gives a better sense of how the river flows around the dam.
The dam is a cool old ruin with an interesting history. For more information here is an article from the Bonner's Ferry Herald.
Below is a video shot by someone who apparently has better health insurance than I have. You won't catch me walking on top of this dam.
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