Rains Have Rivers Foaming Tourists Find Spectacular Sights As Waters Rush Over Area Spillways

The fretting over flooding isn’t over. But some made the best of the rising waters Sunday by taking in the violent, frothy spectacle of those dam rapids at Falls Park.

Others fished, despite the fact that docks at Hayden and Fernan lakes were submerged.

Although the threat of soggy basements looms over North Idaho like an overripe cumulus cloud, spirits here can be hard to dampen.

At Falls Park, parents pulled along chains of big-eyed children behind them, others were themselves pulled along by dogs on leashes. The spray covered everyone with a fine mist, and the roar made them glad they weren’t on the receiving end of the torrent.

Gawkers came from everywhere: Spokane, Sandpoint, even Europe.

“It’s really impressive,” said a tourist from England, lowering a video camera. “Geez, really.”

Clarence Vedder Jr. watched the green-and-white foam explode through the dam’s gates and shook his head. “This the highest I’ve seen it.” Vedder had lived around Post Falls for 30 years.

Tom McArthur considers himself a falls aficionado. On Saturday, he paid a visit to Spokane Falls. Recently, he took a drive to Kettle Falls.

“To me, each one has something to offer,” McArthur said. “It’s the beauty, the power, the whitewater. It’s gorgeous.”

On calmer waters, the fish were biting. At Fernan Lake, Doug and Judy Candler had a good day. “We caught bass, perch, trout,” Doug Candler waxed. “And wind, rain …”

The couple wore yellow slickers as if they were marine fishing on the Atlantic, rather than a small Idaho lake. But the gale nearly yanked the hood off Judy Candler’s head as she splashed from the submerged dock onto dry land, her canvas shoes soaked.

“It’s too wicked,” she said. “We finally decided it was just too wicked.”

They were out on Hayden Lake Saturday, and had to climb toward the docks using big planks left there. The walkway was sunk.

It was the same story all over the Panhandle.

In Benewah County, some docks were starting to submerge and a boat house was listing, the sheriff’s department reported. The water level along the St. Joe River was about a foot higher Sunday than it was Saturday.

Boathouses and docks were tethered too tightly, a deputy said, causing the ties to strain once water levels rose. Last year, a boathouse actually broke free.

The Coeur d’Alene River was just a couple feet below flood stage at Enaville, Shoshone County deputies reported. And water was creeping onto roadways near Prichard and Calder. Boundary County also continued to suffer from water-logged roads.

Some officials are worried because more rain is on the way. It rained Sunday, and the National Weather Service forecasts scattered showers and clouds today and this evening.

So far, no homes have been flooded. And those lovely rapids keep raging - bursting free of the dam as if from a thousand fire hoses. Just up the pipe, Lake Coeur d’Alene has plenty more.

“It’s amazing the lake level isn’t dropping before our eyes,” said McArthur, the spray smacking his glasses and camera lenses like tiny BBs. “I could sit here all day.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FORECAST The National Weather Service forecasts scattered showers and clouds today.