HOPE — Lake Pend Oreille is 43 miles from the Long Bridge at Sandpoint to Button Hook Bay at Farragut State Park. That’s a pretty significant journey by boat, but always a pure pleasure for those willing and able.

Did you know that Pend Oreille is one of the five deepest lakes in the United States?

The U.S. Navy has maintained an active research base at Bay View since World War II. It is officially the Acoustic Research Detachment of the Naval Sea Systems Command.

The Navy tests sonar and underwater design here by the fact there is little to no current in the big pool. The flat clay silt bottom maintains a steady rear-round temperature of 35 degrees, coincidentally perfect for testing sonar.

It’s one of two lakes in the world with these attributes: no sound of water currents, a flat continuum of clay silt bottom over a substantial distance and a year-round constant temperature—ideal for sonar.

Essentially, Lake Pend Oreille has no current disturbing the long subsurface box canyon pool that parallels the Green Monarchs from Johnson Creek near the Clark Fork River Delta all the way to Button Hook Bay at Farragut.

The primary inlet feeding the lake is the Clark Fork River entering on the northeast corner. The outlet drains out as the Pend Oreille River on the northwest corner at Sandpoint. So the big, deep pool along the Green Monarchs has no water current of any significance to cause noise.

Pend Oreille became a reservoir when the Army Corp of Engineers completed construction of the Albeni Falls Dam in 1955. It began that project in 1951.

No fewer than 8 organizations recommend their conservation concerns and values toward the Army Corps’ reservoir management policies.

These are more notably the Pend Oreille Basin Commission, the Tri-State Water Quality Council, the Kaniksu Land Trust, the Inland Northwest Land Conservancy, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the Rock Creek Alliance and the Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper (part of a larger Waterkeeper Alliance).

Certainly, many sportsmen groups also state their policy opinions with strength and sometimes vehement passion.

The Kalispel Tribe of Indians also carries influence on management policies of the reservoir.

And too, there are other interests down stream throughout the Columbia Basin, even into Oregon that care about our water because on an increasing yearly scale “water is gold” to populations and enterprises in need of it.

Lake Pend Oreille is also the primary water source for the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, one of the finest fresh water aquifers in the interior United States.

Early explorer, David Thompson and others built a trading post on the shores of Sand Point where the Sandpoint City Beach now exists.

The phrase “Pend d’Oreille” is French for a “pendant”. It’s reference to the lake likely originated from a French Canadian fur trader traveling with Thompson’s party due perhaps to the ear-lobe shape of the lake.

The Thompson party also noted that the Kalispell Tribe of Indians who seasonally inhabited the lake’s shorelines wore beautifully handcrafted pendants on their ear lobes. Hence, it was likely a way to remember the uniqueness of this friendly tribe.

Dyk demonstrated significant experience with his DJI Mavic drone. He is certified as an FAA Remote Pilot and uses this commercial license under his business name Selkirk Aerial Imaging.

As a business, Dyk provides photography, video services and mapping through masterful use of his drone.

I couldn’t have had a better trail companion for gathering photos for this article. Those he donated for this publication are granted “courtesy of Selkirk Aerial Imaging, and I’m very thankful for that.

Dyk has flown photo missions for Tamarack at the Sandpoint Airport and other notable enterprises in the region including crop measurements on Eastern Washington farms.

He has also flown tower inspections in Bonner County and gathered both inventory and mapping data for several of the area’s major gravel pits.

I will add for sure measure that Dyk has provided these and other photos as a courtesy for use in this article because he loves the Lake as much as I do and openly expresses this Lake Pend Oreille passion with joy.

“Sometimes, we all need a break of fresh air,” he said. “It clears my head.”

We rode our ATVs for an hour or so before arriving at the mountain saddle overlooking Hope and the long span southward of Lake Pend Oreille toward Bayview.

I could only smile in anticipation watching Dyk unpack his drone from its satchel. It took less than a minute to ready it for launch.

Dyk commented that we were not far from the ridge into which Pam Bird unwittingly flew her plane with Tookie Hensley and Tookie’s husband, Don Hensley into a ridge near the saddle where we parked.

That tragic fatal-to-all crash happened on October 10, 2015.

She had just launched for a long trip from the private airstrip at the Bird Museum on Bottle Bay Road. She hit the mountain under a low ceiling of clouds 6 or 7 minutes after taking off. The crash site, Dyk said, was “likely little more than a mile below and west of where we’re standing.”

No one fully understood what happened. Pam Bird (59) was a very experienced pilot. Tookie Hensley (80) was her long-time flight instructor. Don Hensley, Tookie’s husband, was 84.

They were all 3 dearly loved by the greater Sandpoint community. It was a tragic event.

But life goes on for those who remain behind.

Dyk had the drone in the sky in moments. We watched from the video monitor as it flew to various scenic views at his command. He took photos on demand by the press of his thumb on a keyboard button.

The lake you see in these photographs officially ends at the Long Bridge at Sandpoint, yielding its flow to the Pend Oreille River at the physical line of the Long Bridge, the automotive introduction to Sandpoint.

The Pend Oreille River then takes the flow of water westward to pour it over Albeni Falls dam near where it then turns northward flowing past Newport all the way to American Falls near the Canadian border before adding it’s precious liquid to the Columbia River watershed.

All in all, no matter where you take in the immense beauty and panorama of Lake Pend Oreille, its scenic value is lasting. For many who know the truth, even in the face of tragedy, standing over this lake in quiet repose is like taking in a breath of fresh air.

Feature Correspondent, Dwayne Parsons, may be reached for comment and article suggestions by emailing him at dwaynedailybee@gmail.com.