I have a favorite place that my family and I love... If you ask my 7 year old daughter, she'll tell you it's a place of enchantment - but then so will I... It's a magical place where Pirates, Fairies and Pixies leave tantalizing clues as to their existence - and are certain to be seen, and perhaps befriended someday soon... maybe tomorrow... we can always come back till that day, and many beyond... It?s bound to happen! For those examining a map of Bonner County, you might be looking directly at it without knowing - for it's name has been cleverly disguised! Never fear - I am about to tell the secret? in hopes that this enchanted place may touch your lives as it has ours? That's why I gladly give away the secret that may enable you to find the Pirate treasure, the Fairy magic, the Pixie dust that my daughter and I have yet to - in my state of enchantment, I am eager to share? Seek and we shall see who claims these treasures first! Meanwhile, there is bounty aplenty to be collected by all - creating golden memories at the very least - as this enchanted place certainly exists... it awaits for all who care to partake of it's wonders... I'm talking about two little islands, side by side, located on Lake Pend Oreille. You can only hope to find the magical treasures by boat during the perfect days of late spring, and the length of summer. It needn't be large? a kayak or row boat will do - depending on your place of embarkment. For those of you traveling in a larger craft, there are several coves where you can drop anchor, and perhaps swim in the warm water to shore, or you can beach your boat for the day - the options are yours of course... Once ashore, the adventures begin in earnest... One wonders what activities the soaring eagles and osprey survey, as they circle these small, ordinary looking islands - that is what the Pirates, the Fairies, the Pixies want you to see! And there is another - more clever than them all... directing the magic on these enchanted isles - to the delight of everyone, and to the never-ending consternation of the Pirates... During wintertime, there is a land bridge that allows you to walk between what becomes the two enchanted Isles. If you gaze long enough from the proper angle - and you believe strongly enough - you might spot a pirate or two dashing between the larger island, and the rocky atoll nearby... perhaps lugging a chest laden with doubloons and/or jewels. You might see a Fairy or Pixie flitting about, dusting the underbrush with dew - or the trees with carefully designed snowflakes - depending upon when you focus your attention. There is always plenty of activity, because the Fairies and Pixies do the bidding of... Peter Pan himself - and the Pirates their machinations to spite him - because you see, you are actually looking at "Peter Pan" and "Pirate Mystery Islands" respectively... though you've perhaps been told you are looking at "The Fisherman Islands"...! Now you can see through the clever disguise! During the summer, we walk between the islands on our treasure hunts - as the land-bridge has sunken to become a shallow shoal between the two... perfect for the passage by foot. Precious treasures are everywhere: tiny freshwater snails, myriad rocks for skipping or examining when wet - some of them be-speckled with gold! Is that really weathered tree roots, or bleached dinosaur bones lying beneath the gnarled tree? Of course they are dinosaur bones - so far... and for as long as we want them to be! If you are really lucky, the young at heart might find some pirate booty buried shallow beneath an X. Was that X there when we last passed - or did the X and trinkets materialize while our 7 year old was stooping near the shore, looking at the beautiful little fish swimming in their school. Hiking to the highest point on "Pirate Mystery Island" offers you 360? views of the lake and the mountains - the perfect vantage point for Pan to remain one step ahead of the cutthroats. Bring a mask and snorkel - you can swim with the inquisitive Kokanees near the rocks at "Dead Man?s Reef". Jump off the reef on one side of "Peter Pan Island", and swim to the other - or drop a line in, and catch a huge rainbow trout. Be sure to bring your barbecue, or a substantial picnic - as you will want to stay till the day?s end, to see the sunset... the exquisite fireball settling into the purple Selkirks, the sky - with perhaps a wisp of clouds - erupting into heavenly peach hues, magentas, exquisite purples and blues... Yes, the magic's there... always there... You just have to see it... believe in it... It's there...