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Kyren Zimmerman takes off his wet suit after scuba diving in McGregor Lake near Marion on June 17. JUSTIN FRANZ | FLATHEAD BEACON
crashed train cars and more artifacts. He also wants to explore Hungry Horse Res- ervoir and Lake Koocanusa, two man- made lakes that buried old town sites and Native American treasures.
“The maritime history around here is fantastic,” he said.
“I have a whole stack of places I want to go check out.”
Zimmerman credits Cook for helping him develop into an advanced certified diver.
“It’s really helped me develop a new passion for diving and taking the next step,” Zimmerman said. “The diving around here is amazing and Mark does a great job and takes care of his students.”
Cook has helped countless people make the dive over the last three decades. Especially veterans. At his previous shop in Utah, Cook established a program through the Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs office that provided free train- ing for post 9/11 vets who returned from combat. Cook himself served in Vietnam along with his brother, who died years later from the effects of Agent Orange.
“I’ve seen what combat can do to these young men,” Cook said.
Cook’s program grew into Dive Alli- ance, a nonprofit group that aims to help veterans through diving excursions. Cook said he saw profound impacts as men and women coped with post-trau- matic stress disorder.
“Something happens underwater. They learn that they can turn it off and focus on the basics, like breathing,” he said. “It gives them control and it gives them freedom.”
Cook said he hopes to start something similar in the Flathead as a way to give back to those who served their country.
He also hopes to share the thrill of diving with others who, like Zimmer- man, can then embark on a lifetime of discovery.
“Diving is something that changes your life, some people more than oth- ers,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re in a lake or an ocean, it changes your life.”
Rock Bottom Divers is located at 203 Business Center Loop. Call 406-407- 7819 for more information. Locations of the weekly “Dive and Dine” assemblies are posted at the dive shop and on its Facebook page.
[email protected]
UNDERWATER WONDERS
THE LOST TOWNS OF LAKE KOOCANUSA
Before the Libby Dam was constructed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, several small towns and home sites occupied the scenic shores of the Kootenai River, the third largest tributary to the Columbia River. The arrival of the 422-foot-tall dam forced the eviction of the original towns of Rexford, Marston, Jen- nings, Ural, Warland and Stone Hill as the river pooled up and became Lake Koocanusa. The reservoir stretches 90 miles long with a maximum depth of 370 feet. Many pioneer buildings were moved to the Tobacco Valley Historical Village in Eureka before the rising waters arrived, saving them from submer- sion, including a church, library and school house. However, it is believed that many artifacts and relics of the past remain hidden underwater, creating an underwater museum worth exploring. There is also believed to be artifacts from the Kootenai tribe, the area’s first inhabitants who used the Tobacco Valley as a main corridor.
Welcome Home!
We are proud to introduce the new Intermountain Providence Home in the Flathead Valley, a place of healing and hope through therapeutic care for children.
ank you to our Flathead Valley faith communities, board, staff, donors and business partners. Special thanks to Flathead County and the Montana Department of Commerce, Comunity Development Block Grant Program, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Steele-Reese Foundation, Gallagher Western Montana Charitable Foundation, William H. and Margaret M. Wallace Foundation, and many generous
P.O. Box 460 Somers, MT 59932 | 406-471-7973 | www.intermountain.org
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ndividuals, foundations and businesses.
JUNE 24, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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