I purposely failed to put a map at the start of this blog because the tracing of our route is untraceable. We wouldn’t think of just riding the 30 miles straight to Coeur d’Alene. With the time change we were actually able to get up and out the door by 6:30. We left Silver Mountain Lodge in Kellogg and enjoyed most of our 50 or so miles to Coeur d’Alene. Google Maps played a trick on us the last few miles that put a bit of a damper on our spirits not to mention again the hundred degree temperatures.
The first 20 miles were blissfully cool and beautiful as we followed the Coeur D’alene River. Unfortunately the trail of the Coeur d’Alene does not actually go to Coeur d’Alene. It sweeps South and goes all the way around the lake linking you up with a highway on the west side of the lake which you can ride back to Coeur d’Alene. And in any case why would we choose a perfectly good trail when we can take a dirt road over a mountain. I chose to find my own route with the help of Google.
When we turned off the main road just a mile from Highway 3 and started up a barely labeled, one lane, forest road, Gloria dutifully followed. She couldn’t really complain because she had refused to ride on any of the busy roads that went directly into Coeur d’Alene. I couldn’t blame her but I also didn’t have two batteries and a motor like her. The hill was steep and in fact on the profile view of Google Maps looked vertical. The good news was that we quickly gained elevation. The bad news was that we quickly gained elevation. It was steep.
We hadn’t taken time for breakfast when we left early so we stopped about halfway up the mountain and enjoyed our snacks. This is one of our favorite parts of these trips. We get to sit, eat, and talk in beautiful places, completely uninterrupted. Of course, it took climbing a mountain on a bicycle but it was worth it.
We climbed for about 3 miles and then rode a roller coaster road across the top and edge of the mountain. Far below we could see the Valley of the Coeur d’Alene. With the heat and high pressure system the mountains looked like the Smoky Mountains. We didn’t see a single car on the road for the 15 miles we traversed the mountain.
My sister asked why we do this in one of my blog post. I was trying to formulate an answer as I was filming part of our journey through a forest thick with cedars, fir trees, and ferns. Gloria spontaneously started saying this was what she loved and it is definitely one of my reasons for riding.
Sadly, long before we got all the way down the mountain we began to hear the loud noise of Highway 90. Eventually we crossed it and then began traversing mostly parallel to it as we headed towards Coeur d’Alene.
We passed Wolf Lodge where our son-in-law Nick told us to have a steak . It was one of his dad’s favorite places. Unfortunately they didn’t open till 5 and we were a bit early.
The last few miles wouldn’t have been too bad as we followed along the hills to the North overlooking Highway 90 and the lake. Unfortunately Google Maps sent us down a road that appeared to pass under Highway 90 and take us to the lakeside trail. After a mile or so going down on the road it petered out into a driveway. Highway 90 was tantalisingly close but still too far away through the woods to reach. We began the slog back up the hill and then had to climb further up before finally dropping down to the lakeside and reaching the Centennial Trail.
For the most part the few miles we followed the trail into town were gorgeous along the lake edge. But interestingly in Idaho, sometimes they just have a wide shoulder on the road and call it a bicycle trail. Pedaling 20 miles an hour down a hill with a six inch wide strip of paint protecting you from a truck coming 70 miles an hour up the hill is a little disconcerting.
The other thing we found very interesting in Idaho, is that there is no evidence of covid-19. Maybe Idaho has isolated itself so well that nobody got the disease. With Coeur d’Alene being a vacation site, perhaps people believe that because they’re on vacation the virus must also be on vacation. In fact hardly anybody bothers to wear masks. It’s quite interesting and I’m not sure if it has anything to do with the Trump signs we see on just about every house. Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Regardless we arrived early in Coeur d’Alene and enjoyed having a little less Riding In the Heat of the day.
Grumpy Grandpa's Great Bicycling Adventures 