Ready for Idaho

Sunday August 12 – Tuesday August 14, 2018

We left Black Rabbit RV a day earlier than planned. They were so gracious, giving us a refund for Sunday night.  No rush getting on the road as we only had a 3 or so hour drive.

Pretty drive back north through Missoula and west on 90. We planned to stay one night at the 50,000 $ Casino. Free RV parking with electricity.  We couldn’t pass it up. Anyway, we expected a casino – it was a small bar with a few tables and electronic gambling machines. We were a bit disappointed but the RV spot was great with good area to walk Flo. There were corrals for horses and all were full. Nice service they offered for travelers.

We were on the road early and arrived at Wallace, Idaho RV by 10 AM Monday. Our site was empty so we settled right in. We are near downtown and right along Trail of the Coeur D’Alene.

We contacted Lou’s Shuttle to get us to Mullan in the morning to begin our ride. Plan to do 57 miles or more. Our car will be in Harrison so have to get there – 57 miles from Mullen.

Up early on Tuesday to meet Lou at the bike/coffee shop. We met a young man there who was riding with his son Gus (4 or 5 years old) they were headed back to Wallace and had camped 2 nights on the trail. Gus was riding on a tag-along behind his dad. What a cute little guy, all smiles and ready to hit the trail. We saw them again when we passed on the trail later in the day.

Lou shared a lot of local info on our drive to the Mullan Trailhead and things to watch for along the trail.

We were on the trail a little after 10 and stopped at the RV in Wallace to visit Flo, get sandwiches and our camel packs. The trail travels through the Silver Valley surrounded by forested mountains. I have never seen forest so dense, it seemed there wouldn’t be room for one more tree.

Much of the time we followed the Coeur D’alene River, crossing from one side to the other.  We passed the outskirts of many small towns. As we were closer to Harrison we went through the Chain of Lakes and miles of wetlands. Not much shade through here so it was very hot.

Along the way we saw osprey, several different kinds of ducks, a coyote, quail, turkey, deer and my favorite blue heron. So wanted to see a moose, but no luck. Gus saw 2 moose!

Arrived in Harrison, 57 miles done! We stopped at the car to get more water and decided to ride 12 more miles. We are both 69 this year and since 2009 have celebrated by completing a ride to match our years. Yay, we got our 69!

The trail out of Harrison is along Lake Coeur D’alene and toward the Chotcolet Bridge. We could see the bridge through the haze but honestly didn’t have enough energy left to venture any further.  Hate to complain, but the smoke haze is still an issue.

An hour drive back to the RV, walk Flo, shower, eat dinner, walk Flo and hit the sack. What a day. This might be our favorite trail.

I best end this. We are at City Limits Brew Pub using their Wifi.  We’ve both had plenty of Mountain Top Amber.