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Thursday, October 17, 2019

A couple more little hikes and ideas for new adventures

Some family members came to visit recently, and it was their desire to do some hiking.  I did my best to oblige them.

We made our way across the North end of Lake Pend O'Reille, through Sandpoint, Hope, and Clark Fork.  At that point we entered Montana and headed north on Hwy 56 up the Bull River Valley.  This valley has absolutely stunning scenery, and has very few people in it.





The first hike was in the Ross Creek Cedar Grove in Western Montana - a very pretty place.

Below, a view from inside the grove.  This was a chilly hike.  Not too much sun gets inside a grove of old-growth trees.  This picture was taken at the edge, where we stopped for a minute to warm up a little.

Below, a view of the Cabinet Mountains on the way out of the cedar grove.  There is a burn going on behind the trees on the right side.

Next up was Kootenai Falls and the swinging bridge, near Troy, Montana.  
Above the falls, panoramic
Panoramic of the falls



The swinging bridge

Downstream of the swinging bridge. 

Then we made a trip to Old Eilleen dam, with the little waterfall across the river.

I walked a little way out onto the dam this time around.  It didn't take me long to realize that this was not a very wise thing to do.  On the upstream side were the power plant intake shafts, which were quite deep, and full of trash.   On the downstream side, was a steep hillside covered with loose rocks.  There was nothing to be gained by continuing, other than possibly a good photo, but I decided that a decent photo wasn't worth the risk.


The visit to the dam was followed by a trip to Copper Falls, near the Canada border.  This is one of the larger waterfalls in Idaho, at about 150ft high.  It's also located in bear country.  We each had a can of bear spray, and I packed in a gun.  Fortunately none of that stuff was needed.

The following day we made a trip to mining country - Idaho's Silver Valley.  The first attraction on the trip was a visit to the Old Mission at Cataldo, Idaho.

Panoramic view of the Coeur d'Alene River from behind the Old Mission

A visit to the old train station and museum in the silver-mining town of Wallace, ID.



The train station was followed by a rapid hike up the Pulaski Tunnel Trail.  This hike was vicious.  What wasn't frozen and slippery was muddy and slippery.  It was a moderately steep trail, so it was quite a vigorous climb.  Very pretty though.

A little cascade on Placer Creek, along the Pulaski Tunnel Trail.

Big Ed Pulaski is famous not just for saving most of his men from the 1910 fire, but also for inventing the Pulaski tool.  This tool is used by wild land fire fighters.  It's half axe, half adze.


The following day we hiked to the top of Mineral Ridge, where there is a great view of Coeur d'Alene Lake.


Afterwards, we took a trip to Schweitzer Mountain ski resort for lunch, overlooking Sandpoint, ID, and Lake Pend O'Reille.

On the way to the next location, I noticed this eagle in a tree overlooking the Kootenai River.

The next location was Myrtle Creek Falls.  This was not a difficult or long hike, but it was worth doing because the falls was flowing nicely, especially given the time of the year.

We had another visitor at the house.  A Stellar's Jay landed on the roof after hanging around the feeder.  Big fella.  Beautiful crest, and pretty color!

We have already decided that the next trip will involve a ride in a float plane and some biking adventures.

Below, the Hiawatha Trail
Below, the Trail of the Couer d'Alenes.
And I really would like to summit Scotchman's Peak

Just for fun, I'll put add this final video.  I'm never going to ride in one of these, but I like the video because it's intense and the scenery is pretty.  FYI: The race runs from Calder, ID to St. Maries, ID down the St. Joe River, which flows into the South end of Coeur d'Alene Lake.

The show-covered peaks that show up at about the 7:00 mark are the St Joe Mountains.

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