Biking and Regrouping – Canada to Northern Idaho and Washington
Not sure how long it will be until this brief proof-of-life blog posts, because we need a couple of hours with good internet to mount photos and publish each one. Duncan’s effusive report on our week in the Canadian Rockies was finally published while we lingered in a booth after brunch in Spokane, having failed the previous day over breakfast in Coeur d’Alene (why do servers cheerfully provide passwords to WiFis that don’t work?).
The mood of this update is a bit more subdued, reflecting a period of regrouping in several ways. This life is not a continuous series of glorious days – but we still love it. Our drive down the western side of the Rockies from Lake Louise was yet another lovely experience – fog-trimmed mountains topped with fresh snow. After spending two hours giving Evangeline an interior bath and doing laundry (in a gas station!), we spent a night in a Parks Canada campground situated near its Radium Hot Springs. Fitting to wash our van and our clothes, then soak our own tired bodies after dinner.
The drive into northern Idaho featured many miles and hours of beautiful wetlands, on which the highway and parallel rail line were built. We set up for two nights in a campground in Farragut State Park, a former WW2 naval training site and POW camp (near big, deep Lake Pend Oreille). Our mission there was to bike along the Trail de Coeur d’Alene (CDA), an extensive rail-to-trail system.
After purchasing a new articulating arm for our bike rack (yay, no more removing bikes at every campsite to access the back of the van), we started on the east side of the trail with a stop at the Cataldo Mission, Idaho’s oldest standing building. The exhibit there told a familiar and sad story of the CDA and Salish tribes embracing the “black robes” (Jesuit missionaries) and not only building the mission, but entering the educational and white trade training systems, dropping their languages and heritage practices, yet nevertheless being relocated to the Flathead Reservation where they subsequently had their allotments squeezed down so that big portions of their new land could be sold as “surplus.”
We were working around rain and errands, so our first biking outing was rather short, but the next day riding west side of the trail was wonderful. We crossed a long trestle bridge and biked along the river and marshes, by a great blue heron, many ducks, ospreys, water lilies, and beaver lodges. It was nice to bike rather than hike for a change.
It turns out that CDA, ID and Spokane, WA are practically joined at the hip, with common radio stations and service organizations. It’s interesting to peek into these less-visited parts of the country. Spokane spoke to us. We loved the lively waterfalls it straddles, with pedestrian bridges, trails and gondolas developed for a ’74 expo. Folks there were friendly, especially in the REI where I spent forever trying on hiking boots that I hope will extend my trail time. Paul stocked up on guidebooks and maps, which I now better appreciate after many hours of zero cell service. That said, Spokane is a bit dated and gritty. Here again we witnessed homelessness up close, including in the huge city park where we camped alongside three bedraggled neighbors sleeping in a small, equally bedraggled car.
The drive from Spokane up into the Cascades was another study in geology, as we crossed dry land – golden and black, with volcanic boulders explaining the black coloring on the hills – then climbed the dry side of the jagged north Cascade mountains. We were listening to a long chapter in The Overstory (by Richard Powers) focusing on a Doctor of Forestry who found fame and then discreditation after publishing a study about signaling among trees. The story concluded with Dr. Patricia Westerbrook finding redemption and peace studying douglas firs as part of an interdisciplinary team of scientists in the Cascades. We had experienced this sort of delightful coincidence once during our “proof of concept” campervan trip in 2020, when driving through the Big Hole of western Montana while listening to Undaunted Courageand hearing about a creek named after a member of the Corps as we drove alongside it!
We’re now in a mossy campground on the moist western side of the range, feeling lucky to have it for the holiday weekend after some anxious loops through campgrounds we’d thought were “first-come-first-served” that turned out to be fully booked through advance reservations. More anon as we explore this vast complex of National Park, Forest, Recreation and Wilderness lands.
A quick note about subscribing and commenting. Several have mentioned being thwarted when trying to comment, which is a shame because we appreciate your notes! This travelogue uses a patchwork of apps. The “Subscribe” button on the home page is to get emails from Follow.it when there is a new post. The commenting feature uses a separate app, gathering credentials so your identity shows (and trolls and bots can be kept out). Once we set up in Seattle, Paul will have a chance to troubleshoot the commenting challenges. Thanks for trying!