Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes - Plummer Point to Medimont - 7/31/17

Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes - Plummer Point to Medimont - 7/31/17

Off we go … starting from Plummer Point inside of Heyburn State Park, we take off in the morning cool … so cool that we started off our ride in light jackets headed for the almost mile long bridge across the Chactolet Lake and Coeur d’Alene Lake.  The trail skirts the lakeside edge and then travels along the Coeur d’Alene River.

We found the trail to be a delight … to start, it is paved and well-signed - smooth, wide asphalt paved paths with consistent trail markers and information signage.  The trail was bordered by choke cherry trees, huckleberry bushes, even some wild apple trees, and an abundance of wild flowers, bachelor’s buttons, yarrow, golden rod, sweet peas, butterfly bush, calendar flower … colorful highlights with a forest back ground of pines, cedars, larch, yews, elders, ash and firs.  Many private landowners have houses or camps on the hillsides with steep trails down to the shoreline where they have their own private docks for waterside entertainment …. boats, canoes, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, Skee-doos, inflatables of all kinds … and, lots of "PRIVATE PROPERTY - DO NOT ENTER" signs.

Once past the lakeside communities, the trail opens into the most amazing land of small lakes and marshland filled with all forms of avian life … ospreys, herons, bald eagles, grebes, white pelicans … countless other birds … all chattering, singing, clucking, screeching away.  I finally had to stop taking pictures because one bird led to the next … we’d never have progressed down the trail.  If we had tried to identify all of the birds that we saw, we would never have moved on … (and, frankly, I don’t have the birding skills to identify all of these birds).   We simply marveled as we passed with osprey chicks squawking for more food, bald eagles flying overhead, great blue herons taking flight … and a horde of songbirds singing from the underbrush.

At this point, we tended to have the trail to ourselves … passing or being passed by relatively few other cyclists.  We stopped at Medimont (about 20 miles out) and met a retired man from Arkansas who was spending time in Idaho with his daughter and her family.  He had helpful recommendations and a flag of Finland on his bike.  Unfortunately I didn’t see the flag in time to ask him about it.  He did say that he had received a degree from the University of Arkansas that he couldn’t use in Arkansas … I wondered all the way back what type of degree does one receive in Arkansas that one must leave Arkansas to use … inquiring minds want to know (and sometimes forget to ask).

We turned around and headed back with plans for lunch in Harrison (I was fantasizing a hamburger and fries … followed by an ice cream cone … at this point in our trip).  We arrived back in Harrison to have lunch at a restaurant by the water’s edge only to find that it was closed due to a power outage.  Crushed by the information we started to proceed when we noticed further up the hill a restaurant that had lights …up the hill we went and found my fantasized hamburger and fries (I was too stuffed to indulge in the ice cream).

The last ten miles back were simply hot … exposed to the sun and hot … leaving us both quite exhausted (and butt sore) at the end of our trip.   Bambi offered us a cold beer when we returned and a shower rejuvenated us … we absolutely loved the trail … and, it is hot here in the northern panhandle of Idaho.  We are a bit surprised that we can be this far north and find temperatures in the mid- to high 90s.

Did I mention that it is hot here?

Tomorrow we pick up another section of the trail …