On to Coeur d'Alene

And on we went…from Kootenai Falls into the Idaho Panhandle and down to the beautiful city of Coeur d’Alene. We camped at Blackwell Island RV Park on the shores of the Shoshone River. 

Our site has a small grassy area where the dogs can hang out, and a lovely trail through the woods along the river.  

This coyote statue beside the trail garnered quite a bit of interest the first time we passed it.  Kota and Rue just couldn’t reconcile the fact that it looked like a coyote, but didn’t smell or act like one.  

We also saw whitetail deer in the tall grasses.  

The park apparently has a resident mamma moose and two “small-horse-size” calves.  The park is located adjacent to an abandoned apple orchard, and they like picking apples this time of year.  I saw mamma moose in the thick brush along the trail, but didn’t get close enough to take good pictures.  After all, even though not as big as some moose I’ve seen, she was still at least  “large-horse” size.  

We didn’t have a lot of time in Coeur d’Alene, but we did find time for a great afternoon hike up Mineral Ridge.  This was supposed to be a 3.3 mile hike, and it was.  What they didn’t tell us at the beginning was that the first 2 miles were uphill.  

We took advantage of one of the many benches along the trail to catch our breath and take a selfie.

Switchback after switchback took us to the top of the ridge, where we had fantastic views of Lake Coeur d’Alene and a .3 mile level walk before we headed down.  

You’re right, the last mile was almost straight down…thank goodness for switchbacks.

We also found time to visit Cedars, a floating restaurant adjacent to our RV park.  It was a challenge to restrain ourselves at the salad bar to leave room for the excellent prime rib entree.  And even though we had plenty to eat, we still had room for just one more huckleberry ice cream.

John has been concerned the last several days about the amount of charge going to the truck’s batteries, so we took it to Kootenai Auto and Truck Service to be checked out.  They determined that we needed a new alternator, so we had one installed.  We’re now much more comfortable turning off the key knowing the batteries have enough power to start her again.

Making sure the Falcon was in tip-top shape was one of the things on our to-do list.  Another was stocking up on fresh produce for the next several days when we will be on the road.  The local Farmer's Market was just the place.  In spite of frequent showers and intermittent drizzle, we headed out on Saturday morning to see what the local growers had to offer.

And they had plenty!  Not only some of the most beautiful vegetables we have seen, but flowers, fruit, cheese, meat and even fresh salmon.

There were local crafts available as well.  I was drawn to this woman who was spinning her own yarns from local suppliers of wool, mohair and alpaca fleece.  She was not only selling the yarns she had hand-spun, but garments she had knitted or crocheted from them.  

This was one time that I regretted living in Texas.  Our winters are brisk, but not cold enough for me to wear all that warm, snuggly wool!  My sisters in other parts of the country can wear theirs and think of me.

Kootenai Falls

With only a 150-mile trip anticipated, we had a lazy morning and departed around noon.  The drive west from Kalispell was uneventful until we stopped an hour or so out for lunch.  The Kickin’ Horse Saloon and Eatery was just that.  Filled with video games, pool tables, a bar and tables, it is apparently the gathering place for all the locals.  

The sign advertises "Homemade."  We ordered the “classic cheeseburger” with fries and onion rings, and were not disappointed.  Jason served it all up fresh and cooked to order for John and me, plus a couple of other RVers who pulled in the same time we did.  Don’t miss this place if you’re in the area.

We rolled on down the road, then stopped to investigate what the sign said was “Kootenai Falls and Swinging Bridge.”  We were clueless about Kootenai Falls, but thank goodness we stopped.  Just a short walk down the hill and across the railroad tracks (on a special enclosed pedestrian bridge) was a real wonder!

The Falls are located between Libby and Troy, Montana, alongside US Highway 2.  Said to be one of the largest free-flowing waterfalls in the northwest, the previously calm river gathers momentum.  It surges first through China Rapids, and then over the falls, dropping 90 feet in less than a mile.

The Kootenai is named for the Kootenai Indians who once called this area home, and the area is s sacred site to the tribe.  More recently, the area has been used in the filming of a couple of movies.  Parts of “The River Wild” were filmed here in 1994, and in 2015 “The Revenant” used the falls for its river scenes.  I didn’t see the first movie, but it was easy to recognize where the latter was filmed.  And I can’t imagine how they managed to put anyone into that water and bring him out alive.  Those stunt men really earned their pay if they had to brave those rapids.

We indulged in a couple of huckleberry ice cream cones (they are as good as they look!)...

then left the falls area and boogied down the road some 30 miles to Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho.  While we were trying to locate our RV park, we discovered we had overshot our landing!  Our park was actually some 20 miles behind us, just outside Troy, Montana, and a couple of miles from Kootenai Falls.  We had driven right by it.  So, back we went.

Kootenai River RV Park is another small, family-owned park just a few yards from the river.  We have a lovely, shady site with nice grass for the dogs and access for them to have a dip in the stream. 

They only got to dip their paws, though.  The river is swift here as well.  As soon as Colt’s feet left the bottom, he started to drift down stream.  It didn’t take long for him to figure out that was not a good idea.  

On Saturday, John did some truck trouble-shooting, then we took a great hike with the dogs.  Just outside of Troy is the Old Highway 2 Trail.  It runs along a section of the original highway built some 400 feet above the current road.  The original road was built by hand between 1912 and 1915.  Carved from solid rock along the mountainside high above the Kootenai, the road was part of the original National Parks Road System.  It was built to give access from the Seattle area across the mountains to the new Glacier National Park.

The trail winds along the cliffs, with tall conifers overhead, overhanging rocks a bejillion years old, beautiful little fall aster blossoms and rocks covered in lush green moss.  

At every turn are spectacular views of the river, rapids and falls below.  What a delightful surprise this stop has turned out to be!

We ended the day with another trip to the falls for more ice cream and a closer look at the rapids and the "swinging bridge" just downstream.  Here's what the bridge looks like from the parking lot above.

And here's what it looks like from the end.  It's pretty high above the water, and the capacity is only five people on the bridge at a time.   It makes you wonder...

...especially when you look down at the river from the middle of the span!

The river did have one more surprise for us.  While looking into the sparkling water (a local fishing guide said it was "gin-clear") we saw flashes of bright red in the shallows moving upstream.  They were salmon making their annual spawning run.  What a treat to see them!

Glacier National Park

We reluctantly left Yellowstone and made our way north and west toward Glacier National Park.  The scenery flying past the window was beautiful.  We made a couple of stops to check the tires on Tracker to be sure the new metal valve stems were holding pressure, and that the Pressure Pro time monitoring system was performing properly.

Along the way, we saw a few old barns like these.  They are getting fewer and farther between due to the popularity of “barnwood” furniture and finishes.  We passed several lumber yards that specialize in old wood, and saw the bones of what must have been hundreds of old barns and outbuildings stacked on their lots.  Sad in a way…relics of the past will soon become part of someone’s new home or dining room set.

Our next stop was a  two-nighter at the KOA in Butte, Montana.  It’s an older park, but had nice open areas and the local hike-and-bike trail running along one side.  We got in our daily walks, plus some shopping before leaving.  It's an interesting small city, and one we would like to explore more the next time we pass this way.

We pulled into Kalispell, Montana on Thursday, and found our next “home,” Spruce Park on the River.  This small, family-owned park lies alongside the beautiful Flathead River, and our site had a fantasticl river view.  

At this point, the Flathead runs fast and deep, and from time to time a boat full of fishermen would float past.  We never saw anyone catch a fish, but the water was beautiful, and the dogs enjoyed getting their feet wet even if it was too swift for swimming.  However, they got their exercise chasing balls in Spruce Park’s common area. 

Kalispell was a lovely small city, and we enjoyed it as well.  The farmers' market on Saturday morning gave us a chance to stock up on local produce, including wonderful heirloom tomatoes and fresh plums.

And just outside of town was Lone Pine State Park, a day-use-only area with a great visitor center, challenging hiking trails and fantastic views of the valley below.

Friday was our first day to go into Glacier National Park.  It was a cool, mostly cloudy day, with intermittent sprinkles of rain.  We took the Going-to-the-Sun Road, which bisects the park, and offers the best views of the major scenic attractions.  We weren’t alone.  Traffic was bumper-to-bumper part of the way, and we had to wait our turn to pull into some of the scenic turn-outs. The views were spectacular, though, and we enjoyed our drive.

We had hoped there would be fewer people visiting the park after Labor Day, but this year marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park System, and it seems that everyone wanted to visit.  The Daily Inter Lake newspaper, which serves the Flathead Valley, said that Glacier is likely to set a new annual visitation record.  The National Park Service estimated 736,868 visitors came to the park in August, putting year-to-date visitation 18% ahead of 2015 and setting an August visitation record.  The total visitor count January -August was 2.25 million.

Bird Woman Falls, cascading 492 feet down the mountainside, was spectacular.

And we stopped to look at one of the few glaciers left in the park that can be seen easily from the Going-to-the-Sun Road.  

Everywhere you look, there are small streams trickling (or in some cases rushing) down the mountainsides.

Many of the trees are enormous.  There are a number of varieties of conifers in the park, and we think this one is a western red cedar. 

It is berry season at Glacier, and we were told the huckleberries the region is famous for were very numerous.  At first we thought these might be huckleberries, but were told they are the fruit of the mountain ash.  We sampled a couple and found them sour, but apparently they sweeten after the first frost, and some people use them to make jam.  They're very tasty-looking, and mountain ash jam might be worth a try.

Our one and only wildlife sighting was just past the Logan Pass Visitors Center.  We saw several cars pulled off and people with binoculars looking up.  They were just specs to the naked eye, and not much more to my 300 mm lens, but there they were high on the cliff above us...Glacier's famous mountain goats. 

On Saturday, we didn’t dare venture back into the center of the park.  Instead, we planned to drive up the west side along the Inside North Fork Road from the Apgar Visitor Center to Polebridge.  However...(there seem to be a lot of those)…when we got to the park entrance, the ranger told us that the road had been closed.  We did see the west side of the park, but from the Camas Road, which after ten miles or so leaves Glacier and goes up the west side of the boundary outside the park.  There were some beautiful views from there, as well, but not the ones we had hoped to see.

There are a number of hiking trails that go into the interior of Glacier.  Twenty or so years ago I would have been up for seeing some of the park that way.  On a rainy, cold afternoon, though, we opted for the driving tour and enjoyed what we could see of Glacier out the windows or from the scenic pull-outs.  Next trip, though, we'll try to plan our visit when we can book a tour in one of the park's red buses.  That looks like fun, and the driving headaches will belong to someone else.