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Published: November 5th 2021
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The ride up the middle of the Idaho panhandle through the Coeur D'Alene National Forest was very pleasant. The day was clear and blue. It had rained the day before, and the road was soft, but not bad. As I drove I felt lucky to have chosen this late date for the ride. The fires up here had been fierce. All along the road were patches of burned forest. Some areas along the road had been cleared by the Forest Service but were still black and brown from the devastation. The road itself was clear. One could see the trees that had indeed fallen across the road, now sawed into submission. Met a pickup with road surveyors assessing the damage. I felt comfortable with anything this road did -- it was well built and maintained -- time to savor the scenery and take photos. The bridge over the Coeur D'Alene river was particularly lovely. I seem to have started my day well ahead of other riders -- but I travel slow. By lunch time I had been overtaken by the two guys on KTMs I had met at the Blue Heaven cabin (from Boise and Southern Utah) as well as by
the couple from Michigan (whom I had run into in Pierce). Got some friendly waves and a photo op. The aggressiveness of the trail gradually gave way to valley roads following streams and wetlands. Had lunch in a lovely spot on Tepee Creek, and rode on in to Clark Fork by mid afternoon.
With time on my hands that afternoon, I decided to ride the next section of the trail -- a loop up a mountain -- and give myself a shorter journey the next day. It would also allow me to see what gravel roads are like without any weight on the bike. Freed of the 100 lbs of extra stuff, the bike came alive. We roared up Lightning Creek, round Lunch Peak at 6,400 feet, back down again to Hope and home again along the shores of Lake Pend Oreille.
Clark Fork, a small town located where the river of the same name empties into the Pend Oreille lake, was full of surprises. The motel entrance was occupied by a beautifully maintained Nash Metropolitan, late 1950s vintage. That generated some nice car talk in what turned out to be a really comfortable motel. They recommended that
I have dinner at the a small funky restaurant on the edge of town -- the Squeeze Inn. They had a great menu and the food was really good. I had the ground elk gnocchi in a tomato basil sauce with mushrooms and zucchini and felt I had died and gone to heaven. Early breakfast the next morning was the My Place Cafe a short walk from the Motel. The owner was up and ready to serve the eggs and bacon breakfast and talk to you about anything of interest -- very charming and interested in motorcyclists (who gave her a lot of business). I left her my map of the Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route -- figured she could attract even more if folks saw it on her wall.
Days Travel: Wallace ID to Clark Ford ID - 157 mi
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