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Loaded for the trip
Outside the motel in Leavenworth,WA We are now sitting in the Wallace Inn which appropriately is located in Wallace, Idaho. This is night two (May 20th) of our Bitter Root loop bike trip. We had planned to cycle from Plummer on the Coeur d'Alene (Cda) trail to Mullan, then up over the Lookout Pass to the trail of the Hiawatha and down to Avery , returning to Ste Maries, Id. We have done about 65 miles so far which was over one third of what was intended.
However things are unraveling as the Hiawatha trail is still under 5 feet of snow. The new plan is to head back the way we came and return another time to finish the trip.
To add insult to injury, the forecast is for rain so our next three days may be a bit less pleasant.
Day one of the trip was excellent. We stayed in the Pines Motel in Ste Maries, Idaho which is a clean and comfortable motel with a very helpful owner (Kevin) He gave us a courtesy shuttle to the trail head in Plummer where we started our trip. The first part of the trail included a 6 mile 3% downhill grade -
mile one
The beginning of the trail in Plummer nice start.
The one minor issue with the Cda trail is that the first part from Plummer east only has food and/or lodging at mile 15 or mile 47 ( and even at mile 47 at Enaville, finding the resort takes some work) If you want to stay close to the trail you have to keep going to Smelterville and stay in a small and modest motel beside Walmart. (mile 56)
We had an exciting evening in Enaville starting with a beer in the Snakepit Bar (circa 1880) It is located within 200 meters of the Enaville trail head. We contacted Peggy at the Country Lane RV resort and her partner Bob came and picked us and drove us 6 miles to the resort. It is a RV resort/Bar/Restaurant/B&B and the owner cant do enough for you. We had a meat dinner (hello Paraguay) and then walked 2 miles down the road to observe the nightly elk parade.
The next day Peggy called ahead to Rick at the Wallace Inn who confirmed the trail up to Lookout Pass was closed due to snow. We decided to head out to Wallace anyway and had a brief stop for
On the road
Jan is adjusting to the unaccustomed warm temperatures a bike brake adjustment in Kellog at the Excelsior Bike Shop-a great place. About a mile after Kellog, I had a flat tire.
The trail from Kellog to Wallace is uphill but not too bad. We spent the night there -lots of helpful advice from Rick the manager. After exploring the town we had spaghetti and walked back to the hotel. I think Wallace is the world head quarters for antique shops. If you want a pinball machine or a dead elk head, this is the place.
Our plan is to is to ride 50 miles tomorrow back to Harrison and then take the highway over to Ste Maries to the car the next day.
We had a really great ride and stopped in Kellog for some minor bike stuff (a padded seat for Jan and a new bike tube for me) We are averaging about 9 mph so got into Harrison at 3.00 PM -bit of rain the last 2 miles. We were mildly worried about not having a reservation at the Lakeview Lodge but no problem.
Our host was super - I asked about beer and she went and got two out of her own
a short break
Less of a load than Iceland refrigerator. The Lakeview Lodge is newly renovated and we had a great room with a balcony overlooking the lake
After a shower we went for a brief bar/town tour and then had dinner at the Marina Bar- touch of Idaho with a live band.....We passed and went to bed at 10.00
The next and final day we headed up a BF hill -about a 2 mile climb with a 4 to 5 % grade- I walked quite a bit. We then had some rolling hills then a 5% grade down for 3 miles and into Ste Maries by noon . After a quick pack up , we headed for Ymir.
This was a great trip but would have been lots better had we been able to stick with the Bitterroot loop plan. El Nino Strikes again. We did 250 Km versus the planned 300 Km trip.
We plan to come back in July and do the trail of the Hiawatha on the way back to West Hawk Lake. It is supposed to be quite the trip-12 miles all downhill through large tunnels and over some high trestles.
We will update after we finish the trail.
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