Sandpoint, June 25, 2012

This morning, the weather didn’t look too amenable for hiking – overcast with lightning! So we spent some quality time at the indoor pool.

After lunch, we decided on a trail that was a bit of a drive from the hotel. At a certain point, the road turned into a serious back road, a one-laner that had apparently been hacked out of a hill that was only slightly off straight vertical – the kind that has a precipice on one side. As a passenger, I don’t do too well with precipices on my side! The speed limit was 10 mph, and that was difficult to achieve, because the road was so bumpy. After spending way too long on the road, we found a sign that said it was only 2 more miles to the trailhead. So at the next switchback, we turned around and decided on a Plan B. We returned to the hotel by a route that we hoped would show us another trailhead that we were interested in – we didn’t find the trailhead, and although this route was paved, it was still a one-laner, and unpleasant to drive. Of course, that could be because we’re from the wide open spaces of Alberta!

Our Plan C was then to check out a nearby trail, the Pend Oreille Bay Trail, that starts by our hotel and extends a couple of miles northward, giving us a really pleasant hike of just over 6 kms round trip.

This shows our track. (Notice all those BNSF train tracks!!)

The trail was quite close to the Lake Pend Oreille.

We came across these plants with leaves that looked like giant maple leaves. But they are not maples, because maples don’t flower.

Near the far end of the trail, we were able to see where the train tracks cross the lake. Here is a train on those tracks.

Near the beginning of the trail, we found some very old and very big concrete structures. The interesting part is that they are all sitting at various angles, suggesting that perhaps an earthquake occurred. We have not yet found out their history.

After a bit of supper, Stephen took off for a bike ride, while I sat on the balcony enjoying the evening.

Sandpoint, June 27, 2013

It’s a year later, and we’re back in beautiful Sandpoint.

This morning, the weather forecast was for a clear and sunshiny day. But there was a bunch of clouds surrounding us. Perhaps some of them were those pretty ones from last night.

So instead of a really long trek or ride, we decided to walk a trail that we walked a year ago (see above), one that we knew was really easy walking. The hope was that if it started raining, we wouldn’t be that far from the hotel.

Well, we made it to the turn-around point in complete dryness.

And shortly after we started to return, we felt some wetness. It didn’t rain heavily – it was really light, almost (but not quite) non-existent.

Fortunately, a good portion of the trail is in a bit of a rain forest. Once we got into the shelter of the tall trees, the light rain didn’t touch us at all!

And by the time we got back to the hotel, a couple of hours after we started, the skies were clear.

After lunch, Stephen went for a bike ride, while I relaxed at the hotel.

The Geography

Here is a Google Earth view showing our hiking track. The hotel is at the southern end of our hike.

And a Google Maps view of the general area.

The hike

The trek was 6.4 kms in total. It was easy walking, essentially flat. Here is a shot of the trail.

At one point, we saw a little trail heading off into the forest (not too far, because there is a really abrupt hill, on top of which runs the BNSF railroad).

One thing that we thought was strange was this tree. It has obviously been cut down for a long time, and yet there are fresh branches and leaves on it. It is obviously getting water and other nutrients from the lake through its trunk instead of from the ground through its roots.

Some views of the lake:

And an interesting and artistic log with a chain on it.

The Flora

Only one flower photo today – a pretty daisy, one of my favorite flowers!