Roads to Never Never Land

Has been a long week.  Tuesday we drove down to Hayden which is a fairly large city just north of Coeur D’Alene to do some shopping and get prescriptions filled. While there we had to file a police report because someone vandalized our car.  The Sheriff thought who ever did it used a knife - carved all along the driver’s side.  That really put a damper on our little trip south (was about 75 miles south of Bonners Ferry).  Did not feel like stopping to sight see on Lake Pend Oreille which is the largest lake in Idaho, near Coeur D'Alene, just drove on home.

Lake Pend Oreille

Wednesday, to try to ease our sadness on our car getting damaged, we went on a wild turkey chase.  We had brochures on hiking to Spruce Creek where there was an alpine lake and trails surrounding it.  Only problem was we had to travel on Forest Service roads - nothing said we needed a high-clearance vehicle - and this road that we traveled was very very scary.  Climbed along embankments of the mountains and had sheer drop offs.

Typical Forest Service Road, nice, flat, gravel, but dusty

Started to get more narrow the higher we climbed

Uh-oh

Loud, noisy, smelly, and the debris they leave behind, shameful.

Saw active logging operations and knew we were not the ‘normal’ sight-seer, what the heck are we doing?  After about 10 miles, a dark blue truck passed us, we assumed it was hunters or campers heading to Spruce Creek.  Another couple of miles and the truck was parked by the roadside.  The outfit the man had on looked like Forest Service but in reality it was Border Patrol.  After a nice conversation with him (he had his drug-sniffing dog in the back) he advised us that Spruce Creek was on another road (the original one we had started on but got scared and had turned around) and also that the FS had let the trails get overgrown.  He also said that the road was a bit ‘dicey’ if we would continued on.  He gave us directions on how to get down off the mountain, and even one point when he said to look for the fork in the road to turn right, he was waiting there to make sure we did indeed turn right.  Bless his sole!  In conversation he said that he was out looking for drug-smuggling activity.  Seriously?? On the mountain?  He said yes, there is quite a bit of activity, being 1 mile from the border of Canada.  We told him that we winter near Tucson and he said he started his career in Yuma at the Border Patrol (he said they all start there) and said by being stationed on the Canadian border, life is so much better.  Life is good.

Not sure of name of this creek, but pretty

Border Patrol truck left us in a woosh

And so, we kick up dust and dirt, getting the car filthy

Dust caked on outside of back window.  Could not see out of at all.

We were the wild turkeys on this chase!

Finally got down to normalcy and decided to go to Dawson Lake, about 10 miles from us.  Found this road really easily but when we got there, the folks who were there kayaking said there were no trails, it was a private lake but allow people to use the water, not the land.  Bummer again.

Very pretty, but no hiking - private

Saw beaver dam but no moose, caribou, bear, elk, deer

And trout (in Dawson Lake)

Okay, on to Roman Nose.  This is a mountain top on the west side of Bonners Ferry, known for it’s alpine lakes, hiking trails, and in the winter - all kinds of winter sports, in the Selkirk Mountains.  Again, drive and drive and drive on Forest Service roads, for the most part just dusty dirty.  Until we got about 7000 feet up (temperature really cooled down and we were at snow-pack level) and the road got very narrow, filled with deep ruts and holes, large stones sticking out, just a mess.  Did meet several truckers and SUVs coming down the mountain, but silly us - in our little car, should not have done that.  We were so lucky  we did not get a flat or break the axles or ruin the car.  As it was just filthy dirty.

A common sight - so many logging trucks on the road

Roman Nose, our goal but not this time

Three strikes and we gave up. Put over 250 miles on the car and not traveled more than 30 miles from Bonner Ferry, but aged the car big time with wear and definitely tear.  No moose, no bear, no deer, no wolves, no caribou, no elk, no hiking trails.  A bust.  Just 2 stupid people trying to go on a hike.  Forget it.