Cycling the Palouse

Despite talking with Jake about riding the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes during our irregular gaming sessions for at least five years, this week we made good on that goal.  Having not seen Jake since early January due to my broken leg and then COVID-19, our schedules and Mother Nature finally gave in.  Yes, we finally made the proposal stick.  The plan was to rendezvous at the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes' trailhead and take the trail to the small resort town of Harrison and back for a mid-afternoon ride.  Other than the seven mile descent to the lake from the trailhead (and ascent on the return), the route is primarily flat following an abandoned and converted rail line.  The planned round trip totaled 31 miles.  Actual miles logged were 38.  

The planned route

One of the highlights of the route is crossing Lake Coeur d'Alene on the old railroad bridge and causeway at about the eight mile marker.  The railroad bridge and causeway effectively segregates the top of the lake from the the remainder of the lake stretching to the north. 

Old Railroad bridge

Causeway

Being an old railway line, the route is flat as mentioned before.  Surrounded by mountains, there are a number of railroad cuts carved through the hills to maintain the desired grade.  These many cuts are narrow and, in places, dramatic.  A sampling of the railroad cuts are below.

As one would expect of a mountain lake in North Idaho, the scenery is beautiful and the weather pleasant.

We even came upon a number of fellow cyclists out for a ride.

The full Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes runs from the trailhead at Plummer, across Lake Coeur d'Alene and 73 miles to Mullan near the Montana border.  All is paved.  Following our brief stop at Harrison, rather than turning back for the return trip, we pushed on north for a few more miles.  After returning to out starting point at the trailhead, talk turned toward doing this again on a more regular interval; more frequently than once every five years.  The next goal is to take the trail from Plummer to the Cataldo Mission.  That ride would be about 75 miles roundtrip.  I cannot remember the last time I road 75 miles in a single day.

Reaching the trailhead at Plummer is about equidistant for us.  I have a 45 minute drive south from Spokane while Jake has a 45 minute drive north from Moscow.  Once on the trail, with beautiful scenery and good companionship, the miles clicked by with little effort.  This was a good afternoon out on the bike.  I look forward to the next time.