E: We were about halfway through the 1.75-mile hike down to Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho when we realized there wasn’t another soul on this trail down into the forest. The occasional branch we heard moving in the woods suddenly heightened our awareness for wild animals — bears, in particular.
It wasn’t entirely out of the question there might have been one in there, but considering we were already past the halfway point down to the lake, there was no use turning around. Wild animals were going to be a threat no matter which way we went.
Evans Landing is a 3.5-mile out and back hike, but for the first half, the path goes downhill the entire time down to the lake. A dense forest obstructs the view of the water for the majority of the time, but we were able to catch an occasional glance through the trees. What we could see looked beautiful.
By the time we reached the bottom, it was my favorite time of day — when it’s an hour or two before sunset and the world looks a little different.
We stepped onto the beach and found a seat on a large fallen tree. As we looked out onto the water, we realized it looked oddly similar to Norway. The fjord-like area, surrounded by beautiful colored leaves, was peaceful and quiet. We were the only two on the beach. A handful of boats were cruising around the lake around us, and we just sat there, looking around at the rain clouds passing over the nearby mountains.
What started as a rainy day had turned into a gorgeous day. Of course, from what we heard from others before we left, it seems every day near Coeur D’Alene, Idaho is lovely. They were right.
. . .
T: After our original idea of a mountain hike was spoiled by low clouds obscuring the mountaintops north of Coeur d’Alene, we found the Evans Landing hike, which is nearly to the town of Sandpoint. After winding through forests and past horse ranches, we parked at the trailhead, which was unremarkable except for a widening of the gravel road and a sign denoting the trailhead for Trail No. 64.
This is probably not a wildly impressive trail by Idaho standards, but after getting over my anxiety about ferocious wildlife not seen in Minnesota, it became a beautiful, immensely refreshing hike away from it all. The car was never more than a few miles away, but this hike made us feel deep in the heart of the wilderness. The world’s troubles felt distant, if only for a little while.
The bottom has a few very rustic campsites for hikers to use in the summer, as well as a few picnic tables. But mostly, the only thing we found at the bottom was miles of rocky shoreline. We simply admired the views, the wide open skies and the fall colors peppering the otherwise coniferous forest, then schlepped back up the hill to get back before nightfall.
E: Coeur d’Alene isn’t an extremely large town, but it seems many know of it. I had heard of it before we left, and expected it would be the perfect day-long getaway. A few hikes, mountains and hills, no crowds — our kind of trip.
The first thing we noticed when we drove into Coeur d’Alene was the lake right in town. I’m sure in the summer it’s bustling with tourists and boats are filled with sightseers. The beginning of October isn’t exactly “in-season” in Coeur d’Alene, but I think I preferred it that way. I love when we can experience a new place without the crowds.
Tubbs Hill is a 120-acre park in Coeur d’Alene that overlooks the lake, and we spent a good hour or so walking around and taking it all in. The leaves were changing, and we could literally smell the fresh cedar and pine trees all around us.
As we made our way back, Tim pulled out his phone to see if there were any geocaches in the park. Of course there were. There was one right by the trailhead near where all the locals parked. They stared at us as we looked under rocks, in trees and just stood there looking like we had no idea what we were doing.
On one occasion, a man out for a run on the trail approached us, looking concerned.
“Do you guys need help finding the trail?”
We offered a polite “no” and a smile and kept looking for the geocache. The location of the trail was quite obvious, which made the entire situation that much more comical. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened.
It’s much easier to say you’re fine, than to try and explain geocaching to a complete stranger.
. . .
E: That’s another funny story.
Back when we were dating, we were geocaching up in Grand Forks, N.D., and a few kids saw us pull a box — a geocache — out of a tree in the forest. Curiosity got the best of them.
“Are you guys science people?” they asked.
Tim’s response had me rolling my eyes — wondering if maybe we were too invested into this little hobby.
“No, we’re treasure hunters,” he said with a smile.
. . .
T: So I guess that funny tangent begets another.
Geocaching, if you’re not aware, is a worldwide hobby in which geocachers hide containers of various sizes (as small as a pen cap; as big as a five gallon pail) in various places, such on street corners, in the middle of the woods or in culverts. The coordinates of this object are then published online so other ‘cachers can find it.
I discovered geocaching back in high school. I was hanging out with some friends along the river when I uncovered a brown Tupperware container. In it, like most geocaches, I found a logbook and an instruction guide for those wandering eyes like mine that happened upon it.
Hundreds of finds and dozens of fruitless, pointless adventures later, I still geocache. It’s a brilliant hobby because it can lead you to places you never knew existed, or never knew were on public land. For me, geocaching has always been part of the journey — not always the objective.
T: Downtown Coeur d’Alene’s charm is simply unmatched. It’s everything you could want in a small-town retreat. It’s small, quaint, clean and chock full of shops and restaurants.
We bookended our little road trip around the area by spending time downtown and satisfying our foodie urges — eating Sweet Lou’s for lunch and Crafted Tap House for supper.
Downtown is long and narrow, set up along two main avenues (Sherman and Front) and comprised of eight or so blocks. It’s just steps away from Tubbs Hill, the harbor, and Independence Point, a peacefully beautiful place to glimpse the sunset over the foothills to the west and watch the boat traffic in and out of the harbor.
Thanks to somehow booking a rental car for the right city but the wrong weekend, we had to return to the airport in the morning to grab our car, wasting some precious time. Thus we didn’t get a lot of spare time to just stroll. But there is plenty of opportunity to do so, with all sorts of shops and restaurants in which to spend a weekend.
Crafted Tap House in Coeur d’Alene was an especially unique dining experience, with eccentric decor and interesting dishes with a delightful selection of local beers. It’s easier to be a foodie when you have cell service, so our escapades in the U.S. tend to lead us to better places than our Europe trips do. And we crushed it with this pick, if I do say so myself. I had the Monte Cristo and Elizabeth had pork tacos and both were excellent — as the menu says, Gastropub Perfection.
Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the garlic fries. Sometimes, the garlic accompanies the fries, but really, these fries accompany the garlic. And Elizabeth was in food heaven.
E: I just need to say — those shoestring, parmesan garlic fries are on my very short list of favorite foods ever.
. . .
E: Another fun little detour north of Coeur d’Alene was our trip to North Pole. Not the North Pole. Just North Pole.
As soon as we saw the town —an unincorporated community — on the map, we decided it was worth exiting the freeway and checking it out. To our dismay, there was no “North Pole” sign to take a picture with. I’m all about crossing things off my bucket list, and I think sometimes it’s fine to stretch that a bit. I’m not sure I’ll ever get to the real North Pole, but I’m fairly certain North Pole, Idaho is the next best thing.
There are a few houses, a few roads, a random theme park — but that’s about it. Still worth the extra five minutes we added to our journey.
. . .
T: As darkness fell we returned to our car and headed back to Spokane for the night to our hotel. Like most of our trips, we were setting up to take the first flight out in the morning.
There were several things we missed seeing, like a few of the area waterfalls, a true mountain hike or just more time in Coeur d’Alene hanging out. But sometimes that’s the beauty of it. Like the great TV shows, our best trips are the ones that end a bit too soon.
When we went: Early October, 2018
Where we stayed: DoubleTree in downtown Spokane and the Wingate by Wyndham Spokane Airport.
How long we stayed: Two nights, One full day, Friday evening to Sunday morning
What we wish we knew before we went: Spokane is not really very interesting. | It’s helpful to book your rental car for the actual days you’ll be in the city you’re visiting.
Thoroughly enjoyed your blog, I feel I know a little more about your trip and look forward to more.