Celebrate the Small Things: Summer Biking

Today I am celebrating summer biking. Vince and I have biked for most of our married life together. When the children came we strapped them into baby seats on the back (no bike helmets in those days!) and went exploring. Nothing competitive, mind you. We would bike through the neighborhoods, explore the university campus, or pick a destination across town (ice cream comes to mind) - simple, small outings.

I wish I had a photo to share. I did not realize how much those times meant to me until this post. For some reason, my children do not bike with their kids today. They are too busy with jobs and life I guess, and some areas of the country (theirs perhaps) are not bike friendly.

One of the best kept secrets of living on the border of the Northern Idaho Panhandle is the vast trail system available to bikers. Most of the bike trails are old railroad beds that have been paved over. One trail, the Trail of the Hiawatha, requires busing to the top, but the views are so worth the effort. We have biked this graveled trail (all downhill) more than once. Other trails are planned trails that connect our area's small towns, like the Chipman Trail between Moscow and Pullman. All with few exceptions are family friendly (and most cost nothing to use).

Vince and I recently camped and biked out of Harrison, Idaho, a trail head for the popular Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, a seventy-two mile path that follows the old Union Pacific route from Mullan, ID on the Montana border to Plummer (ID) on the Washington border.

Ready to go!!

We passed through St. Maries, Idaho en route. Saw this giant Paul 
Bunyan standing in front of a school. Every child raised in the 
Northwest (my generation at least) grew up with the story of
Paul Bunyan chopping his way through the forest and settling 
the Northwest.

At the trail head, Harrison, Idaho. Trail of the Coeur d 'Alenes.

Vince on trail traveling north. "Are you coming?" 
(We biked 20 miles in one day!)
 

Marshland scenery is lovely. Ducks and lily pads everywhere.

 

A fawn that flirted with us along the trail. We also saw moose and blue heron, but camera wasn't quick enough. There are eagles in the area too.

View from campsite. Lake Coeur d'Alene

Time to rest, time to eat. We love our cabin on wheels.

Back on trail next day along the lake, going south.

That's me on the trail. We wanted to stay longer, but had to get back home.
We biked 8 miles, a total of 28 miles in two days!

  Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing