The Shortest Hike in Our History!

We were ready for this, we thought!  We got everything put together, packed a picnic lunch, made sure we had ample water on hand for both us and the dogs, and headed to one of the trailheads (near Cave Lake) for a nice walk/hike on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes.  What I wasn’t ready for were the dang yellow jackets that kept assaulting us as we tried to stroll along Cave Lake while trying to enjoy the beautiful scenery.  That means this was the shortest hike in our history!  But not so short that I couldn’t take a photo or two.

The Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes is a rail trail in Idaho which follows the former Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way from Mullan, a mountain mining town near the Montana border, to Plummer, a town on the prairie near the Washington border. More than 71 miles of paved path takes you from high mountain splendor, through the historic Silver Valley, into the chain lakes region, along the shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene, over the Chatcolet Bridge to Heyburn State Park, and finally climbs to the Palouse prairie. The Trail includes camping facilities and rest areas regularly.  It leads through protected marsh lands, offering the adventurist a glimpse of eagle and osprey nests, moose, elk, and a variety of ducks and other wildlife.

Here are a couple of pictures of Gary on the trail with the puppies.

Another father/daughter moment … Gary & Sadie.

As I mentioned earlier, we hit the trail at Cave Lake, and here are a few photos of this lake that was overflowing with floating lily pads.

While the description of the trail above talks about all the wildlife you can see, we may have seen some ducks off in the distance. But on our way out of the road to the trail access site, we talked to two different people who said they had just seen a moose with her young’uns.  “Here moosey, moosey,” was what I kept saying but alas, we did not enjoy a moose sighting.  So, I took the liberty of lifting this photo from the trail website.

On our drive back, we did finally see some wildlife.  Here are some wild turkeys running around, scratching for something sumptuous to eat for dinner.  Hmmmm, speaking of dinner, Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  How about a wild bird on the table?

Psalms 34:8-10 // O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!  O fear the LORD, you His saints; for to those who fear Him there is no want.  The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.