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Salty's Land Campaign 2017
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 11:55 pm    Post subject: Salty's Land Campaign 2017 Reply with quote

Took off from Seattle area Tuesday Morning Aug 8 heading East on a 20-day RV adventure. LOTS of smoke in the air from scores of wildfires, most of them in British Columbia but some from South of the border. Spent the first evening in Newport, WA in the far NE corner of the state. Saw a work buddy I had not seen in 16 years! Great guy who had an amazing background playing football in Division 1 program school, and a long career in the Navy and DoD flying helicopters and working with procurement officials.

Next day Aug 8 we drove into the Panhandle of Idaho and visited Priest Lake - if you are3 not familiar with Priest Lake, look it up online. Itisiawesome with LOTS of wildlife (deer, elk, LOTS of moose, black AND grizzly bears. Upper Priest Lake even has caribou!

Then we drove to Sandpoint but it was still too smoky so we drove up to Bonner Ferry and MAGIC, the skies cleared up! It is still retry hot but bearable.
More tomorrow.......


Last edited by Salty Dog on Thu Aug 10, 2017 5:02 am; edited 1 time in total
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Pirate
Helmsman
Posts: 5579



109543 Gold -

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 1:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Take any photo's of the Priest Lake Bikini Team?
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 4:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pirate, you really have a one-track mind, don't you ? Nothing but T & A !!!
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 4:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

We are staying in an RV park in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho. Lucky for us the skies are clear here. It is smoky every place else and we expect to drive back into the smoke tomorrow. We will drive to Glacier National Park tomorrow and find an RV park outside of the park. I hpe it is not too smoky. We have been here before and it as VERY smoky!
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Pirate
Helmsman
Posts: 5579



109543 Gold -

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 6:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Salty Dog wrote:
Pirate, you really have a one-track mind, don't you ? Nothing but T & A !!!


I chose a path to follow and haven't discovered anything in my journey that Mother Nature has created that looks better than women.
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Pirate
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Posts: 5579



109543 Gold -

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 8:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well how about a moose in a bikini then did you see any of those? Smile
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Rusty Edge
Rigger
Posts: 1977



2992 Gold -

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 8:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Salty Dog wrote:
We are staying in an RV park in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho. Lucky for us the skies are clear here. It is smoky every place else and we expect to drive back into the smoke tomorrow. We will drive to Glacier National Park tomorrow and find an RV park outside of the park. I hpe it is not too smoky. We have been here before and it as VERY smoky!


Well, smoke or no smoke, please take some pictures. I think Glacier Park is about the most picturesque place in the lower 48.
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 12:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did not see any moose today, just deer, osprey, wild turkeys, quail, that's all I can recall. Today we drove across NW Montana through Troy and Libby, MT and then thru Kalispell and we drove up to Columbia Falls, near Glacier Park and found a RV Park. Tomorrow we go into Glacier Park and possibly Whitefish. Later in the day I will meet up with two old co-workers I have not seen in 10 years so it should be fun.

I scored big! Got a six pack of Wild Huckleberry Wheat Lagerbrewed by The Great Northern Brewing Company of Whitefish, Montana. Tastes great!
The drive today was good but it should have been spectacular. Just too much smoke in the air! Hpe it improves tomorrow......
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Pirate
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109543 Gold -

PostPosted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 12:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Smoke and lager should make driving a experience worth talking about? Smile
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 12:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

We'll, we pushed into Glacier Park yesterday and today. Sine my motorhome is more than 21 feet, I can't drive the famous Goint to the Sun Road, but I have driven it many times before and it is awesome. If you are from flat country, that road will scare the crap out of you. I have driven the mountains of Washington many times in a jewel so I am used to it.

Today we went on a boat ride on Lake MacDonald and then drove down to the famous Isaak Walton Inn down inEssex, MT. It is where the train watchers get together and spot unusual trains/train cars. Cool hotel and they had a fantastic bar so I had one of the local IPA ales and drank a toast to my Cutlass Isle buddies!

Last night we had dinner with two of my co-workers from12 years ago. We had much to catch up on. Had good pizza and beer! Tomorrow we go check out the upscale and pretty town of Whitefish and drive up to the Lodge at the big ski resort there. Lots of smoke in the air everywhere. I hope to leave the smoke in a couple of days.
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Sun Aug 20, 2017 4:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

We had a good time in Glacier Park except for the smoke from the forest fires in the Northwest. It was smoky in Seattle are when we left. It was smoky all across the state of Washington. It was smoky in NE Washington, across the Panhandlr in Idaho and in NW Montana. We visited Flathead Lake and t was great but smoky, same foe Glacier Park.

After Glacier Park, we drove down to Missoula and bought a new computer, iPad and cell phone there. In Washington State, we have a salestax rate of 10 percent where I live. Montana does not charge sales tax. After shopping we went to the Square Dancing campground near Lolo, MT. Nice place but very smoky.

The next day we drove to Cody, Wyoming. The smoke finally stopped half-way through Montana. By the way, Montana has a sped limit of 80 miles per hour on the Interstate. Cody is one of my favorite places because it has five amazing museums all tied together, including g the best firearms museum in the world. Also fun are the Buffalo Bill and Western Art museums. We also went to a great dinner and music show, followed by a trip to the Cody Rodeo. First rodeo I have ever seen. It was ok but not great.

Then we drove through Yellowstone Park, Grand Teton Park and into Jackson, Wyoming. So glad there is no smoke here! We had a great time seeing the Parks, fantastic mountains, beautiful lakes and interesting city of Jackson and the ski resort of Jackson Hole.


On Monday, the big Eclipse will take place and ground zero is just north of Jackson, Wyoming. We do not want to be in this traffic jam mess and will be leaving the area tomorrow. We will drive back into Western Montana. Will tell you all about it. Life on the road is fun but tough to keep up with this board! I hope you understand if I am slow getting back to you.
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On Sunday Aug 20th, we did indeed drive north from Jackson, Wyoming We drove over Teton Pass, west of Jackson/Jackson Hole, WY. What an awesome drive! The last 4 miles were at a grade of 10 percent up to the top and then 10 percent downgrade on the other side. My motorhome has a diesel engine, which made it over no problem but it did slow us down to 40 miles per hour. Then I had to gently ride the brakes down the other side.

Once back inside Idaho, the scenery disappeared and became dry and mostly flat. We made our way across small, rural routes over to Interstate 15. We followed the Beaverhead river and came across a spot where teutonic plates collided causing a spectacular uprising of pure rock. The place is called Barretts Park, near Dillon, MT. Lewis and Clark explored this area and wrote about it in their Journals. We continued northbound on I15 all the way until it joined up with Interstate 90, west of Butte, Montana. At this poing I-15 runs east a ways until st once again heads north up to Helena and Great FAlls, MT. Instead, we headed west on I-90 and then got off and drove into Anaconda, Montana, where we spent the night in an RV park. We were bak into the smoke again.

Aug 21st - Monday - Eclipse Day! The eclipse had a path of totality just north of Jackson, WY and in Idaho slightly NW of Jackson. We drove away from those areas because we could see they were going to become crowded. Instead, we drove West on I-90. The Eclipse occurred as we were entering Missoula, Montana. The skies became somewhat dark, like a very cloudy/rainly day and the temperatures dropped by 15 degrees. Very comfortable. The air in Missoula was VERY smoky from all the fires. We stopped here so I could pick up my new iPad Pro 10.5 inch model with Cellular Chip that I had ordered a week earlier. W had also purchase two new cell phones (a Samsung Galaxy S8 and an iPhone S7) and a new MacBook Pro laptop. Where we live in Seattle, they charge 10 percent sales tax. In Montana, no sales tax is charged so we avoided $400 of sales taxes.

After picking up the new iPad we continued West back into Idaho to the town of Osburn, which is on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes bike path and not far from the famous Route of the Hiawatha rail trail for bicycles.
(continued)
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From August 22 to 24, we rode the Route of the Hiawatha and the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes in the Panhandle of Idaho. If you are not familiar with these two bike routes, by all means check out this website:

http://www.ridethehiawatha.com/

It is beyond spectacular and you can find excellent camera coverage of what it is like riding the trail on Youtube.

It is an old portion of the abandoned Milwaukee Road electric railway from Seattle to Chicago that has been converted into bike paths. This section starts in Montana and rides Southwest back into Idaho and is considered the most scenic section of the railway. To access this path, drive to mile marker 5 of Interstate 90 in Western Montana. The drive two miles up a dirt road to reach the parking lot. Once there, park and put on a warm jacket (even if it is 95 degrees outside!) and turn on bright lights as you will start off with an unlit 1.7 mile railroad tunnel that is about 45 degrees all year round inside.

Upon exiting the tunnel, remove the jacket, turn off the lights and enjoy a 10 to 13 mile ride through the mountains that descends 1000 feet and goes through 8 smaller tunnels and 7 large railroad trestles - the biggest of which is 850 feet long and 230 feet high. There is wildlife in in the area - deer, badgers, moose at the bottom of the mountains and I suppose bears but they do not go into the tunnels or present any problems. Go ahead and check it out. I will tell you about the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes in the next post.
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 4:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes is bicycle heaven. 72 miles one-way of paved trail that does NOT mix with traffic. In fact, most of the trail is removed from any roads and rides through beautiful country in the Idaho Panhandle.

The trail runs from Plummer to Mulan, Idaho. It is an abandoned railway that used to carry ore and mine tailings. It had quite a bit of arsenic in it so as an environmental solution, it was covered in asphalt and converted to a multi-use non-motorized rail trail. It is one of the best in the world.

At the ends of the trail for about 6 or 7 miles, there is an incline of 4 percent on the Plummer side and 3 percent on the Mulan side. Otherwise, the 58 miles in the center are almost pan flat.

From Plummer, the trail descends rather steeply down to the amazing Lake Coeur d'Alene. Then it actually uses an old railroad bridge that has been modernized and re-built for bicycle use and goes ACCROSS the lake!!! The southern end of Lake Coeur d'Alene has an AMAZING feature! The Lake Maries river flows into the lake and since the lake is a reservoir, the old river still has its' banks! Yes, it is a river in the middle of a lake! This happens on a handful of places in the world and is amazing to see. You can see this on Google Earth- look up St. Maries, Idaho and go north until the river hits the lake and you will see riverbanks running into the lake.

Back on the trail, it crossed Lake Coeur d'Alene and runs into the nice town of Harrison, site a good marina, good restaraunts and bike shop and a GREAT ice cream parlor! After leaving Harrison northbound, you hit the Coeur d'Alene River and the trail follows this river for about 20 miles.
Five miles north of town, the trail runs into wetlands. This part of the trail if frequented by MOOSE, and I mean almost ALL THE TIME! It is normal ti see moose nearby and sometimes standing in the trail DEMANDING respect! Give them a wide berth!

The trail follows the river another 10 miles or so and it is BEAUTIFUL! You are out in the wilderness having so much run!

Then, you come to Enaville and the Enavill Resort, better known as THE SNAKE PIT! What a wonderful old bar/saloon/BROTHEL this was and bar/restaurant it still is!
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 4:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Snake Pit was built in 1880 as a saloon/brothel and sure reminds me of The Salty Dog Tavern!!! It simply oozes character and serves up fantastic Barbeque and excellent drinks! Great stop for lunch or dinner, right on the trail.
From here the trail still goes off the beaten path another mile or so before it joins up with I-90 at Pinehurst and it then goes up the valley through Pinehurst, Smelterville, Kellogg, Osburn and then Wallace. This is the Silver Valley, home of some of the most profitable silver mining in history.

The town of Wallace is a living museum. An old mining town fully intact with old buildings. This was the scene for the movie Dante's Peak and much of the outdoor scenes were shot here. The indoor bar scenes were shot in The Snake Pit! Fun movie with great scenery. The movie stars Pierce Brosnan.

Leaving Wallace, we climb the final 7 miles at 3 percent grade to Mullan, ID - another old mining town much smaller than Wallace or Kellogg. This ends a one-way trip on the trail. I have ridden this trail many time and will certainly ride it a lot more times in the future!!
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