North Idaho

Personal Update!

This post is a long time coming and I apologize for my gap in writing. Since my last post in May 2019, Aaron and I have sold our home of 18 years in Bellingham, Washington, along with the majority of our possessions, and moved to the small mountain town of Sandpoint located in the panhandle of Northern Idaho. We lived in Sandpoint before we moved to Bellingham and have always kept in touch with the area. We ride our bikes or walk just about everywhere. We can go for days without getting in the car. Our love of walking definitely contributed to making such a drastic change at this time of life. The move hasn’t been without its share of bumps but overall we are well and happy with our decision. We are renting a 750 sf condo on the banks of Sand Creek, three blocks from the town center. It’s a really small space and we love it! Here is the summer view from our tiny patio!

Our daily view! Our condo comes with a boat slip. Now all we need is a boat! We did use an abandoned canoe that we cleaned up and paddled up and down Sand Creek, which flows into the lake.

But enough about us…here is the hike!

Aaron and I hiked this trail twice, once at the end of July and then again in the beginning of August. It’s not a terribly long hike but it is definitely rigorous. Its one-way distance is a mere 3.5 miles but it climbs a total of 2150 feet making it a hike you definitely don’t want to be starting at 10am on a 90º North Idaho summer morning. We know this for a fact because that’s just what we did! All the way to the top I vowed I would never do this hike again…that was until we entered a lush shady dell and were surrounded by a multitude of low growing shrubs covered with hundreds of coveted huckleberries! I had brought one empty pint container on the off chance that we might see some. Little did I know that we would discover the mother lode! We continued on to the top, ate our lunch on the memorial bench while basking in the spectacular view of Sandpoint, Idaho and Lake Pend Oreille. The trail head is very close to town. We can ride our bikes to the trail head, hike, then ride home. Easy Peasy!