The weekend after Traci's Birthday, we had the chance to take Ben on his first camping trip with the grandparents on the southern shores of lake Couer D'Alene. Since I more recently have been intrigued by Milwaukee Railroad history, Traci's folks found this place suitable to keep me distracted while they spent time with Ben. Anyhow, our trip began on Friday and we got a chance to see a few new town on our route to the campsite. Oakesdale had several well preserved buildings and we got to enjoy a nice sunset as we briefly got a glimpse of the Milwaukee Road bridge at Tekoa. That evening we spent a good portion of our time trying to locate our campsite. It turns out that the eloquent road signs are missing some basic information so we ended up driving in circles and noticed we were at our campsite half an hour after we arrived.
Our plans for Saturday were to explore the area where the Milwaukee Road crossed the Bitterroot Range east of Avery, ID. We had a chance to drive on the old right way for a big portion west of Calder, ID but had to turn around since an old bridge has been deemed unsafe for vehicle traffic. Turns out that a simple sign saying "Dead End" could have saved us a 12 mile round trip. Anyhow, we arrived in Avery and were not let down on the amount of history the Museum/Depot had from both the great 1910 fire and the Milwaukee Road. The old Train car was well preserved and gave us a glimpse of how traveling was far more enjoyable back in the days than our present day train cars. We had a picnic just outside the depot and had a great time feeding a giant fish bowl of hungry rainbow trout for the price of $.25. East of Avery the main gravel road is the right of way as it ascends up towards St. Paul Pass and the old road is for bicycle and hikers use only. That means that we were able to traverse a few bridges and several short tunnels from the comfort of our car, pretty exciting.
That evening after arriving to our campsite we found out that the campground was located besides the Trail of the Couer D'Alene (A former Union Pacific Railroad). The railroad crossed the southern portion of lake Couer D'Alene and since it's been turned into a trail, the draw bridge has been left permanently up, hence it was needed to construct a ramp on each end to traverse the bridge. Feel free to search "Chatcolet Bridge" in your favorite search engine. Anyhow, Ben enjoyed picking up sticks, rocks, pine cones and even got a chance to make friends with other campers. He wore himself out that day and slept like a rock that night. Maybe I should wear him out more often but that means I wear myself out more... what a conundrum.
I was eager to see tunnel 41 of the Milwaukee Railroad so I made sure to make a quick stop on our way back home on Sunday. It's a 1/2 mile tunnel south of Plummer that has seen some interesting crowds through out the years since the tracks were removed and was rather scary to approach since the western entrance was littered with filth and scattered with animal remains. Although it was not my favorite place we visited, I can now say I've seen it. Which actually, the land that tunnel 41 sits on is currently for sale for $650,000 and that includes 54 acres. Anyhow we visited Toy's R Us before heading back and quickly drove through Spraque, WA just to see something new on our way back. Overall it was a great camping weekend with beautiful scenery along the St. Joe River. On top of that, Traci's folks bought me a fly-fishing rod so I'm excited to try it out and tell stories of the one that got away. I can see the story developing in my mind...
"There I was, minding my own business. When suddenly! Out of of nowhere!..." You get the idea.
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