Gettin' Loose in the Palouse, 5.18.19 - 5.24.19, Part 3 of 3
Danny says we gotta go, gotta go to Idaho, but we can’t go surfin’ ‘cause it’s twenty below oh no.
“Danny Says”, The Ramones
Still buzzing from the incredible evening on Steptoe Butte, we packed up to leave the Snake River. Our next leg would take us north into the Idaho panhandle to Lake Pend Orielle, Idaho’s largest lake. However, the warning lights in our RVs were still on and weighing on our minds so we called up the Mercedes dealership in Spokane since it was pretty much on our way to where we were going anyway. Incredibly, they offered to get both of our vehicles in to look at them but couldn’t see them until around 1:30PM. With time to kill we drove to a park at Liberty Lake to walk around a bit before heading back to the dealership. They discovered the same problem on both RVs which was some wheel sensor issue that no one seemed to be able to explain why it went off. At any rate, it was still under warranty so other than a few hours delay, it was a harmless glitch in our trip and we felt much better having it looked at, fixed and have the stupid warning light be gone.
The total drive from our first camp to Farragut State Park near Lake Pend Orielle was only a couple of hours so even with the delay we were in camp by 5:30PM. After a nice meal, I broke out the Taylor 614CE and had a nice guitar session for my oldest and most loyal fans. Bridgit, Bob and Dana have been listening to me stab at the strings for many a campfire. This night they even got a sneak preview of several new songs that will be played at our upcoming gig on June 22nd.
The next morning was beautiful so we decided to try a short hike that I came across in my research of the area. It was called the Mineral Point Trail and the trailhead was about an hour drive up the lake at the end of a rough dirt road (Wouldn’t-a-happened without a tow vehicle). The trail was pretty mellow as it wandered through some nice woods and then it would occasionally pop out to a rocky outcropping with views of Lake Pend Orielle.
Lake Pend Orielle from the viewpoint at Farragut State Park
Lake Pend Orielle from the Mineral Point Trail
That night we opted to drive down to Coeur d’Alene and had dinner at the great steakhouse, The Wolf Lodge Inn. Ahh, good times!
The following morning we were on the road again. With a long drive back to home, we booked sites at Riverside RV Campground in Twisp. To get there, we took another virgin route to us, following Highway 20 from Newport Idaho to Kettle Falls, Washington. Once we hit Kettle Falls we were back on familiar ground. I love the leg between Kettle Falls and Twisp. After crossing Lake Roosevelt the highway climbs through dry eastern Washington forest to Sherman Pass. Bridgit and I did a hike off the summit of the pass last July to the top of Columbia Mountain. The entire length of the Kettle Range is part of the Pacific Northwest Trail which stretches from Glacier National Park in Montana to the Olympic coast in Washington. There had been a devastating fire some years back in the Sherman Pass area and though signs of the fire are still very evident, it had grown back very nicely since the first time I visited the area.
The Newmark/Carey Caravan
The Twisp camp was really laid back and we had no agenda so we just relaxed by the beautiful Methow River and had a nice evening.
Dana in her element
Bob and Jon in their element
By now it was Thursday and looking ahead we were moving into Memorial Day weekend. No one had to be back to work so we decided to stay out one more night before heading back home. So Friday morning we packed up and drove over the exquisite North Cascades Highway through Winthrop and over Washington Pass to Colonial Creek Campground where we found plenty of open spots. Everywhere we had stayed so far had been pretty empty which was the reason we went the week before Memorial Day weekend.
Once we had our sites set up it was time to go for a short little hike right out of our campground called Thunder Knob. We didn’t bring any gear since it was short and the forecast had called for mostly sunny with only a twenty percent chance for rain. The trail was really nice as it gently climbed through the forest. We began to hear thunder and we thought, “Ah, how cool to hear thunder on Thunder Knob”! Then it started to lightly mist. Then it started to rain. Then it rained harder. By now we were almost to the top but it didn’t look like it was letting up so we opted to turn around. Then it started hailing. We were soaked to the bone but we knew it wasn’t very far back and so I embraced the elements with my best John Muir impression.
Thunder Knob Trail before the deluge
Once back at the campsites we decided to shake off the trauma with a nap. An hour later the rain had mostly stopped so we BBQ’d some chicken for dinner. We still had plenty of light left so we hopped in the Corolla (are you seeing a pattern here?) and drove a few short minutes up the highway to Diablo Overlook. We had been to this beautiful spot many times but usually it was mid-morning on the way to somewhere else or mid afternoon on the way home. It was a real treat to get to hang out up there and watch the sun go down. The clouds were in and out all evening which made for some dramatic light. You could go from full views to totally socked in only in a matter of minutes. Luckily, it was just clouds and we had no more rain. We hung out up there until the sun completely set and then headed back to camp for the night.
Diablo Lake from the overlook
Colonial Peak, Paul Bunyon’s Stump and Pyramid Peak
Crater Mountain
Davis Peak
Sun setting behind Davis Peak
Last light on the clouds over Davis Peak
All in all, we had a fantastic trip and saw many sights we had never seen before. Arriving home I immediately connected my camera to the computer and in a moment of sheer stupidity, I erased all my photos from my good camera and formatted the SD card. Once I realized what I had just done, I contemplated suicide but then opted to just crawl in bed and turn off all the lights. I was utterly devastated. I got up several hours later and just for the heck of it I googled “ Can you recover lost files after formatting a drive” and lo and behold apparently it can be done. I then called my friend Robert who manages a camera shop and by 10AM this morning he had recovered all my lost files and sent me home with a thumb drive with all my photos on it. Grateful doesn’t even come close to what I feel.
So that’s all folks! Stay tuned for more travel reports. This is going to be one heck of a year of things to photograph and write about.