Day Eighteen - Sandpoint, Idaho to Montana Junction at Highway 200 & Highway 56

Day 18

June 3rd

Wednesday

46 Miles 

Sandpoint, Idaho to Montana Junction at Highway 200 & Highway 56

We were only in Idaho a few days. The part of the state we visited was very nice, clean, and friendly. The rain stopped, leaving a cool and cloudy day, perfect for riding.  Our ride from Sandpoint took us on a fairly flat road around Lake Pend Orielle  (pronounced: pond-o-ray is the largest lake in the northern Idaho Panhandle, with a surface area of 148 square miles) until we could see Sandpoint in the distance on the other side.  The road was busy with no shoulder so we constantly checked the rear view mirror for cars.  Several times we saw trucks with oversized loads.  The trucks or their lead vehicles would start honking when they saw us and we would quickly stop to get off the road until they passed.

The most scenic part of the ride started around Clark Fork and continued into Montana. The Clark Fork River followed the road leading us to Cabinet Gorge Reservoir.  The shimmering river was beautiful, lined with tall pine and cedar trees, and framed by mountains. We saw bald eagles, osprey, and varieties of ducks we have never seen before. The climbs started as we entered Montana but none were very difficult.

We arrived at Two Rivers RV & Campground early afternoon.  We unloaded our gear and had lunch, a sandwich we purchased earlier from the Clark Fork Pantry, a store with all natural fresh baked goods, bulk spices, hand made pasta, and other grocery items. Later we took a walk on a trail behind the campground that lead to the lake.  We sat on the dock enjoying the warm afternoon sun. Along the shore there were many interesting shaped rocks that captured our attention.  We loved the secluded, quiet, serenity as we were surrounded only by thick forest, mountains and the sound of the 
water.

Small Cabin at 2 Rivers RV Park / Campground

Hiking trail to lake

View from river bank at camp ground

Osprey in flight

Rocks were all very interesting, we assume the different shapes,

marking, and coloring is from the glaciers that formed this area

Along Highway 200 a workshop where old car frames

lined the road for 1/4 mile

Clark Fork River

Days Sixteen & Seventeen - Newport, Washington to Sandpoint, Idaho

Days 16 & 17

June 1st & 2nd

Monday & Tuesday

35 Miles

From Newport, Washington to Sandpoint, Idaho

A new state!  State #2 of our Northern Tier journey. 

Leaving Newport, Washington we climbed up hill towards the foot hills then turned on highway 41 into Idaho. The first part of the scenic ride was on Old Priest River Road.  Traffic was light once we got away from Newport.  The road was rolling hills through fragrant cedar & pine forest. 

The town of Priest River on the Pend Orielle River is home to the Huckleberry Festival in July.  Huckleberries are the state fruit of Idaho.  At Priest River our route turned onto Dufort Road following the River.  At the turn we passed a wood stud mill owned by Stimson Lumber. Pictures below show the drying kiln, the last process before wrapping the wood for shipment.

The ride along the river included valleys with horse farms, a cattle ranch, a dairy, & several small housing additions. We took a break outside of Round Lake State Park then in Agoma turned on highway 95, a very busy road.  We were thankful when we could ride on the bike bath starting in Sagle, continuing into Sandpoint.  The bike path started out pretty rough because tree roots had grown under some of the concrete cracking and lifting it. It smoothed out and we had our own wide lane that crossed the Pend Orielle Lake.  The bridge provided a beautiful view of the lake surrounded by mountains.  

In Sandpoint there is a large marina, beach and nice park on the lake.  We ate at Bricks & Barley sitting on the patio overlooking the marina.  The food and service were excellent. We decided to stay in a hotel because severe thunderstorms were forecast for that evening. This was a good opportunity to wash clothes and reorganize our supplies.

We had planned to leave Tuesday but it was still raining and looked as though it would all day.  We decided this would be a good rain / rest day.

We enjoyed the city of Sandpoint, anything we could have wanted or needed were within walking distance.  People were friendly, always yielding to pedestrians and bicycles. We tried huckleberry ice cream, this seemed like a must in this huckleberry state!

Fun fact:  Sandpoint, Idaho is 97th on America's 2015 list of most beautiful small towns.