More in Idaho

Tuesday, September 29 - Today we drove from Sandpoint to Coeur d'Alene and settled into our campsite at the Elks Lodge.  It was a grueling drive - almost 45 minutes.  😝

Mom and Dad want to get groceries and Coeur d'Alene has their favorite grocery store - WinCo.  Mom's running short of Chocolate covered Espresso Beans for her trail mix and she knows that she can get them in the bulk food section there.  After grocery shopping and putting things away, they went for a drive around Coeur d'Alene.  

Wednesday, September 30 - Today we left Coeur d'Alene and drove another hour south to Heyburn State Park near Plummer, ID.  It's fun to be in the woods again.  So many fun things to sniff.  This afternoon, Mom and Dad hiked the Indian Cliffs Trail, here in the park. 

The trail started near the lake, climbed about 550' (vertical) over
1.5 miles, then level across a ridge with this beautiful view,
then 1.5 miles back down through the woods to the Jeep.  

Pine needles are so cool!

Mom brought me this photo. 
They have crazy, radical ideas here in Idaho. 
I can't wait to be back home!

Thursday, October 1 - Today Mom and Dad went for a drive.  First they went east along the St. Joe River.

The St. Joe River

Mom's new logger friend.  He keeps watch over the outdoor
logging museum that they found along their drive.  He told
Mom and Dad about a cool drive along Marble Creek.  It's a
forest service road to the south and will bring them to a state highway
back to the campground.  It's 30 miles on the forest service road, but
there is a hike around mile 20 where they can go out
and see a real steam donkey!

The first thing they encountered was a Splash Dam that was
built around 1915 and was used until 1931.  Back then, the
only way to move the logs was to float them down the
creek; however, the water level was too low during much
of the year.  Loggers would stack logs during the dryer
parts of the year.  Then, in the spring, dams like these
would hold the water back.  The loggers would dump logs into the
creek and release enough water to float down to the next
dam where the process was repeated.  Eventually, the logs
would get to the St. Joe River and on to mills.  This is what
remains of one of 15 splash dams on Mineral Creek.

View of Mineral Creek.  The water is VERY clear!

More of Mineral Creek.

One of the stops on the Hobo Creek Historical Trail.  This is Dad
with the Steam Donkey.  It's a steam engine that was attached to
cables to drag logs.  It was a real help to the loggers; however,
it's in a very difficult place to get it out today, so it remains
where it was left in the 30's.  To go see it, Mom and Dad did a
hike that was 1.5 miles and they went down 450 vertical feet
(and back up) over the course of the trail.

Another view from the Hobo Creek Historical Trail

Views from Hobo Pass.  The sun is obscured by smoke 😢

The lake by our campground is very still tonight.

Friday, October 2 - Today Mom and Dad drove to Wallace, Idaho.  It's a cute town with lots of buildings from the Silver Mining boom days in the 1880's.  They also went on the Pulaski Tunnel Hike.  

It was mainly through a wooded canyon along
Placer Creek with interpretive signs.

They learned that in the summer of 1910 there were 100's of fires burning in the forests of Idaho and Montana.  On August 20, winds picked up and many of the fires merged in what locals called "The Big Blowup".  Ranger Edward Pulaski was leading a crew of firefighters outside Wallace and realized that the fire had grown too large to fight and even their survival was not likely.  Many had come from other areas, but Pulaski knew the area, so he gathered 45 of them and led them to an abandoned mine where they stayed until the fire had burned past.

This is the opening to the mine today.  When Pulaski and his crew
arrived, the charred wood would have had a roof and sides to
protect miners from falling rocks from blasting.  Those burned in the fire. 
There was water in the mine, so the firefighters soaked blankets they
brought with them from their camp and put them over the
opening to help control the smoke.  Even so, when they finally
were able to come out, only 39 of the 45 miners had survived.

Two photos taken by Pulaski.  The one on the left is before the fire. 
The larger one on the right was taken shortly after the fire.

Mom and Dad had this nice trail, but back in Pulaski's 
day, the miner's had to hike (and crawl because they were 
so weak) the three miles back into town.  Mom and Dad 
only had to hike two miles to the trailhead.  It was a nice, 
educational four mile hike.

This type of axe, with a typical axe blade on one side and a
grubbing hoe type tool on the other side, was designed
by Edward Pulaski, after the 1910 fire.  He modified it and the
forest service adopted it for use in 1920.  It is still
used by wild land firefighters today.

Tomorrow we will leave continue further south toward Mc Call, Idaho.  I'll tell you about that, next time.

Love,

Doolin