July 9, 2020 Into Idaho Selkirk Loop,

Thursday, July 9

47 degrees this morning.  As we get ready to leave the Refuge, I ask if we can drive back through it on our way out, hoping to see some wildlife this time.  Greg agrees and we almost immediately see some beautiful deer.  The morning light is wonderful, making their coats almost glow and their velvet antlers truly look like velvet!  But they bound away before we can get a photo.

The beaver pond is still.

 A little later, these deer are less anxious to take off.

We see some more turkeys also before we miss a turn and spend a bit of time on a horrible rutted road which begins to climb.  Greg does a masterful 10-12 point turn on the narrow road.

We eventually make it back to pavement on 20 East where we stop by musical Crystal Falls where we make coffee and finish off the leftover cinnamon roll from yesterday.

We soon cross into Idaho and begin part of the Selkirk Loop.  This was the original inspiration for this trip, but with COVID many things are closed - including the Canadian Border - so we are doing a modified part of the loop.

We pass this goofy looking beaver at Beaver's Lodge and begin to follow the Pend Oreille River between the small towns of Tiger and Cusick.  Occasional campgrounds and lodges.



















 At Usk, we make a left intending to cross the river.  But first we stop by Vaagen Sawmill and watch the unloading and stacking of logs for a while.

The mill also cuts the wood, as this finished product was being loaded onto trucks at the other end of the complex.









At the river we can see remnants of river timbers that were used to guide, sort and hold logs in the days when logs were transported by floating in the river.

A flock of geese make themselves home along the river...we see them quite often this trip.




 Across the river we are on the Kalispel Indian Reservation.  Further down the road we can see a pretty large herd of bison in a far pasture.

  And then we stop at Manresa Grotto which is basically an above-ground cave. A short, steep trail leads right to it.










The sign says it has been used for Indian ceremonies and there is a large rock "altar" but not much else inside.   Unfortunately some thoughtless people have added graffiti 😞.

 Here is the view from inside the grotto looking towards the river.

Back to 20 South, we try some bbq at the town of Priest River.  Pretty good, but we are definitely not in Texas. Then we turn north towards Priest Lake.  We have a book about rockhounding in Idaho and decide to go to Solo Creek off Squaw Valley Road.  Since this location has been published,  we find lots of evidence of folks digging for large quartz crystals - not easy amongst lots of tree roots. It is back a dirt road, on the side of a mountain.  We find one portion of a large crystal, and several rocks marbled with quartz, but nothing spectacular.  I think it would take some real effort and deep digging, which we just aren't prepared for.

Back to the main road, and we continue to Huff Lake and beyond.
  Some commercial and residential property, but mostly pretty, wooded National Forest land.

This rural scene struck me as funny.  Almost expect the VW to let out a Mooooooo.

We finally reach Roosevelt Grove of Ancient Cedars where the average tree is 800 years old and some even older.  This stream leads to a pretty water falls, but mosquitos are pretty fierce so we don't tarry.  

(Dark and moist - we like it, but so do the mosquitos.)


This is about as far as the road goes, so we turn around and go back towards Priest Lake, which we've pretty much paralleled for the past hour or so.







 We decide to boondock at a Snowmobile Staging Area which is basically a large cleared grassy area in the midst of trees (no skeeters!) with restrooms.  We have the area to ourselves and spend a quiet evening.  We've seen lots of signs about snowmobiling, apparently a popular activity in Winter.

We do some housecleaning and heat up water to clean up.   After a daily picture review we look at maps, read, and plan tomorrow's possibilities.

 Greg beats me again (barely😬) in cribbage.  Pork carnitas and fruit salad make a tasty dinner!

 This is one of the clearest nights we have had and the stars are pretty spectacular!💤💤💤