The Hazard Chronicles

For a while now, Rachel and I have talked about how fun it would be to do a multi-day bike ride with our family. The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, very close to where we live, happens to be a well maintained, paved, rails-to-trails bike path. It features beautiful scenery, starting out near a mountain stream, following it as it runs down the canyon into a wetlands area, and then finishing off by going around the lake and back up the other side. There are camping opportunities all along the way, and it was just too perfect to pass up.

We took three days to do the 80ish miles, maintaining a pretty chill pace for most of the way. We stopped frequently for snacks or to explore. We pulled our gear in bike trailers and arrived at camp with enough time to swim or hang out or tell stories. Throughout the days we would often split into smaller groups, but were never separated by more than a few miles. 

On the last day there was a six mile hill climb before we arrived at our final destination. Some people had to dig deep to get through. I'm glad about that. In the end we can honestly say that we grew closer. We made memories. We did hard things. 

It was really cool. 

Have a good week!

Planning stages. Our kids haven't experienced spam before. This was as good a time as any to introduce them to this uniquely disgusting concoction.

Maybe our biggest achievement of the trip: We fit seven people, seven bikes, and all the camping gear for three days into the back of our van without having to pull a trailer. Was it safe? No way. But I grew up learning that you do what you have to in order to make the shuttle work.

Several stops along the way. I probably won't label all of them. This one is in Wallace.

A mine car at a park we rode by

The trail went right by one of our favorite pizza places at the ski resort. This was dinner on the first night.

We came upon a craft fair and decided to stay for a while. They had a bounce house set up. I don't really understand bounce houses. They always seem dingy and disappointing. But kids like them.

Parking our bikes behind the shed at the first camp site.

Rope swing on the Coeur d'Alene river. 

Morning vibes. We are the early risers.

One of the many snack stops along the way

This little dock was near our second camp site and we all spent a good amount of time swimming and hanging out there

Lindsey actually liked the spam. Nobody else did. Which proves that Lindsey has the least developed taste buds in the family.

Our view from the campsite. If you look carefully you can see a moose in the water toward the back. We actually saw several moose along the way- a couple of which got a little close for comfort!

Good morning pictures

I like this picture a lot but you kind of have to look carefully to see the bikes. It really is a beautiful area that we live in.

That's a bird.

Ice cream stop in Harrison

Before the final climb

This is the elevation profile of our last day of riding.

Jack and Maren are kind of suffering in this picture. Maren was super tough for this and I was super proud of her try-hard. Addy looks happy...for now

But not here. A lot of things come very easily for this girl, so it was, in a way, kind of nice to see her struggling.

We made it!