The smell of smoke has gotten appreciatively lighter since we landed 10 days ago, but smoke and wildfires still are on my mind as we fly home. I haven’t studied the experts enough to say whether the rash of forest fires in our modern world is a natural occurrence or is human-caused, but it seems a reasonable guess that we are at least partly to blame.
But we flew out west for a vacation, a respite from the worrisome, overheated world which is a justifiable reason for some time away. And so Becky and I joined up with six family members and five other bicyclists to ride a few fantastic Idaho trails.
We met up with our Discovery Bike Tour guides Sandra and Chip in Spokane, Washington, where the plan was to start the Day 1 trail. But nature had other plans, I guess, because that morning the sun was a red disc peeking through thick gray smoke and clouds. When we checked the air quality number and saw that it was 465 out of 500, we decided it might be better to do the Day 2 trail first.
This was not a big surprise to Becky and me since on the way to the city the previous day, we had been directed to take a detour off of I-90 onto a state road because the nearby Gray Fire was approaching the interstate. Some of the family members who had flown in said they saw several fires from their airplane windows. After the decision, we 13 cyclists and two guides piled in a van hitched to a trailer loaded with bicycles and drove to Coeur d’Alene to ride the Day 2 route.
We unloaded the bikes in a park near the Washington/Idaho state line and wound our way along the Spokane River to the city of Coeur d’Alene which sits on the north end of the 25-mile long lake of the same name. We rode the North Idaho section of the Centennial Trail along the beautiful lake’s shore. This day’s ride was mostly flat with a couple of hills including a challenging climb up to Higgens Point overlooking the lake. We stayed the night in an old elementary school converted into a private home. The air around the lake was clear and fresh that day.
We shuttled our way to lodging in Kellogg for the next few days of the adventure. After every ride, I meditated on how things that came easy to me years ago—biking up steep hills and sitting for hours on narrow seats, for example — can now be distressful challenges.
Some snapshots: Riding 1.6 miles on The Route of the Hiawatha through an old railroad tunnel lighted only by the headlamps on our bikes; Halting warily on the trail while a mother moose and her lanky calf browsed the trail sides before walking into the river and letting us pass; Standing in candlelit near darkness while we were showed how one miner would hold the hand chisel while the other would strike it; Soaring and swooping eagles paralleling us as we rode along the river; Getting church quiet in the Cataldo Mission, the oldest standing building in Idaho.
Becky and I rode 166 miles in 6 days. Each mile brought something different, something new: breathtaking views, scenic vistas and multiple opportunities to contemplate natural wonders. Every day offered new perspectives on the peoples and histories of our grand country and the struggles to make it a more perfect union.
I am writing this high above North Dakota heading for the Minneapolis airport. I don’t see any fires down there, but if there are any and they are caused by human activity and climate change, I guess purchasing an airline ticket makes me part of the problem. I hope that is not the case. I don’t want to think I am irresponsible for enjoying and embracing the world. I don’t think laughing at dinner with old family and new friends is bad for the environment. This particular trip gave me a peek at the gracious gift that is the world and the people in it. It felt right and good.
Norman Knight, a retired Clark-Pleasant Middle School teacher, writes this weekly column for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
