CdA lakeside trail surpasses expectations

IF IT WEREN’T FOR the Community Action Partnership, I might have ignored the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes forever. Go for the scenery, friends had urged. You’ll see moose, herons, maybe even a bear, they said. The lakes and rivers along the way are breathtaking, my bike-riding buddies insisted.

I believed them, but everywhere I ride my beloved bike is beautiful — around Fernan Lake, Hayden Lake, Mica Bay on Lake Coeur d’Alene. And those routes have something the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes doesn’t have — hills. Without a few extreme elevation changes, I was convinced the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes would bore me despite its scenic beauty and wildlife.

I was wrong.

Paul Donnolo, at the nonprofit Community Action Partnership’s office in Coeur d’Alene, talked me into riding the 72-mile trail without even trying. He started the Cycle Against Poverty last year to raise money to help impoverished people in North Idaho pay for prescriptions, transportation to work and medical appointments, toiletries, job training, school tuition, lessons in nutritious cooking and more.

The Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes wasn’t quite finished for the first Cycle — one reason Paul chose it. It was so new that it wasn’t booked with events. It’s also paved, protected from car traffic and mostly flat. The trail replaced the old Union Pacific Railroad tracks between Plummer and Mullan. Asphalt over the rail bed neatly separates people from the mining and industrial wastes buried below. Still, official signs warn trail-users to stay on the asphalt to avoid contact with any remaining heavy metal contaminants.

Paul rode 100 miles — round trip on the portion then completed. A year later, he still was poetic about his experience pedaling over Chatcolet Lake and along Lake Coeur d’Alene, Anderson Lake, Cave Lake and the Coeur d’Alene River. A dreaminess slipped into his voice when he told me about the moose and calf, eagles and turtles he saw along the route. I wanted to feel that awe.

The second Cycle Against Poverty drew 25 riders on the last weekend of spring. The group met at Heyburn State Park, seven miles from the trail’s western end in Plummer and a quarter mile from the new bridge over Chatcolet Lake. The trail was clean, smooth and empty. The bridge is built like a giant’s staircase so bikes can climb painlessly and cyclists can see for miles in all directions. Awe hit me like a drug within the first half mile of the ride and fueled me all the way to Mullan and back, despite a persistent northwest wind.

My delight grew when blue herons stretched their wings and coasted over lakes blanketed with lily pads, fuzzy cattails and ancient driftwood. It turned to momentary panic when the wind buffeted me sideways, but returned when I saw a bird with a striking yellow head fly over a hillside speckled with purple lupin and phlox, white syringa and wildflowers the color of mustard.

Luckily, Idaho Parks and Recreation and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe erected signs with place names and history, because nothing looked familiar. The railroad tracks followed the lakeshore and Coeur d’Alene River, and were nowhere near a highway. Even now, cars drive only to periodic parking lots by lakeside recreation areas. The trail offers more sounds of birds and wind through the trees than traffic and more smells of pine and wet undergrowth than exhaust.

When the hillsides with their dramatic rocks and trees ended, farmers’ fields stretched a healthy green for miles and brought the trail’s only disappointment. Just past Harrison, ugly hand-painted signs like billboards threaten trail-users with jail if they step onto the private land. They mock outdoor enthusiasts for potentially risking their health on a trail covering pollution. Mr. Burns from “The Simpsons” came to my mind. The peevish attitude saddened me.

But the cottonwoods and aspens, deer tracks and dozing garter snakes, granite boulders and miles of calendar-quality wilderness quickly replaced the letdown with happiness. A boost from the wind on the return trip also helped, as did friendly waves from the people who live along the trail in Wallace, and Mike Domy, co-owner of Kellogg’s Excelsior Cycle, which borders the trail.

Mike cheerfully pointed me to the best sandwiches and lattes in town. I left Excelsior smiling and a memorable euphoria carried me all the way back to Heyburn.

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. I wake up to Idaho’s scenic splendor every day and take it for granted. The Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes reminded me how lucky I am to live here. Thanks Paul.