Day Trip from Coeur d'Alene

While in Coeur d'Alene we did a loop drive. We first went down the east side of Lake Coeur d'Alene, stopping to do the Mineral Ridge Scenic Trail. Although most of the trail is through the woods, and not my idea of scenic, once you got to the top the views opened up and you could see the lake.

A short spur trail leads to an old abandoned mine. Wow - that's some hard digging. They didn't get too far before they gave up.

Finally, you get to Silver Tip Viewpoint, where there are good views of the lake.

Why is that one tree so much taller than the others?

Oh..... I've seen better disguises....

We continued south to the cute little town of Harrison. They had a very nice city RV park right on the lake. Only $35 a night. (Choke, choke...)

I forgot to take pictures of the town, but this guy was posing nicely.

From Harrison, we turned east and followed the Coeur d'Alene River through the Chain Lakes area up to I-90. I spotted these old ramps. Hmmmm...

Not sure what they were used for, but they are nice and rusty. Any ideas?

When I was in Idaho in years past, the state seemed to be doing a good job of ridding itself of Knapweed, a noxious weed. But this year I've seen more and more of it. I don't know whether it's impossible to control, or they have just given up.

After hitting I-90, we went east a few miles to see the Old Mission at Cataldo. Built in the mid-1800s, it is Idaho's oldest standing building.

Though they had few materials to decorate the church, they used ingenious techniques to beautify it. The walls were decorated with hand-painted newspaper.

And the blue coloring of the ceiling is not paint but a stain created by pressing local huckleberries into the wood.