6/28/17 Ride C2C Day 11 Priest River to Sandpoint

6/28/17 Day 11 Priest River to Sandpoint
Miles: 29.7. Total Miles: 575.3

Summary: Lazy start, broken stove, going “off map” was worth it, our motel in Sandpoint is the best.

We have a lazy start to the day since we knew had “short” miles today. We invite Owen over for a cup of coffee and a last chat before he heads out.

Doug and Owen sharing a cup of coffee

We decide to make a 2nd cup of coffee but have to change the fuel canister. Uh-oh! As Doug is screwing in the burner, gas is hissing and spurting, and something is definitely wrong. Doug tries the spare can of gas and same thing. The neck of the burner was broken. No more coffee! We add that to the list of things to take care of in Sandpoint.

On our bikes again, on an undulating back road still following Lake Pend Oreille, we come to a junction and have a snack. There is a fellow fishing just below and said he’s already caught a 2lb bass. Our map directions say to go right which will put us on a highway for 9 miles. We see a road on our map that instead continues along the shoreline. We ask the fisherman and he say’s that it's a dirt road, but very scenic.

We have big tires so we do it - and the dirt road was more like old pavement with dirt over it. We meandered along the shoreline sometimes at the water’s edge and sometimes the lake distant over farmland.

We rode by small cabins and giant homes. We took another rest at a trout farm/interpretive center and had fun walking around reading all the signs about a healthy lake and streams.

Crossing the Pend Orielle bridge

Super fun bridge to cross Lake Pend Oreille - there was a pedestrian and bike way on the old bridge next to the new bridge for cars. At about 1pm we were welcomed by name as we rode up to the K2 Motel where we settled in for a rest.

K2 Motel is the best!