Over The Cascades and Rockies 2112: Spokane, WA to Athol, ID, 51 miles

Heat was the story for the day.

Blaine scheduled our breakfast at Gozaga U. cafeteria at 6:30 am so we could get on the road early.

We took the Centennial Trail east for about 20 miles. This stretch of the trail was great.

Centennial Trail in the morning

Snake on the trail,about 3 feet long

The trail crosses the boarder into Idaho where a large stone shows that you are now in Idaho.

We crossed the Idaho border at around 9 am.
Sign on stone showing the boarder.

After a few miles we turned north on Pleasant Valley Rd. Then we jumped onto Hwy 53 northeast. I saw a lot of trains off to the right.

Our lunch stop was at a high school in Rathdrum. Since we were moving quickly, Sean and I stayed here and relaxed for about 1 hour.

Then most of the group headed east on some side roads to the Cedar Lodge in Athol. We passed an area where we saw camels and then a large amusement park. This park was odd as it seemed out in the middle of nowhere.

After the park we had another 8 miles to the Cedar Mtn Lodge. We had to take a dirt road the final mile to the lodge. The surroundings of the lodge were beautiful but the temps were high. Fortunately, Sean, Railroad John and I had a room downstairs in the basement.

Blaine and Thea made Mexican Quesadillas for dinner.

Then we had about 2 more miles before we headed north on some busy roads.
After some turns we got on more manageable roads. Pleasant Valley Road