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At our June 16th bimonthly business meeting in Harrison,
it was discussed that the only time we have more than a
half dozen people at our bimonthly meetings is the Christmas Party.
A successful motion was made that we change from poorly attended and
inconvenient bimonthly Thursday business meetings to quarterly “fun”
gatherings that include families, and that the small core of active members
become more effective in carrying out business by email.
The meetings will be as follows:
- Saturday, September 17, 2011
Bike & BBQ in Harrison
It was an overcast day in the 70's, when Steve and I met
John and Sharon at their Pedal Pushers Bike Shop (101 N. Coeur
d'Alene Ave., Harrison, 208-689-3436) at 11 AM.
Sadly everyone else missed a fun ride around Anderson Lake,
followed by a hot dog and hamburger BBQ at the Shop.
Best laid plans sometimes clash with other obligations, so
I've made a presentation of our fun trip around the lake
for those who missed this event. We began on
the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, turned to follow the shoreline
on South Anderson Lake Road, joined East Bell Canyon Road after a bit
of a climb, and finally followed Highway 97 back into town.
Click on the animation to see a map, satellite image and
GoogleEarth depiction of our ride.
Greg
- Thursday, December 15, 2011
Christmas at the "Snake Pit"
This year our annual winter meeting was held in conjunction
with the Enaville Resort's annual Free Christmas Feed featuring turkey,
ham and all the trimmings. The meal was free thanks to an
anonamous patron, but donations for cancer relief were gladly
accepted. About 400 people showed up for this holiday
event that ran from 4 to 9 PM. Our informal "meeting" at 7:00
took place amongst a joyous crowd, many of whom were past and
future members of our organization.
Jon Ruggles showed off our newest bicycle jersey,
featuring the Olympian-Hiawatha
Trail that connects St. Regis, Montana, to the Route of the Hiawatha.
Jon then drew this year's lucky winner of a $100 gift certificate
good at one of our business member's or sponsor's establishments.
This drawing was open to the 57 individual and family 2011
memberships numbered between 514 and 572.
The distribution of these memberships shows both the strength and weakness
of our organization: most of our members live far away, but we need
more active locals.
- Washington, 20
- Idaho, 11
- Colorado and Oregon, 4 each
- California, 3
- Alaska, Montana and Nebraska, 2 each
- Texas, New York, Alabama, Wisconsin, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland,
Utah and Alberta, 1 each
AND THE WINNER WAS #556: William J. Carmack
of Spokane Valley, Washington. Almost a local!
Last year's winner, Gwen Mitchell, #479, was from Moscow, Idaho.
Tim Standal, #399, of Seattle, Washington, was the winner in 2009.
In 2008, our first Christmas winner was Richard Taniguchi, #357, of Saint Maries, Idaho.
- Saturday, March 17, 2012
some sort of March Madness in Wallace
- Saturday, June 16, 2012
Kellogg bicycle event TBA
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2012 Events for Friends, far and near...
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bicycle trail conditions as of December 23, 2011
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The
Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes
is a year around recreational opportunity.
The Trail, and the restrooms and wayside
rest stops along its 72 mile length, are routinely cleaned.
During the winter, the
Trail
is open for bikes, walkers and
cross-country skiers depending on snow coverage. When
appropriate, ski tracks are laid between Enaville and Wallace.
In addition,
the six miles between Wallace and Mullan is also available to
snowmobilers as long as there is at least 3 inches of snow
covering the paving.
winter on the Trail
Please call Kathleen Durfee, Old Mission State Park Manager,
at (208) 682-3814 for more information about specific parts of the
Trail, administrative questions or concerns.
Remember that State Parks and Recreation
only manages the Trail from Mullan to
Harrison. For information on conditions between Harrison and Plummer
you need to call Dean Chapman, Trail
Manager at (208) 686-7045.
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The
Route of the Hiawatha
closed on schedule on Sunday, October 2,
2011, after a record setting season.
Remember that there is a lot of great riding at lower elevations
in this area before and after the
Route opens.
One exceptional ride follows Loop Creek
BENEATH the trestles that define the Route.
The Pearson-Avery Figure 8 ride
is another possibility that might involve overnight camping beside
the North Fork of the Saint Joe River. Both rides would begin near
the Pearson Trailhead on the other side of Moon Pass from Wallace
on Forest Road 456.
IF you have the
free program Google Earth installed, then you
can, by downloading wallace2pearson.kml,
fly above Forest Road 456 from downtown Wallace to the Pearson
Trailhead, observing several hiking/bicycling trailheads and possible
casual campsites along the way. You may also
open or save pearson2avery.kml,
which shows the scenic Alternate Milwaukee Road signed last summer by the
Friends.
one of the tunnels on the Route
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In 2011, our Friends jersey featuring a moose and the bridge over
Coeur d'Alene Lake has become quite popular with folks who have enjoyed their
time on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. However, there are other unique bicycle
adventures available here in northern Idaho. So we have enlarged our offerings
to give you a selection of designs. One features the Northern Pacific Railroad
Depot Museum in Wallace and the associated NorPac Trail that connects Mullan,
Idaho, and Taft, Montana, gateway to the Route of the Hiawatha. Our organization
has been working with the Forest Service in Montana to extend the Milwaukee Road
railbed trail from the Hiawatha's East Portal parking lot all the way to St. Regis.
This 45 mile stretch of multi-use trail is called the Olympian-Hiawatha Trail.
There will not be a fee for riding this trail.
The jersey_shirt.html and
membership.html webpages and the associated
membership and merchandise order form
have been revised to reflect these additional offerings. All
jersey designs are available for the same $75 donation.
Members may have jerseys for $60 donations.
Short sleeved cotton shirts with these themes
are available for $20 donations.
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Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes
the "Moose" jersey
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Northern Pacific Trail
the "Wallace" jersey
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Olympian-Hiawatha Trail
the "Hiawatha" jersey
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Our Frequently Asked Questions page has been
expanded to answer 15 questions that have been frequently asked during
the last six years.
We always want to answer unique questions, but
please read this page before writing to ask us a
question as your concern may have already been addressed. Thank you.
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October 18, 2007 — Rick Shaffer, Wallace Inn manager,
hands over a plaque to Jon Ruggles, Friends of the Coeur d'Alene Trails
president, while Jeff
Legg, Bank Street Printing owner, and Del Sanborn, Friends promoter,
hold up their award-winning map. Friends of the Coeur d'Alene Trails
worked with Legg to produce the brochure about the
recreational [bicycle] trails of the Idaho Panhandle.
The tourism brochure/map was chosen for the
Council's Choice Award given by the Idaho Travel Council through the
National Idaho Tourism Alliance (NITA) in recognition of "Outstanding
Marketing Promotion." The brochure was made possible by tourism grant
money from the state's 2% lodging tax. Shaffer accepted the award at this
year's Governor's Conference in May.
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Rick has agreed to make his cell phone number available to anyone who has
a complex or immediate question that does not lend itself to
normal email correspondence.
However, please read our Frequently Asked Questions
page before consulting our busy Prime Minister of Recreation.
Please remember that Rick lives in the
Pacific Time Zone if you
call
(208) 691-9169.
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A MILWAUKEE ROAD
page has been added to this website. It features our work
to incorporate the Milwaukee Road railbed as part of an
185 mile loop
that promises to gain worldwide attention for the variety of
scenery and topography that it encompasses.
Google Earth
animations have been added to this new page, so a bird's eye view
of the entire loop is available for study and day dreaming.
Photo
Trail for the
Old Milwaukee Scenic/Alternate Trail between Pearson
(lower trailhead for
the Route of the Hiawatha)
and Marble Creek on the Saint Joe River, 24 miles away.
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| Please visit our Sponsors
and Business Associates
page to see those local businesses that support our efforts. Some of
our supporters also have their websites displayed on our
Links to Related Enterprises page,
along with the websites of other local and national organizations
of interest to the bicycle community. Please support those who support us.
Thank you!
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Silver Spokes Bicycle Jam
Completion Report due out soon!
