Many much moosen!

If the title didn't give you a chuckle then you need to look up Brian Regan "stupid in school"

I don't know when I'll be able to post this. I'm actually writing with no service at our 2nd campground. I'll get to that later. This post will cover yesterday the 28th. 

The day started out positive and would remain that way until bedtime. The smoke was tolerable, down to where the odor was undetectable. I call this the Pier 1 effect. Most of you know I worked there for years during college. Could have been CEO, but that's another story. Anyway, after working at Pier one for a few weeks one no longer notices the mix of odors caused by potpourri, votives, wicker, etc. It was still smokey, but at a level which we could only see. 

The ride on the trail of the Coeur D'alenes was postponed until today and I'm glad it was. We fit many more miles (45) in than we would have on Wednesday. The trail is in the rail trail hall of fame. I have yet to confirm the existence of this, but it belongs there regardless. From our trailhead in the "town?" of Chacolet (mp 7.3 from the end) we proceeded north and east along the lake then Coeur D'alene River and other sloughs, lakes, marshes, and farms. For a couple of biology dorks it was pretty cool. The region was historically impacted by extensive mining. The content of heavy metals in the soil is dangerous. There are warnings about washing hands and face on just about every sign along the way. Here's the first highlight from our start. 

That's an old rail bridge which they've placed permanently in the up position. It was also the only climb on the trail itself. The pavement is remarkable well kept and flat flat flat. We knocked out about 22.3 miles one way of the 73 total. 

We did see a couple of moose. Not many or much as the title of this post implies. 

 

These two were a few hundred feet away and the old point and shoot couldn't zoom very well. It was still pretty cool. 

On the return trip we stopped in Harrison for some ice cream. 

After the ride we rescued the pups and went for a really nice evening walk along Benewah lake. The air quality was the best we'd seen, which made for a great final evening at our first stop.