The North Idaho Front Porch (Sandpoint, Spirit Lake: golf course, cold weather, trip)

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by mtngirlatheart

Yes, still making the drive! We're planning on our sight-seeing to begin once we pass through Iowa. We'll be spending some time in the Black Hills (which both hubby and I have been wanting to see forever) and then we have two days planned in Montana. Our last stop before we arrive in NID is going to be Glacier National Park, and I am SO stoked for that. We'll have pretty much an entire day there including an overnight. So excited!! Going to make it a 6-day drive. Should be fun!


We'll be making Spirit Lake our new home and it can't happen soon enough. We're very excited to make the journey!

Mtngirl, I forgot to comment on your post--but I guess you haven't left yet!
Remember to check for road conditions in Glacier, because Going-to-the-sun-road is probably not open yet. We've been there in mid-June, and it just opened. Lots of snow. If you have to skip Glacier, don't worry about it--you can get there from Spirit Lake in about 3-4 hours on a nice July day! Perfect weekend getaway.

From Glacier to NID you'll probably be going down 93 along Flathead Lake to I90. That's a wonderful drive, but everyone says to watch out for crazy drivers from Polson and Ravalli to Missoula, so be cautious. An alternative route, if you have time to spare, would be to turn off at Ravalli and go Highway 200 west instead of I90, it is so much prettier. You can go part of the way, and then turn off at 135 and hook up with I90 at St. Regis. Or go the whole way on 200 to Sandpoint, and wave to Clark Fork! Then south on 95 to Athol/Spirit Lake. But of course you can also save all those wonderful side trips for your future life in NID!

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Pretty interesting: almost 1000 acres of land are being traded in NID. If I understand this correctly, land owned by the Stimson Lumber Co in Hope is being traded with federal land near Bayview and Hoodoo Lake so the elk + grizzly habitat and trails by Hope and Clark Fork will be expanded:
Land trade nears completion - Bonner County Daily Bee: Local News: sandpoint, bonner county, stimson lumber co., hope, sagle

“This land exchange is the culmination of a long partnership with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The Bonner County Sportsmen and Idaho Fish & Game have also been very supportive of the project,” said Dick Kramer, ranger for the Sandpoint District.
The exchange includes the acquisition of low-elevation winter elk habitat, elk travel corridors, elk calving grounds, grizzly bear habitat and a half-mile of high-quality westslope cutthroat trout habitat. Bringing the land under public ownership raises the possibility of constructing a new trailhead for Beetop-Roundtop Trail No. 120, one of most scenic trails in northern Idaho.
Currently, the popular trail is inaccessible from Clark Fork and there is no public right of way at the trailhead on Spring Creek Road.

I think this sounds great, and I"d love to be able to access trail No.120 from Clark Fork! Any downside to this, guys? Anything troubling that I didn't read between the lines?

[mtngirlatheart]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Mtngirl, I forgot to comment on your post--but I guess you haven't left yet!
Remember to check for road conditions in Glacier, because Going-to-the-sun-road is probably not open yet. We've been there in mid-June, and it just opened. Lots of snow. If you have to skip Glacier, don't worry about it--you can get there from Spirit Lake in about 3-4 hours on a nice July day! Perfect weekend getaway.

From Glacier to NID you'll probably be going down 93 along Flathead Lake to I90. That's a wonderful drive, but everyone says to watch out for crazy drivers from Polson and Ravalli to Missoula, so be cautious. An alternative route, if you have time to spare, would be to turn off at Ravalli and go Highway 200 west instead of I90, it is so much prettier. You can go part of the way, and then turn off at 135 and hook up with I90 at St. Regis. Or go the whole way on 200 to Sandpoint, and wave to Clark Fork! Then south on 95 to Athol/Spirit Lake. But of course you can also save all those wonderful side trips for your future life in NID!

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for the tips! I've been trying to keep on top of what's happening in GNP as far as the road conditions. We're keeping it as a possibility for right now. We may end up skipping it and like you suggested, going later this summer. I was even thinking a late summer/early fall overnight getaway would be awesome! It's up in the air. We'll decide closer to when we leave.

Which by the way is in 19 days!

[elkotronics]

Whoo-hoo! Getting ever so close. Be sure and load up on some good tunes for your trip. I usually listen to about 20 hours of good music per 25 hours of driving when traveling long distances!

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by mtngirlatheart

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for the tips! I've been trying to keep on top of what's happening in GNP as far as the road conditions. We're keeping it as a possibility for right now. We may end up skipping it and like you suggested, going later this summer. I was even thinking a late summer/early fall overnight getaway would be awesome! It's up in the air. We'll decide closer to when we leave.

Which by the way is in 19 days!

I have forgotten, where are you moving from? And congrats on the move. Enjoy the trip out. I also spent some time in the Black Hills on the move. Nice...but NID has it beat. Well, except for the mountain with some old guys carved into it.

The weather might even be decent when you get here. I went for a ride north of Blanchard, (which is about 10 miles n of Spirit Lake) over the weekend...still a WHOLE lot of snow in them thar hills!

[elousv]

Hey CFF, you are everywhere!

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Yeah, I get around, don't I?

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Happy Easter, porchers and lurkers!

[mtngirlatheart]

Happy Easter everyone!

Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake

I have forgotten, where are you moving from? And congrats on the move. Enjoy the trip out. I also spent some time in the Black Hills on the move. Nice...but NID has it beat. Well, except for the mountain with some old guys carved into it.

We're making the trip from southeastern PA. Less than two weeks now, we'll be well on our way!

Our Uhaul box is packed up and ready to go. We're having it picked up tomorrow and it'll begin it's cross-country journey (roughly 10 business days). If all is timed right and there are no major weather delays, it'll hopefully arrive around the same time we do. Our estimated day of arrival is May 12th. Yay!

Friends of ours are going to store some things for us and ship out the rest of our things (non-essentials) in about a month or so when we have the $$ to do it. Those things can get expensive when traveling 2000+ miles!

So, so excited.

[elkotronics]

Have a safe and uneventful trip. I really think you're gonna love it here. We do!