Visiting Schweitzer Without the Cat Stew

One of the many hairpin turns driving up the mountain road

Quad ski lift -- alien space station?

Looking northeast-east

Bear grass

Looking towards Canada

Long Bridge in the distance

Colburn Lake and surrounding ski trails

Some snow is still visible; Lake Pend Oreille in the background

Riding down the lift

Today’s subject is another travel post as we have a Japanese foreign exchange student with us and wanted to show her the sights. Yesterday we (daughter, her friend, I, and my friend) drove up to Schweitzer Mountain, just outside of Sandpoint, Idaho.

Apparently, an old Swiss man (Schweitzer in German) lived at the bottom of the mountain. One day his house was searched as part of a criminal investigation and several bodies were found; cat bodies that is. Apparently this Schweitzer snatched cats from the area because he enjoyed a hearty bowl of cat stew. Ewwww – ICK!  Anyway, that’s the story behind the name.

Schweitzer Mountain Resort is a year-around resort; skiing in winter, hiking or bike riding in the summer. We were able to take a chair lift to the top and what a sight! Schweitzer is in the Selkirk mountain range, but from the top you can also see the Cabinet and Bitterroot mountains. And three states (Idaho, Montana, Washington) and Canada to the north.

The road up to the mountain is not for those inclined to experience motion sickness. Hairpin turns are everywhere and there are twists and turns for several miles. Thankfully I was driving so did not get the yucks, but one of the girls was slightly affected. Her solution was to just close her eyes and try to sleep. It worked as she survived the drive both up and down the mountain road.

While riding the ski lift up we saw lots of long white-topped flowers. The tops kind of looked like an upside down ice cream cone. Found out that the plants are called bear grass and bloom in 5-7 year cycles.

From the top, Lake Pend Oreille stands out to the southeast. This is a 65 mile long lake and the 5th deepest lake in the U.S.A. The southern tip is home to Farragut State Park, which used to be Farragut Naval Training Station during World War II (the 2nd largest naval training station in the world).  In the summer of 1971, Farragut hosted the Universal Life Church picnic, Idaho’s Woodstock-like festival. Music was nothing to write home about, but tons of fun anyway (of what I remember anyway — yes, I was there).

Apparently during the winter, at least one person skies down to Colburn Lake and stomps out a message–such as “I love you”–on the snow- and ice-covered lake. What a surprise to that special person who views it from the top of the mountain.

One visual we enjoyed was the view of Long Bridge. A 1.87 mile long bridge (hence the name) from Sagle, Idaho to Sandpoint, Idaho. Every August, there is the Long Bridge Swim where people swim from Sagle to Sandpoint (a 1.76 mile swim). My daughter did this one year with a 1:05:01 time. Visitors stand on the bridge and cheer the swimmers on. Started in 1995, this year, they expect over 800 swimmers.

The ride down the lift was a bit more exhilarating than riding up. You almost feel as if you’re going to slide right out of the lift seat and plummet down to the bear grass below. For someone like me who is afraid of heights, it took some serious concentration to not freak out. Would hate to embarrass my daughter.

So after a wonderful day trip to Schweitzer, we stopped for ice cream before driving home. I had a huckleberry milk shake that was the best! What else could one ask for: a pleasant day with wonderful company, and a huckleberry milk shake!

Making FDR Proud

After some serious spatial organization, I was able to pack the car with everything Daughter was bringing home. We ended up renting a small storage unit for some of her treasures that she will need in a month when she returns to college; truly needed items such as bedding and bicycle!

The oddest experience checking out of college was the financial overview. Daughter still had $65 on a meal card that if it wasn’t spent, it would go to the college. So off we went to the college store and food mall to spend her dough.

There were 4 for lunch, but that still left $48. At the store, we bought drinks, snacks, index cards, pens, pencils, electrical tape (that was for me), and assorted candies. After all was done, only $6.31 was left to the college. Not a bad spending spree for stuff that no one really needed.

Looking east

Looking south

Driving through central Washington we came upon Dry Falls. In the past (as in geological way past when), incredible floods washed through the area with strength, depth, and speed. An impressive falls was created–3.5 miles wide and 400 feet high– from the old Columbia River. At the time, this was the largest waterfall in the world. In comparison, Niagara Falls–at a mere 1 mile wide and 165 feet high–is literally a drop in the bucket.

I cannot explain how Dry Falls came to be, so following explanation was borrowed from  Go Northwest!^®     gonorthwest.com ™  

The falls were created following the catastrophic collapse of an enormous
ice-dam holding back the waters of what has named “Glacier Lake Missoula”. Water covering
three thousand square miles of northwest Montana, about the volume of Lake
Ontario, was locked behind this glacial dam until the rising lake penetrated,
lifted and then blew out the ice dam. The massive torrent (known as the
Missoula Flood) ran wild through the Idaho panhandle, the Spokane River Valley,
much of eastern Washington and into Oregon, flooding the area that is now the
city of Portland under 400 feet of water.

Reaching the Dry Falls area, this tremendous force
swept away earth and rock from a precipice actually 15 miles south of the falls
near Soap Lake, causing the falls to retreat to its present position, now known
as Dry Falls. The falls is said to be a spectacular example of “headward
erosion”. If this is confusing, given the present topography, it also helps to
know the falls are on an ancient course of the Columbia River. The river had
been diverted this way by the encroaching glaciers. It returned to its present
course as the ice retreated.

We continued north towards Grand Coulee Dam. Along the way is a string of alkaline lakes that are beautiful among the rocks and cliffs.

We drove through Electric City and end up in Coulee Dam where Grand Coulee Dam resides in all its glory. A few weeks ago, due to melting of the heavy snow in the mountains, there was water spilling over the top. But only a dribble when we got there (drats!). Apparently it is rare to allow spillage over the top, and we missed it!

The spillway, with no spillage

Water jugs from all states

Aerial view of dam looking southeast

Laser light show

Grand Coulee Dam was started in 1933 as a relief to the Great Depression in the United States and an effort to provide power to the northwest. The dam is the largest U.S. producer of hydro-electric power for Canada’s British Columbia province and many cities and states in the western United States. Besides power, the dam is a source of irrigation water for eastern Washington state. Without it, farming would be extremely limited. And let’s not forget the creation of Lake Roosevelt, named after Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States, who championed the project.

During the 8 year construction period, a world record for concrete pouring was achieved. 20 thousand cubic yards of concrete was placed in one 24-hour period. This records still stands today, over 70 years after the dam was completed.

Grand Coulee Dam stands today as one of the largest concrete structures in the world. The Three Gorges Dam in China is the largest, with over twice as much concrete used.

In 1951, jugs of water from all states and territories were simultaneously poured over the top of the spillway as a symbolic pouring ceremony. This ceremony was to demonstrate that everyone in the U.S. contributed to the project.

One of the more recent “traditions” (started in 1989)  has been to project a laser light show on the spillway. Although we did not stay until 10 p.m. to watch this, I found a cool picture.

Color Me … Tie-dyed

As an aging hippie, I passed on my love of tie-dye to my daughter. She had tie-dyed t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, purses, shorts, leggings, socks, swimsuit, and even a tie-dyed bra. But I must admit that the use of a tie-dye pallette for photos on my iPad is the best.

Apparently Daughter was dinking around with my iPad and took this photo of herself.  I knew she had blue eyes, but wow – those are really blue. I just came across it and totally love it!  Don’t you too?

Anyway, I am off tomorrow to pick her up from college. We are hoping to do a little sight-seeing with our Japanese guest. Hope I remember my camera.

 

BTW – This is my 50th post! Fun times!