Oh Canada… Americas hat… what wonders you possess… and Im not talking about ketchup chips.
Lakes, rivers, forests, and winding roads! For Michelle’s birthday we decided to take an extended weekend ride up into beautiful British Columbia.
The plan: From Coeur D’Alene Idaho venture just north to Sandpoint for the evening and hit up the Sandpoint Outdoor Music Festival – hang out with some friends and see The Head and The Heart play that evening.
The next morning, head north into Canada and through Creston, BC and up hwy 3A along the edge of Kootenai Lake, eventually making our way to a motorcycle campground that night.
The following day would be all about hitting up the local hot springs in Ainsworth then an evening roaming around the small town of Nelson. From there a few hours ride south across the border and through Washington to home sweet Idaho.
Heading up to Sandpoint Idaho from Coeur D Alene really only takes maybe 40 minutes and its a straight shot up hwy 95 with not a lot to see. However, just before arriving in Sandpoint you hit lake Pend Oreille and the long bridge that crosses it – just shy of 2 miles long.
While unfortunately I had a very wonky / unstable gopro mount situation at the time (attempting some new positions and angles) I do have some still shots to share:
That evening we would hit up the Festival at Sandpoint and see The Head and The Heart play the outdoor stage. But first – Beer Garden!!
It starts out relatively harmless…
While we dont really drink that much anymore, this is what happens when you give us unlimited tasters, combined with great music, and did I mention it was Michelle’s Bday??
Drunken selfies for daaaaaaaaays:
The next morning, after downing some strong coffee it was time to cross the border into Canada. The border crossing itself was quick and easy and the ride up felt great.
To stave away any creeping hangover we stopped in Creston BC to fill up on more coffee as well as some fish tacos.
It became evident pretty quickly that this area was quite popular for motorcyclists and everyone we talked to remarked at the quality of the ride up hwy 3A along the Kootenay Lake – part of the famous “Selkirk Loop” which covers 280 miles of scenic drive through Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia.
And they were right – its a ton of fun taking this road – plenty of curves and quite beautiful. In addition, lots of places to pull off and take in the scenery on foot or even jump in the lake.
Eventually you run along what could arguably be one of the oddest tourist attractions Ive seen – a glass house built from used bottles of embalming fluid… yep.
So here’s a whole lot of that:
The owner/builder was a funeral home director who decided that instead of just tossing out the old used embalming fluid bottles, he should put them to use. So, he built his house with them! The bottles are everywhere, from the walls of the home to the garden, to the features surrounding the home.
Just north of the Glass House you soon reach the end of your journey on 3A north, as the next step to crossing Lake Kootenay is by ferry boat.
The crossing itself is the longest free ferry ride in the world and operates with two ferry boats in order to keep the wait times lower in the busier summer months. Both ferries are capable of handling vehicles of all sizes, including RVs.
We arrived just as one of the boats was departing, so had some time to kill around the landing area.
Fortunately the scenery is nice and it was great to take a load off for a bit.
Soon it was time to load up on the ferry and as I mentioned before, this route is quite popular for motorcyclists so we had plenty of company.
Even ran into a fellow Scrambler rider as well:
It was awesome to meet these fellow riders and swap stories of our travels.
After disembarking it was time to get up to the Toad Rock Motorcycle camp ground just north near Ainsworth hot springs.
We were not really sure what to expect as we had booked this place based on its proximity to the hot springs and with limited info from their website, but we were quite pleased. Based on availability, we ended up in the only non-tent option they had left, the “outside bed”:
It was actually a rad little set up and we were quickly out like a light after the long day of riding.
If you get the chance, I highly recommend staying here sometime, as they have traditional tent spots as well as converted old trucks and campers they have made into cabins. Everyone was nice and you get the feeling of community since everyone there is traveling on two wheels.
The next morning it was off to the Ainsworth hot springs for more rest and relaxation!
They of course have the regular hot springs pools shown above, but the highlight is definitely the caves which featured t temp of 108.
After the caves you can jump into a chilled bath at approx 40-50 degrees but forget that noise thats not fun! I do not see the appeal.
We wandered the cave a few times and basked in the sun by the pool until the afternoon, then it was time to hit the road once again for our final stop of the trip, Nelson BC.
Nelson itself is a rad little town with some interesting architechture and history.
This particular building below, the Hume Hotel, is supposedly haunted, and guests have reported all kinds of paranormal activity from lights and appliances switching on and off, to apparitions being spotted in various areas of the hotel.
However, our night would be spent in the Dancing Bear hostel. An affordable and comfortable place to sleep for the night, and we were lucky enough to get the last private room with a shared bathroom. (most rooms are bunk style and separated by gender)
The hostel was clean and the staff friendly. We even happened across another group of motorcyclists coming from Vancouver and swapped stories on the back porch while enjoying a local microbrew. Not a bad way to end the day!
After a great nights rest it was time to make our way back home to Idaho. However, we had one important stop to make in Nelson before hitting the road – Oso Negro coffee shop! Do yourself a favor and hit this place up if you are ever in Nelson. The coffee is amazing even just served black and I can still to this day taste the bittersweet goodness of those delicious drops of caffineated heaven in my mouth. You can order their beans online and probably with international shipping it will cost a mint but trust me it is absolutely worth every penny. No pictures of the place cuz I was too enthralled in coffee heaven probably to remember to get any.
Overall I must say the Selkirk loop did not disappoint! This is the kind of trip you could do again and again and still enjoy the scenery, the people, and the off the wall places along the way. I highly recommend it for those looking for a close to home adventure in the Inland Northwest.
Cheers!
travistriumph 