Saturday Slight

 

Old, new and a road NOW taken. 

That would be the Grouse Creek Road, complete with its new 2-mile reroute. 

It was a combination of Memory Lane and some  lessons about improving fish habitat when Bill and I drove the new stretch of Grouse Creek Road along with an old stretch through a meadow, which is now blocked off from traffic. 

The Grouse Creek Road, northeast of Sandpoint, served as my introduction to the mountains and all that the back country has to offer. 

Twas the early '70s when I began working summers for the U.S. Forest Service engineers and when I met lifelong friends----fellow workers and bosses like Dick "Huckleberry" Creed, Jim Stark, Grant Vest, Vern Eskridge and Howard Converse. 

I also met Mary "Sis" Ballenger, who along with me, pioneered a relatively new aspect of Forest Service field work.  

The Sandpoint News Bulletin referred to us and our new position as engineering aids as "Hard Hats and Curls."  

We were "the girls" who paved the way locally for a whole lot of others who followed in Forest Service positions, ranging from field workers to Forest Supervisors. 

Our first job involved working with the individuals listed above and surveying nine miles of the Grouse Creek Road.  

Our tools included an abne level and a tape.  We climbed up hillsides and descended the hillsides on the other side of the road, measuring and taking readings for the engineers to use in future road improvements. 

Plus, we had a lot of fun with the guys who showed us how to do our work while sharing a whole lot about the forest. 

That experience has always endeared the Grouse Creek Road to me, as it launched a lifelong love for driving the back roads and to appreciate what Mother Nature had laid out up in them thar hills. 

A whole lot of beauty, to say the least. 

Grouse Creek was also one of the first places I took Bill when he moved from Louisiana to Idaho in late 1973. He was amazed at the size of the cedar stumps which are seen along the roadside. 

He also fell in love with the place because it eventually became one of his favorite places to fish. 

I'm sure the two of us don't have enough fingers and toes to count the times we've driven the Grouse Creek Road over the years.

Yesterday was different. 

Fifty-plus years later, some more engineering was done followed by road construction which involved rerouting a portion of the road to an area well above the creek. Flooding over the years had rerouted the creek, playing havoc with the fish habitat, which includes a spawning area for endangered bull trout. 

We drove the new stretch yesterday afternoon, which is much more open and wider than the road below. It also offers a few new views of some mountains in the Cabinet Range. 

This change has opened a new route to visit beautiful Grouse Falls.  Visitors can either park on near the blockades on the old road and walk a ways to Grouse Falls, or they can take the new route and park near the actual trail. 

We parked there but instead of going to the falls, we walked through the blockade on a straight stretch through a nice meadow.  

I have ridden horses on that stretch of road and even floor-boarded a van to escape a mother moose charging our direction from across the meadow. I've also cross country skied the meadow and, of course, walked it while doing engineering work years ago. 

So, it was a bit nostalgic to take the dogs down that road and think of the many memories on past trips.  We also turned off on a pathway leading to the creek where trail riders going to or coming from Western Pleasure Guest Ranch enjoy the Cowboy Trail. 

At that point, they cross the creek.  

Once I left a note in that spot after losing a belt buckle while riding the Cowboy Trail. 

And, by golly, eventually the word got out and I met the cyclist who had picked it up shortly after I'd ridden through on my horse. 

Bill talked about a pile of logs beside the road, which will be used for creek restoration in hopes of helping out the fish. 

Our brief afternoon adventure was topped off by a short visit with a group of nice teenage boys celebrating their friend's birthday by spending some time at the falls. 

I love the fact that the road along the meadow has been blocked off from traffic.  

That decision has provided a pleasant and safe place to enjoy a walk and, of course, the beauty and memories of dear friends and adventures created over the years in the Grouse Creek drainage. 

How refreshing that someone left some graffiti with a positive message. 

Whoever left this mini truck toy also left their garbage.  

We must do better to take care of the Earth. 

I sent this photo to Annie, suggesting that it was our Grouse Creek Camino. 

Does anyone know what this plant/weed is? 

 I've never seen it before until yesterday's walk. 

Speaking of roads and putting in the miles,  today our Precious Annie has walked more than 13 miles in Spain from Estella to Los Arcos. 

Check out her story and photos. 

https://adventuregirlannie.com/