Trail Now Taken near Clark Fork

My friend Myra gets to ride her horse on this trail. 

I walked it for the first time yesterday. 

Bill told me a couple of days ago that he would like to show me a nice public area near Clark Fork owned by Avista.

It's used primarily by anglers walking to the Clark Fork River.  We actually met one yesterday on the trail.  

Raphael Barta told us fishing hadn't been very good, as he headed back to his car. 

Bill really wanted the sun to be shining for my introduction to the piece of farm land with a stream running through it and a pond or two. 

The sun shone brightly yesterday until precisely the moment we climbed in the car and headed east. 

We hoped the clouds would go away and that the sun would return by the time we arrived. 

That didn't happen, but it didn't matter.  

Ominous cloud formations with varying hues of gray ranging to deep deep bluish gray, hanging low in the sky,  provided a sense of artistic drama above stands of evergreens enhanced every so often with golden larch and brown varieties of grass. 

We walked through a couple of big fields of round bales, which obviously had experienced several soakings of rain since the summer cutting. 

Every step of yesterday's walk was pure joy, even as we donned raingear and headed as quickly as possible to the arched tunnel beneath the railroad tracks.

Part of the joy came from the fact that it was a new place for walking; the rest should be obvious from the photos. 

As we neared the end of our walk, I said to Bill, "Ten minutes!"  

"Ten minutes is our deadline," I explained for going over across the road to Byron and Myra's gorgeous horse ranch.

Myra was the other "ML" on our Sandpoint High School faculty.  We shared more than initials over the years.  Both of us were outdoors and horse lovers. Both appreciated the rural life.  

When the kids were growing up, our family made many a trip to the Lewises' first ranch across the road from where they now live. 

Staff parties always revolved around outside activities, and once, Myra, our friends Shirley and Judy and I set off on snow machines in the hills above where the Lewises now live. 

When it comes to Myra and Byron, educators who came to Idaho many years ago from Aspen, Colo., the bag is filled with a host of wonderful memories and a reminder of the true meaning of friendship. 

"Myra will be upset if she sees the blog tomorrow and learns we were right across the road," I told Bill, as if I had to convince him to go over and visit our longtime friends. 

Yup, Myra agreed with my assertion; she would have been upset, she told us, as we left their house when at least 20 minutes of visiting had passed. 

During that visiting, I learned that Myra had been out in that field riding her horse shortly before we arrived. 

She's a lucky lady, to be her age and still riding and to be able to have that piece of God's country to enjoy her horseback excursions. 

Pretty exquisite, to say the least. 

After driving from Clark Fork to Hope through a wild and woolly rain and lightning storm, Bill and I topped off our day with a pizza and an ice cream cone at Ice House Pizzeria. 

A perfect afternoon, I'd say.  

Great seeing you, Byron and Myra! 

Happy Saturday to all.  Enjoy the photos.