Watching for moose on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes

By Claudia Dannettell, guest blogger

Around 20 people turned up in Wallace, Idaho, at the end of July, to join the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes Tour, led by Becky Bottino and Ken Condray with the assistance of sag driver Sander Lazar. During our kick-off meeting and shortly after, we learned of many of the circumstances leading to the various particpants’ decisions to join this particular tour. 

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Thereafter at every stop for snacks, lunch or happy hour, we had some conversation about the amazing weather, excellent trail conditions, beautiful scenery, equipment/clothing, previous exploits and then always the stories in detail of moose sightings.

There were other great stories such as the tandem that almost got stuck between the wall and a school bus while trying to go through one of the tunnels on the Hiawatha Trail; and of course, more stories of moose sightings.

Some of us heard a moose moving in the heavy underbrush near the river and some saw moose tracks on the trail….no points for that type of sighting though. Many really did see moose. One man was able to identify a bull, a juvenile and a cow. Others saw only moose behinds as they retreated from scrutiny. We all learned of the typical moose habitats and Craig even received the title of “moose-spotter” since he was responsible for seeing 2 groups of moose on two different days.

Becky mentioned several times that she hadn’t seen a moose on last year's tour and was sure her luck would change this year but no luck. Third time is the charm so she’ll just have to lead the tour again next year.

The tour this year was so very good thanks to the efforts of Ken, Becky and Sander, the great weather, the beautiful bike trails, the many birds, deer and small animals sighted AND THE MOOSE! I, for one, am willing to bet that Becky will have plenty of company to help her see a moose next year.