Schweitzer Mountain
Up in the Idaho Panhandle, outside of Sandpoint, is an excellent and increasingly popular ski resort. It is the largest resort in all of Idaho, with 2900 skiable acres. Schweitzer Mountain brings the skiers, snowboarders, and snowshoers in the wintertime. That’s not all, though. A mountain is still a mountain in the summertime.
I like visiting ski resorts in the summertime, or as regulars would say, the offseason. The crowds are gone, the sun is out, and the mountain opens up to other activities. At Snoqualmie in Washington, Rita and I hiked to a mountain lake and fished for trout. In Whistler, Canada and Powder Ridge, CT, I mountain biked down the hill. Even in Illinois, I rode the chairlift with family.
When I visit my sister, Valerie, in Sandpoint, it is typically summer. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever visited in the wintertime. So not only do I prefer the summertime activities at Schweitzer; the wintertime has never been an option for me. Hiking is the activity we engage in. This may cause the adrenaline junkies in the downhill ski world to roll their eyes, but that’s just how we roll.
Shall we go on a hike then?
I can think of at least two times that I went hiking on Schweitzer Mountain. The first was with my siblings, Valerie and Morris. We drove up the mountain and to the village. From there we took the chair lift up to the Sky House and did a short loop hike. It wasn’t too difficult; the main point of being there was to soak up the great views from over 6000′ elevation.
There are most definitely excellent views from up there. Schweitzer is one of the southern peaks in the Selkirk Range, which stretches into British Columbia. Most notable is being able to look down on the sprawling Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s longest and deepest lake. The Navy used to test submarines in the lake for their acoustic properties (how quiet they were).
I don’t remember much else about that particular hike, other than that there was a gravel road up there on the mountain. My sister often goes huckleberry picking in Northern Idaho, and according to an online source I’m reading now, Schweitzer is a huckleberry hotspot in the summer months. Dang, I really missed out. Somehow, I’m going to have to incorporate more fruit picking stories on my Rambling page.
Twice is better than once
On another trip, Valerie and I hiked on Schweitzer Mountain again, except we started from the bottom. I don’t remember off the top of my head what the name of the trail was. It’s hard to try and piece these things together in hindsight. The trail was mixed use, with mountain bike traffic allowed. “Sparky” kind of rings a bell so I’m going to go with that.
Valerie brought along her dog, Silly. That dog is quite a runner, and loves being on the trails. Valerie let her off leash, and Silly ran back and forth the whole day, probably doing twice as many miles as us people. She got us into trouble though, when she growled and bared her teeth at a kid. The Dad gave Silly quite a shout and gave Valerie a brief talking to. Silly may have a checkered past with little kids, as she doesn’t generally react to them favorably.
The hike itself was a fun outing through pine forest. It was steep climbing, and we frequently found ourselves walking on switchbacks. Valerie wanted to make it all the way to the top, but I tapped out and we headed back down. The big disappointment was that we didn’t see any moose, which are quite common in that area.
Now, moose are a force to be reckoned with. They can chase people down easily and bullrush them if spooked. The trick to getting away is to run in a zigzag pattern through the woods, off trail. Next time I’m at Schweitzer I want huckleberries and moose. Third time’s the charm.
