The Adventures of Fric and Frac: Adventure 10: Hell's Gate State Park via the Latah Trail

The Exquisite Latah Trail

On a bright Friday morning, June 6, 2013, we eased Fric and Frac southbound onto the Palouse highway. Listening to the not yet annoying voice of our new Garmin, we followed directions to a place we already knew how to get to: Moscow, Idaho. Ain't technology amazing. (We figure the Garmin will come in handy when we are, in fact, in unknown territory.) We parked Fric & Frac behind the Ford dealership in Moscow, which provided convenient access to the Latah trail, a smooth, paved eleven mile trail between Moscow and Troy, Idaho. Running parallel to Route 8, the trail climbs gently from the Palouse wheat country into a surprisingly lush pine forest, meanders awhile, then drops quickly into Troy, a small but active North Idaho community. From Troy, the trail continues four miles into Bear Canyon; however, this portion isn't paved. We tried to ride it because it had recently been compacted, but the compacting still didn't make it ridable for our road tandem. I would suspect mountain bikers would enjoy the canyon quite a bit because even though it is a short trail, the scenery is beautiful. After realizing we couldn't ride the gravel portion of the trail, we enjoyed a very good lunch at a place called the Filling Station, which is indeed an old filling station that has been converted to a espresso/lunch stand where the food is made fresh by locals. After lunch, we rode up hill against the wind back to Moscow. Our round trip was twenty-seven miles, and though it was windy, the warm air made it enjoyable. We then pointed Fric and Frac toward Lewiston, Idaho and Hell's Gate State Park. Located in the first of three loops, we settled in at site #3. Quite lovely. Tucked along the edge of the Snake River four miles south of Lewiston, the park is nicely appointed and appears to be popular. Our site was level, the showers were clean and hot, and our neighbors were gentle. Saturday morning we rode the Lewiston levee trail, which follows the Snake and Clearwater rivers on eleven paved miles. The morning was clear and cool, and though it warmed to near ninety, our shaded campsite kept the trailer cool. We scouted other routes from the park and plan to return, most likely in the spring, but really, this area is a place where life is good just about any day.