Riding All Around: Into Idaho, the long way

Things I wish I had a picture of:

Riding in the left lane (it was closed to car traffic) on interstate 90 for nearly 5 miles on the way to Lookout Pass;
the look on the face of the Taft, MT, road crew employee, who was sure the trail I was on petered out in a couple of miles, when I rode up and over the pass on that same trail;
the look on my face when the trail marshals told me that no, contrary to what I was told by the Taft road crew, the Hiawatha Trail didn't connect with the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes;
the mule deer that lazily jumped up an almost vertical incline as I rode up the trail;
pictures of Mark Carbone and Michael Landon to accompany this photo.

Once over the pass and into Idaho, the trails were suddenly well marked, the trail was paved (well, after the first 11.7 miles downhill), and the coffee came with real half and half. Of course, there are the matters of the silver miners' strike at the mine in Mullan, the controlled burns they have to start to keep whole valleys from going up in flames, and the sign above the Coeur d'Alene River not to enter the river because of mine waste. Not all is just and good and easy.

Still, it is beautiful country, and I find myself at times wondering why anyone would want to live anywhere else.