After 7 weeks of #vanlife, we felt it was time to rent a cabin and spread out for a few days. It was also time to give the van a good cleaning, so I found a great cabin on AirBNB near the Canadian border north of Bonner’s Ferry, ID. We spent 6 nights there. No nearby neighbors, no cell coverage, no internet. The cabin was straight out of mountain cabin decor magazine: taxidermy wildlife everywhere, and moose/bear/elk motif on everything, including sheets, towels, placemats, shower curtains, shower curtain hooks, drawer handles, door handles, gas grill, etc. Super cute. We loved it. We had an Elk in the yard one morning, and tons of turkeys and geese. Still no bear sightings on this trip yet. I find it interesting that I see WAY more bear scat on our road at home than anywhere I’ve been on this trip, yet I alway hike with pepper spray here, but not at home. I guess it might have something to do with the possibility of Grizzly Bears here….
Next on to Priest Lake, ID, stopping in Sandpoint for lunch on the way. Sandpoint is a very cute touristy town with some great galleries and restaurants, but as we were still avoiding towns, we only stayed a couple hours.
We really liked Priest Lake when we did our Idaho trip in 2012, so we decided to come back, and stay on the east side of the lake. (We stayed on the west side last time). We found a great spot along a creek 2 miles from the lake. Like many lakes, there is no dispersed camping along the lake: only very full campgrounds and private homes. But it was a quick bike ride or drive to a state park on the lake.
Full set of photos are here.