The ins and ways of the Pend d'Oreille Bay Trail

SANDPOINT — Several years ago I had the privilege to work closely with the Ross and Hazel Hall family through many of their early challenges to bring Ross Hall Sr.’s shoreline vision into reality.

You will likely never have full understanding of the fortitude, perseverance and private expense the entire Hall family incurred to bring this significant shoreline into permanent public use as a managed pathway. See Friends of Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail, for a greater understanding of the necessity of managing a lakeside trail such as this.

You may wonder why they add the small letter “d” tied to the capital “O” by an apostrophe. It’s the historical French spelling of the word we commonly pronounce “Ponderay.”

You may not be aware that we have public access to such a trail traversing that portion of Lake Pend Oreille between Sandpoint and Ponderay.

The establishment of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail created a tremendously valuable asset for the two cities and for Bonner County as well. Though it does not produce income, for the county or cities, the trail provides access to a personalized not-so-crowded experience with the lake, including its history.

So important is this lakeside pathway that I am setting up a more thorough story about its inception to show many of the challenges the Hall family bore over many years to honor their father’s vision.

Think of it this way: the Hall family could have capitalized perhaps more profitably by selling their property to private interests.

There are many lakes throughout the region where the shorelines are privately owned in their entirety with public access held to a single government-managed boat launch.

So you can quite imagine the legacy the Halls have brought Bonner County through their ongoing effort to dedicate this long shoreline to public use.

I hope to bring much greater understanding of the financial and legal burden the Halls endured to bring this vision into reality; so that you and I and our children and grandchildren and generations to come could enjoy a sense of ownership with Lake Pend d’Oreille.

Yes, I step back purposefully to the old spelling above to better illustrate the importance of its history. History is always at the root of legacy and therefore must be examined.

How do you access it, this lakeside hike?

Politely, I hope, respectfully with certainty. I write that because the limited parking at the trailhead is reached by driving slowly over the speed bumps along the west side of Seasons By The Lake condominiums.

The Seasons condos are in and of themselves a rich example of what might have developed along the entire shoreline had not the Halls had the fortitude and persistence to hold out for the preservation of lake contact for all.

We are so blessed.

Regarding the condos, I have several friends who live in the lakeside privacy of the Seasons project. I applaud the architecture of these buildings that are not only aesthetic presentations to life by the lake, but serve the inhabitants as well by minimizing the sounds of trains passing in close proximity on the backside.

So we drive slowly past the “backyard” of Seasons until we reach the trailhead just south of Sandpoint’s Water Treatment Plant.

I can hardly wait to write about that fine facility for your greater understanding because of its integral importance to a healthy water supply for all who pass through or live in Sandpoint. But that’s another story.

Here is something unique of which you may not know: the Hall family worked diligently to preserve the right to “walk your dog” along the three-mile round trip from trailhead back to trailhead. Part of this trek, particularly around the old mill ruins is under management of Sandpoint Parks Department. Dogs are required to walk on leashes in the city parks, but canine freedom awaits the longer trek, so persevere dog lovers!

The parks department is doing its own fine job. They are not to be put down.

So long as your canine friend remains in your control, you can release your pet from tether as you pass from city park into the extended area of the longer stride. You’ll see the signage near the cairn, a trail-side monument to many of the people and businesses who helped finance the legacy of the Pend d’Oreille Bay trail.

But I digress. On the companion issue of dogs on the pathway, the courtesy of “pack it in; pack it out” translates to the primary responsibility held by dog owners. What dogs naturally leave behind along the trail, pet owners are expected to pick up for appropriate disposal elsewhere, thereby preserving the integrity of the hike for everyone.

Is swimming allowed along the way? No — due primarily to the extensive riprap installed by the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent further bank erosion. Their strategic placement of outsized rocks and boulders along the entire shoreline made creation of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail possible as a permanent pathway. Thank you, Army Corps.

So there is no place along the trail to swim.

At the trailhead, you discover limited parking. There is nowhere else to leave your vehicle.

If it’s full, you are out of luck. However, there is a time limit for parking as advised by signage at the outset.

On the bright side, this naturally occurring inhibitor of abundant parking serves by coincidence perhaps to limit over-crowded use of your trail experience.

Oh, and I can’t finish this story without mention of the unique “ruins” through which you trek shortly after leaving the trailhead. These large cement remnants of buildings past serve as monuments to an important lumber mill that was pretty much the center of industrial commerce by fact of its premiere location. The “ruins” remind us of the great importance the timber industry played in the early residency of Bonner County.

In the historical record, these ruins are preserved intentionally for your enjoyment. The monument includes many stone and old pilings protruding well out into the lake beneath the surface. The ruins remind us as well by interpolating why we have such a multitude of rails funneling through Bonner County.

The trains on these railroads hauled the seemingly endless abundance of area-wide timber from North Idaho, including parts of Montana and eastern Washington to the metropolitan outlets elsewhere in America as we entered the 20th century in the early 1900s.

Lumber mills, large and small, stockpiled and reduced timber to lumber for transport throughout the region. The Humbird Mill may have been the most significant; so the old bones of its shoreline presence remain important to the recognition and preservation of historical fact.

My great hope in writing this article is that you discover a truly selfless legacy left for your enjoyment into perpetuity by the Hall family.

There were necessarily a great number of dedicated people involved in the maturing of this legacy.

I have no way to mention everyone in one article; so I’ll return from time to time to shed more light on this wonderful natural hike now available lakeside.

I hope you soon discover it for yourself.

Dwayne Parsons can be reached for comment and suggestions by email at dwaynedailybee@gmail.com.