Spokane, WA

The day had been full of basketball on the hot pavement. Hoopfest was in full swing, which always seems to mean friends visiting from out of town, tempers flaring on the court, and general lethargy when we aren’t playing. We weren’t going to do much with our evening, aside from a rented DVD, air conditioning, Gatorade, and lots of couch time. Before a barbecue dinner, however, we wanted to stretch our legs, and we found ourselves on the South Hill. A walk along “the bluff” on High Drive overlooking Latah Valley in the receding daylight seemed like the perfect before-dinner activity.

We took our cold drinks and limped sorely to the car, and drove west to High Drive. Along the drive there is ample parking on the west side of the road. We parked the car and limped our way down to the trail just over the hillside. We never got very far, but we had already done our exercise for the day. We were happy just to watch those who were jogging and walking their dogs, and wander around the trail, taking in the breathtaking view of a misty Latah Valley. The surrounding hills were beginning to swallow the valley in shadows, darkening the hues of green. The friends from out of town were impressed with the view, made perfect by a train gracefully making its way across the valley. We watched golfers enjoying the end of their round at Qualchan Golf Course below.

When we had used all the energy we had left, which wasn’t much, we walked back down the trail to the car and called it a day. A great barbecue and another day of basketball awaited us, but a little bit of quiet and a great view from the South Hill’s bluff was a welcome addition to a very active weekend.