Today was all about riding the route of the Hiawatha, but we had some driving to get to this interesting attraction on this moving day.
With temperatures near 100 in August, we thought we would be running the fans inside the trailer at night. But when the sun went down past the mountains, the little valley town of Big Creek, Idaho, cooled down into the 50s. Instead of fans, we needed a blanket to keep us comfortable overnight. We left our Boondockers Welcome stop at 7:45 a.m., and headed east down I-90.
After those 75 miles, we entered our tenth state of this trip--Montana. We exited the highway at exit 0 for the Lookout Ski Resort, where we each bought a $20 trail pass and a $20 shuttle pass for the Hiawatha Trail. Then it was back in the pickup to drive another five miles east on I-90, and then two miles through construction, and then up a steep dirt road to the East Portal Parking lot.
We were early because we wanted to start our bike ride when it was cool. But we also needed to find a parking space for our pickup and trailer at a very popular trail head. They have limited RV parking, and we snagged one of those spots. We unloaded our foldable bikes, attached our trail pass, and headed out on one of the most famous bike trails in the United States. It was 57 degrees when we started at 9:00.
We came prepared with head lamps and a flashlight. But we soon found that Denisa's head lamp was not strong enough for the pitch black inside a mile-long tunnel. We couldn't stop and readjust, because we didn't want to get ran over by bikes behind us. Our best strategy was for Mark to hold the flashlight and try to shine it in front of Denisa's path. It was cold and muddy inside that long tunnel. While it was "an experience," Denisa wouldn't say that it was a "fun experience."
She was really glad to see the light at the end of that very long tunnel ride!
You might notice that Denisa was wearing a very interesting outer garment. We had read that it was muddy in the tunnels, and mud will splatter up on the back of your clothes. Our bikes had fenders, so we weren't bothered by that mud. But she wore the trash bag for the warmth during that 43-degree tunnel ride.
We saw many bikers who didn't wear trash bags. Their fender-less bikes left them a muddy stripe down their back for the rest of the day.
We took a picture at the waterfall on the other side of the tunnel, then got ready to tackle the rest of the Route of the Hiawatha.
The trail was 15 miles long, but it was entirely down hill! That meant we did very little pedaling during this ride through the mountains
This blog is filled with pictures of Denisa on her bike. That's because Mark is a talented bike rider that can take pictures (or shine a flashlight) while he rides.
Denisa is the kind of bike rider that just hopes she doesn't fall off her bike in the best of circumstances. So the only pictures of Mark were when we stopped to gape at the pretty mountain scenery around us.
We have been on many rail-to-trails adventures, but this was probably the most spectacular. The trail was wide because it was so popular and well-traveled. We made a point to arrive on a week-day, because it can be brutally busy on the weekend.
The billboards on the highway boasted that the Route of the Hiawatha has ten tunnels. We were glad that the other nine weren't as long as the first one. But all of them were long enough and curved enough that they were totally dark inside.
We stopped often, and noticed that the mountains around us were hazy from wildfire smoke in the distance.
As we went through more tunnels, we developed our strategy. Denisa got better at holding the flashlight and steering and pedaling. That's a lot of multi-tasking for a wobbly bike rider.
Mark could do all that plus take pictures.
Sometimes we were pedaling through a tunnel of trees instead of a rock tunnel.
This was one tunnel that we didn't bike through. It was the "whoops" tunnel. When planning a 15-mile route through the mountains, it's probably understandable that the planners would make a mistake or two. This tunnel was a mistake that was never used as part of the train track.
But we still had more . . .
and more tunnels to ride through first.
The billboards along the interstate also boasted of the "Seven Sky High Trestles" on the Route of the Hiawatha. We had just made it to our first one. You can see that Denisa doesn't look very big on that sky high bridge.
The sign post near that first trestle explained the process of building such a long bridge with such long legs under it. A contraption called "The Traveler" was an ingenuous method to build these old bridges.
Just one of these tall old trestles would have made this an amazing ride. But we got to ride across seven of them!
What a fun way to bike through more of God's wonders!
We finished at 3:00 mountain time. Today we had crossed from Pacific Time back into Mountain Time, making our day an hour shorter. That wasn't good, because we had to get to a parts store in Missoula, Montana, before they closed. Mark had found a shop with the parts we needed to fix the solar connection, and they were in-stock! We arrived 25 minutes before closing time to buy two solar splitters and two cables to replace the one with a bad connection. We also stocked up on groceries and ate dinner in Missoula. Then we drove another hour to Drummond City Campground for an easy overnight stay. As we drove further down the highway, the views got more smoky.
Each trestle had a name and a number. The Kelly Creek Trestle was one of the tallest at 230 feet in height.
Even on the second half of the ride, we were still riding through tunnels . . .
and they were still muddy.
We were glad for the shade from the trees and the cool of the tunnels by now. Temperatures were up to 91 degrees by the end of the morning. Riding a fat-tired mountain bike was recommended, but we were proud of our skinny-tired fold-up bikes. They did quite well on the Route of the Hiawatha.
These high trestles were first built out of wood, and later replaced with iron when the wood began to deteriorate.
The bridges were wide and smooth. It was during this second half of the ride that we started meeting bikes heading back up the hill. Most of those were e-bikes that would have some electrical help riding 15 miles up-hill. We bought the shuttle tickets to ride the bus back up the hill because Mark didn't want to listen to Denisa whining for 15 miles.
Meeting bikes inside tunnels was a little unnerving in the dark.
Sorry for all the pictures, but it seemed like we needed to take a picture of each of those seven sky high trestles.
The trail was only 15 miles long, and that shouldn't take very long on a bicycle. But since we stopped for so many pictures, it took longer than we expected.
We also stopped and read the sign posts along the route. Sprinkled about every quarter-mile throughout the trail, they explained the railroad that once made this route possible. The signboards had stories of the train engines--steam, electric and diesel---over the years. They told stories of the railroad's part in transporting soldiers and equipment during the war. We read stories of the luxury class railroad cars with diners and sleepers for rich travelers. We learned that trains transporting silk were given fast passage because of the price and delicate nature of silk. We did almost as much reading as we did riding.
We finished the trail at the bottom, as we rolled under the sign at the Pearson Trailhead. You guessed it--Denisa had to get off her bike to take this picture of Mark.
Then we got in the very long shuttle line. We were lucky that we would fit onto the next shuttle, because weekenders will face a very long wait at the bottom. They loaded our bikes onto trailers . . .
and we hopped on one of the old school buses that make the thirty- minute drive up the mountain. The roads were twisting and narrow and the drivers knew to meet the oncoming buses only at specific places on this drive.
They unloaded bikes and passengers at the bottom of the Taft Bridge Tunnel. That's right--we have to bike through that very long 1.66-mile dark tunnel again to get back to our pickup. But we are experienced bikers now, and well-practiced at the best techniques in going through dark tunnels. It was much better the second time. We were also glad for the 43-degree tunnel since the outside temperatures were in the 90s.
By the time we got to Drummond City, we could barely see the mountains around us. For the first time this summer we could smell the smoke. We found out that it was from the 3,426-acre Windy Rock Fire that was 0 percent contained and just ten miles from town. The fire was large enough that the local fire department turned it over to the larger Department of Natural Resources fire crew. We read that 500 fire fighters were on that site today. They were joined by the Montana Governor, because this was the largest wildfire in the state. The news said that the rain in July kept down fires this summer, but a dry August had led to an upsurge. Now much of Montana was under a smoke flume.
Mark spent the last few minutes before sundown installing the new cables and connectors. It sure was nice traveling with a guy that can fix anything, can take pictures while riding a bicycle, and is so darn good looking too!
No comments:
Post a Comment