THE "CROWN JEWEL" OF RAIL-TO-TRAIL ADVENTURES
The Route of the Hiawatha mountain bike is 15 miles long with 9 train tunnels and 7 sky-high trestles. The ride starts by traveling through the 1.66 mile long St. Paul Pass Tunnel, also know as the Taft Tunnel.It was called one of the most scenic stretches of railroad in the country. The trail is named after the passenger train "Olympian Hiawatha" which rode these rails. The name "Hiawatha" originated with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Song of Hiawatha" written in the 1800's. The last passenger train, the Olympian Hiawatha, passed through the Bitterroots in 1961.
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| We rented comfort bikes and equipment from the Lookout Pass Ski Area. |
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| First the St. Paul Pass Tunnel, 8771 feet long. We started on the Montana side. It took about 20 minutes of pedaling in 45 degree, damp, complete darkness with our headlights on to get to the Idaho side. |
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| The highlight of the trail is that it follows the crest of the Bitterroot Mountains. |
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| Virginia studies the map to keep us on course and on schedule. |
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| The third tunnel (#22) is 1516 feet long. |
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| Kurt pedals through tunnel (#24), 377 feet long. |
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| Trestle over Kelly Creek, 230 feet high |
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| It's a long way down! |
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| Trestle over Clear Creek, 220 feet high. This was originally built of steel instead of wood. |
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| Emerging from Tunnel (#28) |
This was a gorgeous bike ride, the best we ever rode.
3 comments:
We did this too! That first tunnel is a doozy! We were the only ones in the tunnel. We have very good bike lights but they were almost worthless in the tunnel. On the way back there were a lot of people in the tunnel and it was lit up. I think the guy behind me had a car headlight mounted on his bike - it was nice to be able to see.
It was a really fun ride.
I read your blog about your ride. You guys looked really cold.
We were cold! We were not prepared for it either.
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