My wife and I got a chance to go to Idaho and Montana this summer so we dusted off our Downtube VIIIH's and hit the pootle trail!

There are lots of bike trails in northern Idaho, but one of the most interesting is the Route of the Hiawatha, a rails to trails conversion on the Idaho/Montana border.


The trail begins in Montana with a ride though a 8771 foot/2674 meter long tunnel. The tunnel is cold, wet and dark. There is not general lighting in the tunnel, and every thousand feet or so there is a flashing orange light. We had lights on our handlebars and helmets and it was still dark!


The tunnel is also pretty cold, about 40 degrees F or 4 degrees C all year round. We could have used more clothing and full-finger gloves. Note that you can't even see the tunnel floor or walls in this pix. Half-way through the tunnel we crossed into Idaho.


The road surface is good, hard packed rock for the most part. Some muddy bits and some rougher parts, none of it paved. This next tunnel allows motor vehicle traffic as well as bikes and pedestrians so it could be very crowded in there. Lucky for us the shuttle bus was parked outside the other end of the tunnel.


The trail also has a bunch of trestles. You can see one in the distance in the next two pictures.


Here is a closeup of the trestle.


The trestles are quite high, but have wide surfaces and railings so they feel quite safe. Not as spectacular as the Kettle Valley RR trail north of us in British Columbia, but still fun to ride.


Trestles are closed to motorized vehicles which is a good thing...


For maps and more info on the Route of the Hiawatha there are several websites including this one...
http://friendsofcdatrails.org/Hiawatha/index.html


To Be Continued...