Route of the Hiawatha
We left at 7:45 for a half hour drive to the Lookout Pass ski area at the summit. Their summer thing is as home base for the Route of the Hiawatha bike trail. They rent bikes, helmets, and lights to those who need them. Trail passes and shuttle tickets are sold there also. Rather than describe the trail here I will place a link so you can learn about the trail and its’ history.
Now that you are enlightened about the trail, here is some of our experience.
This photo is taken from the start of the trail. Immediately you encounter the East Portal of a nearly two mile long tunnel.
About a half mile in you pass this sign. If you’re lucky you see it. It’s dark in there – CAVE dark. The line down the middle of the sign shows the border between Idaho and Montana. Idaho is on the left.
About one and a half miles down the tunnel you see this. Yes, that is the ‘Light at the end of the tunnel’.
Here is the view a little closer to the end.
Just outside the West Portal of the long tunnel is this falls.
One of the trestles we crossed over.
Sue exiting the last tunnel on the route. Ovel on the left is view in the rearview mirror on my helmet.
Shuttle bus that took us back to near end of long tunnel. Eight mile bus ride took almost 45 minutes.
Nearly 17 miles (including return back through St. Paul Pass Tunnel), ten tunnels, seven high steel trestles, lots of interpretive and historical information, great weather, and hard to match scenery. Yes, it was worth hauling our bikes 1000 miles. :)
Today is Kens’ birthday. Happy Birthday Ken !
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