Hiawatha Bike Trail

Allison has always dreamed of riding the Hiawatha Bike Trail.  In fact, it has been on her bucket list since 2012 when she first saw it featured in a travel magazine.  The trail’s namesake is taken from the Hiawatha luxury passenger train that once traveled the same route through the Bitterroot Mountains, on the Idaho-Montana border, up until 1961.  It opened to the public in 1998 as a rail trail and features fifteen miles of graded trail (that is mostly downhill), with ten tunnels (the longest being 1.7 miles) and seven high trestles (highest is 284 ft).  It certainly lived up to its hype and gave us an amazing adventure!

The Hiawatha Bike Trail starts near Mullen, Idaho which is about an hour east of Couer d'Alene . . .
This was our view of Couer d'Alene Lake as we left town on our way to the Trail

After an easy check-in process, we picked up our bikes, helmets and lights . . . we are ready to go!

Our first challenge is to make it through this 1.7 mile long tunnel . . .
There are no lights, it's dripping water, muddy and pretty chilly . . . other than that it wasn't too bad!

This gives you a good idea of what it looked like inside the tunnel . . .
Now, imagine it pitch black with only a bike lamp and a headlamp to light your way!

Once you come out the other side, you are greeted by this waterfall . . . 
Make's one wonder if this didn't have something to do with the tunnel's dripping??

There are several trailheads where you can start the Hiawatha, if riding through the tunnel makes you nervous

We were warned not to ride too fast or we would "rooster tail" mud on our backsides . . .
It made us smile when we saw this young lad, from New Zealand, and his speckling of mud . . .
Seems he didn't have much of a choice riding behind and attached to his father

One of our first trestle views . . .
We will be riding over this one in a couple of hours

Here's a more typical tunnel along the way . . .
In general, once through the "big guy", you could see "light at the end of the tunnel" on most of the others

Every half mile or so there are point of interest signs that were fun to stop and read
(Click on this picture and it may enlarge it enough to read . . . if you're curious about what it says)

This picture gives a good feel of what it felt like riding through the Bitterroots . . .
And the excitement that lays ahead as your next trestle crossing comes into view

One of the many trestle crossings

Another tunnel

This placard explained that most of the trestles were originally constructed of wood . . .
Most of these burnt down from sparks thrown from the train and it wasn't long until they were rebuilt with steel

Here's a good view of a typical trestle you will cross on your adventure . . .
Make sure to stop and take time to look over the railing . . . you're a long ways up there!

Kent exiting yet another tunnel

We found the trestles every bit as interesting as the tunnels . . .
Can you imagine the work (and craftsmanship) that went into building all these tunnels and trestles?

The last tunnel before coming to the "end of the line!"
(The last time this tunnel was used by a freight train was 1980 . . . the last passenger train was 1961)

We paid to have our bikes and ourselves transported back to the trailhead . . .
Many people choose to turn around and ride back uphill to make the journey last a little longer . . .

Guess where they drop you off?  That's right, at the big tunnel!
You have to ride 8,771 ft back through the mountain to return your bike and bike lamp . . .
In this picture you might notice a light in the back of the tunnel . . . 
It's not light coming from the other end, but someone riding towards us!

We had a great day riding the Trail of the Hiawatha!  We're glad Allison kept this adventure on her bucket list for thirteen years . . . it certainly was one we wouldn't have wanted to miss.  Don't let the fifteen miles of biking intimidate you . . . it's all downhill!  Just take some time to stretch, enjoy the views, and read a few informational placards.  Our leisurely pace took us about four hours to complete the ride.

Montana Misc.

We're putting together a post featuring a collection of photos from our week in Montana!  These are some of the simpler moments that made our trip memorable, even if they don't quite warrant their own individual posts.  Hope you enjoy seeing them!

If you're in Seeley Lake and want a good burger and shake at a reasonable price, don't pass up "The Ice Cream Place" . . . it's right in the heart of town . . . and will be the one with people lined up at their outside counter!
(Another contender was Casa Caro:  Great Mexican food, reasonable prices and excellent service)

Sure tasted good after a hot hike to Morrell Falls
(Maybe we should become food bloggers!)

We stayed at the Double Arrow Lodge for our entire stay in Seeley Lake . . .
What a great choice:  Nice people, they serve a fine breakfast, rooms were quaint and quiet

Here was the cabin we stayed in . . .
It's actually a quad, with four separate rooms on each corner . . .
We had it all to ourselves, until the last night when another couple took a room on the back side

We enjoyed reading, on the porch, as we watched the summer sun set through the ponderosa forest

Oh, did we mention the deer?
  Every evening and morning we were greeted by whitetail deer

One evening we took a short drive, west of Seeley Lake, to an old lookout that has been remodeled . . .
It sits on a small hill (4,948 ft) and provides great views of the surrounding area

  

It was built in 1933 and used by the Forest Service until the mid-1980's . . .
Today it can be reserved and used for overnight accommodations (it does have electricity)
4948 ft elevation

There weren't any benchmarks at the Double Arrow Lookout,
but we did find this Forest Service survey marker from 1970

An example of the views from the top . . .
We are looking south towards Placid Lake State Park

When in Seeley Lake, don't miss visiting "Gus" the world's largest larch tree
(Click on the picture and it will open a larger photo)

Here's Kent getting his picture taken with Gus

Fireweed blooms from the bottom of the stalk upwards, and as summer progresses,
 the blooms gradually move towards the top. It looks like we are about halfway through summer!

As we were crossing the Continental Divide, at McDonald Pass, and heading for Helena, we stopped at a view point and pulled up our NGS map to see if there might be a benchmark in the area . . .
Sure enough there was and it's supposed to be in the vicinity of this tower!

While it doesn't have a date stamped on it, NGS shows it was placed here in 1958

After hiking Red Mountain, near Rimini, Montana, Kent stopped the car so he could remove the
batteries from his GPS and charge them as we traveled to Missoula . . . 
What he couldn't figure out was the sign that can be seen behind him??
There were no buildings or driveways around . . . just a wide paved spot off the side of road . . .
I guess we better get moving!

Forget-Me-Nots and Buttercups along the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River

This frog was hiding in the flowers along the creek, it startled Allison as she was taking a picture . . .
 it jumped into the river and she jumped back!

If you made it this far into the post, you are to be commended, and must be a dedicated follower of our blog, Beyond My Couch.  We know these pictures might not have been the most exciting, but they were important for us to include.  They helped us fill in some memories that might have otherwise been overlooked while we were working on other posts.   Thanks for following along on our adventures!

Pink Cliffs

Last July we met our friend, Tom, on the Paunsaugunt Plateau to do Black Benchmark.  He had arrived the evening before and had made his way out to the Pink Cliffs to locate Pink Benchmark.  He said the roads were in bad shape, but he thought we might enjoy the views.  Knowing Tom, if the views impressed him, then we needed to go see them for ourselves.  So, with our friends John & Mary, and their Side-by-Sides, we made plans to locate Pink Benchmark on one of our three-days of exploring the area south of Tropic Reservoir.

Traveling about three miles south southwest of Crawford Pass brought us to this gorgeous overlook . . .
Is it possible that the Pink Cliffs could be any more magnificent than this?

Meadow Creek Arch was easy to spot

Wait a minute!  There are two . . . and the second is bigger than the first!
(There appears to be a way down off the rim that would get you to both of these . . . it would be fun to stand under them . . . we'll have to do this the next time we are here)

Since the white tip top of the rim (9,275 ft) was within reach, Kent said . . .
 "We've got to get up there and see what the views are like in the amphitheater below!"

Yep, pretty awesome!

Time to get back in the Side-by-Sides and make our way towards the Pink Cliffs . . .
We were fortunate that the roads had been graded the day before . . . although they weren't perfect,
 they were much better than what Tom had described

Even though you can drive right to the edge of the cliff,
we chose to walk the last tenth of a mile so we could stretch our legs . . .
Later, we returned for the vehicles and drove to the end of the road,
where there was a picnic table, and ate our lunches

Mr. Horny Toad was directing us to the benchmark . . . "Straight ahead, folks!"

We're close . . . Reference Marker #1

While the formations were outstanding, I'm not sure they were quite as impressive as the earlier cove . . .
However, what made this cliff standout was the views . . . you could see for hundreds of miles!

Here's reference marker #2 . . . 
Just follow the arrows, from #1 and #2, and where they intersect you will find the benchmark

Kent giving Mary a lesson on how to locate the benchmark

Here's the 1938 benchmark . . . it was partially covered with dirt
(Both reference markers and the benchmark are on the southeast side of the road . . . easy to locate)

How about this for a view?  Great place for a picnic!
(Click on the picture for a larger picture)

On the way back to the Side-by-Sides, we decided to try and locate the azimuth . . .
The description was kind of cryptic:  Located 175 yards NNE, next to a large tree, 45ft from the rim . . .
Can you see the metal post (in the ground) between John & Mary . . . we found it!

Pretty rare to find one of these!

This old tree almost looks like one of those scary trees from the Wizard of Oz!

We tried to locate a triangular crib that was placed on this point by John Wesley Powell
when he was surveying the cliffs in 1871-1872 . . .
It was here when the surveyors placed the benchmark in 1938 . . .
All we could find were several trees that had been chopped down with an axe . . .
Possibly they made the crib from these???
(FYI we found a Powell survey marker {still in tact} on top of Adams's Head in 2021)

On our way back to the Crawford Pass Road, Allison saw this carved in an aspen tree . . .
It seemed apropos for our journey! 

Back to the main road . . . we have made a circle by taking the Mill Hollow Road . . .
John especially liked this road as we saw well over twenty deer

If you happen to be on the Paunsaugunt Plateau, don't miss this side trip!  From the King's Creek Campground, by Tropic Reservoir, it was about a 25-mile roundtrip excursion on mostly decent roads.  If you're thinking of doing this loop, please contact us and we can give you a detailed itinerary, with road numbers and mileage.  This is probably one of the best view points in all of Utah . . . don't miss it!