Downhill All the Way, Baby

Monday we did the Hiawatha trail. This is the trail everyone assumed we were riding when we talked about riding the Coeur d'Alene Trail. It is a pay-to-ride, well-maintained dirt road, with a (pay) shuttle at the bottom. It is 14.6 miles, from one end to the other, with the lower trail head 1,000 feet lower than the upper. It was basically just one long coast.

It starts with a 1.661 mile tunnel. Michael thought it was fascinating. I thought it was gross. It was center of the earth black, wet, cold, and smelled like decay. Stalactites hang from the ceiling in mossy growths. For Michael, Gandalf's quote from the Fellowship of the Ring came to mind: "There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world." Thankfully Michael had equipped everyone with bright lights and we dodged the puddles of ceiling drips. Editor's note: Did you know they started the tunnel on each side of the mountain and when the two ends met they were within a fraction of an inch of the other? Amazing.

On the other side of the tunnel we rode past a beautiful waterfall. The views were incredible the entire way. It was a little cold, but still beautiful. We were a little early in the season, especially at 4,300 feet.

Looking out over the valley.

The tallest bridge was 230 feet high. It is hard to understand the full scope of the height from the pictures.

Looking straight down. 

Looking out, I was worried the bridges might scare a couple of the kids, but they were all enthralled. I was the one getting dizzy, so I quit looking over the edges. The kids had no such qualms.

There are seven trestle bridges and ten tunnels on the path, and we enjoyed the variety of scenery on this old rail line.

We even saw a little bit of wildlife.

We made it down fairly quickly and waited for Michael and Con. They were enjoying reading the signs and taking pictures of the view. The kids were interested for the first five miles. After that they were quite content to move on down the path at a quick pace. 

Hiawatha was a fun, but overall expensive, ride. I'm glad we did it but I think I enjoyed the Coeur D'Alene Trail more. Maybe I'm just cheap.

Total miles for Hiawatha: 16.261 (14.6 downhill and then 1.661 back through the dank tunnel from the shuttle drop point on the way back up)

Coeur d'Alene Trail - 72.7

Kids' total miles - 88.961, give or take a mile for detours and potty breaks.

Katie's total miles - about 98

Michael probably is the only one who actually hit a hundred. We're flipping amazing!