The Route of the Hiawatha

In 1907, after years of exploration of the Bitterroot Mountains, surveying and planning, the Milwaukee Railroad started constructions of the line through the mountains to complete a route from Chicago to Seattle.  By 1911 freight and passenger trains were running through using electricity to power the locomotives.  Despite financial problems during many years the train kept running until 1980 when the last freight train came through the tunnels.

It wasn’t until May of 1998 that most of the trail was opened to hikers and bikers and it was in 2001 that the 1.7 mile long St. Paul tunnel was opened.  Today we went through that long, dark, wet tunnel plus 8 more tunnels and over 7 high trestles in our 15 mile ride down the trail.

We left Henry’s Lake on Sunday and drove 6 hours through Montana to Kellogg Idaho where we met up with our friends Ray and Judy so that we could ride the Hiawatha with them - our third time and their first.  The ride through that tunnel  was very daunting for Ray and Judy as they didn’t really know what to expect but John and I actually enjoyed it and had fun teasing them afterwards. The only lights in the tunnel came from our head lamps and bike lights, water is constantly running down the tunnel walls and collecting in ditches on either side of the bike path and it was COLD, 45 degrees all the way!

It was a beautiful day and the Bitterroots were glorious.  We’ve driven through forested mountains many times, but this bike ride took us up and into the forests, with the steep mountain sides falling below us and rock faces hugging the edges of the trail.  We could smell the pines and feel the still and quiet of the trees with gurgling mountain streams fall below the trestles.  It is a magical ride.  

Ray and Judy rode the bus back up to the parking lot below the St. Paul tunnel while John and I used the e-bikes to ride back up the 1.6% grade, 15 miles.  We all had to ride through the long tunnel a second time.  Fun, fun day!