Yes, I will be doing this ride tomorrow. 7 high trestles and 10 tunnels one being 1.7 miles long, all down hill and a shuttle back to the top. This is a rails to trails route between Idaho and Montana.

[www.skilookout.com]

report tomorrow..............
elnatural

thats amazing. i am so jealous. do you live near this?

pihourova
I seem to be about 80 miles from the trail head. Will know exactly tomorrow.
I will take pictures try to have them up here soon.

Kwan, we will have wooden flutes to play in the tunnels.

elnatural

Have fun, Alan.

Will you be stopping along the way, because how else could you take pictures while you're steering your bike!

hehe i wish you had a helmet cam looks like its gonna be a beautiful trip

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Okay, now I'm picturing you pedaling, steering, taking pictures and playing your flute at the same time -- or are you going to stop in the tunnel?

yes, that's the plan

I'm taking off for the ride right now, wheather is picture perfect........

i'll be back......

elnatural

Well I'm back sort of, I feel like a went into another dimesion today. All sense of what day it is is now gone. It was so spectactular! full report soon.

elnatural

hello

This bike ride is called the Hiawatha trail and is an electric rail route turned into a bike path. The trail head is 5 miles into Montana across the Idaho border and just 2 miles off the main highway. Coming from Courdelane the drive itself there was quite beautifull. Courdelane lake is sight to see alone. There is a raod around the whole lake. We were greeted by 2 marmets at the trail head. The start of the trail is a 1.7 mile long tunnel. There are no lights in any of the 10 tunnels. It was kind of spooky in the first tunnel with water dripping and flowing along the edges the whole way. We used head lamps and were glad we did. We passed some that were trying to hold flashlights in thier hands. They werent doing very well. There was a woman wearing white walking in there no bike just walking and everyone was coming close to hitting her including me. You can see the end of this tunnel from the other end but it appears as a small bike head light. Comming out of that tunnel felt like being born, the difference from the cold dark cool damp to the bright and very warm outside. My eyes didnt adjust quick enough going in and was a complete black out even with my good head lamp. I coulndt see the ground and felt like floating in dark space like going through a water slide tube. I had to stop and wait for aclimation. Once that happened it was ok. We stopped in the middle of each longer tunnel to play an idian flute. The accustics were nice for that. The grade was down hill the whole way at about 1.7% We could coast slow most of the way and just did that, except for the very end. I borrowed a mt bike for this ride. Its a gravel path wide enough for 2 way bike traffic. That path is 15 miles long and drops about 1000 ft in that distance.
This is a very rugged mountainous area with many valleys and side valleys. There was a creek or river under every trestle which were hundreds of feet high. We stopped in the middle of every trestle to look down and take pictures. Seems we were on the trail from about 10 to 2 we left the world behind so we dont realy know. A large mule dear appeard out of now where while at one stopping point.
the option is to have a shuttle bus take you back to the top. It follows a river for a while. We saw 2 moose from the bus in that river, the first Ive ever seen in nature. The ride back was on this supper narrow dusty road. Every thing and everyone on the bus was coated with much dust. We were taken back to the exit of the first tunnel so we got to go through it again. This time much traffic was coming from the other direction with people just starting out. You just hope you dont collide. I almost went off the edge into the water trying to avoid a collision. A very spectacular out of this world ride and I highly recomend it.
Will be glad to get back to my recumbent now.
elnatural

that sounds incredible.

Wow - that sounds like fun. I'd be freaking out in the tunnel and looking over the cliffs because I'm scared of heights. Why didn't you just bike back instead of taking the bus Post some pictures when you get a chance.

Lois
It was too late in the day to ride back. And our legs were tired. Mountain biking on gravel takes some effort. The bus takes a different route back. I had many miles to drive back home. I had to take my freind home and then drop off a bike I borrowed. I didn't get back home untill 7:00 pm.

elnatural