Much needed vacation

Sometime this winter my Mom won a couple hotel rooms and a river rafting trip in Northern Idaho and asked if we'd be interested in the trip.  When I found out that one of the hotels was in Wallace, Idaho, I immediately accepted the generous gift.  Just outside of Wallace is a mountain bike trail that Sarah and I have heard about that is supposed to be just phenomenal called the Route of the Hiawatha.  Needless to say, we were super psyched about the trip.  Even better, my Mom offered to watch the kids so we'd be able to enjoy the trip by ourselves.  Last Thursday we piled into the car and headed off to Bozeman to meet up with Mom and drop off the kids.  Then we headed out to Post Falls to stay for the night.  It was really weird heading back up I-15 towards Missoula and then Coeur d'Alene.  We haven't seen that part of the country for ten years, not since our last year in Moscow before I graduated.  It felt good to be back in Vandal country. 

We stopped in Coeur d'Alene because I could remember there being some good authentic restaurants in its downtown.  Only one problem, neither of use could remember how to get to downtown Coeur d'Alene.  We gave up and as we approached the Freeway we saw a familiar site, a restaurant called the Casa de Oro.  We debated whether it was the same Casa de Oro that was in Moscow while we were going to school there and decided to give it a try.  Sure enough it was the same place and just as good as I remember it. Mmmm!   After dinner, we finally made it to Post Falls and crashed for the night.

Spokane River

14 Miles

The next morning we made our way into downtown Spokane and located the ROW Adventures office for our Spokane River rafting trip.  It was a chilly and overcast morning and although we were looking forward to rafting, we were a little apprehensive.  After entering the office we found out we were the only ones rafting that morning so we had our own personal experience.  They also outfitted us with rain gear which kept us mostly dry and warm. 

The river was really high and running pretty quickly so our guide was a little more cautious that he usually would be.  After our orientation on the water we approached our first rapid, the Hang Man rapid, a.k.a. Bone Crusher.  It was a Class 2 rapid and didn't look like much but our guide managed to aim us just so and ... SMACK...Sarah got nailed by a wave almost knocking her out of the raft.  I laughed hysterically and instantly got the evil eye.  The next set of rapids didn't look like much either but our raft again was aimed just so and ... SMACK... Sarah got nailed again.  This time I got the evil eye even before I started laughing.  I knew my turn was coming though.  We continued down the river hitting several more class 2 rapids, mostly ending the same way, Sarah getting drenched and me laughing.

The last two rapids of the run were Class 3 rapids and we were ready and excited for them.  Our guide warned us of the perils of the rapids and told us which direction to go and how to safely get through the rapids.  We approached the Bowl and Pitcher rapid and the raft started pitching up and down.  Sarah and I paddled like crazy while the guide yelled to paddle faster.  Most of the time I was trying to paddle, I couldn't find water beneath the raft to paddle in to.  We held on tight as the raft dipped and rolled over the waves.  As we headed toward a large rock, I thought to myself, this isn't where the guide said we were going to take this rapid.  I reached my paddle out, hit the rock and pushed us around it.  Now I say rock but I'm sure Sarah would have some scientific term for the huge basalt column we smashed into.  I have to admit that it was a nice looking rock but I was a little more occupied trying not to get a closer look at it.    As we round the basalt column, we got a really good look at the pitcher and bowl formations that the rapid is named after.  Almost immediately the raft started rolling over the waves again.  Up and down, up and down.  Up and DOWN!  SMACK!  Oh, I got it good.  We dipped hard and a monster wave crashed right over the top of me.  Water poured into my rain gear.  Sarah's turn to laugh now!  Afterwords our guide mentioned that he'd never taken that route on the rapid before.  I'm still trying to figure out if he screwed up or Sarah and I did.  I don't care.  We had a blast anyway.

The last Class 3 rapid was just as harsh.  Again, while trying to paddle through the rapid, we found no water to dig our paddles into.  And we got wet, really wet.  After the river settled down, I raised my arm to point at something and water poured from my sleeve down my body.   Brrrr!   Despite the weather, we had a great time floating down the river.  Who knew you could white-water raft in Spokane, Washington?

After we got back, we changed clothes and sat in the hot car until we warmed up enough to walk over to Chili's. Now I thought the restaurant was called Chili's after the chili pepper, but now I'm thinking that it was just a typographical error and it really should have been Chilly's.  We were colder inside the restaurant than we were on the river. 

Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes /  Capital Hill

22 Miles

After rafting, we drove out to Wallace to stay for the night before riding the Hiawatha Trail.  We still had some good daylight when we got there so I pulled out a few topo maps of trails that I had found before the trip.  We decided we had enough time to do a trail out of Osborn, the next town over, climbing 2,000 ft over a 10.5 mile loop.  We took off, eager to see what this trail would bestow for us.  From Wallace we hopped onto the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, a beautiful paved trail stretching 74 miles from Plummer to Mullan.  The trail lead us right into Osborn.  We turned off the trail, passed several UI Vandals banners and signs, and started climbing a small, residential street up the mountain.  The pavement gave way to gravel and soon we were riding up a steep and rough Forest Service highway that only a 4x4 could travel without problems.  We cranked and spun out feet up the mountain, panting at times, stopping to catch our breath at the beautiful vistas.  Of course our route did not match the vague directions that I had downloaded, and although it seemed we were following the route lined out on the topo map, we weren't so sure about finding the single track trail that we were supposed to take back to Osborn.  We cranked on anyway and saw some beautiful terrain.

We anxiously watched as the sun dropped closer and closer to the horizon.  After we had circled almost all the way around the mountain and found a fork in the road, we decided it was time to turn back before we got stuck out there in the dark.  It took us over two hours to climb the mountain.  I think we made it back down in half an hour.  The road was so rough at one point that we had to stop to give our wrists a break.  I lead the way down and avoided most of the obstacles and was even forced to stand up most of the way down because the road was just beating me up.  Sarah, on the other hand with her new fully-suspended bike, floated down the mountain taking every obstacle I had avoided with stride.  Hungry and muddy, but amped up with adrenaline, we sped back to Wallace just before dark, completely exhilarated by the evening's adventure.

Next adventure, finding food in Wallace after 9 pm.  We drove around exploring the town and finally found that the Brooks Hotel restaurant was open.  We were the only ones there and scarfed down our food, headed back to the motel and crashed hard until the morning.

Sarah on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

Overlooking the climb from Osborn, halfway up the mountain

Trying to show off but really tired

This intersection wasn't on the map or in the directions.

Our last climb for the evening before turning around

The view was sure worth it!

The Route of the Hiawatha

30 Miles

Wallace, Idaho sleeps in on Saturdays.  We wandered around town for awhile looking for a place to eat and a place to souvenir shop.  We circled the town and finally noticed that the Red Light Garage antique shop was also a diner and that it was open.  We walked in to see an eclectic assortment of interesting but useless items strewn all over the place with a few tables and booths placed around a diner bar.  We took a seat and looked around at all of the license plates, light fixtures and enormous pink flamingo that decorated the joint, all with price tags.  The food was great and the people were friendly.  Wallace is definitely a town with character.  

After breakfast, we wandered around waiting for the shops to open.  We finally got into Idaho Silver.  Sarah had been drooling over this silver Pulaski charm in the window and was elated to find that the shop was open before its posted hours.  We spent some time shopping and wandering Wallace but our excitement about the Hiawatha trail eventually got the best of us and we split.

The road map showed a fairly straight line from Wallace to the to the trail head.  Unfortunately the map did not show the topography.  It didn't take us long to realize that this was going to be a harder trip than we thought.  The road quickly turned into a Forest Service logging road climbing to the top of Moon Peak Pass.  I didn't think the car would make it.  After an hour of breathtaking views, we finally reached the Pearson trailhead, the bottom of the Route of the Hiawatha trail.  Here's some background to the trail.  The route is actually a retired rail line for the Hiawatha line from Chicago and Milwaukee to the West Coast.  This was the most costly section of the line with 10 tunnels and many trestle bridges, some filled in with earth and 7 constructed of steel.  After its retirement, this 15 mile long segment of the rail line, climbing 1,000 feet,  was converted to a hiking/biking trail and is said to be of the most scenic trails in the US.  Most people start at the top, coast down and hop on a shuttle back to the top.  After the previous night's adventure, we felt confident enough to tackle the trail from the bottom up and then back down.  

The views were absolutely spectacular.  We took our time climbing the trail stopping to enjoy the scenery, inspect the bridges and tunnels and to take pictures. We loved the trestle bridges, some of them spanning 800 feet and 400-500 off the valley floor below.  Just as amazing were the tunnels, some of them short and one of them 1.7 miles long.   The tunnels were not lit so headlights were required.  At the top of the trail was the Taft tunnel, 8,771 from end to end straddling the Montana-Idaho border.   

Mist from a waterfall masks the entrance to the tunnel.  On the other side of the cloud of mist the tunnel comes into view.   Channels of water run on either side of the trail inside the tunnel that could cause to be treacherous if you get too close.  With headlights on, we excitedly entered the tunnel.  The first several yards were especially difficult as your eyes adjust to the blackening darkness.  No light at the end of this tunnel.  We struggled at first because our headlights didn't seem to illuminate anything.  As our eyes adjusted we could see the highway reflectors on the edge of the trail and a small blinking light in front of us.  Aiming at the blinking light and using the reflectors as guides, we cruised through the tunnel.  Faster and faster we pedaled.  Off in the distance we could see little lights dancing as other riders came towards us.  Pretty soon it got cold and damp.  Water was dropping from above and mud was flipped up by our tires.  The whole experience was surreal.  In my mind I was chanting "Is it raining? Is it snowing?  Is a hurricane a blowing?   Not a speck of light is showing.  So the danger must be growing..."  I almost expected a laser light show to appear on the tunnel walls. Just as we were getting the hang of things, we took a slight turn and could see light at the end of the tunnel.  

As we cleared the tunnel and saw the end of the trail, Sarah and I looked at each other and grinned.  Now we get to do it all over again, but this time its all down hill.  On the way down, in one of the tunnels I saw something moving around but couldn't tell what it was.  Then I saw it.  "Deer in the tunnel!" I yelled and everyone hit their brakes.  This poor confused deer didn't know what to do.  It took off towards me, then abruptly turned, smacked the wall and bolted for the other end of the tunnel.  Sarah and I slowly approached, trying to flush her out but she was determined to go through the tunnel and kept turning back our direction.   She finally exited the tunnel and we were able to proceed.  

We had such a great time over the whole weekend.  Its been a long time since Sarah and I had been able to play by ourselves.  We really owe it to my parents for taking the kids for the weekend and giving us the rafting trip and hotel stays.  Thanks Mom and Dad.  

View from a trestle bridge

View down from a trestle bridge

A trestle bridge off in the distance

Sarah on one of the bridges

Bridge ending in a tunnel

Russ cruising on the trail

Almost there...the water fall before the Taft Tunnel

Entrance to the 1.7 mile long tunnel...notice the water channels on both sides

Awesome views

Deer in the tunnel!

P.S.  We did go down to Shelley to pick up the kids although we did consider playing around without them some more.  Mom and Dad had their own adventures with the kids and they had a great time.  We spend Sunday with Mom and Dad and then went to see Grandma after her tour of the church historical sites and then were back on the road home with a quick stop to see Mindy.  Wow was that a busy weekend.  We are still recovering!