Hiawatha Trail

Grandpa wanted to take Natali, Kate, Abby, and I to the Oregon coast in the airplane. As the day approched the weather didn't cooperate so we had to make a different plan.  We decided to let Natali go to work and Grandpa would take Emily and Rachel in her place and head up to Coeur d'Alene to take our turn on the Hiawatha Trail.  We had a early flight then rented a car and headed to rent our bikes.  There was a bit of waiting and fixing problems but eventually we hit the trail.  The trail starts right at this tunnel (picture showing Rachel from the back riding toward the tunnel - Emily shown on the other side).  The tunnel is 1 1/2 miles long.  It has little gutters on the side for the water to run down and it is cold and totally dark.  As we entered Emily realized her light didn't work.  I rode close to her and she did have a head lamp but without the bike lamp she was a bit scared - understandably so.  She was nervous about riding into the gutter so she stayed right in the middle and we slowly made our way through the tunnel.  I loved it; Emmy not so much, but she survived and we made it out the other side.

The view was incredible as we costed down the path in the middle of the forest.  I loved the dark cool tunnels and the view from all the bridges.  

Kate flew down the hill - we hardly ever saw her.  She loved her rented bike and wanted to keep it.  Emily was a bit more nervous and kept her pace slow and steady but she still loved it.  What a cool experience.

When we got to the end of the trail there was a long line for the shuttle back up to the top.  This was probably the worst part of the whole trip.  It was sunny and hot -so hot.  We made the most of it eatting the remnants of our lunch or letting Grandpa feed them to the friendly chipmunks, Phantastic Gus, Chip and Dale.

We did have one mishap on the ride.  Near the beginning, when Emmy was still getting used to her bike, she hit the only slightly steep part of the whole trail and her bike slid on the gravel.  Her hands and one knee had a few battle wounds but she was a trouper; she hopped back on and rode the rest of the trail even though it hurt her hands quite a bit.

After over an hour wait we finally got shuttled to the top, jumped in our car and hurried to the airport.  We grabbed some takeout on the way and arrived about 20 mins before the airpot closed for the day.  Our timing was pretty tight - we landed in Ontario just as things were getting dark.  It was a long day but such fun.  So grateful Grandpa took us on that adventure.