Ride the Hiawatha!

Tyler and I have wanted to ride our bikes on the Hiawatha trail for a long time. We've talked about it alot but we've never been able to do it. It's either been too hot or too cold or summer went by too fast and the trail closed. The Hiawatha Trail is a 15 mile mountain biking trail with 10 tunnels and 7 trestles. One of the tunnels is almost 2 miles long and pitch black. The trail follows the crest of the Bitterroot Mountains on the border of Montana and Idaho. It is only open mid-May through mid-September. So when Naomi asked if we wanted to meet up and ride the Hiawatha with them in September we were super stoked! They were dropping Gabe off at college and wanted to swing up this way! It would be an incredible year if we saw them once a year...but....to have been able to see them TWICE in one summer! That is a gift!!

We met them in Wallace, Idaho on a Friday night and went out to dinner. We actually found a cute little café called The Blackboard and had pretty good Italian food. It was a fun night catching up on all that had gone on since we last saw them over the 4th of July. It has been nice having them in Utah. It makes these meet ups so much easier somehow than when they lived in CA.

The next morning we all got up super early to head up to Look Out Pass. The weather was garbage. It was cold and pouring rain. The tickets for the trail are rain or shine. Our CA friends were a bit dubious. LOL. We convinced them to embrace the PNW spirit! We picked up our shuttle tickets and bike lights at Look Out Pass Ski Resort and then drove a few more miles to the trail head.

It was still pouring rain but we braved it anyway and headed out. 

The start

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous!

Heading into one of the tunnels.

Once we got out of the first tunnel...the two mile Taft Tunnel...the rain had stopped and the day turned out to be pretty perfect. Cloudy and moody with fog patches here and there. I think it was even prettier than if it had been a sunny day.

The scenery was breathtaking! Naomi and Kevin were blown away. Here's one of the trestles in the distance.

We had to stop frequently just to marvel!

Double trestles in the distance that we rode on! Stunning!

Me and Na

One the way back my light went out. They don't last long. I did have a back up head lamp but didn't turn it on. I was able to follow the others and their lights and make my way back out of the dark two mile tunnel. It actually was kind of cool in the pitch black.

By the end we were covered in mud and my stomach was hurting from hours of laughing so hard! We had an absolute BLAST!! It exceeded our expectations!!

There was a concession stand at the bottom of the trail and while we were waiting for our shuttle we got what are, without argument, the best hot dogs of our lives! I don't know if they were truly the most amazing or we were just super hungry but they were delish!! We'd never tasted such magic!! LOL.

The shuttle was an old school bus and Naomi and I were back in our glorious Springdell days of riding the school bus together and annoying everyone else on the bus! Some things NEVER change!! We got the crusty looks to prove it. Oh well. Live a little bus people! Enjoy your lives! Laugh!

I will add this photo to the collection that I have curated over the years called "Kevin Sleeps." He has some sweet skills!

I love that we were able to have this adventure together and make new memories! I love that our friendships... individual and as a group... continue to grow. I love that these friendships are going on 38 years as we weave in and out of each others lives. I love our shared history. When I think of the question that Laura Tremaine poses..."Who was there?" these two are definitely at the top of that list. Always. It also felt absolutely wonderful to laugh and be light-hearted! I can't wait to see what these crazy *kids* do next!