No sleeping in on this trip! Up early for a 3 hour drive to the Idaho-Montana border. We are riding the Hiawatha Rail Trail, 15 miles of downhill! In the 70's this rail system went bankrupt and it was later acquired by a group that worked diligently to turn it into a biking/hiking path. It is set in beautiful tree covered mountains and it has 10 tunnels with the longest being 1.8 miles! Very dark, wet and cool...exciting to ride through. 9 trestles go over deep gorges and as we said it is downhill! At the bottom a shuttle takes part of our group back to the parking lot but not for us. Sherry and I planned to ride the 15 miles back up which translates to a 1000 foot climb. Pshah! No big deal...50 ounces of liquids later and farmer burned arms we made it! The best part? In the 1.8 mile tunnel it is wet and muddy so you emerge out the other end covered in mud! A great way to end a great day! A return 3 hour trip home but a stop at the Tamarack Brewery in Lakeside (Flathead Lake Area) is the pause that refreshed! Highly recommended for recovery after a hard day of play! Our souvenir of the day is the mud marks flung up on the back of our shorts and shirts..oh well...it was worth it.
post ride-still smiling
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