We got a slow start Friday (Heather and Erik’s 17th Anniversary). We were on the 10 AM tour for the Sierra Silver Mine.
Entrance to Silver Mine.
We had a nice ride thru Wallace and up to the mine. Our guide made the tour interesting, sometimes too technical for me but Lenny was in his element.
Lenny drilling core holes for dynamite.
It was a fun tour. Our guide said he was a 4th generation miner. He had many stories about the miners. After the tour we visited the booths set up on the street for the Huckleberry Festival. We purchased a few things we couldn’t live without.
The evening found us checking out menus at the various restaurants. We ended up at City Limit Brew Pub again. Very busy there on Friday night. And they had that cold Mountain Top Ale for us. The RV park was full for the weekend.
Sorry to leave Wallace behind. It was such a pleasant little town. But it was time to head for Washington. I hear there are at least 100 miles of bike trails waiting there for us.
Goodbye beautiful Wallace.
Arrived at KOA in Spokane Valley, WA around 1 PM. Beautiful drive past north shore of Lake Coeur D’alene. Bike trail (Centennial Trail State Park) just 1/4 mile down the road. YAY!!
After our long ride on Tuesday we took the day off. Flo did not allow us to sleep in too late. Walked into town, the train depot and railroad museum is near the RV park.
Wallace train Depot and railroad museum
We spent the afternoon at the City Limit Brew Pub using their internet to update our blog. Good Mountain Top Ale served here.
City Limit Brew Pub – bike friendly.
Thursday morning we were up early to head for the East Portal Trailhead of the Route of the Hiawatha. We followed a 2 mile dirt road to the trailhead. The east portal to the St. Paul Pass – Taft tunnel is in Montana. When you exit the west portal you are back in Idaho.
East portal to Taft Tunnel. 1.6 miles through Bitterroot Mountains.
The Taft Tunnel was cold, damp, very dark and long. Helmets and lights are required! The trail is 15 miles from the east portal to the Pearson Trailhead. Along the way we passed thru 10 tunnels and over 7 very high trestles.
Very high trestles. Standing on the edge was a bit scary.
It is the roughest trail surface we have ridden. Good news is that the trail was all downhill with about a 1.6 percent grade. Mountain bikes may have made for smoother ride. The scenery was amazing.
You can see 2 Trestles in the distance
There were many historical marker along the way. We road thru an area that was burned in the 1910 fire which was one of the largest forest fires in the history of the U.S.
Some humorous markers also. This one about bears eating fermented grain from a train wreak.
We took a shuttle from the Pearson trailhead to the west portal of the Taft Tunnel. It was much colder and our hands were freezing by the time we exited with our glasses fogged.
We returned to the RV, walked Flo and headed to Cataldo to finish our Idaho 100. We road on the Coeur D’alene east of Cataldo along the river. Another beautiful ride and a good way to finish with 103 miles in Idaho. We celebrated with a bottle of Moose Drool.
We left Black Rabbit RV a day earlier than planned. They were so gracious, giving us a refund for Sunday night. No rush getting on the road as we only had a 3 or so hour drive.
Pretty drive back north through Missoula and west on 90. We planned to stay one night at the 50,000 $ Casino. Free RV parking with electricity. We couldn’t pass it up. Anyway, we expected a casino – it was a small bar with a few tables and electronic gambling machines. We were a bit disappointed but the RV spot was great with good area to walk Flo. There were corrals for horses and all were full. Nice service they offered for travelers.
We were on the road early and arrived at Wallace, Idaho RV by 10 AM Monday. Our site was empty so we settled right in. We are near downtown and right along Trail of the Coeur D’Alene.
Our home in Wallace
We contacted Lou’s Shuttle to get us to Mullan in the morning to begin our ride. Plan to do 57 miles or more. Our car will be in Harrison so have to get there – 57 miles from Mullen.
Up early on Tuesday to meet Lou at the bike/coffee shop. We met a young man there who was riding with his son Gus (4 or 5 years old) they were headed back to Wallace and had camped 2 nights on the trail. Gus was riding on a tag-along behind his dad. What a cute little guy, all smiles and ready to hit the trail. We saw them again when we passed on the trail later in the day.
Lou shared a lot of local info on our drive to the Mullan Trailhead and things to watch for along the trail.
We were on the trail a little after 10 and stopped at the RV in Wallace to visit Flo, get sandwiches and our camel packs. The trail travels through the Silver Valley surrounded by forested mountains. I have never seen forest so dense, it seemed there wouldn’t be room for one more tree.
Much of the time we followed the Coeur D’alene River, crossing from one side to the other. We passed the outskirts of many small towns. As we were closer to Harrison we went through the Chain of Lakes and miles of wetlands. Not much shade through here so it was very hot.
Long bridge crossing river.
Along the way we saw osprey, several different kinds of ducks, a coyote, quail, turkey, deer and my favorite blue heron. So wanted to see a moose, but no luck. Gus saw 2 moose!
Lunch stop
Arrived in Harrison, 57 miles done! We stopped at the car to get more water and decided to ride 12 more miles. We are both 69 this year and since 2009 have celebrated by completing a ride to match our years. Yay, we got our 69!
Driftwood art along Lake Coeur D’alene.
The trail out of Harrison is along Lake Coeur D’alene and toward the Chotcolet Bridge. We could see the bridge through the haze but honestly didn’t have enough energy left to venture any further. Hate to complain, but the smoke haze is still an issue.
Chotcolet Bridge thru haze.
An hour drive back to the RV, walk Flo, shower, eat dinner, walk Flo and hit the sack. What a day. This might be our favorite trail.
I best end this. We are at City Limits Brew Pub using their Wifi. We’ve both had plenty of Mountain Top Amber.
