Route of the Hiawatha - finally!

Another adventure from this weekend (last weekend of August) was the Route of the Hiawatha trail. I have heard about this trail since i moved to Spokane. It is an 18 mile trail, that used to be a railroad track and is now a bike trail with a gradual down hill slope. Seems like something I can do and not be miserable the next day.

Well this is going to be a long post, so get comfortable...

It started out with a 2 hour drive to Lookout pass to rent our bikes. It was great, we got 2 bikes, a trailer for Caden and a bike rack for the car. They even installed everything for us. Small problem, when we got to Lookout pass, I realized I had no gas. We still had to drive a few miles to the trailhead. We asked the bike people where the closest gas station was... it was in Wallace, the town I had just driven through about 10 miles back. So we headed back to Wallace for gas. Now that we had gas, we continued onward to the trail head. On the way to the trail, we missed the exit and had to go past it (5 miles to the next exit) and loop back around. By the time we got to the trailhead, we were ready to bike!



After we unpacked the bikes from our car, and got the bike trailer attached, we felt like we were ready. So we took a little test drive on the bike. Next thing I know, the chain comes off my bike. Oh man, this is going to challenging. I am not a bike mechanic, but I figured I would do my best to repair it. Well I just hooked it back up, good as new.


Then we headed to the trail head. To get to the trail, you had to go through these barriers, posts in the middle of the trail. Well, with the bike trailer, you had to be centered exactly between the posts or you will not make it through. I know this because it took me 4 or 5 sets of these to really figure it out. The first time I thought I had slowed down enough to make it through... nope. A loud crash and came to an abrupt stop. Oops, not centered.


The beginning of the trail is actually a railroad tunnel that is pitch black for 1.8 miles. Lucky for me they gave me a little lamp. Bad news - I pointed the lamp straight ahead, thinking this would help me see better. Nope, turns out you need it pointed a little bit in front of your tire, towards the ground. So I took my sunglasses off (someone reminded me to do that) and headed into the tunnel. It was really dark, and my lamp wasn't really doing what I needed it to do... But I couldn't stop because someone might crash into me from behind. This is a real problem since there is not any light except for your small bike light. As I was pedalling in the dark, I realized I wasn't sure if Caden and the bike trailer were still hooked up to me.... I started calling out Caden's name. I was getting nervous because he wasn't answering - after 4 times, he finally said something, but I was a little concerned. I thought that I may have lost my little boy in the tunnel. When we got to the other side, we stopped and I looked at him. I forgot to shut the mud flap and he had mud on his face. Super mom of the year... that's right! After that, I figured out that it was a good idea to shut the flap.


From there, we travelled on through the tunnels, bridges and trails, stopping to look at scenery, adjust lights, have snacks and take breaks. About halfway through the trail ride, it started to rain. Not just rain, actually it was more like a downpour. At that point, we just had to ride fast to get out of the rain. As I was riding fast, I would hear a few "mommy" shouts and would stop because either the flap wasn't keeping caden dry, or the last time his neck hurt... Each time I stopped, he just wanted out of the trailer, but I couldn't let him out because he would be soaked.









At the end of the trail, there was a school bus waiting for us. We packed our bikes and trailers on to the bus and headed back. Little did I know, they were dropping us off at the original tunnel.... We had to set the trailer back up on the bike and get ready to ride in the tunnel again. By now I had learned my lesson on the lights, but it was getting chilly out with the wind. I had given my fleece to Caden because it was getting cold, I figured I would just suffer, but someone gave me their sweatshirt to wear in the tunnel so I wouldn't freeze too.

All in all it was a great day, and I would highly reccomend this adventure to anyone interested in getting near nature. It was a peaceful relaxing day, and we created memories. I am looking forward to taking my husband and family there to experience the Hiawatha for themselves!