Idaho Bike Trip
(Summer, 2021. A Travelogue by Jonathan Bloedow)
The 2021 Idaho Bike Trip started about 5AM Thursday morning. At least that's when folks were waking up. We actually met up at Eastside Church at about 5:45. Our 3 vehicles included 6 adults and 7 scouts, with the bikes packed on the back of all of them. (One of the adults was the French exchange student staying with Cruzes this summer. Mr. Cruz had organized the whole trip.) The Elsassers had gone on ahead the day before with their RV. Nobody else was pulling any trailers.
We hit the road by 6:10, just a tad shy of the 6:00AM target, after a quick gathering and prayer by Andrew. Our first meetup was in Moses Lake, at a park near the freeway, for a bathroom break and "lunch", which consisted of sandwiches we brought ourselves. Since it was 9-ish, it was closer to breakfast time really, but I was just starting to get hungry. One or two cars topped up with gas just before getting back on the interstate.
We didn't stop again until the Idaho/Montana border, where we collected our rented headlamps from the Lookout Pass office. With that done, and another bathroom break, we went the 5 exits further east to the actual Hiawatha Trail trailhead. It was one of those cases where you felt like you were doing something obscure and remote and then come across a packed parking lot full of people doing what you're doing. We were actually in Taft, Montana, at this point. After finding parking spots, not close to each other, we all disembarked from the cars, got our bikes off their racks, found each other, and got geared up.
Here's the description of what we were about to do:
“The Route of the Hiawatha mountain bike or hike trail is 15 miles long with 10 train tunnels and 7 sky-high trestles. The ride starts with a trip through the 1.661 mile long St. Paul Pass Tunnel, also known as the Taft Tunnel. It is a highlight of the trail that follows the crest of the Bitterroot Mountains near Lookout Pass Ski Area. The best part is.... it's mostly downhill with shuttle buses available to transport you and your bike back to the top. This family friendly trail is easily enjoyed by a wide variety of people from young children to super seniors.”
Most of us chose to don a jacket before the first long Taft Tunnel because it's about 47 degrees in there. Either way, even though we were warned it could be damp, many of us weren't quite prepared for how mud-splattered our backs (and packs) would be by the other end. With that done, everyone mostly found their own pace. Mr. Cruz was the lead adult -- whom Scouts were not supposed to get ahead of -- and Mr. Said was designated caboose. As a group we got pretty stretched out. There were just 1 or 2 spots where the leaders stopped long enough for everyone to catch up and regroup.
Our only deadline was to not miss the last shuttle bus, for which we had tickets, assuming we got there in time. As it turned out, we remained on schedule all day. There was a good line of cyclists in front of us at the bottom all waiting for the bus, but they kept coming and the wait wasn't too bad. Interestingly, we didn't really notice many people arriving behind us.
Our shuttle bus driver, Dakota, educated us with local history as he wound us through the narrow, serpentine, gravel road for 20-plus minutes. Our drop-off point actually wasn't the parking lot, but the end of the Taft Tunnel, so we had to do that 1.7 mile dark damp trek one more time – in the other direction – before our day of cycling was concluded. Mr. Cruz was actually "missing" for a few minutes so I went back into the tunnel, but he had just stopped to take photos of the mid-point plaque where the original tunnel crews had met up. Just 1/4 inch apart, using just technology of the day.
At this point we got all the bikes back on the cars, made a stop to return those rented headlamps, and caravanned to our campsite, the Wallace Idaho RV Park, where we found the friendly and familiar site of the Elsasser RV. Our tenting area was right next to a wonderful babbling brook and we all proceeded to pitch our tents. We then discovered that we'd left tent pegs behind, which wasn't too big a deal, but Max and Andrew made a worse discovery: they'd left their tent POLES behind! There was a period of anxiety but the adults assured Andrew that we'd put our heads together and figure something out. In the end, they created a sleeping shelter out of one of our many popups, which had 3 fabric panels for sides. Since our insect situation remained mild throughout the trip, this proved sufficient. And was a great learning lesson both about checking equipment before leaving and also about the value of resourcefulness in dealing with camping curveballs.
Our curveball was that the zipper on the front of our tent completely failed. So we couldn't close it. At all. After considering a few creative but bad ideas, the Elsassers offered us an unused small tarp which ended up saving our bacon.
The adult dinner was pizza, using Jeff's famous pizza campstove. The Elsassers did all the work and we other adults engaged in a cycle of eating, reviewing, and placing orders. In the end, there were more pizzas than we could eat, to the benefit of the Scouts. The boys had cooked their own hot dog meal.
Everyone was abed by 10. The RV park/campsite was full of quads and side-by-sides, but was quiet and peaceful. There were hot showers which many availed themselves of.
The next morning everyone emerged around 7, though we learned through conversation over coffee that most were awake by 6. Speaking of coffee, the Elassers provided 24-hour self-service Keurig coffee for the adults which was very appreciated. Adult breakfast was a gourmet oatmeal bar. The Scouts had their own hot food for breakfast. After cleanup and packup, the drivers had to drive to the next campsite at Cataldo, leave their vehicles, and come back squeezed into the cabin of the Elsasser truck. The rest of us waited the 45 minutes, with the Scouts playing Uno and Mrs. Cruz, Paul, and myself discussing some of the lessons of 20th century geopolitical history.
We all headed out on our bikes at just after 11AM. The trail was actually right by campsite, no accident obviously, which was ideal. We had wanted an earlier start because we know the temperatures were supposed to reach the high 80s. As it turned out, there was a good amount of intermittent cloud on Friday which gave merciful relief. The goal was to have lunch at the famous Snake-Pit Restaurant, located 3/4 of the way toward our destination. This worked out well and we got there close to 1PM.
We ate inside with the air conditioning. I ordered a Buffalo Burger. Christopher ordered the Chicken-Fried Steak. We both ordered Huckleberry milkshakes. Nobody ordered the "oysters". Some in our group reported that setting out on a bicycle after just packing away that many calories was less the comfortable but before long we were at our destination RV Park/campsite in Cataldo.
Well, some of us. Charlie Said, Max, and Christopher had ridden on a ahead and somehow didn't get good instructions or didn't recognize the campsite/park because they blew past it. And kept going. For quite a long time. There was a period of mild concern as we tried to evaluate the situation. I actually headed out to see if I could find them, since I had plenty of energy still, but went alone because the other riders at camp seemed too tired to head right back out again. But after 10 minutes of cycling I decided to return. Back at the park, the Cruzes were there, and headed out together with Paul to take over the "search". I texted Christopher to stop, turn around, and come back, hoping he might hit a spot of cell coverage. It turns out he did. He actually had become separated from the front two, Max and Charlie, and realized this couldn't be right, but couldn't do anything to halt the other two.
He encountered the Cruzes on his return and continued back with Mrs. Cruz. Paul and Jerry carried on, using up quite a lot of energy in the heat doing so. Eventually Charlie and Max decided they must have gone too far and retraced their steps. With everyone finally back safely at the campsite, and tents quickly erected, it was time to head into the river to cool off. We probably all spent about 45 minutes in the refreshing water, before settling down to do some restful reading before dinner.
The Elsassers treated the adults to grilled cheese sandwiches, made with all sorts of varieties of cheeses and toppings, like brie and mango chutney, while the Scouts cooked their own meals, learning that there's no reason not to eat well while out on these adventures if you're willing to do the planning and preparation.
The only downside of this campsite was being right next to the freeway, which got loud at certain points of the evening, and certainly by 5AM the next morning. There were also more bugs here. It was, however, very roomy. Before turning in for the night, we discussed the plans for the day ahead, and because the trip to the next site was more like 40 minutes, not 20, we decided to try to get things going an hour or two earlier.
So we all got up at 6, started breakfast about 6:30, and tried to hustle. Nevertheless we didn't really start on our bicycles until 10:30 probably. Both Friday and Saturday's rides were 25 miles long. All down hill or flat. But Saturday was hotter and there were no clouds. Also the trail was completely unprotected for long stretches that we came to affectionately refer to as desert crossings. We originally started with meetups/rest-stops every 30 minutes, but switched that to 15 minutes because it was clear some of us were not thriving in the conditions. But we all made it to Harrison RV Park in one piece and let the Scouts immediately enjoy the public beach.
Our camp area was perhaps the smallest so far, but it was right on the lake. We used several of our popups in order to provide much-needed shade. With all the cycling now behind us, we were able to relax, chat, and enjoy one final dinner, which was a charcuterie board for the adults. The scouts had their famous salmon fettucine alfredo, though that evening Christopher's stomach got really upset and gave him trouble for a while. The facilities were interesting too: there was a public restroom which stank. It had a pay shower, and only one of the guy stalls was in service. But there was a much nicer key-coded bathroom, but it wasn't properly explained to everyone. It didn't have the smell, but it also didn't have ventilation and was just getting hotter and hotter as the 95 degree heat beat down. Christopher had a shower there later which was, in some ways, one of the hardest experiences he's ever had with temperature.
The next morning, Sunday, the adults enjoyed a fajita breakfast. Andrew led a Scouts Own for the boys, and we were all on the road by 10. Tricia Elsasser had made us all sandwiches (wraps) to take for lunch and we all stopped at Ryegrass to enjoy them along with a bio break. It was about 105 and there is almost no shelter there, but nevertheless I opted to enjoy my sandwich out on an unshaded picnic table. The Sunday traffic did get bad as we expected near exit 70 for a while and when the Cruz van stopped, so did the AC. But fortunately it returned. We made one more stop at Thorpe Fruit Market for cherries, and ultimately arrived back at Eastside about 5PM.