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Nice photos At first I thought I recognized the area in one of those photos but realized that there must be many places in the desert that looks alike. This is one I took from Dagget CA
The Hiawatha Trail is a hiking trail that uses the old Milwaukee Road right of way from Avery, ID to Haugen, MT. The rails are long gone, but the tunnels and trestles are still alive and well. The first picture is a Google map with the route shown in red.
I rode over the rails here when I was growing up and it has to be some of the most breath taking scenery you would want to see. The first picture is a train westbound headed t Avery. I will admit that my shorts did get a bit tight riding over these trestles.
Now the old right of way is a hiking trail that can be enjoyed by anyone and you'll be able to see what the train crews saw. Here are a few pics along the Hiawatha Trail.
Unfortunately I didn't get to ride on this part of the Mountain Division as much as I wanted, it was one awesome ride and an amazing feat of engineering across some really rugged country.
Montanan, do you know the name of that bike trail? I don't know if I could get things to work out but it sure would be nice for the wife and I to ride our bikes on it. It would probably be a long shot but something to consider. I've been to at least 32 states but haven't been north of Colorado. Would love to make it there one of these years, if possible.
It is called the Hiawatha Trail. The access is from the town of Avery, ID or off of Interstate 90 near Lookout Pass at the Idaho, Montana state line. Here's a link. I rode a bike on it years ago, but don't know if I could do it today. http://www.ridethehiawatha.com/ You would really enjoy the ride.
Maaaaaaan.....that's some pics!
Thanks for sharing, keep them coming?
Waiting for those two Milwaukee Road books in the west and under the wires is unbearable!
As we Mopar fans say, Mopar or no car, I'll add Milwaukee Road or no Road!
Thanks for the info Montanan. I'll be 60 in three weeks so I'm not sure if I could still do it. We haven't ridden much the last two years because I've been pretty busy with work, so we'll see how things work out for us. Sure would be nice to do!
I borrowed a friends mountain bike when I went there. I knew they had rentals, but I sure liked the seat he had on the bike. He likes his comfort and I think he got the seat off of a tractor or something. A nice big wide seat that you could sit your butt on, not a skinny "nut buster". I really enjoyed the ride. I was in my early 60's when I did it and it's not really a hard ride at all. It sure was nice to see that country again. It brought back a lot of good memories.