Manhattan Creek

One of the highlights of our trip was the Route of the Hiawatha bike trail. We have wanted to ride this trail for years and it did not disappoint.

The trail starts with a 1.66 mile long Taft Tunnel under the spine of the mountains and border of Idaho and Montana. After that it never slows down with 9 tunnels and 7 trestle bridges, the highest soaring 280 feet above the valley.

The Taft Tunnel was incredible; dark, wet, and cold, feeling like something out of a Tolkien novel. The kids loved looking for stalactites and waterfalls and playing with flashlights. Ada did wonderfully with the 14.4 mile downhill ride, only really slowing down in the last couple miles. We had a nice picnic lunch on the Kelly Creek Trestle, the highest on the trail.

At the bottom there is a shuttle bus that takes you back to the top for one last encore ride though the Taft Tunnel.

Unfortunately, our day ended with a camper tire blowout on the way back to our campsite. Some good samaritans helped us replace the tire and we made it back. When we reached camp we found out the blowout had blown a hole in the wheel well and broke our cabinets and plumbing inside the camper. But that would just be the beginning of our camper troubles.Read more