The Trail of the Hiawatha

The Trail of the Hiawatha is an unpaved trail with many tunnels and trestles. The first tunnel is over a mile long, so good bicycle lights are required. I did this trail again this year so I could take friends who had never done it before. Conditions change throughout this 15 mile trail (one direction) because the tunnels weep from the walls and ceilings, as does the elevation down the trail. Bicycling is not difficult as the trail used to be for a rail line, so has a maximum grade of 3%.

This year my friends rode down with me, and while they took the shuttle bus back to the top, I rode back up on my trike. My trike is a bit large and heavy for the shuttle bus, so I figured I'd just turn up the power and bicycle back up. I had a great time getting filthy by creating four foot rooster tails of water off my tires inside the tunnels. Without front fenders, the trike and I wore much of the mud I kicked up. When I returned to the hotel, people wanted to know what color my trike was, as the mud color is not a factory produced color. With effort I got it back to its pretty green. :-)

This time on the way back up I took pictures of all the plaques and trestle name plates in among the scenery shots. I've placed them in order from top to bottom. See what you think.