Friday, July 23, 2010

RAILS TO TRAILS - THE REST OF THE STORY ...

Trail of the Hiawatha - Taft Tunnel
On our last full day in Idaho we travelled two hours east to the Montana border to cycle the Trail of the Hiawatha. This old railway bed crosses the Bitteroot Mt. between Idaho and Montana. It is a 15 mile ride down at 3% grade through ten tunnels and over eight trestles.
Being Sunday morning, the parking lot was full of cars with bike carriers of all sorts. Families with toddlers in trailers, young and old, were adjusting helmets and head lamps, receiving their instructions on safety and paying a user fee before entering the Taft tunnel which is 1.66 miles of darkness. With our lunch in the saddlebag we ventured into the tunnel slowly, adjusting to the pitch darkness .... and my ride ended abruptly ... for whatever reason I was tumbling sideways, my head hitting the tunnel wall and ending in the drainage ditch ...OUCH!


The rest of the story ...
limping out of the tunnel cradling my arm ...
a 15 mile drive down the mountain to Kellogg...
an x-ray
two broken bones in my arm ...
a 10 hour drive back to Canada ...
an anesthetic to reduce the fracture...
a purple cast...
the REST of my summer!


2 comments:

Shelley said...

Oh my poor Marmee! You look so sad ... but at least you look good in purple!

Esther Martens said...

I loved the pictures of your camping & biking trip. Sure looks appealing. Sorry about your accident - but I guess you're happy it happened on your last day. Hope your arm heals well and you can still enjoy the rest of summer.