In June 2015 I attended a Relief Society training in Billings. As part of that training, Elder Vern P. Stanfill of the Seventy gave a talk. As part of his talk, he shared a recent experience of riding the Hiawatha Bike Trail. His story intrigued me. As I was taking notes I wrote that I someday wanted to ride the Hiawatha Bike Trail. I went home after and told Neil that I thought it would be a wonderful experience to take our family to ride the Hiawatha Trail.
I was very surprised and excited when a few short months later I heard Elder Stanfill talk in October General Conference and he again shared his experience of riding the Hiawatha Trail. I was so excited that I already knew the story and had heard him share it personally. I really loved his talk and was once again excited to someday ride the Hiawatha Trail. Here is a link to his talk entitled Choose the Light:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2015/10/choose-the-light?lang=eng
I never really thought we would get to ride the Hiawatha Trail, but I really wanted to. I looked up information online and thought about getting to ride the Hiawatha Trail. In 2019 Neil and I went to the Hiawatha Trail and walked part of it. We walked through the Taft Tunnel that Elder Stanfill talked about. It was a wonderful experience. I told him that I thought the kids would really like to have the experience of riding the Hiawatha Trail someday.
In 2020 our planned family vacation to Disneyland was canceled due to COVID 19. We talked about doing something as a family and decided we would go to Idaho and ride the Hiawatha Trail. Neil did some creative thinking to figure out how to get the tandem bike, bike cart, and 5 other bikes in the back of the van so we could ride without having to rent bikes.
Our adventure almost took a wrong turn when we discovered the motel rooms we had booked in Idaho turned out to be in Indiana. We got it all straightened out and got new rooms in Idaho before we left.
We left on Sunday after church and drove as far as Butte, Montana. Emma, Neil, and I went for a walk through the Butte historical district while the others stayed at the motel.
Monday morning we got up and drove the last 4 hours to the Hiawatha Trail. It took a bit of work to get all the bikes up and going. Julia and MaryAnne decided they would be the shuttle drivers instead of riding bikes. They dropped us off and drove down the mountain to wait for us at the bottom. I thought Aaron would have fun riding in the bike cart, but looking back on it he probably would have enjoyed waiting in the van and watching a movie more.
The Taft Tunnel is right at the beginning of the trail. It is 1.6 miles long and very dark. I was kind of nervous about biking it, but did alright. The boys went ahead of us and when they got to the end of the tunnel they came back and found us. It was fun to see how much they were enjoying the experience together. We didn't think to put the cover down over the kids in the bike cart when we started the tunnel and they ended up very muddy. Aaron wasn't too happy about getting mud flicked on him.
Here are some pictures from when we finished the long tunnel:
There are a total of 10 tunnels and 7 trestle bridges on the trail. As I biked through the 2nd tunnel I thought my light wasn't working as well. It wasn't as long as the Taft tunnel, but I sure felt like I couldn't see very well. When I got out I realized I hadn't taken my sunglasses off. I guess we can do things to hinder the light in our lives.
It was a beautiful day to bike the Hiawatha trail, and I truly loved the experience together. Thankfully the 15 mile trail is mostly downhill (at least if you only go one way). Matthew won the award for biking the most miles because he came back up the trail to find us after he finished. I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to experience this as a family.
Here is a link to read more about the Hiawatha trail if you are interested.
