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OFF THE BEATEN PATH The Old Mission.
RAILS-TO-TRAILS HALL OF FAMERS In Wallace, south of the Coeur d’Alene National Forest, I meet Rick Shaffer, the town’s Prime Minister, and my guide for a bike ride along the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes. The old rail bed runs across the state for 73 miles, and was a Rails-to-Trails (RTT) Conservancy Hall of Fame pick in 2010. Shaffer and I pedal along the Coeur d’Alene River, waving at anglers and admiring the scenery. Near the trail, a cow moose and her calf are bedded down in the grass near a small pond. The pair are a common sight, and we see them feeding in the pond on our way back. The next morning, my huckleberry pancakes arrive with a smile. The 1313 Club Historic Saloon & Grill is packed with funny photos and mining camp humor. Local sports uniforms and fishing gear dangle from the rafters, and a stuffed beaver swims across the front window. A jackalope poses above the door, and antlers, steelhead, mountain goats and elk line the walls. A shelf of plastic “stope rats” hold hard hats and mine lamps as they flash large, toothy grins at customers. Full of pancakes, Shaffer and I set off for the Trail of the Hiawathas, another RTT Conservancy 2010 Hall of Famer.
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The old Taft tunnel is 1.6 miles long, and just wide enough for the Milwaukee Railway’s Hiawatha trains that pulled passengers through one of the most scenic stretches of railway in the country. I zip up my jacket, click on my bike light, and enter the tunnel. The 15-mile route cuts through the Bitterroot Mountains with eight tunnels and seven trestles, reducing the steep slopes and deep canyons to an easy two-percent grade. As I exit the tunnel, the only sounds I hear are wind, waterfalls and the cry of ravens cruising overhead. I’m surrounded by wilderness as far as I can see.
THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE In Idaho, even the center of the universe is off the beaten path. “Why not?” explains Shaffer, “No one can prove otherwise, so we decided to claim it.” A specially designed manhole cover marks the spot in the middle of town. During the 1880s and ’90s, Wallace was the center of the world’s richest silver mining district, and five brothels operated in town. The last bordello, the Oasis, is now a museum. Early ’70s décor, and vanities covered with makeup remain as they were left in 1973, when it closed forever. A vintage trolley shuttles me and a tour group up