Opening Picture, Half Moon Trestle:
I go to college in Northern Idaho, and right after our finals were done my friend and I decided to hike up the closed second subdivision of the Camas Prairie Railroad. Built around 1908, it stretched from near Lewiston, Idaho to Grangeville, Idaho. Known as the "Railroad on Stilts", it has many fabulous trestles. If you are ever driving US 95 between Boise and Coeur d Alene, you'll see a lot of them along the Lewiston- Grangeville section. Lawyers Canyon Trestle is the largest, 1520 ft long with a maximum height of 280 ft. Here is a picture:
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/72129752.jpg
The railroad has been out of use since 2001 with the rails only remaining between Lewiston and Cottonwood, ID. The most scenic section of track, which we chose to hike, is between Culdesac and Reubens, a 12 mile section with a consistent grade of 3% leading to an elevation gain about 2,000 ft. The most well graded hike ever! Here the railroad leaves the lower canyons and reaches the high Camas Prairie. There are 20 trestles and 6 tunnels on this stretch. My friend and I decided to ride our bikes down from the top on a road and hike up the grade.
It was a quick ride down, with 5 miles of the ride an 8% downgrade. We stashed our bikes near Culdesac and started up.
The lower stretch was just a nice stroll, easy walking with few rocks and things to climb over. The only trestles were small. The memorable part was meeting our first rattlesnake. We were just having a nice chat, I was on the right and my friend was in the middle of the rails when we heard the hissing/rattle. It was quite the sound! Luckily the snake was on the left of the rails, but it was a little frightening. We were just past him, but his head was up and he didn't look happy. I always wanted to see one and now I think I'm good!
Moving on, we reached our first large trestle 5 miles in. A little scary looking a long ways down over the side. All the trestles were decked in metal sheeting to keep them from catching fire from brake sparks, but some were rusting through. So we tried to keep mainly on the ties.
Looking up the canyon.
Crossing Hwy 95 was the second major trestle.
Just over the halfway point, the rails make a switchback, a long sweeping turn back over the highway and into the first tunnel, also the longest at a 1/4 mile long. After coming south along the canyon for 7 miles we now head back north. The tunnel is along the curve so it is completely dark in the middle.
At this point, in the higher altitude environment, there was much more growth to wade through and the occasional rockfall, but it wasn't too bad. Here is looking down at the first crossing of the highway.
Now there were constant high trestles.
At 8.5 miles is the only missing trestle. It burned down in forest fire a few years ago. The bushwhack around it was rough, but doable. One rail remains intact across the divide.
At last we reached the Half Moon trestle, the largest in the 12 mile section. It is 684 feet long, 141 feet tall at the highest point.
Here is our last picture, from a little further along in the gathering darkness. You can see the ribbon of the highway far below, where we crossed it twice is right where it disappears up the canyon.
We finished up the trip in gathering darkness, most of the tunnels were concentrated at the end. There was always rockfall to negotiate at the beginning and ends of them which was difficult in the dark, but we had flashlights for tunnel #1 anyway. All the rockfall and growth in 15 years gave us a sense of the efforts needed to upkeep the line for 85 years with trains running through.
It was a remarkable trip and definitely worth doing if you are in the area. Obviously, the bridges are deteriorating so it is not the safest trip, but they are sturdy for now. Reopening the line hasn't been ruled out either, but I can't imagine them doing all that work when they have the trucks that replaced the line anyway. It was a nice mix of beautiful canyon scenery, thrill of looking off high bridges, creepy feeling in dark tunnels and a good solid hike nonetheless. Here is an article if you are interested in the railroad:
http://www.preservationidaho.org/blog/n ... e-railroad.
Happy trails,
Paul2
I've been wandering early and late, from New York City to the Golden Gate, and it don't look like I'll ever stop my wandering.
-James Taylor
