Our Vacation on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene's

9/19/2015

For our vacation this year, Gabriel and I spent a week riding our high wheel cycles along the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene's in the Idaho panhandle. This marvelous path is part of the Rails to Trails program. Back in the late 19th-century, the route we were following was part of the Union Pacific Railroad line. Unfortunately, in the 20th-century when cars superseded passenger trains, the lines became defunct. Sections of the old railroads have recently been converted to paths for cyclists and pedestrians—for more on the Rails to Trails program, see http://www.railstotrails.org. The Trail of the Coeur d'Alene's, the route we were following, goes between tiny towns and abandoned silver mines in the Idaho panhandle. There are still plenty of functional mines in the region, and this area remains the silver capital of the world. For more on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene's, see: https://friendsofcdatrails.org/trail-of-the-coeur-dalenes/

With my trike, on a bridge on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene's. This photo shows how much more carrying capacity the Victorian tricycles had than their brother bicycles. The blue bundle strapped to the long rod between the little steering wheels is a canvas roll containing our spare clothes. In the 1880s, men usually chose Ordinary bicycles over tricycles because the bikes were lighter and simpler; male tricyclists were either geeks who preferred complicated technology, or men who wanted extra luggage space—hunters, photographers or artists. (A gun, tripod or easel could be strapped to the long rod of the trike just like I strapped our clothes there.)

For more information about Victorian high wheels in general —and ours in particular-- see our Cycling page.

Wallace, Idaho

After riding our high wheel cycles more than seventy-five miles along the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene's, we arrived in historic Wallace, Idaho. Wallace is a lovely little town; founded in 1884 it dates from right in our period. The whole town is on the National Register of Historic Places, and it boasts some wonderful Victorian architecture. The people were wonderfully welcoming and friendly, and we truly enjoyed our time there.
For more on Wallace, see http://wallace-id.com

Museums in Wallace:
Northern Pacific Depot Railroad Museum
NPDRM on Facebook

Wallace District Mining Museum
WDMM on Facebook

Sierra Silver Mine
SSM on Facebook

At the office for the Sierra Silver Mine tour. A trolley took us from this building out to the mine itself.

The piece of equipment in the photo is an antique forge. The sign reads, "All early mines had a blacksmith's shop. The smith was responsible for the fabrication and repair of the equipment used in the mine. They made everything from candle spikes to ore cars."

There are still plenty of very profitable mines in the area, but this particular one no longer produces enough ore to be lucrative, so it has been opened up for tours. A retired miner showed us around and demonstrated their very impressive equipment.

It was cold that morning so I stole Gabriel's jacket. The jacket itself has a particularly interesting history related to mines. It was copied from an original antique. We bought the original from a man who explores abandoned mining camps (it didn't come from this particular mine, but it's still a fun connection). The seller had found this jacket when investigating a mine shaft that had caught on fire back in the late 19th-century. The jacket (along with whatever else was to hand at the time) had been shoved into the cracks around the door blocking the shaft in an attempt to smother the blaze. When the entrance to the mine later collapsed, the jacket was buried in an environment with virtually no oxygen - thus preserving it until it was found in the 21st century. Katherine Andrews studied the original, and made a copy of this unique garment for Gabriel to wear on a daily basis—except when I steal it! There are pictures of the original antique here: http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/everyday-clothes.html (The jacket pictures are about 2/3 of the way down the page, below the picture of Gabriel's swimming trunks and above the pictures of my hiking dress.)

The Pulaski Tunnel Trail

After safely stowing our cycles in Wallace, we went hiking along the Pulaski Tunnel Trail. This trail commemorates a 1910 event —a few years later than our usual focus, but extremely interesting. In that year, the region suffered the worst wildfire in recorded U.S. history. Since that time it has been known as The Big Burn. The trail Gabriel and I hiked went from the town of Wallace out to an old mine where Ed Pulaski, a Forest Service Ranger, saved the lives of his crew by forcing them all into the mine when the fire they'd been fighting completely surrounded them. All the locals in the area knew the story of how, when the more than 40 men panicked in the small space, Pulaski had to stand in the tunnel entrance with a gun to keep them from rushing back out to die in the fire.

Shortly after the The Big Burn, Forest Service Ranger Ed Pulaski developed a tool for fighting fires which is still standard firefighting equipment today. It's called a Pulaski, in his honor.

The Tunnel Entrance.
Take a virtual tour here: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5444731.pdf

Pictures on the trail:

To read more about The Big Burn and the Pulaski Tunnel Trail, check out these sites:

The Fires of 1910 and Ranger Pulaski: http://wildfiretoday.com/2010/08/20/100-years-ago-today-the-fires-of-1910-and-ranger-pulaski/

1910 Fires: US Forest Service: http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Policy/Fire/FamousFires/1910Fires.aspx

The Great Fire of 1910: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5444731.pdf