I spent my summer vacation hiking rail trails

[Critters2]

and state parks in Iowa.

So beautiful!! So quiet!! What a nice way to spend a couple of weeks.

And RAGBRAI crossed my path one day, which was fun.

I'll have photos soon. A friend has my camera.


What've you been up to?

[Suich]

1. What's a rail trail?

Around here, there are paths that used to be the old Burlington Northern tracks. Is that what it is?

[Critters2]

4. That's it exactly.

There are several trails in Iowa that used to be railroad tracks. My favorite is the Three Rivers Trail, which goes from Eagle Grove to Rolfe. It crosses two rivers and runs along a third, and takes you through thick woods, across marshes, and along corn and bean fields. What I love most is that, in the deepest parts of the trail, you can't hear anything at all but birds singing and insects chirping. No motors or machines. A wonderful experience.

There are probably trails near you. Here's a great place to find out:

http://trailsfromrails.com/index.html

[pokerfan]

6. Best rail-trail I've ridden

http://wallace-id.com/skilookout/taft.html

The Route of the Hiawatha Rail-Trail takes you through 9 cavernous tunnels, around a closed tunnel, and over 7 high trestles, past waterfalls, ridge top vistas and numerous interpretive signs. These detailed signs provide information about the rich mining and railroading history in this scenic passage way through the spectacular Bitterroot Mountains, famous between 1911 and 1961 as the "Route of the Hiawatha" on the Milwaukee Road between Illinois and Washington.

[Critters2]

7. Tunnels and waterfalls!!! Cool!!

Must add to my "gotta do some day" list!

[pokerfan]

8. Photo tour

http://www.browndepot.com/Photos/trail.htm

Nice pics but the captioning is all messed up.

[Critters2]

9. Wow!!

Breathtaking!!!

[Wapsie B]

2. That does sound like a lot of fun.

[hfojvt]

3. my vacation is not until the 5th

I was gonna go up to Wisconsin for my parent's 50th anniversary, but it turns out they are gonna be down here to visit my nephew who recently broke his kneecap. So I probably will head over to Osawatamie again to see if I can help the flood victims some more, and maybe travel around a bit in Eastern Kansas.

I used to see alot of stars when I lived in Iowa. I never realised that my other residences (towns of 5,000 and 12,000 people) were not so rural. Didn't you get hit with some storms though?

[Critters2]

5. There was a nasty storm last Thursday night.

Strong winds and hard rain, but it didn't last long. That was the only rain I encountered. Other than that, it was typical hot and humid weather. It had to be hot and humid--it was RAGBRAI week!!

It's really good of you to use your vacation to help the flood victims. I hope you do something good for yourself, too.