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What turned out to be the "Almost No Notice" bike ride started out as a casual mention from Michael. A friend of his from northern Washington had told him about a beautiful valley and a rail line that was going to be torn out. Salivating at his description, I tried on a couple of occasions to get him to meet me there for a ride, but to no avail. Michael was just too busy at work.
This branch line was once a part of Jim Hill's "picket fence". Some say Jim Hill ran his many branch lines into Canada from his main line of the Great Northern to prevent another railroad from building across the country north of the GN. Others say it was to tap the riches of Southern Canada. I like to think it was to tweak the noses of the board of directors of the Canadian Pacific. Jim Hill wanted a seat on that board but was denied the privilege despite the fact that he had been born in Canada.
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Up stepped Bill. A long time friend, and someone recently being bitten by railbike fever, Bill expressed an interest in a ride, so off we went, with my wife coming along to keep us on the straight and narrow.
What a beautiful valley it is. Extending from Republic, Washington, past Curlew Lake to the towns of Malo, Curlew, and ending at the Canadian Border town of Danville, a distance of about 35 miles. Bill and I rode the majority of the line with the exception of about five miles of track that seemed just a little too public with it's proximity to highway 21. The sections from Republic and around Curlew Lake and from Curlew to Danville were very sparsely populated and what people we did run into were very friendly. When I would ask questions about when they thought the rails would be pulled out, the answers ranged from a positive, "right after Labor Day Weekend," to 18 months from now. Someone suggested calling the County Commissioner's office and that seemed like a better source of information so after returning home I did just that. The answer was that the railroad had already given a contract to a salvager and work could begin at anytime.
by John Vander Ven
On Borrowed Time
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The request went out to Peter to send an urgent notice to everyone on his mailing list and within a few days, seven of us were committed to the ride with Bill's wife Sandy agreeing to drive chase vehicle which turned out to be Michael's van and trailer. There was Bear, Big Al, Michael, Dick, Ken, Bill, and myself.
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What a blast! We all stayed at Black Beach Resort, on Curlew Lake, that had wonderful access to the lake as well as the railroad bordering the resort's western boundary. The rails were about 75 yards from our front door--downhill to boot.
The first afternoon we got the fiddle factor out of the way and rode around the lake past other resorts and beautiful vacation homes. The deer were so plentiful I quickly lost count. There were wild turkeys and chipmunks brazen enough to challenge who had the right-of-way on the rails, even the occasional scent of skunk.
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From Bill's and my experience two weeks earlier, there was a very slight uphill grade from the Canadian Border to Curlew so that was the direction the group of us rode. To our dismay, the grade steepened considerably at Curlew and a storm to the north created a very strong headwind. By Malo we had all had enough and packed everything into Michael's trailer for the trip back to the resort. Somewhat defeated, but still
feeling pretty good, when some friends of Michael's showed up we had recovered enough to escort them down the south end of the lake and back.
Our defeat at Milo bugged me no end so on Labor Day Weekend just my wife and I went back to Black Beach to
get in the last five mile segment that had eluded us two weeks earlier. This time I rode from the resort -- downhill to Danville and the Canadian Border, about 30 miles and with out any wind whatsoever.
Amusingly, while my wife was waiting for me at Danville, a car with three young boys drove up and asked how I was doing. When she replied that I was almost there, the reply was - cool! I have no idea who these guys were or how they knew what I was doing. This time it was a very satisifying ride home.
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Photos by John except where noted
Bill
Bill
Don't miss John's tantalizing scheme to promote railbiking.
Click the above left photo for details
