As well as the old Santa Fe depot, which is right on the trail. It also houses a small museum.
After I paid my trail users fee of $3.50 a day.....$7.00 for both days at the self service pay booth right at the depot, I made my way south for the first day's ride. One of my first stops along the way was the little park just south of town where they had this little pontoon bridge across Crystal Lake...... I mean, how many times can you say you've ridden your bike across a pontoon bridge?
From Crystal Lake, I headed south for the little town of Colony. Colony is a small, but active little community about half way between Garnet and Iola, my southern turnaround. Lunch was planned for Colony however, so it was an important stop. As I leave the station, a blast on the whistle told all the train was departing!
Without a little fun, life would be so boring! So, departing Garnet depot, we chugged uphill most all the way to Colony. The first part of the trail was quite wooded.....
But, by the time I had gotten to Colony, the trail had opened up a bit, and the views were wonderful. Pulling into Colony, I stopped at the local grain elevator there....
And headed downtown to look for the cafe I knew was supposed to be there.
And, there it was, right smack dab in the middle of Main street like they said it was!
I highly recommend stopping there for lunch. They have great lunch specials, as well as one of the best burgers anywhere. I had the meat loaf special.....it was GREAT! From Colony, I continued south headed for Iola, and found many pastoral scenes like this along the way.
Reaching the outskirts of Iola, I was greeted by a detour.... Unfortunately, the bridge just on the north edge of Iola was gone.
After locating the detour I found it was only going to cost me about a mile and a half each way, so ... in and out of Iola and headed back north. Going north, was just a repeat of going south, so I really won't bore you with it. Except, twice today, I ran across this same couple and their little dog riding in the trailer.
You have to look close, but there really is a little dog in the trailer. Finally, getting back to Garnet, I spied a young pretty lass standing on the streetcorner, and hoped to make a score for a dinner date tonight..... but to no avail...... she wouldn't even give me the time of day.....
So...... a lonely dinner for a hungry bicyclist, and an early bedtime. Up and at'em early the next morning, and it was raining! So much for an early start. Checking the local weather radar on TV, I saw that it was supposed to dissipate in a few hours. So, I paid for one more night at the motel, and waited it out. I'm glad I did because I wouldn't have wanted to miss the north half. This half from Garnet to Ottowa was heavily wooded and the scenery was mostly woodsy.
In some area's you could look up and see the limestone layers that underlie the entire area here.
In some areas it looked almost primevil.......I had the feeling I was gazing upon a landscape that looked much the same as it did 10,000 years ago.......
This half of the trail seemed to go fairly fast, and before I knew it I was in Richmond..
The first thing you see when you enter Richmond is the elevator....
Stoppping at the Richmond Trailhead to get a quick drink, I ended up with a bit more than I expected, like maybe a free shower!
Heading on north, I was surprised to once again run into the couple with the dog and trailer....It's so nice to get aquainted along the trail.
This was just before Ottawa, down to the end, and around the corner and I was in civilization.... This is downtown Ottawa
And the Franklin County Courthouse in Ottawa...
All through the city of Ottawa, the trail was paved and really pretty. Sometimes the directions can be a bit confusing however. Wrong way???? Not on your life.... I'm going until the Ottawa Depot.
And I made it....... across the LaCynge river, and on to the depot.
Then once again, it was back track the way I came, pausing once in a while to make use of the rest stops that were frequent along the trail.
At each of the trailheads, there were restrooms, with water and picnik shelters.
Making my way back to Garnet, I discovered things had changed since I went through that morning. I rode over the trail here......
But, after a bit of actual mountain biking, and a mile and a half more on city streets back to the motel, I had finished.......
This was my accumulated mileage for both days, including the mileage running back and forth to motel and meals. This was a wonderful trail, and I would recommend it highly to anyone who wants to ride a scenic and historic rail trail. Fun, and nice people along the way.
