Evening stroll

It was a cool autumn evening, about 5:30 p.m., and neither of us felt like eating dinner quite yet. So I suggested we go for a little hike and see a bit of Whitefish.

My immediate goal was to look over the new Burlington Northern Santa Fe Loop bike trail to see how far construction had come. Last time I checked it out, most of the trail was still mostly raw dirt, with excavations in places brimming with re-bar where engineers had run into steep slopes.

Most of the trail construction on the north side of the tracks is completed, along with multiple spur trails connecting the path to Edgewood. Gay '90s street lights are in place, and benches made of heavy flat rocks are located near wood-trimmed bear-proof garbage cans. Landscaping is an on-going process, with excavator tracks still visible in places.

As we walked west, two bicyclists passed by. Wait until you see where the trail goes under the railroad trestle, each told us.

Before we reached the trestle, we encountered a major trail intersection — the main trail turns south toward the trestle, another heads north to Washington Ave., and a third heads down and west to the river bank. The latter two continue on to City Beach.

This intersection, on the cusp of a knoll with open views of the river below, could grow into a popular meeting place or picnic spot.

Directly beneath the trestle, a wood structure resembling a New England-style covered bridge protects bikers and hikers from trains passing overhead. I imagined bikers and hikers seeking shelter there from sudden rainstorms or strong winds.

The trail takes a sharp U-turn at the trestle, where a beautiful mudstone retaining wall turned our heads, and continues east between the rail yard and the Whitefish River. More work remains to be done on the south side of the tracks — colored wires stick out of the ground where street lamps will be installed, chain-link fencing remains to be hung, and yellow caution tape blocks off sections of the trail, although the asphalt work is in place.

As we approached the Baker Ave. viaduct, we turned off the main trail and wandered into the Historic Railroad District neighborhood. Many of the narrow clapboard homes that once housed railroad workers have been dramatically remodeled, and developers are shoehorning condominiums and office buildings into the few empty lots in between.

We stopped for a bite to eat at a nice new restaurant in the area before proceeding south to Riverside Park. Dusk fell by the time we crossed Baker Ave. to view progress on the new Baker-to-Rygg bike trail. Boulder retaining walls line both sides of the trail in places, but the tranquil view south may be short-lived — some day the Seventh St. Bridge will cross that wide place in the river.

The Baker-to-Rygg trail has yet to be paved, and it ends abruptly about 20 feet below Spokane Ave. across from the Dairy Queen. Plans are to pave up to that point for now and work on future designs. The trail could swing south toward the river, where a bike path could be incorporated into a new Spokane Ave. bridge that will some day replace the three culverts, which are an obstacle to bull trout migration.

Our evening walk concluded with window shopping on Central Ave. — including spying on the last smokers at the Bulldog and the Great Northern — and a close look at the bright and shiny Bruck, parked down by the railroad depot.