Up and down the hills in Idaho, and into Oregon!
A few more days went by, and it is definitely not summer anymore. We started to see snow in the mountains and we heard that it snowed in Missoula, where we were just over a week ago.
But we are making progress and each day is amazing. Lots of climbing, but also really nice rewarding long downhills. And spectacular views, each day.
Our first village after Riggins was New Meadows. Like most places that we saw on our way, this is a very small town, but we ended up staying 2 nights. It started raining the first night and never quit until late the next night. And we were all ready for a day off anyway.
Luckily we were allowed to camp in the municipal park, for free. The people living across the street brought us each a blanket and a pillow to make our nights more comfortable in our tents and we spent a lot of time in the Granite café and the library where we watched a documentary to kill time. Apparently the whole town knew we were there, we were the local attraction. On our last night, we went to the community centre for supper and for $9 we had a great meal, buffet style, and chat with the local seniors who were very curious about our trips. The benefits of traveling on a bike, you get to do things you would likely never do otherwise!
The day off was good for all of us, as we had a fair amount of climbing on the menu the next day to reach Cambridge, another small town with a nice municipal park. The ride was very peaceful after we left the main highway. Traveling on small roads is so much nicer.
As I was riding in the cool morning, I heard something and thought it was rocks falling down the cliff. When I looked up, I saw a group of about 25 elk that were running up the hill. Beautiful sight. Soon after, a pickup truck pulled over: hunters. It is hunting season in Idaho.
Yesterday we climbed again in the morning but later had an incredible descent into a canyon. 7 miles, pretty steep down, and we arrived at the bottom completely frozen! Luckily there was a café down there, where we stopped for our second breakfast and lots of coffee to warm up. We stayed until we were no longer shivering. Soon after, we entered Oregon.
Today we rode to Richland with Garrett, a young cyclist that arrived at our campsite last night. We had a gorgeous day, including a good climb followed by yet another amazing downhill, to finally arrive in town, on time for our second breakfast in the sun. Lovely day, once again!
And the final thought…
5 thoughts on “Up and down the hills in Idaho, and into Oregon!”
Allo Catherine
Paysages dorés! Habituels à l’année ou à cause de la saison automnale? Après les lacs bleus et turquoises, les montagnes grises et verdoyantes parfois surmontées de sucre en poudre, voilà les idahauts et les bas dorés de l’Idaho. J’ai l’impression que ta palette de couleurs n’a pas fini de s’agrandir. Heureusement tu as capté avec ta caméra tout ce qu’il faut pour les retenir en attendant que ta mémoire au besoin vienne les ressusciter.
Quelle différence ça te fait de rouler en compagnie plutôt qu’en solo? Agréments vs désagréments???
Salutations à tes partenaires de route et gros bisous à toi
Fernand
Thanks for the look at the Snake River. For my Mom and Dad’s 40th anniversary they took a white water raft trip on the Snake. Your photo shows calm water but I heard they had quite a ride.
Allo Catherine,
Tu ne me connais pas beaucoup, je suis une amie de ta mère. Je voulais te dire l’énorme plaisir que j’ai à te lire. Merci pour ces bons moments et les superbes photos . Je suis très impressionnée de ce si grand périple à vélo. Bonne route et à bientôt.
Monique
Keep on going south great job
Yes, south sounds good because there is snow not far from here already!