Day 17: July 8 Missoula to Florence 17 miles

Wednesday, 7/8/81
Boat ramp, Florence, MT

We all slept in double bunks in the same room last night. We ran errands in Missoula all day, at the Post Office, the laundry, buying a shirt at Sears, groceries, etc. I left my helmet on my bike in front of the hostel and someone stole it. Very maddening. Right when we were going to leave in the afternoon. I had to fo to three bike shops to find another for $40. We only biked 20 miles to a boat launch on the Bitterroot River at Florence. No water or tables. Plenty of mosquitoes.

Day 16: July 7 Lochsa Lodge to Missoula 57 miles

Rock on Lolo Pass.

Tuesday, 7/7/81
Hostel, Missoula, MT

I changed my rear tire yesterday. The threads were showing through. Since it was new in Seattle and I haven't had a flat, I'm happy with my thornproof innertubes.

It was raining when we got up this morning, so I started a fire in the cabin's stove. The climb to the top of Lolo Pass wascold and drizzly, now flurries even and 38°. Once we topped out though, it was downhill all the way to Missoula, Montana. 

Going down the other side was fine with a very strong tailwind, but Rick thought he got hypothermia an stopped awhile. Lunch at a store with a picnic table. Zipped into Missoula by 3:30. Got my lost Traveller's Checks replaced. Stayed at hostel on upper bunk, pretty girl below. Had pizza out for dinner.


Lolo Pass rainbow

At the top of the pass, I came across Rick on the shoulder of the road, huddling under his space blanket. He said he needed to regain some body heat. I hated to leave him there, but he did eventually catch up that day.

Valley church on the descent to the Bitterroot.

 

Day 15: July 6 Syringa to Lochsa Lodge 72 miles

Lochsa River

Monday, 7/6/81
Lochsa Lodge, ID

It started raining last night so I had to crawl into Rick's tent. It stunk like Rick.

It was raining in the morning but we got going anyway. It stopped while we had breakfast in a cafe in Lowell. Then it got hot out.

Stopped at an "historic" ranger station run by a very nice couple. Rode through a huge forest fire burn from the '30s that ran for miles. Had lunch at a campground.

Rafters

A big thunderstorm hit in the afternoon. We all hid under a horse bridge and laughed and took pictures. It continued to rain, so we're staying at Lochsa Lodge in a rustic cabin. Very cozy. Bad weather predicted.

 

Here comes the storm.



Jack, Rick, & Bret cowering under a horse bridge.

That thunderstorm was most dramatic. A gray curtain of rain moved steadily forward, hiding the hills behind it. Every once in a while, a bolt of lightning would stab the ground and thunder would roll and crash around over our heads. When it was about a quarter-mile away, we stopped by a horse bridge across the river. We rushed into our rain gear and dove under the bridge just as the front hit. I couldn’t believe it! Rain was slanting under the bridge and drenching us. Thunder was crashing overhead. We had to yell to be understood. My three comrades looked so comical sitting in a row under the bridge in their flapping rain gear that I braved the storm long enough to get my camera. It was at this point that we decided to exchange addresses. The violence of the front passed in about ten minutes, then it was just steady rain the rest of the day.
 

Lochsa Lodge had a bar and a restaurant and cabins. We splurged. Then we retired to a cabin with four beds and a wood-burning stove. Such luxury!

Me too.

Day 14: July 5 White Bird to Syringa 60 miles

Sunday, 7/5/81
Syringa, ID campground

Climbed infamous White Bird Hill this morning. 10 miles of switchbacks. Thank God it was overcast. Took from 7:00 to 9:30. Flat Camas Prairie on top. We had burgers at Grangeville A&W and watched part of their "Border Days" parade. Steep five  miles downhill to the Clearwater River. (Ran out of film and didn't take any pictures.) River grade down to Kooskia [pronouced "Kooska".] where we bought two days of groceries. We're heading up another fork of the Clearwater into the Lochsa Wilderness, 120 miles or so with no services.

White Bird Hill is most remarkable and a lot of fun to climb. They’ve built a new highway with a 7% grade straight up the hills on the left, but no cyclist takes it going up or down.
 
It rained a bit that evening, so I shared Rick’s tent rather than set up my own.

Looking up White Bird Hill (postcard).

Looking down White Bird Hill.

Horses along Clearwater River.

Lochsa River.

Lochsa River rafters.

Day 13: July 4 Evergreen Campground to White Bird 75 miles

Saturday, 7/4/81
White Bird, ID
Independence Day

Entrance to the Little Salmon River Canyon.

Little Salmon River Canyon.

Passed through beautiful New Meadows, Idaho this morning. 30 below and six feet of snow in the winter. Rode down beautiful green Little Salmon River in the morning. Stopped for lunch in Riggins, where it meets the Salmon River. Hot and dry. Sewed sleeping bag. 30 miles further down beautiful Salmon River canyon in 105° temp to White Bird. Rick got more flats and didn't gert in till 9:30. New bridge is really impressive. Stayed hot all night.

 

The hottest weather I had ever experienced and I there I was riding a loaded bicycle in it. I stopped at a rest area where some people were serving coffee & cookies & lemonade for free. The fact that the town behind us was having porcupine races as a part of their 4^th of July celebration got them talking on the subject of porcupines. They told me some very amusing stories but I have no memory of them now.

It never cooled off below 80° that night, but the air was dry so it was livable. 

Barn along the way.

Salmon River (not Little Salmon).

Salmon River in 105 degree temps.

Beating the heat.

White Bird Bridge.

 

Day 12: July 3 Hell's Canyon to Evergreen Campground 75 miles

Friday, 7/3/81
Evergreen Forest Service campground

Crossed into Idaho today at Brownlee Dam, Hell's Canyon. New time zone, too. Long climb out of cabyin was offset by fcool morning temperatures.

Lunch at Cambridge, ID with Bret, Jack and Rick. Bret and Jack are from Michigan, flew to Portland to ride to Yorktown. Rick is riding from San Francisco to Boston.

Temps reached mid-90s today! Too hot for any fun. Same terrrain as yesterday. Dry hills, rivers with trees at higher altitude. Biked 75 miles. Camped at Evergreen Forest Service campground.
 

Oxbow Bend, Hell's Canyon.

Brownlee Resevoir.

Roadside flowers.

Brownlee Resevoir.




Steam engine in Council, Idaho.



Day 11: July 2 Baker City to Hell's Canyon 70 miles

Thursday, 7/2/81
Hell's Canyon campground

I'm at the bottom of Hell's Canyon! Biked 70 miles from Baker today. I'll start early so I can climb out while it's cool. It's only 4:30! The reason I made such good time is it was downhill almost all the way. Except for one hot, long, steep five-mile stretch after lunch.

Two of my fellow travelers have caught up with me. I'm not as fast as I thought.

Baker City & Blue Mountains.

Oregon Trail monument.

The two other riders who joined me were Jack, 63, and Bret, 34. They belonged to a bicycle club in Michigan. They had flown to Portland with their bikes so they could ride the TransAmerica Trail (It's just a route--not really a trail.) to its end in Yorktown, Virginia. (It starts at Astoria, Oregon.)

Rick, 19, joined us too that evening. He had ridden up the coast from San Francisco, across the trail and, upon reaching Virginia, planned to ride up the east coast to Boston. Quite an undertaking! I never met anyone who knew maps like Rick. People from anywhere in the country would tell him their hometown and he knew it, the towns around it, and the highways approaching it. The only town that stumped him was Clifton, Kansas, He knew how the streets were numbered in Seattle and he had only been there once, as a child.

From here on, the four of us rode together, more or less, all the way to Denver.

Due to the canyon walls, the sun set at about 6 PM.