Steve's TransAm Adventure

47 miles, 1532 ft ascent / 2734 ft descent, 3:43 saddle time, elevations:  start 3851, min 2645, max 4172 and final 2650 ft Another rainy day We started the day with the temperature in the mid 40’s and a light rain.  The rain continued until early afternoon, hence I did not take many photos.  There weren’t any good breakfast options in New meadows, so we decided to stop somewhere down the road.  Around noon we stopped at the Crimson Cafe in Council ID.  I was very glad to get out of the rain and warm up.  Idaho continues to surprise me as the terrain keeps changing.  We rode from grassy meadows to rolling prairie and mesas. Rolling prairie around Mesa ID A light rain continued throughout the day, so i was glad when I reached the cabin we were staying in.  Brian had rented an Airbnb, and it was fantastic. God’s Little Acre on Camp Creek It looked like it was brand new.  The attention to design and detail was apparent.   We went to a local...

35.5 miles, 2346 ft ascent, 3:32 saddle time, elevations:  min 1726, max 383 ft Ascending the Little Salmon River canyon in the rain   Today we planned a short day, which was fortuitous because it rained all day and it was cold (50 F).  You can see me in the photo above wearing my high visibility rain gear.  I don’t have a lot of photos because it is difficult to motivate myself to stop, remove my gloves, move the handlebar bag cover to get to my camera, and take a picture.  About the first 25 miles were a gentle uphill grade of 1 to 4%, and then it leveled out.  The terrain gradually changed from the unique smooth slopes, to rocky forested slopes, to meadows beyond the top of the canyon.    The following sequence of photos shows the transition. Numerous creeks feed into the river, some with cascades like this one. Cascading creek feeding into the Little Salmon River Bicycle touring is a great experience, but there are some downsides.  One is...

50.4 miles, 1971 ascent / 3632 descent, 7% max grade,  4:21 saddle time, elevations:  min 1476, max 4430 ft. View of valley fro White Bird summit Today we got a late start (0830) because we wanted the rain to pass over before we started.  As we were leaving the hotel we were astounded by the view of the plateau that we could not see the day before.  Note how you can see different weather brewing in the distance. View of the plateau as we started out The ride started with an uphill climb of 839 ft in 4.6 miles to White Bird Summit, with a maximum grade 7% grade, so not a bad climb.  We were on the old Rt 95, and all the traffic was on the new Rt 95, so we had no traffic.  Once we crested the summit and crossed over to the other side, I was astounded by the landscape that unfolded before me.  (First photo).  It was so unlike what we had seen in Colorado and Montana, or unlike anything I had ever seen before.  I had no idea that northern Idaho w...

47 miles, 3172 ft ascent, 4:32 saddle time, Elevations:  max 3406, min 1254 ft. Heading out of Lowell in the rain We started the day riding in a light rain, and it rained all day long.  The first 25 miles we followed Hwy 12 along the Middle Fork Clearwater River downstream to Kooskia, and then turned and started following the South Fork Clearwater  river upstream.  As we approached Kooskia the scenery changed from tree covered to bare fingers of mountains coming down to the river.   Fingers of mountains near Kooskia We had been on Hwy 12 since Missoula.  After about 5 miles we came to the town of Stites, at which point we left Hwy 12 and started uphill to a plateau.  I approached this climb with trepidation because eastbound TransAm cyclists had told us it was STEEP,  and they were not kidding.  I climbed 1492 ft in 3.8 miles with a maximum grade of 12%. Looking back down one of the 12% sections The steep sections were long, so I had to stop ...

66 miles, 290 ft ascent (but a LOT of descent), ~5:00 saddle time, elevations:  max 3517, min 1498 ft Lochsa River Today we had breakfast at the Lochsa lodge and the continued our journey on a beautiful day.  The temperatures were in the 60’s and 70’s, and the entire day was downhill as we followed the Lochsa river down the valley.    I am not sure what the distinction is between a gorge and a canyon, but the Lochsa river flows down and winds around the fingers of the mountains on either side of the valley.  It is beautiful!  It was so peaceful riding as an easy pace (downhill) as each bend in the river revealed new vistas.  The river itself changed gradually from narrow with lots of rapids to a wide, shallow, and smooth.   There were lots of creeks feeding into the river. It is very hard to capture the grandness of the views with a camera.  The traffic was light, so I had time to  experience the valley and hear the water as it cascaded ...

58 miles, 2513 ft ascent, 4:52 saddle time.  Elevations: min = , max = starting = ending =  View of mountains from road to Lolo pass Yesterday I went to the grocery store to buy stuff for breakfast, so Brian and I ate that again today.  We then  backtracked out of Missoula to Lolo, where we headed west toward the Lolo pass that we had to cross today.  The photo above was taken on the way to the pass.  The road followed a beautiful and lush creek valley with light traffic and little butterfly’s about the size of a quarter that swarmed around us.  There were thousands of these little butterflies.   Lush creek valley on way to Lolo Pass This valley was a stark contrast to two creek valleys that we previously rode up to passes that had relatively recent forest fires.  Those were acres of burned poles scattered on the ground and standing on all the slopes around the road.  What a difference!  I understand the importance of forest fires, ...