Day 36: Powell to Lowell ID

66 miles, 290 ft ascent (but a LOT of descent), ~5:00 saddle time

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 over the rocks.  I also had a lot of time to think about life in retirement and what that might hold.  Tonight we are staying in an A-frame in a campground at Three Rivers ID.  The forecast for tomorrow is rain, and we have a large climb of about 1,500 ft in 4 miles.  One of my riding companions (Kevin) saw a quote on the wall in the Jeffry City Hostel, “If you go seeking adventure, don’t complain when it finds you”).  I guess adventure will find it tomorrow.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Part 3: Prologue

It is hard to believe it has been 7 years since I completed Part 2.  A LOT has happened since then (COVID, my daughter’s wedding in Austria, a struggle with Cervical Radiculopathy, 4 grandchildren, and two hip replacements), which is why it has been 7 years.  I have never given up hope that I might someday get a chance to finish what I started, the entire TransAm from Yorktown VA to Astoria OR.  This year I will pick up where I left off in Wichita KS.  I will fly my bike to a shop in Wichita and re-assemble it there.  Then I will head North to pick up the TransAm route where I left off.  I was not able to complete the entire route in one part because my job and family did not afford me the flexibility to take that much time off.  Last December I retired after 23 years as a Professor in the Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering department at the United States Naval Academy, so I no longer have that constraint.  Consequently, it is my goal to finish ...
Read more

Day 2: Nickerson to Great Bend KS

Image
54.7 miles, 885 ft ascent, 5:02 riding time.  Johannes and I started the day with a breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon at the exotic animal farm while we waited for it to stop raining.  It did stop around 0930, at which point we went to the grocery store in town to pick up food for lunch because there were no towns between Nickerson and Great Bend.  It was overcast, with temps in the upper 60’s, occasional rain and a wind of about 10 mph that changed direction during the day.  We rode from primarily farming country into prairies and grasslands with grazing cattle. The cattle must have thought we came to feed them. This is big sky country with loooong straight roads.  We are gradually going up.  By the time we reach Pueblo CO we will have increased our elevation by 2,000 ft.  About the last 15 miles into Great Bend the route turned North directly into a headwind with gusts of about 13 mph.   Our route took us along the edge of the Quivira Wildli...
Read more

Day 5: Scott City to Tribune KS

Image
49.5 miles, 1,294 ft ascent, max grade about 2 %, elevation 3,616 ft, 4:46 riding time.  We started out day with breakfast a the Best Western, which was pretty good for a hotel. We continued riding West on the same Rt 96 we picked up back in Great Bend (which was 166 miles ago). Today the wind was out of the South and SouthWest, but the gusts were not as strong as yesterday, so it was not as difficult a day.  I have noticed there are big grain silos spaced at about every 10 miles, and there is often a town at each silo.  However, many of them are small and there are no services.  Bill described the silos as sitting on small islands of trees in a vast sea of wheat.  On a clear day like today you can see the silos from about 11 miles away.  If you see a water tower near the silo, then it is a bigger town with services.  The distances are very misleading because the silos are so large.  You think you are getting close, and it is still miles away. I w...
Read more