After a nice yogurt bowl breakfast I took off and rode along the rest of the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River. It was a beautiful, treesy meander. Saw osprey and deer. Left Bill to do the dishes, take down camp and walk the dog. It sure is nice to have a support-spouse domestique!
The approach to Kooskia is a little tricky and I almost made a wrong turn. The little town of Stites is right after Kooskia. These little towns of America are such a kick. Why are they there? Probably from mining, lumber, gold or some such industry that is no longer exists. We’ve seen this the whole route; Kentucky coal mining, Kansas cattle. Right out of Stites was a big big climb: Lamb Grade. Oy, sometimes it was 17%. I zigged and zagged up it taking the whole road trying to create a small switchback effect. After that it was wheat fields as far as the eye could see. Which actually wasn’t that far because wildfires had rendered the air quality “unhealthy”. The vistas are smokey, the sun is nuclear, the smell is instinctively ominous.
I rode with an N95 mask which was actually not bad. I felt like I was getting enough air. I looked it up and N95 masks will filter out 95% of particles larger than 0.3 microns, so they are very efficient with keeping out the 2.5 micron particles in wildfire smoke. So take that! cancerous smoke, you can’t have me. I met Bill in Grangeville and we had a nice chopped salad and chili in the trailer. Then we hung out in the library for a while for some internet time.
Then onto White Bird. The route took me on the Old WB Hill Rd which was a quiet country road, not the “New” WB Hill Rd which is basically Hwy 95. After the climb, I missed the turn to stay on the “Old” road and found myself on Hwy 95 which is a long, long, long screaming downhill. I mean the longest descent of you life. The shoulder was wide and I pretty much didn’t brake the whole way down. Gawd it was fun! Pulled into Hammer Creek campground in time for dinner and a shower. It was a good day.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please 1) select to sign with "Name/URL" in the drop down or 2) sign your name at the end of your post so we know who you are. Otherwise the default is “Anonymous”.