Whitebird, ID to New Meadows, ID

Miles: 62.4
Total Miles: 607.5
Climbing: 2951

Total climbing so far: 27,474’

Since our group was split into two motels two miles apart last night, they brought the van to our motel for breakfast and everyone had to bike down to us!

Linda, our cook making breakfast with others fixing snacks for the day

Typical morning scene

View from motel in the direction we rode today

We were soon on the road on another warm day, though I started in arm warmers as we were in the shade and it was a chilly ride along the beautiful Salmon River. This is the longest free flowing river in the USA. (i.e. no dams along its entire length) The Salmon River Canyon, which we rode through today, was formed over 15 million years ago. The river ran across lava flows and started to carve the canyon. Then the mountains began to rise and the river cut through to older rock below.

Early morning in the Salmon River Canyon

Salmon River

Can you tell that I enjoyed the ride on the Salmon River today?

Glenna picked a great view for a SAG stop!

We rode over 25 miles along the river which was alternately flat and then with some Class 1 and 2 rapids. We saw one group of rafts along a flat section and many of the kids were in the water. The current was quite swift, though.

The bridge into the mountain time zone, we will be back in Pacific in two days!

Nancy B, a cyclist who rode the Southern Tier in '07 with me

Soon after, in Riggins, we passed into the Mountain Time Zone. This town has dubbed itself the Whitewater Capital of Idaho! The main street was lined with companies who claimed to be the best for guiding, rafting, kayaking, or fishing expeditions. We were interested in only one thing…food! We knew that even though it was only mile 28 of our 62 mile day that there were no more services along the route. So we had a nice late breakfast.

View down the Salmon River Gorge

We are seeing many, many loaded cyclists now that we are on the Transamerica Cycling Route. These two were struggling in the headwinds with heavy trailers. Give me panniers anytime! This morning, we saw them camped in the city park.

Back on the road, we saw two military jets flying down the canyon, and then two more, or they were the same ones. They were low and loud. A bit later, two (or 4) more came through. Tonight, we were told by a visitor to the group that they might be from a Utah air base.

Signs along the way tell us who is responsible for the “Adopt a Highway” program. Today we saw one which was very unusual. It said that the group responsible was “Yahweh’s 666 Warning Assembly.” We had heard at the map meeting last night to be on the lookout for the compound of this "religious cult". It was a group of ramshackle houses within a fence and we saw no one anywhere around. You could probably find it on the internet as they advertised a website on a sign but we did not even have cell service today, so I imagine that there was not much internet!

Religious cult on the road!

It was a hot, dry, very windy day. It was a headwind, relentless, all day. This was one of my hardest days so far. Our average speed was only 11 mph and we had to pedal down every incline to keep up that low speed. Peg had to SAG in as she had the beginnings of heat exhaustion and probably did not drink enough all day. So Kathie and I were left to get in together. We were not the first to arrive, but among the front of the group. I could not even count then umber of bottles of water we drank. We filled up at every SAG stop.

We crossed the 45th Parallel today, which means that we were halfway between the equator and the North Pole. What a thought!



We were only 2 miles out of our destination at the time, so took the requisite picture and rode on in to New Meadows, ID where we will spend our rest day tomorrow. The flags show the wind we had facing us today!

Windy Day


New Meadows was aptly named

Another pastoral scene in New Meadows, ID

Two of the women on the trip, lifelong friends, each own cabins very near here which they use in the summer months. They have invited all of us to visit them for our day off and their husbands are going to cook for us. We are usually on our own as far as meals go on our day off (cooks day off, too!) So, tomorrow afternoon, we will shuttle the 12 miles to the cabin on a lake and have a leisurely afternoon with a cookout. Everyone is looking forward to that, so bike cleaning and laundry was the order of the late afternoon and evening so that we can enjoy the day tomorrow.

Nancy N. and Pat, our recent birthday gals

I have been asked about road kill. Yes, there are lots of dead animals. Deer and snakes have been the number one and two dead things on the road. Rattlesnakes are the main type though many of them are flat and unidentifiable! I have seen an occasional rabbit. Today I saw two badgers! I was not sure, but looked at a picture on the internet when I got in and now I am sure!

Peg and I took a walk after dinner and located the breakfast spot for tomorrow morning, the post office so I can mail some things home that I am not using, and the local bar. We decided that it was time to go to bed! The motel we are staying in has a main house and a bunch of motel rooms. I am alone in the room so it will be quiet. If I wake up, I might look at the Perseid meteor shower. I hope I sleep!!!

PS I just got an email from Jennifer, the Wellmont Foundation person in charge of my ride donations. She said my total so far was over $13,000 so I am so excited! I am only 1/3 of the way on my trip and this amount is almost half way to may goal of $32,000. Thank you to everyone who has made a donation so far! I am delighted that Hospice is going to be the recipient of the donations! Keep them coming, please.