Friday, June 17, 2011

The Miserably, Majestic Day

Wednesday June 15
Past Stanley, Idaho
Miles? Maybe 30
Total miles. Losing track. Maybe 400ish. (Don't have a guidebook that tells me exactly where I am.)

I followed the Salmon River through the mountains all morning. The road was twisty turny with NO shoulders. I repeat, NO shoulders. White line, gravel, fallen rocks. The drivers were great and no one (well,maybe one) got upset with me.

And I had to constantly stop and take pictures. So much to capture! Oh ya, and there were hot springs bubbly up along side the road. I thawed my toes out there:)

And I saw a helicopter carrying a massive power pole slowly lower it into a hole high on a hill. Quite a site! Got it on video. I was worried that he'd hit one of the power lines with it. Not to worry. The power was turned off.

Yup. Got to Stanley I'm time for lunch and everything is closed. Like a ghost town. What's up? Power shut down til 5 pm. And it's 1:00. Arrrgghhh! Do I wait? Do I bike on? How far 'til there's a store? About 50 miles. Really? Ya know how you carry your fears? Well I've kept telling myself I had too much for a biker. Stocked like a hiker. I can always buy more in the next town. Well, not today. But I do have enough to go the 50 miles I decided. Cheese and Triscuits for lunch. Trail mix for snack. Ramen noodles for dinner. And just for Willing and Abal, I'm soaking oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. Oh, better go do it before I forget.

Done. Now where was I? So I decided to leave after a wonderful conversation with a mom pushing a stroller walking in short sleeves, baby in bare arms, and me in long sleeves shivering. They grow them tough in Idaho, she told me.
What a quaint town with unlaced streets and rustic buildings... But mo AT&T service. Another Arrggghhh! I mighta stuck around til 5 if I coulda got caught up on emails and facebook. No reason to stay, so off I went.

Into the strong headwinds I'd been bucking all day. I asked the woman if these winds were usual around here. No. Guess I'm just lucky. And they were quite chilly winds, at least to me. So I'd have my wind breaker on with hood up to warm me and then the winds would stop (they were gusting), and the sun was quite strong and quite warm ... and I'd get hot -hot flash- and there I'd be guiding the bike with my left knee ripping away at the jacket to get some cool air on my body. Another Arrggghhh!

And yet I was biking through some of the mist beautiful part of the country with pine trees scattered across the mountain sides, snow dusting the peaks, weathered rustic zigzag fences along the streams (wish I knew why) and lush grassy meadows...you, just like in the pictures, but I'm pedaling through it. For hours. For days. For weeks.


Yesterday I decided I was being too anal watching the mph, avg mph, total miles and all that...so I didn't let myself look at anything but the clock all day and just see how many miles I did by days end. 38. Not bad. I know: I'm slow.

So today I was trying the same thing, but I did check in Stanley and it was 15 miles. Well, a ways out of town, I look down and there's nothing registering on my computer. So I look to see if the wireless transmitter has pivoted away from the wheel. Gone. Lost it and the post it was mounted on. Arrrggghhh!!! Again? Not my day. One glove jumped ship this morning, but I realized it before biking off. A pink neon plastic flag I've adopted jumped off, but I saw it in my mirror. I didn't see or hear this fall away. I went back about a mile or so, but found nothing. Not to be. So now I don't have to pretend not to look, I have no idea how fast or how far except for the mile markers on the side. It'll be an interesting trial. Have to see if I replace it in Boise.

I'm loving drinking from mountain streams again. That water tastes so good! I brought a Steripen for debugging my water and the first time I went to use it it didn't work. Red light! I guess the batteries lost their charge. Too cold maybe. It's getting quite crowded in my sleeping bag with me and all the gear that needs to stay warm. We fight for space:).

It's getting cold again at night and I'm using my 15* bag. Sure glad I have it. Tonight's chilly already and it's not yet 8:00. And there are patches of snow all around outside my tent. Yup, I'm up above the snowline tonight.

Tomorrow a 10 mile downhill I've been told. Wheee!!!!! Hope it's warm by the time I get to it.




Pedal on, Pedal on

Saddle BagLady

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Incredible Views!!!

Monday June 13
Challis, Idaho
45 miles today, about 350 total

There are views sometimes that make me feel I'm back in the Himalayas. And I gave to remind myself I'm in the good 'ole US of A. Tonight I have a pastoral view if cattle grazing on lush grass behind rustic, wooden fences, softly mooing; and behind them snow capped majestic mountains in all directions. Why am I so lucky? I sometimes ask myself.

Today I biked over a +7500 ft summit and came down 10 miles in the rain. Whee!! Just as I got to this incredible canyon with high stone walls that the road goes through, the rain stopped. And so did I to take it all in. Pictures do not do it justice. Ya gotta see it for yourself. My brother asked me, before I left Riverton, "Why do you do this?". And I didn't really have an answer. Today I did. So I can feel alive!!!!!! The people I meet, the views I see, biking uphill in the rain, talking to the animals that come over to greet me by the side of the road. All of that and more! Tonight I'm enjoying the setting sun, cool breezes, and sounds of birds I can't identify (sorry, Fuat;)). Life is good!

Today was rich and full. Besides the fun of the climb and the rain, I met a real live working cowboy, Curtis who was out herding his cattle back up away from the road. His horse's name was Chrome. He had 2 herding dogs with him too. He said he was a rarity and that around here there are some cattle that have never seen a horse. Cowboy on a horse is a dying breed. Glad I got to meet a real one! And see him working, too!

I also saw an albino calf. Oh how I wish I could have gotten a picture but my good camera doesn't come out in the rain. I also saw roadrunners. Birds that run across the road. I hope that's what they're called.

Then, as if this all wasnt enough for today, I biked into Challis and spotted this mural.


Thats just part of it. And this guy walks up to me and asks me if I'd like to know the history of the painting. Of course! Well, he painted it 2 years ago from a photo taken on July 4, 1898 that his mother-in-law had. It was a picture taken right here in Challis and the photo has the names of everyone in it written on it. Thanks Denis Dubois! What a serendipitous meeting. Trail magic keeps happening all over the place.

And the last thing I want to mention is all the waving from drivers here in Idaho. More drivers wave than don't. Really warms my heart! A wave. A toot. I feel so welcome on the road. Idahoans are sure warm and friendly! Thank you!!

Oh and last night I slept up in the tumbleweeds. And tonight I'm sleeping in a small pavilion about big horn sheep. Maybe it will help keep my tent dry during those early morning rains. (it's just that cement is sooo hard!)

Pedal on, Pedal on

Saddle BagLady

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone