TransAm Day #54 Council, ID - Oxbow, OR
TransAm Day #54
July 20, 2018
Council, ID - Oxbow, OR
66 Miles
Ride Time 5:15 Hours
Tour Total Miles 3834
I camped last night at Courthouse Hill Park, in Council. The grass there is manually watered and there were no automatic sprinklers. My laundry was dry on the line and I had fresh clean clothing this morning. I once again left before Scott and Eileen were through with snuggle time. It was still chilly out, and I started my ride wearing a sweater. I wanted to beat the heat.
On my way out of town, I stopped at the Shell station for a fake cappuccino, an orange juice, and a prepackaged cherry tart. I sat out on the curb as the sun was coming up and looked at all the sores on my legs. I haven’t had this many bumps, cuts, scrapes, and abrasions since I was a kid. That said, following yesterday’s shower and shave, I feel like a new man. Even my ears are clean.
Yesterday at the RV park shower was like a Three Stooges routine. We tried to be sneaky so we wouldn’t each have to pay the five dollars. Eileen and Scott got there before me. When I showed up I could hear them in one of the stalls. I knocked on their door and they thought I was the owner. Scott came running out in his underwear. Once he saw me he responded, ‘Oh, it’s you!’. The only other shower stall was occupied, and I could hear the spray blasting through the door. Scott and Eileen were taking forever, so in an adjacent toilet stall I washed my clothes in a bathroom sink. As usual, I used liquid hand soap for detergent. After my laundry had been rinsed, squeezed, folded, and bagged Eileen still hadn’t finished her shower. I begged for my turn. I asked Scott to time me to demonstrate how quickly a shower could be taken. Meanwhile Eileen realized that the other shower hadn't been occupied after all. Somebody had just left the water running full blast. As I was packing up Scott and Eileen told me they had both been charged. It was the second time I didn’t have to pay for an RV park shower, and they did.
I passed an east-bounder fully loaded and also wearing a backpack. I climbed a several hundred foot bump called Mesa. On the descent I could see forever. There was a patchwork of irrigated fields surrounded by bald scrubby hills in every direction. The town of Cambridge has a population of 328. Above the town on a large hill the letter C is written in white stones, and I could see it from far in the distance. I had breakfast at Canyon Station Cafe, owned and operated by Sully from Flatbush Brooklyn. It was wild to hear a Brooklyn accent in the middle of Idaho. After breakfast I left US 95 and headed west on State Route 71. What’s worse than a 1700’ climb through the desert? A 1700’ climb through the desert with a headwind. It was a sixteen mile long ascent.
My last twenty miles in Idaho were not a tender farewell, and quite a contrast from the warm embrace I received at Lolo Pass. To make matters worse, I began seeing what amounted to thousands of Mormon crickets. Despite its name, the Mormon cricket is actually a shield backed katydid, and not a cricket. It takes its name from Mormon settlers in Utah, who encountered them while pushing westward. The bugs were scrambling all over the road, and were frightening, like locust swarms from apocalypse. I was literally on my way to Hells Canyon, and the pavement was darkened from the juice of squished bugs. To make matters more grotesque, the horrible little cannibals were out there eating each other's remains. It wasn’t pleasant.
Lifting my gaze off the pavement I noticed beautiful painted dirt hills with rock outcroppings and dots of scrub patches. The panorama was stunning! Once I went over the pass I could see a large mountain range to the west. It had snow capped mountains, which I reckoned I’d eventually have to climb. Descending down the north side of the pass I entered a deep twisted canyon. I noticed two sets of high power lines leading to a hydroelectric plant. It got hotter as I descended into the canyon, carved by the Snake River.
From Riggins, two days ago, I traveled south and then looped around back up north. I am only a few miles southwest of where I went rafting on the Salmon River, which is known as the river of no return. Back before rubber rafts it was too treacherous to be navigated by wooden raft or canoe. These twisty deep canyon Idaho river canyons vexed early pioneers.
I stopped at the Gateway to Hells Canyon cafe for a Hells Canyon burger and huckleberry shake. Scott and Eileen caught up with me, and we stocked up for the campground. It was in the high nineties when we departed. I packed a pannier full of cold beer and a bag of ice into Hell’s Canyon. The devil had the last laugh though. I had no idea that Modelo Chelada tasted like V8, and I couldn’t drink a single one.
The Snake River is the border between Idaho and Oregon. There were two dams along the route producing two reservoirs. A massive power station lies below Brownlee dam, after which I crossed a bridge which brought me into Oregon. I performed my last border crossing ritual. It was sad knowing this was my last state left to traverse. Oregon greeted me with cherry trees lining the road for miles. It was scorching hot. The sun was so bright I couldn’t even read my phone.
I heard from Becky that my escapade through the Lolo Pass construction site is now a legendary cyclist story in Missoula. Hey! Did Philippe Petit negotiate to tight-rope walk the twin towers? No! He just went ahead and did it.
I set up camp at Copperfield Campground right below the Oxbow Dam. I’m trying my hardest to forget the tragic story from Earthquake Lake. I sat in the cool Snake River while a father and daughter from Pendleton OR caught trout. I had a fantastic shower and did my laundry.
Vexed by the devils wamp water.Tarnation!
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