Day 79, Clearwater National Forest to Syringa, Idaho.

Our camp in Syringa.

The town of Lowell. That right, This is the whole town. Population 23.

We met these three going the other way. Sorry, I forgot their names. They sold their house, and are riding their bikes around the country for two years, or till the money runs out. The wife is a school teacher, so the kid gets home schooled along the way. Good luck you three. I will check out your blog (Tripleontour.blogspot.com) when I get the chance.

The river has beaches. Nice ones too.

This is inside of the Historical Ranger Station we visited.

Hey Lisa, I think I see salmon in there.

There were a few of these Bridges crossing the river. They lead to hiking trails on the other side.

And here we are folks, pretending to go hiking. As if 4,000 miles of bike riding isn't enough.

The river from the bridge.

Late in the afternoon, we were still riding.

Our route is part of the Louis and Clark Trail.

This is the general store next to the lodge. We pay for showers here.

Inside the Loshca Lodge dinning room where we ate dinner.

Trees next to our camp.

The gang getting ready for dinner. Lisa and I go to the lodge.

Lisa, on her lunch break.

The bridge we crossed. We just wanted to see what was on the other side.

It rained last night. Cool shot, huh?

The whole day saw views like this.


Day 79, Clearwater National Forest to Syringa, Idaho. “Down Hill All The Way”. 73.57 miles.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009. Last night we shared a camp site with the Adventure Cycling group. The camp ground was full, so they were nice enough to invite us to join them. Located next to the Loshca River, and surrounded by thick, dense untouched forest land. A great place to spend a few days unwinding. We however did not have that opportunity. Our time is getting short, and with just under 600 miles to go, we were on a tight schedule if we were to make it to the coast by our august 10th target date.

We gained an hour yesterday due to the time change. We are now on Pacific standard time. Because of that, we got up an hour earlier than usual, and had more time getting our stuff ready for the days ride. Besides, the Lodge dinning room didn’t open till 7:00. We were on our way by 8 o’clock. The ride today would be by far the easiest we’ve had yet. Once into the valley over Lolo Pass, the route fallows the Loshca River. I was told that it is a 100 mile down hill ride. The longest in the nation. The grade is so slight, that you almost don’t notice it until it flattens out completely and you have to pedal. We made real good time today, covering the first 41.5 miles in four hours counting all the breaks we took on the way down to take pictures and you know what. At noon, we stopped at the Loshca Ranger Station. A historical site dating back from 1934. It is here where the headquarters for the fire brigade would monitor fires in the area. They incorporated 14 fire observation posts all tied in to the headquarters via telephone where they would then dispatch fire fighter to contain the blaze. Almost all of which were started by lightning.

The scenery today was about the best we’ve have so far. The valley is prime forest with little to no human intervention. If not for the paved road and National Forest camp sites, you wouldn’t think anyone set foot there. The scenery was so magnificent, that at times I got bored, and found myself yawning and day dreaming. Traffic was very light. Road construction in several places caused cars to back up to allow on coming traffic through. This meant that we would have up to a half hour at a time with zero traffic to worry about.

From the ranger station, it was another 35 more miles to Syringa. And it was all down hill with the same wonderful scenery we had been enjoying all day. A short distance before Syringa, we stopped in the town of Lowell for snacks for tomorrow. The town is so small, that the only thing there is a gas station that acts as a grocery store, a six room motel that has a cafe. The population there is 23. From there, we only had 7 miles to Syringa. Syringa is not exactly a town, there is a camp sight were we are staying, and a motel and café. So once again we have no Internet or cell phone service. Aloha to you all for joining us. And thank you again for all your prayers and well wishes. They really do help. Your cyber host, Ted.