Day 80, Syringa to Grangeville, Idaho.

Old buildings are everywhere along our route today.

Idaho has wheat, and plenty of it.

See? I told you.

Down town Grangeville. Typical of small towns we've come across.

Half way up the climb we took a break, and I took this shot. We were riding along that river earlier.

And here it is, that river.

We ate breakfast over there in the town of Kooskia.

From near our camp site.

I walked down to the river. it's really a cool place.

I took this shot with a slow shutter while my camera stayed trained on Lisa.

This is as wide as my regular lens could go. I was too lazy to put on the ultra wide angle lens.

The gang having their map meeting. Boring stuff.

A small ranch across the river.

A walking bridge. No vehicles allowed.

Same bridge, different angle.

Yet another angle.

These rivers have island in um. Pretty neat.

The guy on the right is Gary Ramos. A famous musician from Kauai who now lives in Grangeville. He was part of "The New Christi Minstrels" and wrote the song,"This land is your land". And also part of the group "The Association" and wrote the song "Cherish". He bought us lunch.

A class 3 rapid section on the Loshca River.

A class 1 section on the same river.

A refueling stop at one of the small stores along the route.

I just love old buildings. I wish i had the time to explore them.

A touring pace line. I stay in the back so I can see EverReady's butt.

Some of the scenic stuff we see along the way.

This was the only place to eat within 50 miles of our camp.


Day 80, Syringa to Grangeville, Idaho. “The Ten Mile Climb”. 41.68 miles.

Thursday, July 30, 2009. The camp ground at Syringa was a very nice place. Although there was nothing there except the lodge and cafe, the setting was quite unique being nestled between the forested mountainside and the river.

The cafe didn’t open till 9:00AM, so we decided to eat a couple of energy bars just to hold us over to the next town where we would then have a real breakfast. The Adventure Cycling group had their meals planed, and were already cleaning up by the time we were done with out snack. Sing we were only at about 1,200 foot or so in elevation, the temperature was quite comfortable. It was the first time camping in a while that I didn’t have to layer up for the night.

Once on our way, it was more of the same from yesterday. The wild, untouched nature scenery continued as we gently rolled our way through forested and mountainous terrain. The Loshca and Clearwater rivers converge at a fork near the county line and turned into quite a large one. Somehow I wasn’t paying attention like I’ve been know to do, and missed where they converged, so I couldn’t figure out why the name of the river changed. At about mile 15, we left highway 12, and turned on to 13 which took us through the town of Kooskia. This is where we had our real breakfast. Most of the Adventure Cycling folks were already there. They seem to enjoy a faster pace that Lisa and I, and don’t stop as often to enjoy the wonderful scenery and to just awe at the beauty of it all. Anyway, after a gut filling meal, I went across the street to the market where I knew there was an ATM. Thank goodness for those things, I needed some cash.

We then headed up the road on highway 13. Yes, I did say headed up the road. Almost 90 mile of descending does have it’s price, and today was payday. At first, the climb started off gradual, almost un-noticeable. The only reminder would be that the river was now flow wing against us, instead of with us. We rode with a group of five for the first mile or so till we came to a fork. The one on the left continued to follow Clearwater River, and the one to the right started the dreaded ten mile climb. By now it was 11:00AM, so the temperature had risen into the high 80’s. We knew it wouldn’t be long before the heat would be on. After an hour of steady 5 to 6% grade, we stopped at an overlook to see how far we’ve come. The river was well over a thousand feet below, and we could see the other road that followed her. I took a couple of pictures and we were again on our way. A few miles later, we stopped again under the shade of some tall pine trees where there was a slight breeze. Boy did that feel good. I was perspiring quite a bit, and reminded myself to drink plenty of liquids including the electrolyte formula I had.

I don’t know if it was the higher altitude, the cooler air, or the fact that we were near the top that made the climb seem easier. Before we knew it, we were on through the winding climb and onto the ridge leading up the higher plains area. We could now see the mountains and beyond Grangeville where we will descend into Hell Canyon tomorrow. About two miles from Grangeville, a pick up truck pulling on to the highway stopped to let us pass. I smiled and waved as we passed to show our appreciation. The truck turned in our direction, and slowed down as he approached us. Then pull up next to me, and asked. “You from Hawaii?” “Yes,” I replied. “From Molokai“. Turns out the guy was from Kauai. We exchanged greetings, and he was off.

Lisa and I stopped at the first restaurant we came across, and ordered lunch. The climb gave me an appetite that was driving me to hunger. While we were inside having our meal. The guy in the pickup truck came by. “I was looking for you guys”, he said. We started a conversation, and he told us of how he ended up in the area. To make a long story short, his name is Gary Ramos. The name sound familiar? He is the same Gary Ramos of the late 60’s and 70’s fame from the group “The Association”, who wrote the song “Cherish”, and “The New Christi Minstrels” who wrote the song “This land is your land, this land is my land”. To make it even more of a treat, was that he bought us our lunch. He said anybody who rides a bicycle across the U.S. deserves a free meal.

We then went over to the city park across the street where we waited for Dirk and Nancy Swearingen who is Lisa’s former employer when she lived in Washington. They lived in Lewiston, and drove all the way to Grangeville to get us. We spent the night at their place where we enjoyed the bet home cooked meal we have had in months. Thank you so much Nancy and Dirk, you made our stay one of the most enjoyable evenings of our journey. Thank you all for putting up with my poor spelling and peculiar sense of humor. Have a nice day. Aloha, Ted.