Day 83, Council, Idaho to halfway, Oregon.

Yippie!!!! Number 10. We're almost there.

The Snake River.

Some of the rugged peaks surrounding Hell's Canyon.

Oregon's high desert plains.

Pasture land and farms in Eastern Oregon.

More of the same grand sights here in Oregon.

Little farm on the prairie?

The only store in Oxbow, half way out of the river basin.

Pre dawn, gearing up and ready to roll.

There are numerous little farms everywhere in these open plains.

Dinner last night with the gang. We ate like kings. We even had ice cream for desert.

I came across this deer in the river escaping the heat. She took off when i stopped to shoot her.

Brownlee reservoir.

This is the camp ground at Halfway. It was so bad that Lisa and I decided to stay at a motel instead. I couldn't even find the restroom, and there was no place for this many people to pitch tents. And they wanted $15.00 per tent. There was junk all over the place, and Lisa was worried about snakes.


Day 83, Council, Idaho to Halfway, Oregon. “The 25 Mile Climb” 80.00 miles. Total = 3,921.32 miles.

Sunday, August 2, 2009. The Hodges RV camp ground in Council was a very nice place indeed. It was one of the cleanest, and well equipped facility we have stayed at. And the wifi was really fast.

We got up at 5:00AM this morning so we could get an early start. We had an 80 mile day, and the ride into Hell’s Canyon was expected to reach 112 degrees. By 6:15, we were on the road. The sun hadn’t come up yet, and the air had a bite to it. It wouldn’t take long before the climb started. Just then, Lisa said: “Look Ted, a fox”. Sure enough, a fox had just crossed the road, and was making it’s way up someone’s driveway. Less than five seconds later, a badger appeared. He stopped in the middle of the road and looked at us for a second or two, then turned around and disappeared into a metal culvert. The beast was huge! About the size of a dog. I’ve never seen one before, and always thought they were the size of a ground hog. This was the highlight of the day. How cool was that.

We proceeded to climb. The first section was a 1.5 mile 6% grade that led us out of the basin. It was time to take off the jacket. Pete and Rita from the Adventure Cycling group came by, and we told them about the badger. They were also excited……… The rest of the climb was so gradual that it was not a problem at all. We gained about a hundred feet per mile in elevation.

At mile 25, we stopped at a café in the town of Cambridge to have breakfast. In an effort to leave early, we skipped breakfast to get a jump on our start. I had the Rancher’s Special. As hungry as I was, I couldn’t finish it. By this time, the rest of the Adventure Cycling group had caught up, and some even continued of with out stopping. The temperature had risen a few degrees, and it was heating up fast. With clear skies and no wind, it felt even hotter. We continued our journey through winding canyon country until we were in forested mountain terrain again. The smell of pine trees filled the air, and there were these big black grass hoppers all over the road, There were so many of them, that cars would run them over leaving all these spots on the road. I even ended up running over a few myself, they were just all over the place.

When we finally made the summit, we could see for miles, it was almost as if we were at the top of the world……………… Coming down the other side was fast. The grade was about 7% for six miles. We descended down the winding mountain road wary of vehicle traffic., but there was none. Our hands would get numb from grabbing the brakes for so long. We stopped at an RV park at the bottom of the descent where there was a store. The sign said: The Gateway to Hell’s Canyon”. I drank a 32 oz. bottle of Power Ade like it was water. The way I perspire, I need to replace my electrolyte or weird things begin to happen. I’ve learned that the hard way, back in Missouri.

From there we rode past Brownlee reservoir and dam, then rode along the Snake River which separates Idaho from Oregon till we crossed a bridge where we stopped to take a picture of us next to the Welcome to Oregon sign. We then followed the snake river for several miles, enjoying the river’s charm. I didn’t take any pictures of the canyon walls since pictures would not do the scene justice. I just gazed in awe at the rock formations and ruggedness of it all. We then climbed over a pass that led us into another canyon with another five mile climb leading us out of the river basin. About half way up, we stopped in Oxbow where we saw Sally, the leader of the Adventure Cycling group perched at a wayside store. The only one in the area. We pulled in to get cooled off. This time I opted for a fountain drink and some ice cream. Boy did that hit the spot. We hung out there for about an hour under the shade, it was really hot by now. Eventually we got going again, and a wonderful thing happened. We got cloud cover that lasted the entire rest of the way. I thanked The Lord many times today for His intervention when we needed it the most. It would have been hell with out it.

We pulled into Halfway at 4:00 o’clock and found the camp ground. It was so bad, that Lisa and I decided to get a motel room instead. It was a good choice. After a long day like today, a warm shower, and nice soft bed fit the ticket just fine. Plus, we get wifi. Thanks you for staying tuned. You are what makes this trip worth while. Aloha, Ted.