Unity, Or to John Day, Or
60 miles
14.7 average mph
Hwy 26
It was another good day of riding with ideal conditions; nice roads, beautiful scenery, sparse traffic. I stopped and toured the Kam Wah Chung Company in the town of John Day, Or. This is the only remaining building from the chinatown of 2000 people in John Day during the gold rush period in the late 1800′s. It was a combination store/ doctor’s office/pharmacy/restaurant/bar/hotel until the 1950′s. The building was boarded upb and remained untouched for 30 years with all the contents inside preserved and is now a museum. Camp grounds in Oregon are clean, inexpensive, and very bike friendly with lower rates and special reserved areas for bikers or hikers. Very nice!
To Roger and Angela: enjoyed looking at the stars with you and thanks for the beers.
August 18, 2009
August 18th, 2009August 17, 2009
August 17th, 2009Caldwell, Idaho to Unity, Or
113 miles
15.0 average mph
Hwy 26
When I crossed the Snake River this morning I entered Oregon and now I can no longer say ‘I’m going to Oregon’. I will have to say ‘I’m going to the Oregon Coast’ or more specifically Tilamook Bay. Later in the day, at the top of a mountain pass, I passed into Pacific Time Zone. (Part of Oregon is in Mountain Time) The eastern part or Oregon is dry and there are not very many trees. It looks a lot like Wyoming or Montana. It was a great day for riding. About 75 degrees and dry with no clouds. I had 2 or those long easy climbs which I love, a wide smooth shoulder, and there was hardly any traffic all day long.
August 16, 2009
August 16th, 2009Boise, Idaho to Caldwell, Idaho
49 miles
13.6 average mph
Hwy 26
The Boise River runs through the middle of the city so Boise is very green even though it is surrounded by desert like mountains with no trees. There is a heavily used, and practical, paved bike that runs along the river for about 20 miles as well as numerous bike lanes so the town appears to be very bike friendly (although I was here on Sunday so I didn’t get a good feel for the weekday traffic situation). The surrounding area is called ‘Treasure Valley’. The Boise, Payette, and lots of creeks all run through the valley to the Snake River which defines the end of the Valley. With an extensive system of irrigation canals, a wide variety of crops can be grown: potatos, beets, onions, beens, lettuce, corn, beans, wheat, and even apples, peaches, and apricots.
August 15, 2009
August 15th, 2009Stanley, Idaho to Boise, Idaho
131 miles
16.2 average mph
Hwy 21
Lowman-Banks Rd
Hwy 55
After a chilly start of 34 when I started riding at 10 o’clock it warmed up to about 73 by the end of the day, but that was mainly due to the fact that I descended over 4000 feet from start to finish. There are more trees around the central mountains around Stanley but the rest of the ride was through mostly barren mountains again today, especially in the area around Boise. I saw lots of people out rafting and kayaking on the Payette River (you may be able to see a couple rafts in the photo) and also lots of guys 4 wheeling on dirt trails in the mountains.
August 14, 2009
August 14th, 2009Challis, Idaho to Stanley, Idaho
58 miles
14.3 average mph
Hwy 75
Today started out just like yesterday following the Salmon River upstream but, ironically, near the town of Sunbeam it started getting colder and dark clouds moved in and then it started raining. I got to Stanley and it was still raining so I called it a day. There is supposed to be a frost tonight (29 degrees) so I am staying at a motel tonight. Tomorrow will be my last day in the mountains before comming down into the flats around Boise on Sunday. The mountains are beautiful, but I am ready to get back to summer.
August 13, 2009
August 14th, 2009Salmon, Idaho to Challis, Idaho
65 miles
14.7 average mph
Hwy 93
Today I saw the most beautiful scenery and had the most enjoyable riding of my trip so far. I rode on the road that follows the swiftly flowing Salmon river as it winds it way through the mostly barren Salmon River Mountains. Sometimes it goes through tight canyons and gorges, other times through small, green, irrigated valleys. Sometimes there are trees. Sometimes all I saw was desert rocks and sage brush. The Salmon River is also known as the River of no return. I heard 2 stories for this name. Take your pick: 1) When Lewis and Clark were exploring the area they askewd the Shoshone Indians ‘where does that river go?’ The Indians replied ‘ No one who goes down that river ever comes back’. 2). The river has such a swift current it is very hard to travel upstream.
August 12, 2009
August 12th, 2009Wisdom, Mt to Salmon, Id
73 miles
16.1 average mph
Hwy 43
Hwy 93
August is haying time in the Big Hole Valley. The Valley is big (85 miles long and 35 miles wide), completely surrounded by high mountains, and almost exclusively cattle ranching so hay is extremely important to feed the cattle in the winter. The giant beaver slides (see photo) were at one time used to make hay stacks of 20 tons and 30 feet high. I did not see any being used and I believe these are mostly relics that have been replaced by more modern mechanisms.
The climbs in Montana are great: about 15 miles at 1 or 2 percent and then 5 miles at about 6 or 7 percent.
The Salmon river in Idaho is a great recreational river. I saw lots of people tubing and kayaking today.
August 11, 2009
August 12th, 2009Bannack, Mt to Wisdom, Mt
48 miles
15.1 average mph
Hwy 278
1862: Bannack was established as a gold minning town.
1864-1865: was the territorial capital of Montana
1900: had over 3000 inhabitants.
1938: with the decline of minning the post office closed.
1950: the school closed
1954: the town was sold to a private individual who donated it to the state of Montana under the condition that it remain undeveloped.
2009: ghost town
Bannack was very cool because the buildings have been left untouched for over 50 years and you can walk around and go into all the houses and stores, the hotel and the school and see what an old gold minning town would have been like. Most of the floors are uneven and the plaster on the walls and ceilings are starting to fall apart.
August 10, 2009
August 12th, 2009Ennis, Mt to Bannack, Mt
97 miles
14.1 average mph
Hwy 287
Hwy 41
Hwy 278
Sorry, no service the past 2 days. I did not have phone or data signals. Don’t even bother taking a cell phone to the mountainous parts of southwest Montana. Back into civilization today (sort of) in a small town in Idaho – but more about Idaho later. I rode through Virginia City and Nevada City, 2.old gold minning towns. Virginia city is the larger of the two and the buildings hav e been fixed up and are now restaurants, gift shops, and B and B’s. The town was originally settled in the 1860′s during the gold rush in Montana and the town was named Varina (Jefferson Davis’s wife’s name) because most of the miners were southern sympathizers. The judge who incorporated the town was a Union supporter and changed the name to the similar; V irginia City.
August 9, 2009
August 9th, 2009West Yellowstone, Mt to Ennis, Mt
73 miles
17.6 average mph
Hwy 287
I rode through some beautiful mountains and descended about 2000 total so it is warmer today (73 degrees). The little town of Ennis is surrounded by mountains and a number of creeks. There is some irrigation for farming in the area and it is fairly green. Otherwise the area is mainly used for cattle ranching.