Idaho wilderness

Our campsite the first night in the 66 miles in the wilderness area in Idaho leading up to Lolo Pass

First two are of Liz's crash on the way into Powell and her injury, and last one is of our campsite at Powell.

Time's up! more photos soon

Grangeville, Idaho

Jo, her dog Gem and one of the cats outside her beautiful home

View of the Gospel Hump mountains leaving Jo's house
Ride out of Grangeville and into Kooskia

Sign at the ranger station

Grangeville, Idaho

The road to Jo's house outside Grangeville, Idaho

Liz and her new friends


Jo's horses and us (sorry, Jo, my memory is lapsing and I can't remember all their names!)

Lander, Wyoming

A lot has happened since the last post in Twin Bridges, Montana. Since then we've entered a new state, toured Yellowstone on bikes, been in total awe of the Grand Tetons, spent a night in a bathroom, and biked our most miles in a day, which was the 85-mile stretch yesterday. We also climbed the second-highest pass of the trip two days ago.

Despite what we'd heard about bad RV traffic and inconsiderate tourists, traveling through Yellowstone was an awesome experience. We'd spent Saturday night in the yard of the West Yellowstone Catholic Church, and got up at the crack of dawn to beat the traffic into the park. Heidi and I both felt like we were biking into Jurassic Park as we approached the imposing customs-like gates at the west entrance to the park. It was misting and foggy, and very chilly.

We had a peaceful, hushed ride into the park, traveling a tree-lined road, and about an hour into our ride the fog lifted and the sun came out. We spent the day stopping at bubbling mud pits, geysers, and hot springs, and trying to keep as many cars between us and the bison and elk as possible.

At the end of our first day in the park, we had to cross the Continental Divide two times. During the first climb we saw the clouds gathering, and during the second the sky got very dark and it began thundering. We flagged down a pick-up from Oklahoma and just as we threw all our gear in the back and got in the back ourselves, it started hailing and raining on us. We both had our helmets on, at least, so no permanent damage was inflicted.

The second day in Yellowstone we had an uneventful ride out of the park, and into Grand Teton National Park which is only 7 miles down the road. The Tetons are incredible, and I think they are the most beautiful natural thing I have seen traveling the U.S. I could go on, but Heidi will post pictures that will capture it better than any words could.

In the Tetons our campground host informed us that they'd had lots of problem bears in the campground, and that they'd shot a problem bear a few weeks back in our part of the campground. Let's just say that Heidi and I have been Extremely Nervous about bears. Because there were no other women in the hiker/biker campsites, we set up house in the bathrooms and slept very comfortably, with the door closed and barricaded by the trash can. It doesn't help that we keep picking up literature about how to survive in "Grizzly Country" and books about bear attacks.

In the Tetons we also met two guys who are biking the Great Divide trail...It requires a mountain bike. They talked about biking through fresh grizzly scat and that seeing three cars in a day is a lot. I'm glad we're not doing that one!

After the Tetons we climbed Togwatee Pass, at over 9,500 feet and around 16 miles of noticeable climbing. That was a long day. Thankfully we had a comfy cabin to sleep in that night at a biker hostel on the other side of the pass. Dave and Joann have hosted many bicyclists, and it was really nice to have a warm shower and a gigantic spaghetti dinner, although I was completely wiped out by the day's riding.

Well, time's up. Wish I could say more. Heidi's posting pictures beside me, so that will give you another window into our journey.

White Bird, Idaho photos

The historical marker for the battle of White Bird, part of the Nez Perce war.
The view from the long climb up White Bird hill.
Our long, winding road... Above it is the new highway, called one of the most treacherous because of the grade.
Another view from the top

More Idaho photos

Liz and Lou with a flat and chain snarl ourside White Bird, Idaho
A book I never should have picked up...
View from our campsite outside White Bird
Another view of the river from our campsite

More Idaho photos

Our campsite in Riggins
Liz fixes a flat outside White Bird, before we decided just to call it a day
Our view from the RV park in White Bird
Glad we're not in cars!

Never mind - the clock on this computer is 20 minutes fast!

We passed this sign on our way out of Council on the way to New Meadows.
The Salmon River
They cleaned the highway for eight miles. No one we asked knew who they were. (Oh, the things you notice while riding a bicycle.)
A waterfall on the Salmon River (these are all Idaho photos)

More Council, Idaho photos

The courthouse park
The old Adams County Courthouse, made more creepy by the duststorm
This one is for Nate Mateer Rempel and the rest of the band.
The beautiful sunset after the storm.

The library is closing, so I'll post more pictures as soon as I can. At least we're only a state behind now!

ciao, heidi

Council, Idaho - cooking dinner behind the post office during a freaky dust storm

Liz laboring over quinoa and veggies
The storm clouds over the haunted courthouse
Dinnertime!
The duststorm

Hells Canyon, Oregon to Hell's Canyon, IDAHO!!!!

The view from our campsite in Idaho
Our little tent is on the left, near the retaining wall
Our campsite, one of the more incredible views

Scenes from the recent wildfire at Hell's Canyon, Oregon

You can see how the fires jumped around, scorching one side of the river but stopping before the road
Many dead trees had curled branches such as this.

Evidence of wildfires - firefighters camped out in the city park in Halfway (excuse me, half.com), Oregon

(once again, this should be at the end)
The road out of Richland was a steep climb into Halfway, with landscape scorched by recent fires

Almost out of Oregon!!!

The view on the ride from Baker City to Richland.
Another view - this is actually where a landslide took place a few years back
Leslie and Josh, who we camped with (and weathered the storm with) under the shelter in the Grange park in Richland, Oregon
The shelter in the park in Richland