weather or not

The question of the last few days has been whether or not to keep biking each day. We've had some weather come through from the Pacific Northwest that brought days of rain. We did a bit of both--stop early and push through. We're currently in White Bird, Idaho and we just visited the Whitebird Battlefield.

After we left Twin Bridges we joined up with the Lewis and Clark Trail and followed it into Dillon. We stayed at our second KOA of the trip but this one didn't have the batting cages, mi nature golf and inflatable lawn ornaments featured at other KOAs--it still had a pool. The next day we were hoping to climb over three passes--Badger Pass, Big Hole Pass and Chief Joseph Pass so that we could avoid another cold morning and descent from above 6,000 feet. When we got up into the Big Hole Basin we picked up a bottle of red wine from Kristin's sister Katie at the post office in Jackson. It had a dinosaur on it. We took advantage of a tailwind and headed to Wisdom, the last town before Chief Joseph Pass. Before we got there the winds turned completely around on us and nearly pushed us off the road. Just before they changed, they picked up a vanilla scent. When we got to the prophetically named town of Wisdom, our route turned directly into the wind and the sky was threatening rain. We called it a day and watched Olympic horse dressage competitions on the TV in our motel. The Dutch lady won an unprecedented third gold medal. Then we ate two dinners and drank the bottle of wine.

In the morning, we passed the site of the Big Hole battle between Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce and the US Army. At this point we began following the Nez Perce's flight to Canada from White Bird, backwards. We then climbed up to Chief Joseph Pass and our last time crossing the continental divide--#9. We caught good tailwinds down the Bitterroot Valley to pick up chocolate peanut butter chip cookies from Tara and Phil. They were GOOD! We really enjoyed the Bitterroot Mountains until ominous black clouds and screaming headwinds came down about 14 miles from Lolo, our destination. We made it in with a few spits of rain and hail and stayed in another motel. We got a good Mexican dinner and did laundry next to a liquor store. Some friendly bikers were making good use of the proximity.

The next morning it was rainy rainy but we decided to ride anyway. We headed along Lolo creek towards Lolo Pass. When Lewis and Clark went over the pass they stayed up high and battled snow. We stayed near the creek and battled rain. By the time we got 25 miles in, we were cold and wet. We warmed up by getting more wet--in Lolo Hot Springs! The water temperature was about 103. We were trying to decide whether to stay there or climb 7 more miles over the pass and into Idaho and stay at Lochsa Lodge on the other side. We called the lodge to ask about cabins and decided to push through when there was a break in the rain. It didn't last long and we were soon cold and wet, again. We made it to the pass where they had FREE hot chocolate and coffee! AND we learned that the lodge was full. They neglected to mention this on the phone. We got lots of advice from sympathetic travellers and rangers, and we came up with three options: sit in the lodge and look forlorn hoping someone would take us into their cabin, ask at the ranger station to set up our tent under an awning, or go to the Powell campground and hope for a pavilion. When we got to the lodge we paid to shower and ate a meal but no one offered a dry place to stay. Feeling like there was no room at the inn, we rode down to the ranger station looking for a ranger. We caught them as they we closing and it turned out 3 other cyclists were in the same situation. They got permission to stay in the schoolhouse at the station--with heat and a bathroom with a shower. We stayed there too and caught happy hour at the lodge with our three new cyclist friends. They were a lot of fun. We swapped stories and one of them was towing a dog. It was once again amazing how bad days can turn good so quickly.

Yesterday the rain cleared up. Under morning fog we descended along the Lochsa/Clearwater River through a forested, steep-walled valley. When the sun burned off the fog we began to really enjoy the scenery. We followed the Clearwater all the way to Kooskia where we decided to keep going because we were having such a nice ride. We climbed up another branch of the Clearwater River and then through basalt deposits to Grangeville, Idaho. We skipped internet yesterday and decided we were more excited about cell phone service and a diner breakfast!

Now we are in White Bird where the Chief Joseph Band of Nez Perce began their flight after a major battle and victory over the US Army. It has been interesting followings these trails: the Lewis and Clark, the Oregon, and the Nez Perce. It has given us breaks at interpretive signs and something to think about as we ride.

We are hoping to arrive in Tigard next Saturday. If you are interested in riding in with us and are in the area, we'll put more information up soon about a rendezvous near Champoeg Park.

Numbers
16 - days with rain. When we were in Idaho we realized we've been rained on in every state (except Maryland) so we'll see what happens in Oregon.