Day 8 : July 16, 2011

Baker City, OR to Payette (NFCampground), ID

97 Miles

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I was given a heads up that the climb out of Baker City isn't too bad, but 

the climb out of Richland is pretty large.

Mainly due to the long switchbacks that are boring even when riding in a car.

There had to be about 8 or more of these .5 mile+ climbs to

the 3, 653' Pass

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The decent leads you down into Hells Canyon Region.

 It was a beautiful, fast decent into the town of Halfway.

I could have been pulled over by the cops for speeding ;)

It is always fun to see how fast you can get going on the down hill...and see how long it takes the car behind you to pass.

I continued further down into the Canyon area, and was planning to make a pit stop outside of Oxbow for lunch and ice cream.

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I realized it had been around 7 hours and I had not ate much since breakfast other than a half of a Clif bar

and 2 boiled egg whites.

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When I hit the Oxbow area, it was time to eat.

I hit up the bar next door and enjoyed a massive double cheeseburger

and had my veggie intake with a bloody mary.

Delicious.

But not the smartest idea after not having ate much all day.

I sat there in the bar recovering from my burger and beverage for a couple hours.

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There was approximately 13 miles along the Snake River and until I would cross over into Idaho.

Completing State #1 Oregon.

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This is where my day became more interesting.

About 6 miles from the border I began to notice darker clouds rolling in.

I prepared my gear with rain cover.

Within minutes the weather took a complete turn.

Lightning filled the sky.

Thunder rumbled like a drumline.

And I was fighting winds that prevented me from moving.

Shielding my face from hail,

I had no where for protection.

I sat in the most dangerous spot.

By an electrical pole.

It was the only thing that could block some of the weather.

I had taken a pretty cool video of this storm, showing the wind and noise, but it won't upload.

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I kept praying for safety.

The likely hood of a vehicle to drive by was slim due to the condition.

BUT,

heading the opposite direction came a vehicle.  I was too late to notice to have stepped out and wave it down.  I watched as it disappeared around the curve.

Luckily, the lights flashing on my bike caught their attention, and a couple minutes later they pulled up next to me and told me, "LEAVE YOUR BIKE and GET IN NOW!"

It was a husband and wife and their daughter.

We sat there trying to figure out what to do...wondering how fast the storm would pass.

The husband was employed as a search and rescuer, so it was very clear to him

the dangers of staying where we were.  He noticed the wash outs along the road beginning to happen and mentioned we better load my bike and either head back to their camper or we could drive ahead and get off this road because there is no support systems underneath, and in storms like these, when under pressure road wash outs can happen.

Within a mile or two up the road, we were already out of the storm.

Rocks and rumble were all over the road.

We crossed over the Snake River and into IDAHO.

They offered to drive me to my camp, but with head to toe and gear soaked

I figured if I ride for a bit, it would give myself and gear a chance to dry out.

We unloaded, the husband gave me a thick beanie hat because conversation was brought up about how cold I am at night, swapped contact, and I was on my way.

It was a 3 mile climb to the first campground.

The road was very steep,  a lot of curves, and a pebble road.

I reached the campground and road around it and decided I wanted to continue on because the location wasn't my cup of tea.

According to my map...it was only another 3 miles until a NFCampground.

I figured it would be worth it.

Soon I peaked at the top of the Brownlee Reservior

 and began a couple mile decent.

I came across a closed convenient store, but luckily next door a girl was sitting outside and I asked if there was a campground near.

She said, "Yeah there is, but it is 6 miles away, and a big uphill the whole way."

I was not wanting to hear that because I was already over 90 miles.

She asked if I need an official campsite because I could camp in the driveway.

That didn't appeal to me.  I thanked her for the offer

and knew I should hit the road because it was after 8PM.

*

It was a climb.

and

At this point in the day,

your body is running on every last store of energy.

I had none.

It was more so my mind

that had me riding the line of emotional break down.

I tried flagging down vehicles to have reassurance that there was a campground still ahead.

Every vehicle just waved.

I put my forehead on the handlebars for a few seconds, then began pedaling again.

Finally, I managed to stop a vehicle with a deliberate jester of my hand

and a look on my face that clearly read HELP.

They said it was just up the road. 

I was hoping for an offer of a ride in the bed of the truck.

No go.

I continued another 2 miles.

And there was the camp sign.

Reading : 1 mile.

With an arrow pointing down a little two track.

I got off my bike and pushed it up the first hill.

Road the bike down the hill.

and

Then got off it again to push it up the hill until the campground.

It was as if the camp was never going to come.

and after 45 minutes of walking and pushing 70 lbs of gear....

I came across this little historical labeled site

and decided this was where I was going to sleep.

I managed to have the energy to change out of my dirty bike clothes and into long johns.

and

Here,

I slept on the ground in the hammock under the tied up rain tarp.

Two thoughts :

~ Rain.

~ Bears.

Both in which I would be too tired and weak to do anything about.