Up at 6 am this morning and on the road at 6:45. Nice and cool out…ready to attack the big climb then have breakfast about 20 or so miles down the road. 60 degrees with a high of 87 today and sunny…at the risk of jinxing myself I sure have had some great weather lately…hope it holds out.
What a climb. No more of the Rocky Mountain 6% stuff….it seems they just spread asphalt over the mountain as it is here like in the Appalachians. Back to the kind of climbing where it’s not enough to just push on the peddles—you have to push the peddle and pull back with your arms to get up this mountain. The road is Called Lamb Grade road….they should rename it Mountain Goat Grade Road.
Back into wheat fields….starting to look like Kansas with mountains. Saw at least a half dozen deer in the wheat fields today…all you can see is their head above the wheat. When they spot me they try to duck down and hide.
Stopped in Grangeville at 25 miles in at the Cenex gas station and Taco Johns for breakfast….Diet Coke, orange juice, banana nut muffin, and two breakfast burritos.
Topped white bird hill at 11:30. Must be out of the Rockies now since they are calling them “hills” instead of mountains or passes 🙂 it was a tough climb regardless of what its called.
Along the Salmon river there is a white sand beach every few hundred yards….you could take your pick of your own private beach here…lots of rafting on the river. Riggins seems to be the place to go if you want to do some me white water rafting—everything I saw of the river seemed to be rather mild, but would be great for the family.
Crossed the bridge over the Salmon River into Riggins and saw a sign telling me I’m back in the Mountain Time Zone….feel like I took a wrong turn and am headed the wrong way :-). Checked the map and I’ll be back in the Pacific Time Zone when I hit Oregon in a day or two…so, going the right way just not really sure what time it is 🙂
Still feeling great…another big(ish) climb tomorrow morning. Seems climbing up to 4,000+ feet then dropping back down to 1,200+ feet then doing it again is the order of the day now….not bad though…makes for a good workout 🙂
