Today’s Date: May 27, 2024

Today’s Start Point: Oxbow, Oregon

Today’s End Point: Council, Idaho

Today’s Miles: 66.6 Miles

Cumulative Miles: 737.46 Miles

Since it was Memorial Day, I wanted to get out on the roads early to beat all of the weekend RV and boat traffic that was going to hit the streets.

The hard part of the day was going to be the climb out of the Snake River Canyon. I started riding south along the Snake River on the west side (Oregon). It was gently rolling, weaving in and out with the river. At that early of an hour in the morning, the light hitting the hills was stunning.

This went on for about ten miles and then I crossed over to the other side of the bridge and entered Idaho. I cannot lie and tell you that it didn’t mean that much to me, but to knock off a state felt good. I was so excited I stopped to take a picture, could not unclip, and crashed to the ground. Nothing broken on me or the bike (except my pride), so I picked myself up and started the 10 mile climb. It was probably a very lovely climb but it was hot and long, so I will have to guess at the first part.

I took many breaks to save the shin and all in all, it worked pretty good. However, in all other ways this climb hurt. With the pain comes a great sense of accomplishment when you get to the top (after about 5 or 10 minutes of heavy breathing).

In cycling, if you go up, you get to go down. After the climb, I descended about 17 miles to the town of Cambridge, Idaho. I am glad I got there when I did, because I was out of water and food. The road was primarily straight so I could really gain some time (especially since I forgot that I changed time zones and lost an hour when I entered Idaho).

In Cambridge I stopped at the gas station to restock and find something for lunch. You haven’t lived until you have eaten two barbecue burritos (not even sure what the meat was) at a Shell station.

Once I had suitably dined, next stop was Council, Idaho, my stop for the night. I had called ahead for a spot at an RV park. From Cambridge, the road was relatively flat with a one and a half mile climb. The road to Council, Idaho was nice, but not as spectacular as the ride along the Snake River. Although there are sights of the big peaks in the distance, this area consisted of broad plains surrounded by rounded grassy hills.

When I arrived at Council I found the RV Park but the office was closed. I called the telephone number but there was no answer. I looked on my information sheets to see what else was around but there was nothing-no campsite, no hotel.

I am not very good in these situations so I had to slow myself down. One piece of information I had was that you may be able to ask permission of the local sheriff’s office let me sleep in one of their parks.

I called the sheriff’s office and the dispatcher was at first confused about what I was asking. She was very patient and wanted to help, so she called the undersheriff for assistance. She took my number and called me back five minutes later and informed me that the undersheriff said I could sleep in a park near the town’s recreation center.

It’s a beautiful little park with covered picnic tables AND public washrooms. It’s better than most campgrounds that I have seen. The undersheriff stopped by once I had my tent set up to see if everything was ok. There are a lot of nice people out there.

I would like to thank the sheriff’s office for helping me out in a tough situation. With my only other option being riding another 25 miles, they really helped me out.

After the excitement, it was time to write this blog and relax.