Smoke On The Water

After a disappointing breakfast (no surprise) at the Grand Hell Hole, we geared up and left Lewiston with a sour taste for the town. We jumped on the Nez Perce Trail. We peeled away from the Clearwater River and headed south on Highway 95 to Grangeville.

We climbed up Hell’s Canyon to White Bird, the site of a battle of the US Army and the Nez Perce Indians. We stopped for an espresso and couldn’t resist huckleberry ice cream. It was delicious. At this point we began following the Salmon River.

Continuing into Hell’s Canyon we reached a high grassy plain and encountered more grain and seed crops. We saw some being harvested and decided the air was poor because of crop dust. As we continued to climb, we realized it was smoke because we could smell it. We soon passed signs warning of wildfire traffic and saw that the fire was on the other side of the ridge we just passed. We also passed a muster station for the fire fighters.

We followed the Salmon River for quite a while. We saw lots of white water rafters at Riggins which is the location of the Salmon and Little Salmon River confluence.

We stopped for a rest about an hour outside of Ontario in New Meadows, Idaho which is cattle country. While we were drinking our Gatorade, a guy walked past us and said “nice bike, man!” Cathy was offended since she is half owner… man!

The road became more forested and we went over another pass. We followed the Payette River as it joined the Snake River and ushered us into Ontario.

Tomorrow we will go through dry high desert with no rivers; just Lake Abert which is a stinky, alkaline lake. A necessary journey if we want to get home.

Today’s pictures were muted with smoke, crop dust and clouds but we did see some good barns today. Here’s today’s picture…