Day 14 – White Bird, Idaho to Lowell, Idaho

The Lewis and Clark Trail

Today’s 72 mile day was a long one. It was even a few miles longer than it should have been due to some inaccurate directions on my map. In any case, I’m here in Lowell on the banks of the Clearwater River and am entering territory that Lewis and Clark explored. I’ll be riding to the top of Lolo Pass the day after tomorrow where they apparently had a rough go of it. Too bad they didn’t have bicycles.

I was on the road before seven this morning, which has been rare, but I had a long climb first thing and needed to get going. Just up the road from the town of White Bird is where the White Bird Battlefield is. This was a conflict that began in 1877 between the Nez Perce tribe and the US Calvary and lasted for months. 34 people died in this first battle. (Ironically, the Nez Perce had helped Lewis and Clark’s group back in 1805 when they desperately needed it.)

The climb I made was on old highway 95, instead of the new one. Virtually no one uses this older road any longer so the two plus hours of traffic-free climbing along with cool temperatures were about as nice as it gets.

I eventually got to the relatively big town of Grangeville (3000 people) around 11:00. I was riding on the main road through town when I heard someone call out “Hey, Dan!,” from the other side of the road. Very strange to have that happen in some small Idaho town. I looked over and there were a couple of guys standing there.  I pulled over and asked “Do I know you?” It turns out I had met them several days ago. They are cycling to Virginia as a team of three along with someone who carries their gear. The third of their trio is the one who rode along with me for a bit last week.  The two, Paul and Tim, were walking and not in their cycling gear, which is why they didn’t look familiar. We talked for a bit about how we’re holding up and the progress we’re making. They were taking a rest day and I needed to keep on going.

Outside of Grangeville it turned to farmland with incredibly huge wheat fields– and also some incredibly steep hills. A bit later I was on a very long and steep switchback downhill where you really had to be careful.  Then I arrived in the town of Stites. This was perhaps the least prosperous town I’ve been through so far. I stopped at a store to buy something to drink. It was one of the most barren stores I’ve ever seen, and a little depressing. The woman running it was very friendly though and was asking about my trip.

I then made my way over to highway 12, which will take me to the top of the pass on Friday. It’s not the best road for biking, but when there are no cars it can be quite good as it runs along the wide, shallow Clearwater River. At one point I was stopped in a construction zone and had to wait for ten minutes. A nice couple who were taking their oldest daughter up to Boise for her first year at college had their windows down and were asking me about my trip. We had a great chat and then I finished up the last 18 or so miles. Tomorrow is 66 to the town of Powell. Not sure if I’ll have internet there.