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Published: August 5th 2018
Bruce and I were on our bikes about seven this morning after a quick hotel breakfast.
We started climbing right away.
After only 10 minutes out of Grangeville, we turned off of Highway 95 onto Old White Bird Hill Road. It was a narrow road that switchbacked through the tall pines for about eleven miles. A beautiful quiet road.
At one point, we startled a cow that had somehow gotten through the fence onto our road. Our bikes must have really scared her, because she frantically ran up the hill ahead of us trying desperately to get back on the other side of the fence.
Finally, after about a quarter of a mile, she charged through the barbed wire breaking the fence! We cheered her success.
Soon we saw her back with her friends.
Upon reaching the summit, we turned back onto Hwy 95 and screamed down a very steep hill for another 7 miles before finally arriving alongside the Salmon River. Our ride then paralleld the river for another 30 miles.
The only similarity to the last few days was that we were alongside a river. The beautiful forests had disappeared and the
Salmon River winded through brown hillsides much as we see in Southern California.
It is hard to believe how drastically the scenery had changed!
What happened to the beautiful pine forests?
Although we were riding upriver, the climb was very slight all the way to Riggins.
Once again we got to listen to the fast moving water but I missed the beauty of the Lochsa.
About 10 miles from Riggins we started seeing some whitewater rafts heading downriver.
Someday I would love to return and jump into one of those rafts.
We arrived in Riggins very early today and had the whole afternoon to enjoy our great lodging alongside the Salmon River.
Our ride tomorrow will climb over another mountain and descend down toward the Little Salmon River.
It should be fun.
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