Beautiful Idaho Country

Who knew that Idaho was so amazing!  The last few days have been an incredible experience. I kind of pictured something totally different, drier, flatter and not near as breathtaking as it has been, wrong again, I need to stop making assumptions on states like I do.  We left Council and ended up in New Meadows where we stayed in the local park, not too terribly eventful, many people were worried when we told them, where we were headed at the coffee shop we stopped at in the morning, they said it was narrow and winding with little or no shoulder for 15 miles after about 10 miles out of town and from the sound of it we didn’t think it sounded a whole lot different than a lot of places we’ve been through, we left and rolled on down the road stopping 5 miles down the road to look at one of these visitor maps they put up, we’ve only been there a few minutes when this car pulls up and a lady comes walking up to us and starts asking us questions, she is exuberant. She loves what we are doing, she tells us she was driving the opposite direction and spotted us and had to swing back around to see us, I like her, she looks tough as nails and so hilarious, everything I want to be when I grow up, Linnea and her husband Alvin have been cattle ranchers in this valley for years, she told us if we made it that day to Riggins, about 33 miles away, she has a friend that has a restaurant that has the best milkshakes in the world, we could get whatever we wanted but highly recommended the banana cream pie shake that they made, this lit everyone up, the children love this, having a carrot dangled in front of them, keeps them going.  We say goodbye to Linnea and ride on down the canyon, Hell’s Canyon has been going on forever and I loved it the moment I set eyes on it but these narrow roads with big trucks and hidden corners are kind nerve racking and I am just picturing that milkshake as the great prize at the end.   The place is amazing, the Little Salmon River is wild and spirited and the steep canyon walls with waterfalls and tall pines all around make this place so fascinating, even crazier are the inhabitants spread out in this place intermittingly, they have these ramshackle cabins or trailers set precariously  on the walls of the canyon every now and again, one trailer park had the Yahweh’s 666  Warning Assembly, a church I guess, every once in awhile, there would be a small store that was closed down but mostly just wilderness.   Getting closer to  Riggins we passed a stretch of the river with about 1 mile of cars parked on the side, just car after car stacked up on the sides of the narrow road, fish for sale signs let me know what was going on here, the local Native Americans can catch spawning Salmon with nets and were scooping them out one after the other effortlessly and selling them right on the spot.  Riggins is an interesting place, very popular fishing and rafting area, has a real touristy feel to it with a Harley rider edge to it, we made a beeline to the Back Eddy Grill where Linnea had milkshakes waiting for us, we were so happy, it took us a good long while to settle on which kind to get, not only did they have 31 flavors but you could mix them up, this took awhile, I got myself the huckleberry cheesecake, so did Lilly, Ryan went ahead and took Linnea’s advice and got the Banana Cream Pie one, and the kids made some interesting combos, Abby got an interesting one by mixing butterscotch and cheesecake, it was pretty magical.  We tired to find a place to stay in town but the local park did not allow overnight camping so we left town a little way and found a pretty sweet spot next to the river on a sandy bank.  The next day was my Birthday and I wanted to lie around in the sun but we got rain that night and the next day was overcast and fridgid and I spent most of the day sleeping while Ryan went to town and picked up supplies, the kids made me all kinds of interesting gifts out of rocks and leaves and when Ryan came back, he brought stuff for dinner and made it, we had rice with meat and peanut sauce, pretty fancy stuff for us now days, Linnea asked me what the hardest aspect of life on the road was when we talked to her and I thought about that and told her I really miss cooking nice, big meals for people, not the slop were are eating now days, sadly instant mashers and rice make up the bulk of what we consume, it’s just plain artless fuel, I try to make it as palatable as possible and we are usually hungry enough to eat it but I do miss throwing out the art.   We try for White Bird the next day, we’ve been hearing about White Bird Pass since Oregon, “Oh, you have to go up White Bird” people would tell us in a sympathetic tone.  So we got to the town of White Bird after a beautiful ride and some all the locals are just busy as bees buzzing around trying to get things ready for their annual White Bird Days festivities, it’s a real big deal, most of them have tied one on for the occasion and are a real talkative bunch, they all agree we should take the Old White Bird Pass which is steeper and longer but does not have an traffic, we like no traffic, we stay in the school playground area and decide we’re are going to wake up early the next morning before it gets too hot and get this big, white sucker out of the way, we wake up at 5:30, and have breakfast and get off by 8, it’s already hot and the grade is steep right off the bat but it sure is purdy and we can see ahead to the road that switches back and forth up the this steep mountain, it looks giant but the new pass can be seen off to the side and is full of traffic and I am stoked to be on this road with just us even if it is longer. We just climbed and climbed, grinding away for switchback after switchback, Obby got wise and jumped off the bike and started right up the mountain on foot, I don’t think he saw the point in all this back and forth junk and before I knew it, I could see his tiny little form waving to me from the top of the pass.  I have to say that climbing this pass was totally enjoyable, we had a nice breeze, amazing views, the town of White Bird looked so tiny from the top I couldn’t believe it, had we really just left that place? Obby says we spanked that mountain, I agree, we whopped up on that thing.  We reached the summit by 12 noon and had in mind to make it to Kooskia which where we are right now, even though we had a delay in Grangeville after I fell off my bike and racked my crotch and elbow where I had to sit in front of the courthouse with a bag of ice between my legs, Ryan somehow thinks it hurts guys worse than girls but I think he’s smoking crack rock, when I finally mustered up the courage to look at it, I had split myself open and it was bleeding and my elbow had gotten a nice black lump on it.  We did make though, 25 miles with a total of 46 miles today with a summit and if it weren't for the soreness below I’d be in grand shape, I feel strong and energetic, so take that White Birdie. We are camped out in this neat little park next to the river, looks like a postcard.  Hopefully by tomorrow we’ll be in Lowell and Lolo Pass is either going to get spanked or we are going to get spanked up on.