Day 20 – July 2, 2015

Day 20 – July 2, 2015
Wild Goose campsite to Lochsa Lodge ID – in Powell – 67 miles

Bumble Bee – Audrey

Ok we intended on doing this day in two days. But we got ambitious. The morning’s ride was glorious as we left the Clearwater to go up the Lochsa river, famous for its white water rafting, but at this time of year that season is over, the river is just too low. But the ride was great, slowly winding up the river, with virtually no traffic. We did an easy 20 before really stopping. And, once again, I wore my bike jacket until about 25 miles into the day. Cool morning, we love them.

It is hard getting up so early. It is especially hard to break camp early, since most everything we do is in the dark and needs to be done by headlamp. We managed to cook some oatmeal and have some coffee too. Departure time 4:49 am, not bad.
Once the sun came up it started getting warmer, but much more gradual than down in the river valleys below. We were at about 2000 ft and that elevation helps. Sun block is alway important. We have a system, spray for the legs and some organic/vegan Devita stuff for the face – it doesn’t sting when you start sweating. The only problem is that you must apply it again later in day since it is actually not waterproof.

So we peddled and peddled, slowly up the mountain. It was not too challenging, especially before the sun came out. Luckily the road was pretty well shaded until about 10 am when it really started getting hot. We were rapidly going thru our water supply. What is both fantastic and scary about this area is that it is deep in the Clearwater National Forest and the Bitterroot Wilderness, so no facilities, campgrounds included, for almost 65 miles, that meant no water. If we needed more water I had to take out my water filter and make drinking water. We went on and on drinking our first level of extra water, the extra bottle holder on the bottom of the down tube. Then we started breaking into the “reserve” that Gregg attached to the front pannier. By this time we needed to stop and find a creek, I prefer the rushing water from the little creek to the river water, but anything would do. As we prepared to stop to do this we came across a parking lot where trail hikers park their vehicles, Gregg saw a young women and her dog getting out of a pick up and said he would ask her if she could spare some water. Low and behold, she had a 7 gallon fresh water tank that she filled our water bottles with. A savior, or what I call a “road angel”. The was at about 60 miles, and with our calculation there were only about 7 miles left.

Those 7 miles were really tough, not only were we tired from the mile we did but the heat was getting really bad. Each mile felt like it would never end. My feet began to burn again so every couple miles we had to stop for a minute of two. Finally a campsite, then another one, and then a sign 1/2 mile to Powell. The last 1/2 mile, as if to play a cruel joke on us were all up a steep incline, not now, not just before we got there. Finally we made it. Powell was not really a town, it was the Lochsa Lodge. It was a nice lodge with cabins and a nice restaurant. Looks like in the fall and winter it is a hunting lodge. We went in to reward ourselves with a burger and cold beer and found out there were lodging options open to us. Either we could get a cabin or camp for free ($5 showers) behind the little store. A young Swiss couple Niki and Sabine who we eventually had dinner with, were setting up their tent already. Gregg, needing his daily nap, had his eye on a bed so he reserved a cabin instead. I was open to either options.

After a wonderful deep nap and a shower we had a nice meal with the Swiss couple. They are doing the Trans America form Virginia (thru the middle of the country) to Astoria. So they were almost there with just 600 miles to go. This was a holiday tour for them, they may have been just around 30, both professionals who got the time off from their employers. It was nice to share stories and a beer. Listening to them really made me think of how much more we still have to do to make it across. It will be a long hard tour but a great adventure.