And We're Outta Idaho!

Sunday, September 10. Kamiah, ID to Clarkston, WA. Today's ride was only 70 miles, not like yesterday's near-century ride. Continuing our downhill tour of Idaho, we rode alongside the Clearwater River the entire day. Today was an almost perfect early fall day; warm and sunny. Seemed like a good day to risk our lives on Hwy 12.

The primary route through this area, according to the Adventure Cycling map, is a route that involves a 3,000 foot climb in about 10 miles. The alternate route along Hwy 12 is shorter and much, much flatter. The map clearly states that "riding on Hwy 12 is not recommended by either the DOT or local cyclists AND WE CONCUR". There was some language to the effect that we'd be voiding the warranty on our lives if we were foolish enough to attempt to ride this treacherous road. Couldn't wait to get started.

We hadn't just decided willy-nilly to ride Hwy 12. We had a plan. The narrative mentions that the traffic on the road is heavy, and that logging trucks use the road as their primary route to Missoula. Our plan was to ride the 96 miles to Kamiah on Saturday, so that we'd be on the "death highway" on Sunday. We were hoping that commercial traffic would be non-existant on Sundays. Fingers crossed, we set off.

Traffic was very minimal early on, and it was a gorgeous day, riding next to the river. As we rode along, the roadway reminded me of our ride in Yellowstone Park--with better sight lines and fewer RV's!

We passed the turnoff to Hwy 11 and the town of Greer, ID. Hwy 11 is an historic byway in Idaho, part of both the Gold Rush Trail and the Nez Perce homelands. There's a road to be ridden and stories to hear, but they'll have to wait for another trip.

At around lunchtime, we arrived at Orofino, located just across the river off Hwy 12. We pulled into Becky's Burgers, a converted gas station and garage. The place is filled with practical jokes, antique toys and photographic memorabilia. The best part was the larger-than-life,wooden cutout of "Becky", beckoning one and all to the cafe. One arm was motorized, and rocked up and down in a mechanized wave. The best part was the loud chunking noise coming from the arm's motor. It seemed to me like a good omen on Hwy. 12.

After lunch we passed the turnoff to Lenore, and continued with fingers crossed. After a couple more hours on the road, we stopped at a beautiful rest area with a lush green lawn and a half-dozen picnic tables. A snack of trail mix and beef jerky made for a nice break.

About 14 miles before Lewiston, the map directed us to take old Hwy 12. Even though the road was posted as closed to through traffic, we forged on ahead. Road closures mean nothing to us any more.

After a couple miles of rolling hills, we came on a barricade into a park area. According to the map, we were just supposed to go around it. They figure that if you've been dodging logging trucks on winding roads all day, the small matter of a barricade isn't going to be a problem. And they're right. We slid around it easily and then were on the grounds of the Spalding Mission, now a National Historic Park. The Spalding's brought religion to the Nez Perce Indians in the area, and began a small mission on this site. The Spaldings taught the Indians that everything they knew was wrong, everything they did was evil. (Even so, the Nez Perce did not kill them.) The current museum has a wonderful collection of Nez Perce artifacts used in daily life. Shortly before we entered Lewiston, ID, we passed the 6,000 mile mark. Today marked 20 weeks on the road, including 20 rest days. We've only got another 600 miles before our trip is over, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It took me a while to really get the fact that we were making this trip, so I guess it will take me some time to realize that it's over. Ask me again when I'm sitting in the hot tub on the beach.

We rode into Lewiston, and decided that we might as well cross the river and go on to Lewiston's sister-city, Clarkston. There were a couple of rolling hills at the end of our trip--but only to get across the river into Washington. The day ended safely at a Quality Inn on the river. We'd survived the "treacherous" alternate route on Hwy 12, and ended our 3-day tour of Idaho by riding downhill almost the entire way!