Sometime during the night, I could have SWORN that I heard scratching on the door...or something else! As usual during the wee hours of the morning, my imagination...and adrenaline...was in full swing. What if it was a bear? My food was in my locked plastic side bag...Mike's was too...but Scott's was in his cloth dirt bags. It wouldn't take too much to tear into those things...and what if the bear REALLY got after it on my bike, or Mike's? If they tipped over, they would end up rolling 60 feet down a steep hill...I better check it out!
No bears and the bikes were still there...must have been the owners damn dogs...stupid mutts...
Next morning I made some oatmeal for a quick bite to eat (no continental breakfast...) and a shower by flashlight...yes, that's right...by flashlight. It was awesome. The owner only turned the power on when he deemed it necessary, so there were no lights until about 9:00 to 11:00 PM. And it turns out the shower I was in had the only flashlight...others had to just leave the door open...classy! If you're wanting a nice romantic weekend with the honey, don't go to Red River Hot Springs...unless you don't want to see her face when it gets dark...or in the shower...
So, we're on our way...we decided to make our way to Grangeville for some breakfast and a chance to formulate a new plan. Not making it through Lolo Motorway and actually making it through Magrudor was a small surprise, so we had some stuff to figure out...
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| Cool rock overhang on the road into Grangeville-great moving pic, Mike! |
I've never been on the east side of Grangeville, but let me tell you...the Mt. Idaho Grade leading into town was beautiful, and the ride was fun. I love the feeling of windy two-lane highway that climbs like crazy. You could also see for MILES! I don't remember any turnouts, so unfortunately...no pics. You'll have to check it out for yourself.
At breakfast we decided to ride the back road down to Riggins where we'd continue on the next day toward McCall. The 'back road' out of Grangeville was actually a nice paved road that turned into a great gravel road after about 20 miles.
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| The end of the paved road |
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| Beginning of the Gravel |
It was pretty cool to cross the centennial trail too...looks like there had been ATV's on it...maybe this could be a fun future ride???
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| The Centennial Trail |
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| Centennial trail marker |
Continuing on over the ridge, this was the view into the Riggins valley...that's the Salmon River cutting between the mountains. If you look close, you can still see snow on the peaks to the left...what a view! I had driven the road through Riggins before (not much to see), but this was a view I had never seen...sweet...
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| Riggins Valley |
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| Me rolling by.. |
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| Scott's Bumblebee and Fud's purple GS |
As we descended into the Salmon River canyon, it felt like someone turned on a blow dryer...holy crap it was toasty!
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| Mike (Trail Boss) rolling in |
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| The Fud rolling in |
We headed into Riggins for a quick burger and beer at the 'Seven Devils' bar. The waitress was nice enough to let us know the bridge to the other side of the river closed at 6:00...we had to make dust!. A fast stop at the liqueur and grocery store and we were on our way up the river. On a side-note, Mike scored a free 2-gallon water jug sitting on top of a newspaper stand outside the grocery store...sweet! I have to admit, I didn't think he'd have room, but he found room...
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| Trail Boss and Bumlbebee crossing the bridge over the Salmon River |
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| Salmon River |
So here's camp...great view eh? The only bummer was the damn heat...boy it was hot! Terry had another great Fudism that captured the moment: "Well here we are, the butt-crack of mother nature!". He was referring to the heat, not the view...I guess butt-cracks are hot????
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| View from my tent door... |
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| Scotty cookin' dinner |
There's quite a few things I learned on this trip...besides the packing lighter idea...and different cooking ideas was another. Remember, I packed like I wasn't going to see a grocery store for 9 days...
While Fud and I were perfectly content with eating dehydrated meals, Scott and Mike had no intention of eating any of that crap. This night, Fud and I watched these two get busy cookin' steaks and chicken. I didn't know there was such an art to this...but there is, and they've got the touch. I don't know if it was from being so tired, or hot, or just plain hungry but that steak n' chicken tasted mighty good!
My tummy was still not liking the whiff of whiskey, but I managed to start enjoying a bit of wine. Bota makes a great boxed wine that's easy to pack and contains 3 glasses of wine...or 1 phil-sized glass of wine. The guys were givin' me crap about packing wine on this trip, but there was no way I could stomach straight whiskey any more...since we forgot the Cola at the grocery store! I wasn't in the drinkin' saddle again, but my little boxed wine made me feel like I at least had my foot in the stirrup! I got even more razzing the rest of the night for putting down a good portion of Mike's free jug o' water...
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| Day 5 Track |
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