This morning we were still feeling the pain of several long days of riding, but after lunch we had warmed our muscles up, and through some miracle found a rhythm that felt really good. We've begun the climb to Lolo Pass, and we have roughly 1400 vertical feet a day to ride over the next three days. So, to compensate for the elevation gain we are shortening up our mileage. Today was about 60 miles, tomorrow should be about 40, and then the day we summit the pass should only be about 20 miles.
The terrain around us only gets more beautiful the more we ride into the mountains. There is no sign of the desert we left two days ago, and now everything is pine forest covered hills that grow and grow with every mile. A few miles out of camp we left the Clearwater for it's Middle Fork, and then at lunch the Middle Fork of the Clearwater became the Wild and Scenic Lochsa. We started to see our first whitewater on the Lochsa, and shortly thereafter our first rafters and kayakers. Luckily, the river keeps the road grade manageable because it would be hard to watch all those folks headed downstream if we were really toiling to go upstream. But, the riding is nice. A gentle incline, sun on our backs, and a cool mountain breeze.
Idaho definetly wins the prize for best campgrounds thus far. Tonight in camp there was a country and western jamboree. We went to watch for a few songs as a group of folks in there seventies and eighties gathere to play country music and dance the night away. They've been coming here twice a year for 27 years for this gathering. After the sun started to set and our bodies went in to sleep mode, we headed back to camp, but we didn't make it to bed. Instead we were enticed into the neighbors camp by free beers. Two kayakers from Jackson, WY, Bill and Fitzy, were in the camp across from us drinking away a long day on the river. So, we hung out drank their beers and listened to stories. They were quite a pair. Bill was ebbulient and talkative and Fitzy was sombre and quiet, but the back and forth between the two of them was gold. It was hard to tear ourselves away two hours later, but the body was weary and we had more climing to do in the morning.
The Wild and Scenic Lochsa
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