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Day 11 Halfway, Oregon (population 303) to Cambridge, Idaho (population 328)
Well that was an interesting night for sure! I slept in the shack "out back." On my way to the shack to go to bed, I saw a large feral cat. That sprang my imagination into high speed. Hmm I wonder why it ran under the shack? Will birds and snakes crawl into my shack? Oh bother! When I finally went to sleep, I slept well. No creatures visited in the night. Monday morning. Up bright and early! Lauran gave me a gentle reminder to wake up. As she had already perked a pot of coffee, I was eager to get up and get going. We all bustled about the place packing and preparing for today's climb; almost identical to yesterday's trajectory. Today we hoped to get started an hour earlier to avoid the predicted high heat. We might make all 58 miles if we planned it right. Donning some very strange looking duck billed visors, we set off into the rising sun. What a fantastic morning. Flying up over hills and down the other side on Hells Canyon Rd. I got a great view of an Elk standin...
Day 10: Baker City to Halfway, OR, 54 mi & 2,700 ft ascent
Starting at 6:49 am to take advantage of the comfortable 65 degree morning, we rolled out of Baker City and were quickly welcomed by a brief climb to 3,684 ft. This part of the route followed the old Oregon Trail and the Powder River for a good portion and included a fantastic downhill ride to Richland. S everal of us thought this was the most pleasant ride of the trip so far ... until we arrived at Richland and had to make a difficult decision -- do we fight the heat and climb to the next pass at 4,131 ft or do we enjoy a berry cobbler at the local diner then hitch a ride with Lesli in the sag wagon? Of course Sue Sister cruised ahead and already arrived in Halfway while several of us opted to make the 6 mi climb up a very steep grade (5-7%). It required 3-4 brief rest stops to catch our breathe. Once at the top, we were treated to a spectacular ride down to Halfway. But it took a lot of effort to...

And … you’re off! I’m psyched my bike is traveling westward in such distinguished company. Stephanie and I are getting a wee bit antsy. It will be challenging to wait another week til our flight to Oregon.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if your flight has happened yet but we're praying for safe travels and can't wait to see the starting line...dip your feet in the pacific too!
DeleteSafe travels!!!
ReplyDeleteYAY!! Safe travels West!!
ReplyDeleteI love the coffee cup in the corner. Seeing the pic and hearing you are in Illinois is getting me jealous and feeling left out. Please remember to send pics when you are going up hills so I can appreciate being home (with my doggie).
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha! We will miss you!
DeleteChecking in, safe travels...start date is the 15th, correct??
ReplyDeleteOops just adding my name
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading about the adventures along the way..Enjoy!
ReplyDelete