5527 the highest yet. Not too bad of a ride either.

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Thought for the day:
A long strip of smooth asphalt is good for the soul.

addendum:
Rainbows are nice but they come as a package deal, you have to take the rain too. There is no free bow.

Butterflies are nice and have no such down side.

A strong tailwind can bring many, many happy miles.

Today has been a hard ride. Last night, when I left Grand View I was at about 2400 Ft. This morning I set a new altitude record for the trip 5035 Ft.

Yes, it has been all up hill. The temp on the bike was at 103 and then the wind started blowing, hard. So, there I was riding up hill into the wind in the desert heat wondering what the heck I was doing.

So, I found a tree, took a nap in the shade. Then, ate some Oreos and drank some gatorade and enjoyed the cool breeze. The wind will change directions, the sun will set, and the temperatures will drop all in due time. Then I will ride, in the meanwhile I am going to enjoy some tunes on the iPod in the shade.

By the way, I expect the altitude record to fall very soon. I am at about 5000 Ft now and I see I large mountain in front of me. I am kind of excited to find out how high it really is.

Wait, the wind has died down, and I think a rain cloud just covered the sun. Let me check.

Yes! It did…I had not thought of a cooling rain shower and no sun. Wow, I am on my way again!

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Well, yesterday was very interesting. I spent most of the day hiding from the heat at the public library in Grand View. Very nice people there. I had a great time.

Then about 5pm I started the 25 mile journey across the desert to Mountain Home. Ouch! Was it hot! The thermometer on my bike read 107.3!!!! It didn’t take long to get to Mountain Home although it seemed to be almost all up hill. A climb of about 1000 Ft.

Today, I am heading towards Fairfield. I was told that it is at about 5000 Ft. If so, that will be a climb of about 2000 Ft. and take me to my highest altitude of this trip. I hope it is cooler up there. I also pass through a town called Hill City (a little scary).

We will see…

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I had a request from Ryan to say ‘Hi’ to someone in Idaho and he got two for the price of one. This is Kathy and Willie from Grand View, Idaho. They are librarians at the public library. Both were pleased to receive the Pennsylvania greeting and sent a hardy ‘Howdy!’ back.

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I guess I need to catch everyone up. I got a flat tire about 5 miles from Parma, ID and so walked the bike into town where I stayed the night. It was good to sleep.

I went through Boise, ID yesterday. I ran by Northwest Nazarene College. Then headed out into the desert. Very hot! 101 Degrees with a head wind. I saw this dinosaur along the highway (picture above). Very cool. I rode too late last night and stopped about 11:30pm. The nice thing is that it gets dark later here. Very late. It really was only dark for the last 15 mins of the ride. I was riding back country roads. I didn’t pass a car for at least an hr. It was the nicest part of the ride all day.

I slept in a park in Grand View, ID last night. The sheriff told me to camp there. I was like you mean on that really nice soft grass?? It was nice. The softest place I have camped yet. But there was a problem. There were sprinklers. I saw them when I set up the tent, and they came on about 4 am. Nice. I was dry in the tent but it woke me up.

Today I plan to get to Mountain Home. It is about 23 miles from here, but after that it is a long ways to anywhere. So, I will probably sleep there. Rest up for the long trip across the high desert of Idaho.

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Ok, lets try something new. I keep seeing these hisroric markers. I take a picture and move on. I tell people about them on the phone, but that is the end. So, I was thinking, what if I posted the text from them. It should add flavior to the log and give me a chance to rest at the same time.

This time you get two for the price of one. I am on St Rt 78 about 23 miles east of Silver City, and there are 2 signs here.

“War Eagle Mines”
For a decade after 1864, most of Silver City’s fabulous wealth came from Upper War Eagle Mountain, which rises a vertical mile from here.

With lodes far richer than those found elsewhere, War Eagle miners fought a series of violent wars for control of valuable claims. Troops from Fort Boise finally had to intervene in a one-armed clash in 1868. San Francisco bank failures ended production there in 1875 and thriving camps became ghost towns.

“Diamond Gulch”
In December, 1865, Idaho’s govener — Cleb Lyon of Lyondale — set of wild rish to Diamond Gouch, visible a few miles west of here, with a story that was too good to be true.

He told miner in Silver City that a prospector had given him some some priceless diamonds from that area. Enough gems of interest to rock hounds were found there to maintain a diamond frenzy that winter. A similar excitement followed in 1892, but no actual diamonds were recovered in Diamond Gouch.

So, there you have it. I will include a picture of the mountain in the next post.

Let me know what you think of the history markers so I will know to continue with this idea.

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Wow! What a storm! For about the last hour I was out running the storm. It was like a dark monster moving across the valley. Then road turned right under it.

There was rain, buckets of it, there was wind, lightning and thunder. To top it all off, hail!

I saw it coming so I looked for cover and found it just as the first drops fell. It was a very nice day until this.

I also came across this shoe tree yesterday. Thought i would include the picture today. There were hundreds of shoes, boots, and flip flops.

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Today has been wonderful, by far the best day of the trip. 82 miles today. I have been in 4 different eco systems. I started in high desert, then moved into a wetlands area. It must be a migration corridor. There were so many different birds, many of whom looked to be ocean fowl. Then I moved into the mountains, dry and wind swept. Finally, I followed a river through a gorge. Absolutely beautiful. I took so many pictures, but I am sure they will not do it justice. The canyon walls towered what had to be 1000 feet above the river and the road. Amazing.

I am just about to sleep, and I hear an owl hooting. Night before last it was coyotes. I think I like the owl better.

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Stinkwater Pass elev. 4848 the highest point in this trip so far. Just a few details. Since leaving LA I have peddled 711 miles. One week ago I left the ocean. That was 381 miles ago and almost one mile in elevation. Not bad for a weeks work.

711 miles seems like a long way, but it is about 1/6th the distance I will travel in this trip. 4848 feet seems high, but I will go at least twice this high in Yellowstone.

As I look back, this has been a great trip. Tomorrow, I plan to leave Oregon, another mile stone. I am very excited about the Rockies. I hope that the rest of this trip will be just as exciting as the first part.

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Another milestone today. I just entered a new time zone. Mountain time.

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