Sunday, August 9, 2009 Kamiah, ID

Today definitely was our toughest day so far. We climbed 5906 ft. to Kamiah (pronouced Kam-e-i). Although we began the day with a 5.5 mile delightful ride along the Snake River, we soon turned onto Hwy 505 which was along many horse farms, then to Hwy 506 where we discovered a one mile steep descent (no shoulder but also no traffic), then Hwy 95 thru Culdasac. From here on for a long way, we were riding in the Nez Perce Reservation. At Culdasac, we made a sharp right turn and began a 10 mile climb on the old Winchester Rd. At the top, we had gone 38 miles total and it had taken 5 hours! The road was good and had a yellow center line, but there was a steep drop off much of the time. As we went round and round and up and up, the views became more and more spectacular, mostly wheat fields both cut and uncut on massive rolling hills. At the top, we rode the ridge for another 11 miles or so thru the village of Winchester (pop 308) where we stopped at Miss Lilly's for a very hearty lunch of beef goulash. Man, did that taste good after such a climb! Then it was on to Jentges Rd. where we experienced some steep rollers. All morning I was concerned about a 10 mile descent into Kamiah 'cause I was afraid it would be like yesterday's descent into Lewsiton. Today, however, going down turned out to be "a piece of cake" and I actually enjoyed the long downhill. Virginia and I rode together all day and enjoyed stopping to read most of the historical markers re the L&C expedition, the Nez Perce Indians and the geological information re the terrain. As we neared Kamiah, we rode along the Clearwater River which is beautiful. This morning on the Snake River there were countless men out in their fishing boats between 6:30 and 7:00. I think the Clearwater River may have been to swift.