We departed the dirt road from Albeni Cove, spent a few final miles in Idaho, and entered Washington. This is the final state of this leg of the journey. Third-to-last for the entire trip. The ride was largely flat, with some occasional brief rolling climbs. We spent almost the entire day on LeClerc Road, following the Pend Oreille River.
About midway through the day we entered Kalispel Indian Reservation and took a stop at the Manressa Grotto. According to our map, this is a cave that Native Americans practiced Christian ceremonies until around the early 20th century. We clambered up a short path and enjoyed poking around inside. Carving your name into the rock looked to be a very popular activity for visitors.
After riding on one side of the river all day long our final stretch took us over a red steel bridge spanning a thousand feet or so. The surface was a metal grid of small, open squares so you could see directly through to the structure below you, and then the water farther below. That was fun. We made our home at an RV Park, campground, and car wash. The owner Gabe was very friendly and set us up with everything we could need. They have a gift shop as well and his daughter of about seven handled our transaction and with a little bit of coaching, gave us our change.
We had elected to stop in the town of Ione because there was a climb approaching. Rach and I thought better to finish at the base and climb at the start of the next day, rather than climb at the end of the day. So we started the morning by ascending about 1000 feet and were pleasantly surprised when we got to the top and thought it would be much worse. Next stop: The Beaver Lodge for 2nd breakfast of french toast. While there, we met a very friendly couple and shared bicycling stories and some tales from our travels.
By the time we left I only got a few miles down the road before I had burned up all of my french toast and was feeling ravenous. Some peanut butter did the trick. Next was the town of Colville with a giant sawmill operation and a few more winding miles to a smaller town called Kettle Falls. There we met Doug who was out for a ride and showed us the way to our campground on Lake Roosevelt. Doug is a beekeeper and had lots of stories from his travels around the world. We were settling in quite splendidly when we got some new neighbors. A couple pulled in with their truck and boat and decided that what the great outdoors really needed was the noisy drone of their generator. I tried to convince myself that they had some sort of medically necessary appliance they were powering while Rach exercised great restraint from throwing rocks at them.
Today we need to have an especially good breakfast. We are about to float up the tallest climb of the trip yet: Sherman Pass at 5,575 feet. Thanks for reading.
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| Albeni Cove Campground, Idaho |
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| Now that I have a fancy stainless steel one, leaving the plastic behind... |
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| Seeing tons of deer through this stretch |
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| Into the void |
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| The Manressa Grotto |
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| Stone altar on the right, bring your own cushion |
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| Cave Man |
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| Making friends at the Beaver Lodge |
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Any geologists feel free to chime in and explain
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| Crystal Falls |
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| Colville, WA |
As always - great photography and stories -- we are all going to miss your tales when you finish.
ReplyDeleteGrandpa had the energy to come to the house for breakfast and cake this morning so we toasted him on Grandfather's Day.
Ride safely.
Cheri
Interesting. What are you gonna do when you get back? Settle down? Start knitting?
ReplyDeleteAnother G*@! D*&^! front flat! Pulled it all apart. Rim strip walking around again. Hole in the tube matched with a rim hole where the strip had shimmied to the side. G*@! D*&^! rim strip! I got out the super glue and at about every 6th rim hole I put down some super glue and then straightened the strip and held it till the glue seemed set up. Hopefully, that will take the wander out of the wandering rim strip.
ReplyDeleteKatie sent a video of her cliff diving in Hawaii. Very jealous. Joe is making chili so the world is looking better. Grandpa here yesterday for a visit. Very weak. Hard for him to move around. Still hot here, about 90 F. today. Grandpa only needed one long sleeve flannel shirt and a light jacket, but then it was about 94 yesterday. Coral trees shedding leaves like crazy- the whole front of the house is buried in leaves. Know anyone who wants a couple of coral trees? Sent a text about train schedules and taking the bike on the choo choo. Not much else to report at the moment.
Good luck on that next climb- seems like a beast.
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