A Healthy Dose Of The New Word I Just Made Up: "Overpalousization"

September 8, 2021

Wawawai Park, Whitman County, Washington

I didn't start biking today until about 9:30 a.m. That's not because I overslept in my comfy bed or anything like that. It's because I took full advantage of the motel's amenities. I drank all four of their in-room coffee packets. I ate their free, but not-so-great ham & egg breakfast. I took a hot shower with their little bottle of shampoo. Then I lingered a little longer while watching cable TV and writing the first part of my eulogy to Jim the Tent.

Before leaving Colfax, I had to make a stop at the Codger Pole. It's famous all over Whitman County.

I even got my helmeted head in there with the helmeted heads of those 70-year old Colfax dudes who re-created a high school football game against their arch rivals that occurred some 50 years prior. Check it out, I'm fast approaching their age.

People often ask me which segment of the Palouse Scenic Byway is better, the Rosalia-to-Colfax segment? Or the Colfax-to-Pullman segment? Prior to today, I've always said "that's like comparing oranges to tangerines; they're pretty much the same beautiful thing."

After today's ride, however, I'm going to start telling people that I prefer yesterday's section. While the views of the hills and wheat fields are pretty much equal, the highway itself had many more hills between Rosalia and Colfax. You get to follow the contour of the landscape better and it makes you work harder--in the same way as an orange makes you work harder to get at the fruit than a tangerine does because its rind is more difficult to peel.

Don't get me wrong, today's segment had a couple of good climbs, but overall it was a tangerine.

[By the way, nobody has ever really asked me which segment was better. I just threw that out there so I could write about the brilliant orange vs. tangerine analogy I came up with while riding this morning.]

Get ready for some more overpalousization.

A Palouse farmstead with what looks like a solitary confinement sweatbox in the foreground.

A quintessential Palouse landscape photo, if I do say so myself

The Reckless Mr. Bing Bong believes this Palouse greeting card is meant specifically for him.

I was hoping I could find a grocery store, or at least a gas station convenience store, along Highway 195 but that wasn't the case. I'm starting to think the Palouse Scenic Byway people made the decision to ban any kind of commercial activity on its entire length (except for the part that runs through Colfax.)

I definitely needed to find some kind of a store because I wasn't sure if my remote camping destination for tonight had potable water. So I was forced to take a a two-mile detour into the city of Pullman.

Once I loaded up on bottled water, a package of beef jerky, and a bag of Corn Nuts, I ascended back out of Pullman to the Wawawai Road.

Why the Wawawai Road? I'll tell you Wawawai: First, Wawawai is fun to say. Second, I've been told it has some more great Palouse scenery.

Soon I discovered that compared to the Palouse Scenic Byway, the Wawawai Road was a big, juicy grapefruit. Big hills, bigger views, and the added bonus of low-traffic solitude. The only bad news is that smoke has moved into the area.

Which way to go? Why, of course the Wawawai!

It took me a while to set up this picture because the wind kept blowing my phone off the fence post.

More bales of wheat than I have ever seen before.

I thought this Palouse picture was kind of groovy.

Not long after that groovy picture I began the much-anticipated descent down to the Snake River--about 1900 feet in seven miles. The Palouse had suddenly transformed into a desert canyon and the air temperature ascended in direct proportion to my descent.

There had been such little traffic on the Wawawai Road that I screamed down that road with no fear of taking the entire lane and occasionally crossing into the other lane on some tight curves. I might have been able to exceed 100 miles per hour (an obvious exaggeration) had it not been for the wind resistance of my panniers and a couple stops for pictures.

I put my brakes on for good when I reached the campground at Whitman County's Wawawai Park. I half-expected it to be full, given how scenic this area is. Imagine my surprise in finding I was the only camper in this nine-site campground. And it was pretty nice.

I set up Mike the Tent, cooked my dinner, and settled in with a cup of whiskey to write about the day in my notebook.

And there's Mike the Tent at his inaugural bike touring camp site.

THE END

*************

Not so fast there, folks. I came back to my notebook with a special report.

After a 20 minute nap, flat on my back on the top of the picnic table, I had some renewed energy. I took an early evening hike on the Wawapai Park's trail which winds up into the barren hills above the campground. Up there, above the view-blockers, I got my first good views of the Snake River. I was mightily impressed.

I sat down at the highest point of the trail waiting for the sunset. Then I set up this picture of me acting all goofy and stuff. Damn, I felt good.

On the way back down I spotted this rowing crew. It looked like fun.

Yeah, the Palouse was wonderful, but THIS is the part of my trip I've been looking forward to most of all. My bike ride tomorrow will be entirely along the banks of the Snake River and its awesome canyon.

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Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 99 miles (159 km)

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