To Pomeroy WA

June 25, 2023

Dodging the bikes is a trick in our little Motel 6 room. We're ready to bust out of here and start west on the final leg of our trip - the Lewis and Clark trail.

We ride out of town through a sweet neighborhood of small homes and flower gardens. Behind them loom the cliffs along the Snake River.

The first nine miles on U.S. 12 along the river are flat and easy on this pretty morning. We have a good shoulder, light traffic, and nice views of the river.

Chief Timothy campground is on an island in the river, well populated with spiders. Hard pass.

We're on the overland route where Lewis and Clark and their party passed through on their way home from Fort Clatsop to St Louis in 1806. Captain Clark wrote in his journal, "the indians informed us there was a good road." The route had fresh water, plenty of firewood, and game which was scarce on their westward journey.

I figured we would have an easy day since the trip to Pomeroy is just 36 miles. Easy it is not. The nine mile climb out of the Snake River valley is longer than our joy ride down the Wawawai Road two days ago. There's not much to see as we grind up the 2,000 foot ascent. I watch the summit tracker on my Wahoo and calculate how far we have to go to reach 50%, then 60% until the summit screen crashes and the slog feels endless.

Traffic has picked up and the shoulder is narrower here. We're in the truck lane with a passing lane to our left. The "Keep right except to pass" signs mean that most of the traffic is in the truck lane and have to go around us. Some wait until they're good and ready to move over. I'm growing weary of close passes.

We stop for a snack around halfway up, then Barry pulls away. He can only take my 3 mph pace for so long. When I catch up to him at Alpowa Summit he reports that he's been here for 9 minutes. Glad to have that data point to share.

At the summit there's a rest area on both sides of the highway but no shade anywhere. Fortunately it's not terribly hot today. We have deli sandwiches for lunch instead of the usual Cliff Bar fare, a treat.

From here the Adventure Cycling route veers north off of Highway 12 on Legge Road, which is gravel. Barry turns around and finds another way north on Ledgerwood Road which is paved for awhile, until it leads us back to the route and more gravel.

Back on the pavement. Up here at higher elevation the canola fields reappear

The next three miles are slippery but ridable. Barry is having no fun at all on his skinny tires and spins out. On the happier side, we're out here on the range here by ourselves, no cars at all. The clouds have cut the sun's intensity, a light breeze cools us off and the scenery is better. I'm fine with the gravel on my beefy 37s. Barry would rather deal with traffic on the highway. This all has implications for decisions further down the route.

We get two more zen miles on the paved Bell Plain Road, then drop back on Hwy 12 into Pomeroy and find our way to Maggie's Garden Bed & Breakfast.

Maggie's Garden is the home and project of Leeann Clayton. She grew up here in Pomeroy before living all over the U.S. and in the Marshall Islands. Despite being voted least likely to come back to Pomeroy, here she is, transforming an old house with her dense, colorful gardens.

Somehow I missed the option to have dinner here, which requires advance notice unfortunately. There are no restaurants in town so we make do with microwave meals from the small food market. They taste pretty good here in the garden.

I don't have high expectations for this section of the trip, from Clarkston to Umatilla, and am not disappointed. I feared it would be hotter by now, but the weather is really fine for late June. This just feels like the part we have to get through on the way to the Columbia River.

Heart

Comment

Link

Today's ride: 36 miles (58 km)
Total: 924 miles (1,487 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	4
Comment on this entry	Comment	0