July 9, 2006
Day 20: To Minam State Park
I got on the road 8:50 AM. After 7 easy miles I stopped at a bakery in Joseph for breakfast #2.
The next few miles from Joseph (4190 feet elevation) to Enterprise (3756 feet elevation) are downhill and I had a tailwind. The miles go by quickly, with great views of the Wallowa mountains on the left. I stopped at a laundromat in Enterprise and washed all of my clothes. I hand-wash bike clothes most every day but everything else gets dirty eventually. This was my only laundromat visit during the 37-day tour. I ate an early lunch at a downtown cafe and was on the road again at noon (14 miles so far today).
I continued west on Hwy 82 in the Wallowa river valley. The road stays very close to the river for the first few miles. Highway 82 has more traffic than the roads I've ridden the last several days. But it's still relatively light and there is a paved shoulder. The afternoon was hot but it wasn't hard to find a place to jump in the river. The river is small and moving briskly but doesn't appear to have any difficult rapids. I saw many people rafting, some people fishing while rafting.
After the tiny towns of Lostine and Wallowa the road once again follows the river closely. I turned off Hwy 82 at the "town" of Minam (2537 feet elevation) which consists of a motel/store. From there I turned onto a two mile gravel road along the Wallowa river to Minam State Recreation area.
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It has a primitive riverside campground with picnic tables, drinking water, and pit toilets. It seems to be mostly used by parties about to start multi-day raft trips on the Wallowa and Grande Ronde rivers. I got a shady campsite at 3:30 PM but it was still hot until the sun set behind the mountains. I explored the area a bit, made a shower, and made dinner in the pleasantly warm evening.
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Today is an extremely easy day. Downhill with a tailwind for most of the day. Hardly any climbing but the heat seemed to sap my energy in the afternoon. I had considered continuing to the town of Elgin, but I'm glad I didn't. Elgin was having their annual "Elgin Stampede" rodeo. The campgrounds and motels were surely full. The high temperature was about 95F. Definitely warmer as I get to lower elevation.
Distance: 48.0 mi. (76.9 km)
Climbing: 246 ft. (75 m)
Average Speed: 12.9 mph (20.6 km/h)
Maximum Speed: 35.3 mph (56.5 km/h)
Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 838 miles (1,349 km)
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