Who Needs a Map Anyway

July 17, 2022

Slept in a public park last night in Grangeville,ID. Interesting concept after living in or near Portland, OR for 5 years. Weather app said no chance of rain. So why did we get slammed with an intermittent hard rain at 2 am…because weathermen don’t forecast when the irrigation system is going to run 😳

After drying everything off we went to breakfast and bought breakfast for Ralph. He’s an old local guy who comes into the same restaurant everyday. Usually the waitress buys him coffee and sometimes they give him a biscuit and gravy. Today I bought it for him and paid for him to have a waffle tomorrow (he doesn’t like pancakes).

Ride started uneventfully for a couple miles till we missed the first turn and decided to go rogue. They told us to stay off RT 13 but it was Sunday and light traffic so we took RT 13 (it’s also my lucky number so how could we skip it). Glad we rode it because the ride was gorgeous and took us through the Nez Perce Indian Reservation (in the Clearwater River Valley). More on that later. Rode through Stites, ID and absolutely nothing was open. Then into Kooskia (pronounced Kooskee). In Kooskia we stopped for a snack and I had the absolute worst pecan pie in the history of the world. Thank goodness the scenery is great because it cancels out the bad pie. From Kooskia we went on to Lowell following the Clearwater River the whole way. Now camping right near the river and getting set for a 66-67 mile ride tomorrow through a dead zone…no food, no water, no connectivity, nothing but a road and miles to ride.

So I did find a barn of the day and a sign of the day. The sign of the day is the welcome to Lowell sign. Pretty funny but pretty accurate.

Coming back to the NP Indian Reservation…having just driven a couple months ago through the Navajo Nation in Arizona and reflecting on how unlivable the land they had was…no ready access to water or the ability to farm, etc., it made me sad. By contrast the NP Indian Reservation has a wonderful river running through it, the ability to farm, raise livestock, fish, hunt,etc. I felt much better about the situation here in Idaho. Still there is lots of poverty and not sure how to help that in either place. No value judgement about how we got into this situation, just an observation about the contrast between two Indian Reservations. You don’t get to see this and understand the problems unless you travel outside your comfort zone.

Another thought that came up while we were riding…we’ve covered almost 1,000 miles across two states and I asked Dan how many local people of color he had interacted with? He struggled to answer the question…the answer is one. A woman at the farmers market in Prineville, OR. How is that possible in a country so diverse as ours? Makes you wonder and maybe provides some insight into some of our internal conflicts as a nation. This bike trip is really eye opening.

Sorry if todays post offends anyone or is a downer. This trip is about seeing America. Not my America. Not your America. Rather the America that we all live in. It is different everywhere we’ve been so far and I’m sure that will continue. And as a result of experiencing all this variation and meeting so many different people, I will be a better American.

Night All

The great views we would have missed had we followed the map.

Clearwater Valley, Clearwater River Nez Perce Indian Reservation.

The whole city of Stites closed and in a single photo.

Barn of the day seen across the Clearwater River from RT 12

Clearwater River coming out of Kooskia and on RT 12.

Sign of the day. I asked the woman at the restaurant what happened to number 24? She brought me out a jar labeled ashes of the last bad employee 😳

Trivia question - anyone know what this is? It’s sitting in the center of the Clearwater River moored to the shore.

Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 3,663 miles (5,895 km)

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Gary NuttNow that you have seen Nez Perce reservation, a little bit of Idaho middle school history might be interesting: The Nez Perce land was in the La Grande/Wallowa area. Like all of the other indigenous tribes, the government decided to take their land from them and put them on a reservation. Chief Joseph took exception: Before they were moved to a reservation, he packed up his entire tribe and headed northeast for the Canadian border. There were several some skirmishes along the way, as the cavalry chased the Nez Perce (roughly following highway 12 beyond the Grangeville area). The most notable battle was on White Bird hill. The Nez Perce surrendered about 40 miles from the Canadian border. Chief Joseph is the prototype for many Hollywood movies. At the surrender he is reported to have said "I will fight no more forever" which has been paraphrased in hundreds of old cowboy and Indian movies. The Nez Perce people finally had some luck with the location of their reservation.

I have greatly enjoyed your journey from Seaside to Grangeville. First, it reminded me of living in a small community in eastern Oregon (at the western terminus of Highway 7) for 10 years, and vacationing on the Oregon coast, and with many trips to Baker. We then lived in Boise, ID for another dozen or so years; your trip from Baker to Grangeville went through areas that my parents drove all the time when we lived in Boise, ID. Alas, today you are leaving the areas that are our old stomping ground. It has been a great trip down memory lane. I look forward to the remainder of your trip.

ps. I have seen things that look like the raft in the river in Alaska. I was told that they were salmon traps??
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2 years ago

Ben WaLove this post, Ian. Travel (especially outside one’s comfort zone) = perspective. Safe travels!
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2 years ago

Ian GordonThanks Ben. Hope you guys are doing well. This is truly a trip outside our comfort zone. New places, new people and by bike makes it almost impossible to zoom by anyone or anything without paying attention. You can’t ignore or unsee what we’re experiencing.
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2 years ago

Ian GordonTo Gary NuttHi Gary. Thanks for following us and enjoyed all the color and personal history you’ve provided. By the way, they tell me it’s a fish counter 😳
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2 years ago