Day 73 - July 15 - Lewiston, ID to Pomeroy, WA - Two Old Guys Take On A Continent

July 15, 2023

Day 73 - July 15 - Lewiston, ID to Pomeroy, WA

Climbing Out of the River Valley

Ed’s Story

Woke up several times during the night, probably in anticipation of the upcoming days ride. Finally got up around 5:20 so I could get everything packed up and on the bike before the 6:00 breakfast.

Waffles, instant oatmeal, an apple, apple juice and coffee was the fare this morning. The OJ was not working at the hotel.

We were on the road before 6:30 trying to beat the heat. Although the severe heat warning was not in effect, temperatures were still expected in the high 90s.

The first 12 - 13 miles were relatively flat as we rode from Lewiston, ID into Clarkston, WA then along the Snake River. The road was wide and had a good berm. We knew a major climb was coming and hoped the berm would stay.

And then it came upon us. John likes putting cues for the climbs in the RidewithGPS route, which will then show up on our GPS. We got that cue to start the climb, then about 1-1/2 miles later the GPS said “CLIMB”…8.9 miles long, 1830 ft, average grade 3.8%.

As always with this type of climb I just took my time, stopping whenever I needed for water, food, leg rest and bio-breaks. It took almost 2 hours, which is par for the course for that much elevation gain.

There were a couple shady spots I could stop in. Additionally, the berm changed into a passing lane for the rest of the climb up. This made riding much easier as I didn’t have to worry about being run off the road or hit.

John was already at the top when I got there, as usual. Took a nice long break at the rest area at the top. The building provided the only shade. Although no water was provided there, I carried plenty with me.

From there it was 10 miles, all downhill to Pomeroy. It is not a very big town with less than 1,000 people.

Cowboy Bob and his friend welcoming everyone to Pomeroy.

We passed the tavern (pretty much always closed according to the locals); the motel; and went to the bakery.

I had an iced coffee, an almond joy pastry, and a sample of the potato soup. We intend to go back for lunch and then to the grocery store for orange juice and beer.

We checked into our the Pioneer Motel around 11:30. Although the exterior is showing its age, the room is nice. It has room for both our bikes, a microwave, and a small refrigerator with a freezer. Essentially room for tonight’s frozen dinner and beer.

At noted we went back to the bakery for lunch - soup and salad. From there to the grocery store for some dinner purchase, snacks to carry, extra bottled water and beer.

A visit to the local pool was in order. The 98 degree temperature nicely warmed the pool up so it wasn’t a shock to the system getting in.

A shower is called for on my return, followed by a beer and just relaxing in the room.

Tomorrow is a 66 mile day or so with two bigger climbs: 1150 ft and 630 ft. It should be somewhat downhill after that to Walla Walla.

It will be an early night as we want to get up, eat breakfast, and be on the road by 5:30 AM if possible. We want to try to beat the heat again.

We are staying with a WarmShowers host tomorrow night so we will be indoors again.

Until tomorrow, happy biking!

John’s Story

We crossed the Snake River into Washington a few miles after leaving the hotel, and immediately went downhill the rest of the way to ride along the river on a bike path for a couple miles before we found our way to US 12. It was nice and cool in the early morning and there was almost no traffic on the highway at first. Things heated up literally and figuratively as the morning progressed.

The Evergreen State is pretty brown around here.

Looking back at the Snake River after we crossed into Washington. There’s a dam about 30 miles downstream, but I don’t know if it backs the water all the way up to Lewiston. Some oceangoing vessels can get all the way to Lewiston, making it the farthest east port on the West Coast.

The bike path along the Snake River in Clarkston, Washington. Those hills are on the north side of the river. We are on the south side.

Geology Sidebar: I’ve been mentioning columnar basalt for a few days without explaining myself. Basalt is a dark colored extrusive volcanic rock that flows from fissures and volcanoes and spreads out on the surface to form layers. Successive eruptions pile one basalt flow on top of the other. The Hawaiian Islands are made almost exclusively of this kind of volcanic rock. The Columbia Plateau in the Pacific Northwest (we’re here!) is a wide flood basalt plateau between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains. The pile of basalt flows here can be thicker than 6,000’. The Columbia River flows through it and has cut a deep gorge where we will be riding in a few days. When a flow of basalt cools at just the right rate it develops sets of closely spaced intersecting fractures that divide the flow into polygonal columns, oftentimes hexagonal. Devil’s Tower in Wyoming (think Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and Devil’s Postpile National Monument in California are very well known examples of columnar basalt. I just think it is a fascinating geological phenomenon. Thus Endeth the Geological Sidebar.

A fine example of columnar basalt in the roadcut next to US 12. Two layers of columnar basalt, one on top of the other.

One of the best examples of columnar basalt I’ve seen in the United States not in a national park or monument.

More of the hills on the north side of the Snake River. The highway is about to turn west to take us up equally impressive hills on the south side of the river to Alpowa Summit. It’s hard to get a picture of the hills we’re headed into because we are so close to them.

A blackberry thicket in a gully on the way up to the Alpowa Summit. It doesn’t look like there are any ripe berries yet.

The climb up to the summit was not in quite as bad as some of the others we have done on this tour, but the sun was breathing down our necks as we climbed west. It wasn’t long before sweat was running out of my helmet, onto my glasses and down my face, dripping off my chin. Every so often I pressed my helmet to my head to squeeze out excess sweat. My shorts and jersey were soaked. What fun!

The reward was seeing the Rest Area 2 Miles sign below the summit. I so looked forward to refilling my water bottles with cold, fresh water. No such luck. The “rest area” was vault toilets on each side of the highway. That was it. No water. No shade. One picnic table. Now I know tomorrow I’d better take extra water because there won’t be any at the Dodge Junction rest area, and it’s 37 miles from our start tomorrow to the next water stop.

We were at about 745’ elevation when we turned away from the river and started the climb.

The rewarding scenery at the top of Alpowa Summit. Endless brown in all directions. It was a nice sail down the other side of the summit, and we lost about 1,000’ of elevation on the way to Pomeroy. But not to worry, we’ll get the chance to make that up again tomorrow, a couple times.

Coming into Pomeroy I spotted another custom RV in the rough.

Ghost bicycle in the window next to the bakery where we had Elevensies and then lunch a couple hours later. We arrived in Pomeroy just after 10:30 AM, a short day to be sure, but the next possible overnight is 60 miles further in Walla Walla.

Frito-Lay must be testing this new flavor in small markets, and they for sure found a small market in Pomeroy.

Dinner tonight will be microwaved frozen pizza in the room. There’s really no place to cook our own food around the motel.

Downtown Pomeroy is a happening place on a Saturday afternoon when the temperature is in the 90s. I felt like the gunfighter and the sheriff should step out into the street any time now for the showdown.

Today's ride: 36 miles (58 km)
Total: 638 miles (1,027 km)

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