Panhandle Day 3-Choose Your Own Adventure

We are getting better at getting on the road by 8:00. I woke everyone up at 5:30, and we were heading out at 8:15. Not bad. 

Due to our later arrival last night, water filtering had to be done this morning. 

Today there was an alternative option to eliminate a climb, and some supposedly rough road on a descent. Ginny, having taken the spill yesterday, and somewhat underbiked for the rough stuff, chose to take the paved alternative past the Devil’s Elbow CG to Prichard, and back to the route at the G&G Riverstop grocery. Bethany also chose that adventure (which was good because it was one less climb, and then Ginny wasn’t alone).

Jana, Steph, and I opted to stay on the route, and do the climb and descent. The first bit was tough, mostly because we weren’t warmed up (oh, we warmed up quickly, though). But, then it leveled out and wasn’t too bad. It took us exactly 2 hours to get to the top from when we had left the campsite. 

This was part of the descent. It wasn’t that bad. Just had to watch the ruts. 

At the bottom, we rode along the Couer d’ Alene river. The road eventually became paved. 

Cool rock, and most excellent swimming hole (but we didn’t take advantage).

Couer d’ Alene River Rd bridge. 

A few miles on pavement, and we reached the grocery where Ginny and Bethany had been for a little over an hour. They had eaten already, and were going to start heading to Wallace. Jana, Steph, and I had hotdogs, which really hit the spot. I also had a huckleberry soft serve ice cream cone. It was delicious!

It was just after noon when we left the grocery. Now we had a long paved climb. It was over 4 miles with an average grade of 9%! And it was really hot. Twice, we stopped at Beaver Creek and soaked our shirts. 

Refreshing!

The climb started fairly gradually, which really tells how steep it was later (remember, the average grade for the whole climb was 9%). Because it was paved, and there were periodic cars, we couldn’t really follow the grade of the road on the right hand curves. Jeez, it was steep! We had caught up to Bethany at our second short soaking. Ginny was way ahead (her, her bike and gear are well suited to paved climbs).

I don’t know how long it took us, but it seemed to go on forever. Finally, we reached the top. 

It’s all downhill from here!

The descent (equal in distance to the climb) was glorious! Nice and swoopy. I didn’t stop to take any photos, because I was having too much fun. 

We rolled into Wallace, and headed to the grocery store to meet up with Ginny. 

Wallace, Idaho 

Five bikes in a row. 

We did a bit of resupply, and not long after, Bethany rolled up. She had chosen to change her adventure to hanging out in Wallace for a day or two, then riding back to CDA on the Trail of the Couer d’ Alenes. We will meet her in CDA on Friday. 

The remaining four of us still needed to do more miles, so we rolled out of Wallace, heading toward Moon Pass. We had decided we wouldn’t try to get over Moon Pass tonight. Instead we found a spot on Placer Creek just where the gravel starts again 

The spot was just 3 miles from town, but already the start of the climb (over 7 miles) over Moon Pass. Tomorrow morning we will finish Moon Pass. We hope to get up to the Grandmother Wilderness tomorrow night. It will be another big day of climbing.