September 17, 2008
Day 21: To Snively hot spring, Oregon
I left the motel at 9 wearing short sleeves. It's definitely warmer in Boise than up in the mountains. My first stop was at a laundromat for the 2nd time on the tour. Then I pedaled a few miles west to the REI store to see if they had a suitable replacement for my Big Agnes sleeping bag that has lost loft. They didn't have any bags with the large girth of a Big Agnes. Then I stopped for lunch at Baja Fresh, my first time to eat at one. Then another stop to buy groceries. It was 1 PM before I started heading west on Usick road, still in the city of Boise. The terrain is nearly flat and I went 31 miles perfectly straight (west) on Usick road, past miles and miles of new looking suburban subdivisions. Upscale in west Boise and Meridian, then less upscale near Caldwell. Metro Boise has grown like cancer in the last few years. After Caldwell the subdivisions give way to irrigated farms. Hayfields, onions, corn, apples, and dairy farms. Many onion trucks.
Traffic through metropolitan Boise was never much of a problem. Most major roads have a decent paved shoulder, sometimes marked as a bike lane. The most annoying thing was having to stop at a traffic light every 1/2 to 1 mile. Motorists seemed to be respectful of cyclists.
It was interesting to see the extensive network of canals that deliver irrigation water to the farms.
At one point the road climbs a small hill to give a view of the surrounding farms.
Usick road ends at US 95 where I turned south for 2 miles to cross the Snake river into the town of Homedale. My last town in Idaho. In Homedale I turned west onto highway 19 which turns into highway 201 when crossing the state line into Oregon.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
I was surprised to see extensive irrigated corn fields. I didn't know so much corn is grown in eastern Oregon. The irrigation infrastructure was impressive. But it appears that the water is electrically pumped up from the Snake river, unlike on the Idaho side where the water mostly uses gravity flow. The farmers must have huge electric bills.
I got my closest-ever view of field burning.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The road stays fairly close to the Snake river. The Snake river in this area is flat water with a decent current. Next was the town of Adrian. Not much there, and their small grocery store closed a few minutes before I rolled into town. It's a good thing I stocked up earlier.
Two miles north of Adrian I turned west on a county road that leads to the Owyhee river. On both sides of the road were onion fields as far as I could see. The road climbs several hundred feet, then drops to the river. For much of the day I have seen loaded onion trucks. It looks like the trucks will be hauling corn soon.
After a short distance along the Owyhee river the valley narrows dramatically and I enter a gorge. The vertical red rock walls are impressive. A dramatic change from the wide valleys with corn and onion fields.
I set up camp near Snively hot spring. Camping is forbidden there but my sage colored tent is easy to hide and I don't have a car to attract attention. Shortly after I arrived a solo motorcyclist (Dustin from Helena, Montana) arrived to camp there as well. He's on a tour of hot springs, same as me. He's carrying less gear than me. We had a long conversation before finally setting up camp. Later at night we had a soak in the hot spring. It was perhaps the most scenic campsite of the tour and the evening was pleasantly warm.
Today was a good day. 71 mostly flat miles, mostly after 1 PM. It was warm and sunny at first but later in the afternoon it became overcast, humid, and buggy. Unusually humid for such an arid climate.
Distance: 72.2 miles (115.5 km)
Climbing: 1389 feet (421 m)
Average speed: 11.3 mph (18.1 km/h)
Maximum speed: 38 mph (60.8 km/h)
Today's ride: 72 miles (116 km)
Total: 905 miles (1,456 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 2 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |