May 24, 2022
Day 17: Preston to Grace
Today I follow the Bear river upstream all day. It felt like it was uphill all day.
I got up at 8 and wandered all around town looking for a restaurant. After wasting a lot of time I discovered the only open restaurant is 2 miles west of downtown, a direction I didn't want to go. Service was slow. Finally on the road at 10.
On the way out of Preston I stopped to take pictures of the sunny side of downtown.
While stopped I noticed an old stone building a block off the highway. Oneida Stake Academy is a grand stone building. Interesting that it's so tall but not very wide. The interior appears to be an ongoing restoration project. It has a relatively new concrete amphitheater in the back. This is the only old LDS Academy that I saw. I don't know how common they were.
Nearby hills usually obstructed my views of the Bear River Range to the east. A reservoir gave me one of the few good views.
After a few miles on US 91 I turned onto Riverdale road, descending towards the Bear river. Riverdale road connects to the 13 mile unpaved Oneida Canyon road. Both roads are awesome.
I liked the Oneida Canyon road. There is basically no traffic. A car every 5 or 10 minutes. It stays fairly close to the river. No giant rolling hills. It is upstream and it is gravel. Slow but scenic.
Today was mostly sunny in the morning and mostly cloudy in the afternoon. Once again the temperature peaked at 60F at noon, then dropped during the afternoon. Cooler than normal but I'm also in a much cooler climate zone than where I started in St. George. The northwest headwind was light while in the canyon. Stronger out of the canyon.
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At the north end of the canyon I pedaled alongside a reservoir for several miles.
The reservoir and canyon both fade away at about the same time.
Once out of the canyon I still had a few more unpaved miles to connect to the paved highway.
The final 17 miles are on ID 34. Progress was still very slow. Gradual uphill with a northwest headwind. Traffic was very light which is good because the shoulder is narrow.
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Tonight's home is Grace, Idaho. Population 999. Fairly high at 5535 feet elevation. I'm staying at the 6-room Black Canyon Motel in the middle of town. The $58 price makes it the cheapest lodging of the tour. I appreciate that the grocery store and restaurant are across the street. Small town convenience. Everything is very cheap. Prices in southeast Idaho are noticeably lower than in Utah. That suggests that Utah is more prosperous.
Today was a long uphill grind but I enjoyed the canyon. It gave me the best views of the Bear river which is the biggest river I saw during the tour. It's the biggest river in the eastern Great Basin.
Distance: 45.6 mi. (73 km)
Average Speed: 8.2 mph (13.1 km/h)
Ascent/Descent: +1956/-1153 ft (+596/-352 m)
Miles 572-615 on the route map.
Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 691 miles (1,112 km)
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Saguache is even more remote, by the miles, but is a small town.
I paid $6.50 for a spinach salad with nuts and craisins in Saguache.
Other dinner and grocery prices were similarly low.
Here’s my question- how can proprietors charge so little for their items when, presumably, their costs have gone up?
1 year ago