July 13, 2022
0713 - On the road again
Gee it's great to be back on the road again
YOU SHOULD HAVE WILLIE NELSON IN YOUR HEAD singing the tune that's the title of today's post. After three days involuntary pause in Cambridge (pleasant enough, for all that; I really have no complaints against the town, the accommodations, etc.) I was glad to be underway once again.
I never sleep as well in the tent as I do in an actual bed, so when I awoke at 4 this morning it wasn't hard to make the decision to get up and get going. That was also driven by the weather forecast, which was calling for temperatures nearing 100 degrees: not the sort of temperature to make you a wastrel of precious early-morning coolness.
For the first time this trip I was actually fully packed, loaded up, and on the road by 0530. It was still dark, so I also ran my headlight and taillights for the first time. The final reason for the early start was that I have been reading horror stories from westbound riders about the traffic and lack of shoulders on U.S. 95, which was the only road I'd be on all day. I wanted to get as far as I could before the traffic picked up.
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My plan was to get to the Evergreen USFS campground, 38 miles or so from Cambridge. This was where I'd been headed on Sunday when the tire bead failed, and my revised plan posited that I'd simply complete that day's plan then continue.
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Although Ride With GPS tried to route me onto and along the Weiser River Trail I was leery lest I suffer a repetition of Sunday's adventure, so I stuck to U.S. 95. Early morning traffic wasn't bad, and the relatively few vehicles that did pass gave me a wide leeway. There was also at least a small amount of pavement (anything between several inches and a few feet) to the right of the fog line, so I was easily able to avoid being in the actual travel lane for the most part.
Stopping in Council for a rest, I also called in at the USFS Ranger Station for the Council District, to inquire about the campground and protocol. They told me it had a camp host, who would take care of any questions I had on arrival. They also cautioned me that U.S. 95 in that area does not have a shoulder, and is quite twisty so the long sightlines of the early morning wouldn't be there.
Based on that plus all of the reading of other blogs and journals of riders passing through the area, I selected as my survival strategy the idea that whenever I detected traffic behind me I'd pull off and stand still, unless I could be quite certain there was no oncoming traffic. You can reasonably and correctly conclude that this tactic served its purpose, since you're reading a report written at the end of the day's ride.
On a couple occasions I was especially glad to have adopted this strategy, because I was passed by trucks carrying oversized loads (a huge piece of machinery, a truckload of factory-made roof trusses, and half of a prefab building) just as oncoming traffic also arrived at my location.
I got to the campground around 11:30, I think. The host was not in evidence, but was definitely sending mixed messages with her signage.
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With that as my introduction to the campground, I tooled around checking things out. There are four or five lovely, secluded, very private tent-only sites from which I might have chosen, and about a dozen tent-or-RV sites as well.
The drawbacks were that the single hand-pumped well was quite a distance from the tent sites, and in none of the sites did I see an obvious place from which to hang my food to keep it out of the clutches of a bear. There was clear evidence that the warning signs at the campground entrance weren't just pro forma and precautionary: I could see trees with bark heavily disturbed by bears. Also, a real meal beats even the best reconstituted freeze-dried backpacker's fare, every time. Real meals could be had, but not at the campground.
Being sufficiently unnerved by the bear thing, plus not excited about the water situation, I elected to push on to New Meadows, another fifteen or so miles up the road. That would simultaneously get me out of the bear thing, and shorten tomorrow's ride into Riggins. Since it was only about 1230 (I had eaten lunch at the day-use-only picnic tables after surveying the camping options), I had plenty of time to spare.
Along the way I knew I'd encounter a restaurant, at which I could get lunch (I hoped; several places I've been past have either closed completely or scaled way back on their hours so it's far from a certainty that something shown on a printed map is still in operation.)
Fortunately for me, the Huckleberry Bakery, a great Mom-and-Pop cafe, bakery, and kitsch emporium, has survived so far. When I asked the owner about that he said simply "We don't have any debt. That's what lets us stay open."
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It made a great place for lunch, as well as to wait out a passing brief shower. While waiting for the shower to clear, I talked to "Bear", who owns and runs the place with Mrs. Bear. (Sorry, I neglected to get photos.)
Bear had shown me a Trans Am Rider's guest book, with entries stretching back to 2018. I enjoyed browsing them as I ate, but didn't see entries from anyone I recognized as having met on this trip. Too bad; it would have been one more great point of connection had there been some. He also said that nearly every one of the riders to have come through had been pleasant, courteous, nice. That's heartening to know.
Arriving in New Meadows right at 1500 gave me ample time to consider my situation. I could sleep in the town park, or I could try the two motels or the RV park. I elected to go for a motel, as it so greatly shortens the morning to-do list. There are two motels to choose from. One wanted $135 / night, the other $70. Guess which one I'm in. The Meadows Valley Motel is clean, tidy, shows signs of being partially revamped recently, and serves my needs perfectly.
After a brief nap, a shower, and some sink laundry- in that order- dinner was at "The Intersection", a BBQ joint / bar a short walk from the motel. Dinner was great and it gave me a nice place to work on responding to the comments you've left (thanks for those- they mean a lot!) and to start writing this entry.
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Even though it was a good day it was apparently more taxing than I realized. Looking at the profile I'm surprised at the amount of climbing. I guess that could account for it, along with the toss-and-turn night that had me awake at 0400 and which is now catching up with me. I think it's time to turn in. More adventures tomorrow.
Consecutive days without a tire problem: 1
Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 434 miles (698 km)
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