Lost Trail Pass

August 22/09 - Salmon, Idaho
Mileage: 98.69 km
Total mileage: 859 km
Ride Time: 4:42 hrs

Started our ascent of the Lost Trail Pass right out of the campground and continued for 20 kms. Elevation at the summit was just over 7,000 ft.

This pass was a real feat for a cyclist, any cyclist. This climb far exceeds even Bow Pass in Banff National Park. There should be a tin can buried under a small pile of rocks at the top with a scroll in it for cyclists to sign when they reach the top. They should bronze a statue of each cyclist who reaches the top. A cyclist should put his countries flag up when he reaches the top, except there is already a flag there, probably stabbed into the rocks by a guy in his motorhome who was just glad he made it. Deby did very well and had a crash course on gearing and cadence. (Actually Deby was thinking that she should have bought a razor and gotten a couple shots of testosterone before she left so that she would have this inexplicable need to conquer things like this!!).

The reward for the climb was approximately 75 km downhill ride into Salmon, Idaho. The first 20 km gliding and the rest peddling easily in our higher gears. The temperature increased almost by the minute as we descended. Temperature was in the high 90's by Salmon.

The decent was along the North Fork of the Salmon River. Lush forest transitioning into much more arid country. A much, much tighter valley than the Bitter Root Valley. Some mountains consisting of dried grass right to the top, some mountains consisting of dried grass half way up, then treed to the top, and others treed half way up with dried grass to the top. Weird, I just don't understand. On occasion we could see the Rocky Mountains just to the east of these older mountains we were travelling through.

Stopped in the valley at Josephines Pizza and Bar. Had a pop on the river with a real character who thought we were nuts. (He told us that in Montana, they don't call people like us cyclists they call us 'shit for brains'.) The other people at the bar all wanted to come with us.

Staying tonight at a campground on the east end of town. The owner must be going broke because he his is letting a nice place fall apart.

Had a flat tire on my bike about 5 kms out of Salmon. Fixed it and away we went.