Day 11 - Crossing Into Idaho (June 12th, 2024)

City To City: Baker City - Oxbow

Miles: 86

Miles Total: 678

Flats: 0

Video: https://youtu.be/O2wrafh_3Ro?si=RcqR2O80DAQ8P6jO

Dinner At The Campsite

Our Biggest Climb Of The Day

Hells Canyon Dam

    We left Judy's house and traveled along the farmlands and farmhouses.  The farmland gradually changed into mountains.  While traveling in the valleys, the sun got hotter, and since there were no shady trees along the road, we felt the sun beating down on our backs.  Lucky for us, we stopped under some shady trees in a town for lunch.  The shade felt so cool away from the sun.  We continued on in the eighty-degree weather.  

    Soon, we started climbing fifteen hundred feet up a mountain.  It wasn't our longest or highest climb.  But it was steeper than most of the mountains that we've climbed.  With the hot sun in the afternoon and the slow-going pace, it was not pleasant, to say the least, but it was good character-building.   With hearts pumping and legs burning, we reached the top.  After that, it was small rolling hills before going down a seven percent steep grade.

    We stopped for groceries in a small town called Halfway. While talking with the local people, we learned why they called the town halfway.  They used to be halfway between two post offices, and half of the residents were Republican while the other half were Democratic. 

    With thirty more miles to go, we headed off.   We had two more short but really steep hills to climb, and after climbing the first of the two, we were tired.  We traveled along the edge of the Oregon border for ten miles before crossing a bridge and resting before our last climb.  We watched the water below us and observed the Hells Canyon Dam near the bridge.  We crossed into Idaho and began climbing our last hill, which was close to the top. We stopped to look at the dam below us, and I was suddenly reminded of The Fugitive film when Harrison Ford jumped off the dam's edge into the water below.  (No way would I do that.)  

    After five miles into Idaho, we got to our campsite.  Henry decided to jump into the lake to cool off before showering, but my dad and I just wanted to get all the dirt and sweat off.   We ate melted cheese and learned our lesson of trying to avoid buying groceries until the last possible second.  We hung up our towels to dry using our clothesline for the first time.  We stretched our legs, groaning the entire time from our tense muscles, then didn't dally to set up the tent and go to sleep.