Day 1: Crouch To 5 Miles Past Idaho City

Ryan and I departed Bend, Oregon after a whirlwind of Pride festivities around 4:30 pm as a caravan of Surly awesomeness.  We drove through the empty vastness between Bend and Burns, then through rural desolate eastern Oregon until we hit Juntura, which had the first signs of life in the form of a small town café.  We stopped for a hot meal with perfectly cooked hand-cut French fries (compliments of the chef), and grabbed a few beers to throw in the cooler for later.  After driving through "Onion Town USA" complete with a Bates motel, we made it to the Wander Inn and Cabins around midnight.  We tossed back the beers we bought in Juntura and went to bed for a solid night of sleep.  We didn't bother to set alarms as we wanted to start this trip refreshed.

Ryan enjoys the decorative art in our suite's bathroom...

The next morning, we woke up early enough, maybe around 9 am or so, packed up all our gear, drove up to Cascade to drop my car off at the Alpine Lodge and Motel, and then to drive back to Crouch to park Ryan's car back at the Wander Inn.  We had forgotten to eat breakfast, so around noon, I insisted on a real meal to start the day.  There was no way I was pedaling on an empty stomach or on trail mix.  Maggie had told us "the coffee shop opens at 7:00 am."  Wild Bill's is Crouch's premier --and perhaps only-- breakfast spot, but this mom and pop joint does breakfast just like a bike tourist likes it... BIG.  I ordered the special of the day "huevos rancheros," which really should have been called "ranch egg burrito smothered with chili."  Despite its lack of authenticity, it was delicious and the perfect fuel for the day's ride.



Aaaalmost ready to go... we had high hopes of the clouds sticking around, but to no avail.

We hit the road around 1:00 pm, right at the hottest part of the day!  Maybe not the best planning, but a girl has gotta eat.  We debated just taking the highway out to Alder Creek road, but decided we should try to follow the cue sheet as much as possible, so got a false start looking for the "bike path" the cue sheet wanted us to take.  After consulting the GPS, we set off on a gravelly and not particularly fun (but scenic) bike path that circled around and then ran parallel to the paved road.  Eventually, we found our turnoff and started the climb out of town.

The road out of Crouch was in great condition and had little to no traffic.

Ryan works his way up the sandy road with beautiful views and gorgeous blue skies.

With nearly 100 degree highs, we took plenty of shade breaks to wipe the sweat out of our faces and rehydrate.  Our first bit of civilization was Placerville, an odd tiny little town not too far before Idaho City.  The people weren't exactly welcoming, but when Ryan asked about water, one gentleman told us that the access to the spring water was 1/4 mile before, but then offered Ryan a bottle that he had filled earlier.  There is also water at the little store there, but given that we were so close to Idaho City, I decided to wait to fill up there since I had plenty left.

After a bit of easy cycling, we rolled into Idaho City in the early evening.  We grabbed a beer at the first bar we saw, which had a "Tourist Information" sign outside.  I'm fairly certain now that sign was a joke because all that was inside was a quirky hard-of-hearing old bartender, who was either half-baked or half-drunk.  Our cold beers were served in mason jars and we planned out our plan for a resting spot for the night.  We decided to load up on enough water for the night and the next day, and get as much of the 3000+ foot climb we had ahead of us out of the way in the cool evening hours.

Idaho City is the county seat of Boise county and has suffered a lot over the years.  Most recently, a third of its historic businesses burned down shortly before our trip.  Donna's Place, the cyclist-friendly local grocery and café near the visitor's center, has burned down twice before, and the owners just keep rebuilding it.  Skip, one of the owners, welcomed us into his grocery as we restocked our food supply, and when asked where we could fill water, he told us to go next door and say "Skip said to fill our bottles."  His employees not just filled our bottles and water bags, but they added generous amounts of ice to everything for free!  We stuffed some food in our faces to fuel the climb, got a little turned around (yay GPS!) finding our way out, and then got about five miles of climbing out of the way.

About a third of the way up the climb, the road flattened out a bit, and we found this picture perfect spot with clear views of the sunset and not a single soul in sight.

End of a long beautiful day... sun sets late here.  It was around 10 pm when I snapped this summer solstice  photo.

As the sun set, we cooked our dinners and then scooted into our tents as the last bits of daylight faded.  I fell fast asleep until we were visited by a rather loud elk, who decided to announce his displeasure at our invading his home for around 20 minutes, and then he wandered off to leave us in peace.

The moon had already risen and was on its way back down as we settled in for the night.

A few travel notes for bike tourists:

• We chose Crouch and Cascade to park our cars because it gave us the most bail out options via the Lohman cutoff and Warm Springs road.  It also put Ketchum, the town with the most amenities and bike repair resources, in the middle of our tour.

• The Wander Inn is a rustic spot located conveniently in the center of Crouch, walking distance from everything.  Maggie, the owner, is friendly and gracious and its best to make a reservation in advance.  She doesn't care if you come late, she'll leave the key in the drop box for you.  The front office is only sporadically open because she works at the supermarket next door, but if you have questions, you can just hunt her down there.  She let us park Ryan's car there for the duration of the trip.  

• The Alpine Lodge and Motel is located on Highway 55 just outside of Cascade proper.  Justin, the owner, is also friendly and gracious.  Even though we didn't stay here, I tossed him $20 for letting me keep my car there (afterwards, once I saw my car was still there).  He knew I wasn't going to stay there because he was fully booked up and didn't have to do me this favor, but happily did so anyway.