Bike Tour 2022 – New Meadows to a seedy motel in Hells Canyon

If you want a good breakfast, don’t go to New Meadows, Idaho. Nothing was open at 7:00. We made do with oatmeal (Corey and Mark) and PB&J on an English muffin (me) in our motel room.

We headed west on the hated US 95. Idaho drivers are the worst. They should be arrested and sentenced to one month of driving in Providence after the streets turn to glaciers. That’ll fix em.

We briefly tried the Weiser River Trail, a rail trail that runs for 90 miles. The surface was little more than gravel and potholes so we returned to 95.

We climbed a deceptively hard hill that rewarded us with a descent into Council for gas station convenience store food-like substances then continued uphill through Mesa and eventually to Cambridge.

We arrived around noon. Like New Meadows, most of the town was closed. We ate mystery food at the town Chinese restaurant. The best part was the watermelon slices that we were served as appetizers.

Mark found a motel in Hells Canyon some 22 miles south so we braved the heat and a long climb and soldiered on. The top of the climb was steep. Fortunately I was cheered on by a vocal bovine fan located behind a hedgerow on the side of the road. Thanks, Bossie.

The descent took us back into Hells Canyon. The grass in the fields looked very dry. Needless to say it’s hot as Hades. Not that I noticed during the descent. I was holding on for dear life.

The motel was over six miles down the mountain. The building is basically a converted semi truck trailer. The room is very small and smells of pee. I’m glad it’s Corey’s turn to sleep on the floor.

On the plus side the cafe next door serves a mighty good grilled cheese with more fries than three people could eat.

Miles today: 71.5 Tour miles: 2,664.5