North to the mountains

We left Walla Walla for a short afternoon ride in perfect weather through endless rolling wheat fields too green to be real.  After picking up some groceries in the friendly little town of Waitsburg (as we sat on a bench eating a snack everyone who drove past gave us a wave) we rode on our last few miles to Lewis and Clark Campground, a very pretty little park along the river.  Just before dusk a couple of owls flew by and landed in a tree a short distance away. In the morning we awoke to find they had left us a gift of a large owl feather just outside the tent.
    Our next stop was to be Palouse Falls, about 45 mi. away.  We continued to climb through wheatfields as we left the Adventure Cycling maps and found our own route.  Did I mention that the wheat fields seemed endless? Did I mention they were rolling?  As the afternoon went on we escaped wheat country and reached the Snake River, large and somewhat slow along this section in dryer canyon country.  After crossing the Snake we had a taste of things to come with a very steep 1000 ft climb.  We both made it without stopping, giving us some confidence for our ability to handle the upcoming Rockies.  As we cruised the packed dirt road leading into Palouse Falls we were passed by a pickup truck sporting the  Dagger Kayak logo and a roof full of boats.  We didn't get a chance to speak to those inside but talked to someone at the Falls who had and I guess they were scouting to run the falls. The falls had been successfully run by Tyler Bradt in 2009 for what was a world record 186 ft...looking at it, it is hard to believe someone could survive such a drop. We would have loved to wait and watch but didn't know when or if that might happen so left the next morning.  Palouse Falls is quite spectacular with the Palouse River spilling into a huge bowl carved hundreds of feet straight down through the rock...well worth the trip if ever in the area.
   After a light breakfast of the last of our oatmeal we traversed the varied terrain of eastern Washington, alternating between canyon country and more wheatfields.  We were in a truly remote area of the country and, looking around without a manmade structure in sight, we were struck by how far out there we were...very cool!
   Just south of the nearly deserted town of Wintunca I looked in my helmet mirror to find we were being pursued by a coyote, loping up the highway about 50 ft behind.  Kelly and I decided to run him (ok Wiley...let's see what you got!) so we ramped it up from our usual 10 mph to a blistering 12 mph...pretty much top speed for a loaded touring bike.  This didn't seem to phase him so we let him run along.  When he got to about 3 ft from Kelly's trailor I figured that was close enough and fired a warning shot of the pepper spray ( we carry for dogs) across his nose. After a few more attempts at whatever his plan was he finally dropped back.  As we rode on I imagined him going back to his den for roller skates and a rocket to strap on his back but we never saw him again.  It was a smallish coyote and never really seemed aggressive so it was quite an entertaining episode.
   After a great (and much needed...the oatmeal didn't make it for 45 mi of rolling hills) lunch in Ritzville we finally came to a nearly deserted fishing camp on Sprague Lake, a pretty camp if you overlooked the brown recluse spiders in the showers which had three settings...off, ice water or scalding.  Actually, after a 72 mi. day of hills it was just fine.
   It was now time to try to get around the city of Spokane.  We started the day in nice sunshine and more tailwinds to have a quick storm blow in as we stopped for lunch in Cheney, about 20 mi south of Spokane.  We continued on towards the dreaded city only to ride into some of the darkest clouds and lightning we've seen. We decided to quickly pitch our tent along the side of  the road and wait it out...a good move as it rained hard and thundered for the next hour or so.  The rain delayed us just long enough to be struggling through Spokane at rush hour.  We were glad we had decided not to accept the generous offer of a friend we had met in Astoria.  Mike Jones had offered to put us up at the Spokane Athletic Club, a very nice place in the downtown, but we opted to get out of the urban area as quickly as possible...touring tip.  Cycling in the city is not fun!
  After a few pretty tough days in a row we now headed for a couple easy days to reach Sandpoint for the weekend.  We found a great campground on the banks on the Pend Oreille River on the Washington, Idaho border...With A Hottub...Jackpot!  The ride from our camp in Newport, Wa to Sandpoint, Id was our most scenic of the trip so far.  Hwy 2 follows the Pend Oreille river through beautiful tree covered low mountains and mountain meadows all the way to Sandpoint.  We are now at the home of our friends, Bill and Anita Bruce for a wonderful weekend visit and welcome rest for next week .....The Rockies!!!