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Day 15 - June 22 - Lowell, ID to Powell, ID - 66 miles Click on the thumbnails to view larger pictures.
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| Last night a large group of whitewater rafters came in for
the weekend. Two young couples set up camp beside us and made a
campfire in our fire circle after we had gone to bed for the
night. We were concerned that sparks from the fire would burn holes
in our tent so Ron nicely asked them to keep an eye on it. They
totally ignored his request and sat
outside and talked and laughed until late into the night. So much
for getting to sleep early.
Camping near the river caused everything to be soaking wet this morning. We "quietly" broke camp and headed out for the day's ride. As we left it looked like a moving Chinese laundry with wet things hanging all over the back of the bikes. Today's scenery was spectacular as we rode along the beautiful Lochsa River. There were steep mountains on both sides and in places they merged so there was barely room for both the river and road. Lochsa is an Indian word that means 'Rough Water' and it certainly describes the river perfectly. In fact, the Lochsa is one of the top white water rivers in North America. Outfitters in Lowell load rafts and rafters on busses and transport them up the river. From there they put in and take a wild ride back to Lowell. As we were riding this morning many of these rafting groups passed us. We wondered if these sleepy travelers saw the same beauty we were appreciating. We're sure they'll tell the folks back at the office Monday morning just how beautiful the river was during that early morning ride. Powell is another white water resort community that was busy with tourists. We had heard that the convenience store owner would let you camp on the grass behind his place and use his shower, but when we asked he said definitely not. He directed us to the USFS camping area down the hill. We went there and found that they charged $8 per vehicle to stay for the night. Each of our bikes was considered a vehicle so that meant a total of $24. We couldn't understand how a 42 foot RV with shower, bathroom, air conditioning, and full kitchen could be considered the same as one of our bicycles and only have to pay $8. We protested the charge. The camp host told us he had nothing to do with setting the fee. That is determined by the US Congress. With our government making the decision we better understood the ridiculous fee. We had no choice but to pay the fee and set up camp. We had an enjoyable dinner at the nearby Lochsa Lodge, but while there a strong thunderstorm blew up. It looks like things will be soaking wet again tomorrow morning. |
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