Alaska-Canada Adventure Ride
Day 26 - Kootenay National Park, British Columbia to Lewiston (Hells Gate State Park), Idaho
(432
miles)
By now, barn fever with the group was starting to set in. Tucker was originally thinking of heading
southeast toward Bozeman on the way back to visit a friend at their cabin near there. But Randy and myself were more interested in making a beeline home, and soon Tucker decided to stick with us for another couple of days. Meanwhile Jon and Vicki, having cancelled their ferry reservations, had gone their separate way for a second time after briefly running into them again at Banff, staying at more deluxe accommodations and taking a more leisurely route to visit some family in Idaho.
As a result, the days ride was more fast and furious, with a strange mix of weather. After an uneventful crossing of the border back into the states, the heat in Idaho was feeling quite oppressive with temperatures in the high 90's in Sandpoint. We kept riding south on Highway 95, continuing to suffer through this while also being subjected to thunderstorms. The mix of the humidity and heat did not add to the pleasure, only getting temporary relief when you actually got rained on. If it wasn't for the misery of the weather, some of the scenery through the Palouse region of this ride was quite nice, and would be worth stopping more for photography. But not wanting to hold up the rest of the group with some opportunistic stops, we kept moving. Coming down off the high plains into Lewiston that evening, my bike was reporting an outside air temperature of 103 degrees F.
After raising the prospect of getting out of the heat and threatening thunderstorms and just getting a motel, I got shot down by the other two. I am guessing that Tucker made some type of secret deal with his wife to keep this trip under a certain budget in order to get the pass to go. This was not much skin off my back, as I was getting used to the camping routine, and frankly found being outdoors to be preferred to some cramped and musty smelling motel with a TV blaring or the waft of cigarettes permeating from next door.
Continuing on the ride across Lewiston, we finally settled in a campsite at Hells Gate State Park along the Snake River further south. After haggling with an ornery campground administrator about the number of tents allowed per campsite, we got them to agree to having to pay for only one site. Pretty nice facilities with showers, and only about 10 minutes from town.
All content and images are property of Stephen Fischer Photography, copyright 2019 - 2020. Last updated: 1/10/2020