We did it! We made it to our final state! I couldn’t be happier and prouder to say that we all made it in one piece to the last state on the trail. We left Idaho (without seeing one potato the whole time) and entered Oregon via Brownlee Dam. It was beautiful, but yet a tease. While still in ID, we could see Oregon right across the river for miles. Yet when we crossed over the bridge, we were all pretty happy to finally be in its borders.
Oregon didn’t treat Meg too well, with 3 flats it was a rough day. I picked out at least 7 thorns from her tires. Luckily after inspecting mine, I had none. Murph also had a flat, kicking her out of the no flat club. Now its membership is only 2, me and Helena. I have a feeling that my luck will soon run out, likely the last day of the trip.
We are in Hell’s Canyon proper, but it doesn’t seem much different than the last few days. Still hot, still not much in the way of towns or amenities. At the very end of the day we climbed a pretty brutal hill, steep with headwinds. Coming down was terrifying, because not only was it steep with a lot of blind turns, the wind was whipping us all over the road. As per usual, Sheena sped down. I had to take more than one break to cool my brakes. And my nerves.
Tomorrow is a short day, thank God. Much needed after these last few days!
Emilie Bikes and Hikes 