Lamb Grade

To Grangeville, Idaho -- 56.1 miles, 11.1 mph, 3125 ft

Laurie told us there wasn't much in Lowell -- population 23 -- but we took a chance on waiting for breakfast there anyway.  It ended up being a great idea, and we all got our fill of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and pancakes. We were quizzing the waitress on alternate ways to Grangeville, since the elevation profile on the map showed a grueling three mile climb at a ten percent grade. Unfortunately, the alternatives were either a busy windy highway with no shoulder, or a small back road with multiple sections of gravel.

This was definitely one of the more scenic rides as we continued along the beautiful Lochsa River all the way to Kooskia. Four miles later, however, was the point of reckoning -- bite the bullet and go up Lamb Grade or choose an alternate route. We bought drinks in the tiny store, curiously with only ten percent of the shelves stocked, before finally pushing off across the the bridge.  Lamb grade proved to be every bit as tough as we feared. Meg and Dex had the tunes cranking and made it the whole way without stopping. Kylie and I stopped once to "take pictures" but otherwise muscled our way up taking full advantage of the width of the road to zig zag our way up in the lowest gear.

Bottom switch backs on Lamb Grade Road

Photo op near the top

Resting in the shade after a hard slog

The rest of the ride was through beautiful open grass and farm land. The relentlessly undulating terrain, however, really started to wear us down, especially after the killer climb.

Up and down for miles and miles

We limped into Grangeville around 3:00 and I, at least, was beat. A Mt Dew and bag of Doritos didn't seem to help too much. Tonight's accommodations were at the RV park just on the outskirts of town. Once again, Laurie showed up after a day of hiking and exploring, and by the miracle of modern transportion, easily delivered foldable chairs, a large two burner stove, and fresh food in her four door pickup and pop top camper. Sadly, tomorrow she would head back to Eugene, which would mean we’d all have to adjust to not having a few of these extra conveniences. In particular, Sue and Kirk, who had been wisely taking advantage of the pickup to transport their gear, would have to deal with a few extra pounds on the bikes. Hopefully no more Lamb Grades for a while.