Author: carlschaumann

My legs were complaining from the start of the day and I was climbing up all day along the Lochsa River. So I stopped for breaks along the river. There were a ton of folks out on the river running the rapids in Rafts and kayaks it had me thinking of my friends Jack, Sue, Bob and Jeff.

I spotted a nice place to take a dip and briefly swam. It was pretty cold but felt amazing getting out and sitting on a warm rock.

At another rapid there were a group of rafts about to go through so I took another break to watch.

I briefly talked to a guy who was taking pictures of the group going through. And had been camping this weekend with them celebrating a couple friends birthdays. Later in the day when I was at a campground looking to fill my water bottles, I ran into the guy and his wife again, they asked if I needed anything, but I couldn’t think of anything. Then, when they mentioned they could give me a beer, I suddenly thought ”Yeah, maybe I need a beer.” And I blame that on why I only got 53 miles in that day. I couldn’t ride much farther or the beer would get warm before I set up Camp. In reality though I don’t think my body wanted to ride that far that day. I found a nice camping spot right next to the river and enjoyed my beer.

Winchester State Park, Idaho to Kooskia Town Park, Idaho

75.8 miles

I’m at these nice folks going the opposite way on the road. I was riding this morning. I believe they are a dad and two daughters but I didn’t ask. They were heading from Golden Colorado to Seattle Washington. The two young women are working this summer at a camp with middle schoolers taking them backpacking. This made me smile, they are doing a good thing.

This is Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church in Green Creek, Idaho. I thought it was interesting. Green Creek was just crossroads with a few houses, a community hall, and this church. But all the other churches I had passed, looked more traditional. It made me wonder why this church was built there. It was clearly designed by an architect, and it seems like it would’ve been more likely to see in a town or small city. Must be a big donor in Green Creek. 

I was Cruising down a hard earned dissent in the early afternoon when I saw a four legged dark animal on the road. First, I was thinking it could be a black calf, but when I hit my brakes and they squealed a bit and looked up and I was sure. He looked at me for a couple seconds, and then hurried off into the woods. Guess my bear spray needs to come out of my panniers.

I ate an excellent lunch at SassySquatch in Kamiah, Idaho they serve Ice Cream and cafe style food. I could see the magic that the owner was creating in that place. The back door had a bunch of regulars heights marked on it. There was a gallery of children drawn Sassy Squatch pictures. And when a young girl came in with her mom and announced, it was her birthday there was a quick celebration at hand. Her favorite kind of ice cream was scooped, a candle stuck on top was lit, how many bubble machine was turned on and the happy birthday song was sung. This is the magic that makes childhoods good, communities strong and the world work.

I met this guy just outside of Kooskia, Idaho. It’s kind of hard to tell from the picture, but that is his BMW Enduro motorcycle and it has a bicycle rack on the back! He said he lives locally and was doing a charity bicycle ride that climbs a mountain that morning. My brother Mark Schaumann would’ve approved of his set up. I am sure. 

I crossed the bridge into Kooskia and almost immediately saw two bike touring people across the street. So I banked a U-turn and said hello. Felix and Giles are a father and son from the Isle of Guernsey in The English channel. They are riding across the country also and like me, started in a coastal Oregon town. They were having some type of mechanical problem with one of their bikes and they we’re trying to get a ride somewhere to get it fixed. They had a bigger American flag than I did!

In Kooskia they allow bicycle tourists to stay in there. City park for free! It’s right on the South Fork of the Clearwater river. They had bathrooms, drinking water, picnic tables and an outlet on the stage. Very generous of them, thank you Kooskia!

The day started with a steady climb up over Alpowa Summit and the decent was steep and a lot of fun.

Eventually I dropped down to the Snake River and rode along it towards the state line. Along the way, there were beautiful basalt pillar rock formations. I crossed the Snake River at Clarkston, Washington into Lewiston, Idaho. My third state!

NI MH POO means “The People” in the Nez Perce language and is what they call themselves. I circled back to take this picture I love the way the grain from the plywood is showing through a bit and the sentiment.

The road out of Lewiston had a fair amount of traffic but when I turned at Culdesac, Idaho onto the Old Winchester Grade traffic dropped to near nothing but the grade didn’t. I think only 6 cars past me on the 8 mile, 2000+ foot climb. It had 2-7% grades and was worth it but hard to have at the end of a 75 mile day.

I kept coming around switchbacks and seeing another hill, it seemed like it went on forever. Then I saw a microwave antenna and hoped they put it at the top. They did. I still had a few miles to get to Winchester State Park and set up camp. I think it was after 6:00 when I was talking to the person at the entrance booth of the state park and she told me a campsite with no hook ups was going to be $44, they explained they have higher weekend rates. I had been spoiled by Oregon and Washington’s “Hiker/ Biker campsites that were never more than $10 but I was ready to be done with the day and not wandering down the road looking for a place to flop my tent down and hope to not be run off. So I ponied up the money and went to work setting up camp.

69.9 miles

After breakfast, I said bye to Bev and picked up some fuel (for my camp stove) as I was heading out of town. The landscape I was riding into was something I have never seen before. There were endless hills under agricultural production, mostly wheat and peas but I saw some rape seed (canola oil) there were only a few trees by the streams in the valleys.

Just coming into Dayton, Washington, there was a figure on a hill, it was about the last thing I would expect. I stopped and read a sign about it. There was a huge Green Giant canning plant in town.

Also on the way into town is Blue Mountain co-op. I stopped for an excellent lunch and some provisions for the road. One thing they didn’t sell was coffee so they recommended a drive up coffee place. I decided an iced mocha was what I needed and ordered one. The barista asked where I was going, by the time the mocha was done I had told her about my tour. She wished me luck and wouldn’t let me pay. Thank you Adventure Espresso!

There were some interesting attractions in Pomeroy, Washington

Just past Pomeroy was the Garfield County Fairgrounds and it has camping! They have water and power hookups for RV camping and a place for tent camping. There wasn’t much signage about the layout of the campground. Just a drop box for payment with minimal instructions. So I was thinking I would fill up my solar shower bag and let it sit in the sun while I set up the tent and made dinner and shower after it got dark so I wouldn’t offend anyone. But after I had set up the camp and was making dinner, I looked across the driveway and thought the building sure looked like it could be bathrooms. I walked over and yup no cold shower outside in the dark for Carl. After I discovered the full bathrooms, the $10 I spent to camp there seemed like a bargain. I avoided that mistake but after the sun went down I discovered I had made another. I set up my tent next to a gazebo and a power pole but neglected to notice the power pole also has a light that came on right when it got dark. I was tired enough after almost 70 miles it didn’t keep me up at all.

Zero miles but that’s okay.

When I woke up I had heard back from my planned Warm Showers host Bev and she invited me over for coffee and rhubarb muffins. I was tired from yesterday’s 93 mile day and the next place I was heading was 70 miles down the road so when Bev said I could take a zero day and stay at her place tonight I thought that was a capital idea.

Bev went out to a yoga class while I did laundry and took a shower. We rode bikes to a winery tasting room (Cavu) that she knew the owners of. Walla Walla has a big wine making industry. The local college has an Institute of Enology and Viticulture. The wines at Cavu were stellar. I bought a bottle of Malbec and some fancy chocolates for our dinner tonight. Bev then had to walk dogs for her local animal shelter and I had some down time. Dinner was amazing, Bev has worked as a personal chef. I enjoyed getting to know Bev she is a community minded kind soul. And there is a chance we might meet again in Montana (subtle foreshadowing).

Kind and caring folks like Bev make their communities strong and the world go round.

93 miles

My notes said it was 60 miles to Walla Walla but I realized my error. And I was going to split it up into two days but that seemed like that would make two short days in a row so instead I decided I would try to get there in one day. The only problem was, I had lined up a Warmshowers host in Walla Walla back when I thought I was going to take two days to get to there. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it all the way there so I didn’t try to contact her and ask if she could have me stay a day early until late in the day. But I got to Walla Walla before she saw the message. So I ate a couple slices of pizza and had a beer. At least that was getting dinner out of the way. Then I needed to get real about finding a place to camp. I decided I didn’t want to camp in town so I rode out aid town a way and found a park where I stealth camped. This was the first time I have stealth camped and I was successful. But I would have much preferred having permission to camp.

Umatilla also had a nice coffee shop that made sandwiches. I got one to go and thought I would look for a good place to eat it down the road.

There were spots with great views, but they were right next to the road.

I was really close to just eating the sandwich on the side of the road when I saw this view.

But I am glad I waited because I went around a bend and found twin sisters rock. It was a five minute hike up to the top with stellar views, shade and a breeze it was magical.

Sorry for the photo dump of the Twin Sisters but it was spectacular.

59.8 miles

I breakfasted at Stonehenge.

I was faster than this locomotive, at least in my direction.

I met another bicycle traveler. He left Kalispell, Montana and heading to Portland, Oregon to visit some friends. I should have taken a picture of his bike too. It was a carbon fiber frame and he decked it out with all kinds of frame bags, bike packing style. He is doing 100 mile days and I told myself that I’d be going that far without trying on a bike set up as light as that. But probably not.

Obviously I need to work on my bike riding selfie skills.

Last night I was supposed to go another 7-8 miles to get to Hood River where I could stay with another Warm Showers host but I would of gotten there pretty late and the last 5 miles were on Interstate 84, yeah, I know it sounds crazy to ride a bicycle on the interstate but that’s the way they do it out West. I and my potential Warm Showers host thought it would be better to camp and tackle the Interstate miles in the morning. So I stopped by their place in the morning for a cup of coffee and we talked bike touring and shop. He and his wife run a bakery (Pine Street Bakery) in Hood River and I have spent many years working as a baker so I wanted to hear about their bakery. They did one better and gave me a tour! We rode bikes down into town and let me in for a tour even though they are closed in Sundays. I could tell they were good at running their business by the stories they told of how they adapted during Covid and how they have many employees that have been with them for more than 10 years. They sent me off with some of their Dark Chocolate chip salted short bread cookies and I was going to bring one home to my wife but rationalized that it wouldn’t be in good shape by the time I got it to her. Sorry Hon.

I met Jim, a Customer of Pine Street bakery just as I was getting back on the Old Columbia River Highway. He came pedaling up to me and asked where I was headed. We proceeded to talk for the next 5-6 miles. I learned he was 83, he and his wife taught school in Alaska, he had a masters degree in Geography, he had lived in Hood River and now lives in Park City, Utah. His daughter still lives in Hood River and it was her ebike he was riding. Which explains why he wasn’t out of breath at all.

Rolling on down the Old Columbia River Highway I soon came to the stunning view at Rowena Crest overlook. And the decent from that spot was the coolest I have ridden so far.

I picked up lunch at the Dalles and crossed the bridge into Washington, my second state of the trip. And got a close view of the Columbia rushing through the dam while crossing the bridge.

Towards the end of the day I started passing wineries by the time I reached the third one I decided it would be okay to stop. They had just closed the tasting room but were kind enough to pour me a glass to enjoy on their veranda that had a great view of the River and Mount Hood in the distance.

I covered 66 miles and stayed at MaryHill State Park.

My son rode out of Portland with me. Coming out of Portland wasn’t all picturesque but when the Springwater Corridor trail lined up with Mount Hood, that was incredible.

We came across a farmers market in Gresham, OR. Hard not to stop. I had heard of Hood Strawberries before but have not been lucky enough to experience them. They are a kind of strawberry that can’t ship well, they have softer flesh. But the flavor is out of this world.

Shortly after the market we got onto the Old Columbia Highway which was an engineering marvel that was built in the 1920s along the Columbia River. Some of it is open to cars while some of it only allows bikes and people on foot. The scenery is sublime. We ate our lunch at Multnomah Falls and my son caught the bus back to Portland.

There were so many beautiful waterfalls! If the lesser falls were somewhere else they would get top billing and folks would come from miles around to see them.

After my son had told me about Hermon the Sturgon a few years ago, going to see him has been on my list. So when I saw that my route was going right past the Bonneville fish hatchery, I had to stop. Because who doesn’t want to see a 10 foot long 900 pounds sturgeon!

I got to camp at Viento State Park where a nice guy named Bob offered to share his campsite. (Thanks Bob!) Bob was from Mendocino California. And he had just climbed Mount Saint Helens that day, starting at 3 AM. Somehow he managed to stay up for about 45 minutes to have a conversation with me before going to bed.

I covered 62 miles and it wasn’t flat. So I went to bed shortly after Bob.

I can’t quite call it a Zero day (zero miles) but the miles I did weren’t on a fully loaded bike.

First, I got up pretty early to ride downtown from Portland’s Southeast neighborhoods so I could participate in “Breakfast on the Bridges”. Portland has 12 bridges across the Willamette River that you can walk or ride a bike across. On four of those bridges a group called “Shift” serves up free coffee and breakfast from 7:00-9:00am on the last Friday of each month. So I rode down to the Tilikum Crossing bridge which has no cars! It has walking and riding lanes each direction and a light rail line going down the middle. There were donuts, cinnamon rolls, fruit, cookies and coffee. It was nice to talk to a Shift volunteer and some other folks.

My son had an appointment with a guidance counselor at Portland State so I had a little time to play with so just after eating a donut down on the bridge, I headed to a bakery of course.

Not just any bakery, I went to Tabor Bread. I had visited them back when my son was attending Reed College. In fact they were kind enough to let me come in to see some of their early morning production. They had a massive wood fired oven and a flour mill that I was interested. They even let me work a bit. I took some pictures of the baker working the oven and shared them as a thank you. Since then they have moved to a new location and no longer bake in a wood fired oven but they have not lost the magic.

My son and I had a great rest of the day. We went to the Oregon Zoo, my son got us in for free because he works for Metro who also manages the zoo. We had a great lunch at Obon Shokudo (a Japanese restaurant), did some shopping and went out for pizza at Baby Doll Pizza. Both restaurants were top level.