Hallelujah

All I can say about leaving Hell’s Canyon is HALLELUJAH I'm out of there! It was tough biking in and it was tough biking out. For the fifth time in 8 days I started with a climb to a summit. After yesterday, my legs were tired for most of today’s 76 mile ride. Today has been very solitary. Other than Mary, the only other person I talked to was a store clerk while purchasing beef jerky and a Gatorade. I didn’t see the other transcontinental bicyclists today, but Mary said she passed two coming out of Hell’s Canyon and they waved at her. I think the riding itself will be solitary. Connecting with people will happen in the campgrounds. So far, other than the first two days, it doesn’t seem to happen at the churches. Most of the churches have given us permission to camp and left us alone.

Lesson for today. Don’t sweat on the bike computer. (My family teases me about sweating. Here’s your chance again.) I stopped after climbing out of Hell’s Canyon to get my wind and I was just leaning over my bike. While biking down the summit I noticed my computer had quit working. After 12 miles it dried out and was normal for the rest of the day.

Odors/aromas. Some of the odors are gas and diesel fumes, and road kill. There’s a plant I don’t recognize that has a strong sweet/sick aroma. Others include; cattle, sheep, horses, alfalfa, prairie grass, cotton wood, juniper, pine, fir and sage brush.