Day 54: White Bird Pass Conquered

By Lindsay Olsen

Today started out the coldest of mornings, around 45 degrees. We started today leaving the very generous husband and wife at Our Savior Lutheran Church in McCall. They prayed over us during our morning devotion after Kert talked about relationships and how we should cherish and nurture them, especially with such little time we have left. We were then on our way towards Grangeville. The first 20 miles consisted of a VERY cold downhill with a beautiful view and a 7 percent decline. The next 50 were for the most part downhill, which allowed us to enjoy the amazing Salmon River alongside us and the forests/nature that Idaho has to offer! For the first 70ish miles I rode mostly with Steve, Kristi, and Nicole. Our ride consisted of singing (mine and Nicole’s usual routine), trying to figure out why Steve smells so good all the time, taking pictures of the mountains, and just enjoying the amazing downhill after such a tough ride yesterday.

After that fun time, it was time for business. We were about to climb up our biggest mountain pass yet. White Bird Pass is roughly a 9 mile pass with up to a 9 percent grade, which doesn’t sound like a whole lot unless you are on a bicycle! Everybody pretty much rode their own pace up to the top, conquering about 4000 feet in elevation. If the view wasn’t so beautiful, I don’t know how I would have made it. We rode into town a couple miles after reaching the top of the pass into our once again very generous Church, Grangeville Christian Church, where we are being spoiled for dinner!

My highlight of the day was when Kristi, Nicole and I decided to make our own shower outside instead of being shuttled to a local pool for showers! We very efficiently used the garden hose. It was a fun and interesting bonding time.

Today on the ride I realized that patience is one of the greatest qualities a person can have. The mountain pass today was tough and challenging, but not impossible. It took almost 2 hours to reach the very top, but with patience and perseverance we made it!