Hells Canyon and Oregon at Last!

On our last morning in Idaho, we awoke before the sun in Cambridge with a highly anticipated ride ahead of us! We were riding Hells Canyon, which was rumored to be one of the main highlights of the Portland ride.

Sunrise!

Hells Canyon is a 10-mile wide canyon located on the border of western Idaho and eastern Oregon. It is North America's deepest river gorge at nearly 8,000 feet, and was carved by the beautiful, winding Snake River. We were promised gorgeous views... and a challenging ride, with the following difficult elevation profile:

Setting off at sunrise, we hit the first climb right away. A gradual uphill for 16 miles. It was extremely windy and the weather was very strange! The air was cold, but we were alternating hitting pockets of hot air and cool breezes. I mean really hot air! The abrupt and drastic changes in temperature and humidity were enough to freak us out! Coupled with the fact that there was no civilization around and no cars on the roads, we really felt like we were going towards Hell.

After what seemed like forever of slow, steady trudging, we finally reached the top of the first climb, which marked the point where we would descend into the canyon.

We were pretty excited at this point because of this sign:

"Trucks use low gear next 7 miles?" Translation: huge steep 7-mile downhill :)

The downhill was a blast! 7 miles is one of the longest descents we've had on this trip. It felt like it was never going to end. We were losing so much elevation that my ears were popping. It was pretty steep, so we picked up major speed, and it was windy enough to be fun but not so windy that we had to go really slowly.

At the bottom of the descent was the first water stop, where Dan decided to entertain us with a game of Chubby Bunny. He set an extremely impressive record of 11 marshmallows.

Chubby Bunny champion. I was laughing so hard my abs hurt!

The first water stop was at a shop called "Gateway to Hells Canyon," and it certainly was! Just a mile or two after the water stop, we officially entered the canyon. It was pretty obvious when we did. We found ourselves hugging the western side of the canyon on a road several hundred feet above the Snake River.

Huge brown desert-y mountains bordered the river on both sides. On our side was Idaho; on the other side was Oregon!

The road was very windy because it followed the shape of the mountains. It was really fun to ride because it was a gradual downhill (aka easy riding) and had some fun curves. We saw the occasional RV and camper, but for the most part the road was really clear of traffic. Hells Canyon isn't a route that people use to commute or to get from point A to point B on a daily basis.

We had many great views....

At the end of the gradual downhill, we were nearly down to the level of the river: and it was time to cross the river! Helloooo, OREGON!!

Gina and I wanted to do gymnastics on the sign.....this is the best we came up with.

It wasn't time for our second water stop yet, but we stopped anyway to take pictures of course! Everyone was in a great mood because we had finally reached Oregon!!

We all felt a great sense of accomplishment, but also the sad feeling that the trip was almost over. We were entering the final 10 days of our journey!

Casual bighorn sheep crossing 

Maroun and Jared riding in Hells Canyon!

Ironically enough, there was a town called Halfway, located halfway to our destination that day!!

Entering Pacific Time Zone!!!

After riding in the beautiful canyon for 10 miles, the rest of the day was HARD. In fact, I'd go so far to say that it was the hardest day of the entire trip. This was because of sheer mileage and elevation gain. You can't argue with numbers.... in this case, that was 110 miles and just shy of 8,000 ft of elevation gain. 

First, we had to climb back out of the canyon. A steady, slow climb from mile 40 to 57. That's gradual enough to not feel like a climb but to feel like a really annoyingly hard ride...for 17 miles. That was followed by a very steep 3-mile climb, which was really rough. Besides the mountain, we were also hungry, the sun was beating down, and the air was extremely dry. I went through both of my water bottles before getting to the water stop for the first time all trip.

I was so hungry and feeling so weak that I wasn't sure I was going to make it to the top of the mountain. At every turn I thought the end must be in sight, but it never was. None of my teammates were in sight and it was definitely a mental struggle for me. In the end I can't say exactly how I made it up.. I guess I just kept pedaling!!

Luckily food was awaiting us at the top, and after lunch we had another sweet 6-7 mile downhill.

The rest of the day was just as difficult as the part before lunch. The scenery was okay but we had been looking at the same road, the same dry, brown brush all day. And we were not by any means finished climbing for the day.... the last 38 miles were a steady climb of varying steepness. We also started seeing some strong headwinds while going uphill. It. Was. Brutal!

"Hells Canyon Oregon Scenic Byway"

Lots of cows!!

A small river we were bordering for a while

Our motivation was going out the window, lots of complaining was taking place, and the team as a whole was going a little bit crazy. There's usually a point on long rides where people start to lose it, and for this ride it occurred preeeetty early. We just kept pedaling and did our best to keep each other sane and make each other laugh. I was with a good group that day - Joanna, Jared, and Gina, all three of which are always funny! So that was good.

Sun getting lower in the sky! 

When my group finally rolled in to the host, the sun was just sneaking below the horizon and we had been on our bikes for a whopping 14 hours. Ouch.

We were among only 8 riders to make it in that day; everyone else was simply still riding at sunset, and had to get picked up in the van since it is unsafe and against 4K policy to ride in the dark. I was proud that we made it!

In Baker City, Oregon we were greeted by the following sign:

In other words, this water was NOT 4K OK! Several Baker City residents had been to the hospital that day for drinking the contaminated water. So we drank only bottled water, and in an effort to be extra careful I even brushed my teeth with bottled water. The only other time I've had to do that was in Thailand, so it felt like I was in a third-world country!! We were taking bets on who on the team would accidentally drink the water and get sick, but miraculously no one did! Go team! 

That night everyone was so exhausted that we just went to sleep really early. I slept on a table as I like to do whenever I get the chance. 4K problems. 

Hells Canyon was definitely a memorable ride and was the most difficult of the entire trip. With that behind us, we had beautiful Oregon to look forward to!!