Climbing Towards Idaho

Today, I cycled up to Dayton, WA. This short, 30 mile climb, up to 1800 ft, puts me into position to cycle 70 miles tomorrow into Lewiston, Idaho. Tomorrow will involve a climb up to nearly 3,000 ft, so my selection of Dayton was made with care.

Today's riding featured seemingly endless rolling hills, gold with dried wheat and grasses. From the distance, the desolate, amber colored hills looked like Sahara dunes (above), and Waitsburg, isolated in the valley in the middle of these hills, an oasis (left). The effect was magnified by the road's isolation (only one or two cars an hour) and the sun beating down from the cloudless sky with no discernable humidity in the air.