Today was a day of descent but with one big climb, but before I could start going uphill I needed to go downhill. The problem was the early morning cross winds required me to put on the brakes at a few places. Also it was the first time on the trip where I encountered livestock on the road, and of course it was on the downhills. The first time was an encounter with a lone bull that wanted to run with me. So I was riding with the bull for 1/2 mile. He could have turned anytime and we would then be face to face. If I went faster, so did he. He crossed in front of me twice with the closest encounter being 30 feet. He seemed to know where he was going for he found an opening in the fence line and ran back into the rangeland. Bye bye bull.
The next encounter with livestock was with three cows and there little ones just standing on the road. They looked up at me but seemed moderately curious like all the cows that I have encountered in the pastures or ranges.
Today’s journey took me to Oxbow. A small camp ground next to the Oxbow dam on the Snake River. Across the river is Idaho. I got the last tent site. One of the many great things of being over 60 is that I qualify for the senior discount while camping. I was situated to a very nice couple from Walla Walla, WA, who were there for fishing. As they were cooking their dinner they offered me to whatever they did not eat, which was about 5 ounces of prime rib, scallops, and fresh tomatoes. They ate their caught fish the previous night. There was no way that I was going to turn that down for my staple of rice and canned tuna. Even later they offered to cook an egg breakfast for me, however, I declined that one for I wanted to get a early start the next day.
It is encounters like this, and others that I have had so far, all of which are very brief, that make the trip memorable.
Today’s stats: total mileage 71.5; average speed 13.2 mph; max speed 33.4 mph; elevation gain 2833 feet; elevation descent 4347 feet.