Last night was the last night all 5 of us would be together. At Kooskia, the next town, the rest of the gang went South while I stayed North with a couple other cyclists that rolled into the campground after dark. We had a fire and marvelled at the beautiful day of riding we all experienced; we waded in the river and drank from it and fell asleep beneath the stars that were above the haze of smoke in the sky.
The temperature was too good this morning; we were all up early without freezing and shivering over our breakfasts. Rides like yesterday are good to do with other people because you can talk about it afterward and still feel the excitement like when the embers from the campfire are still smoldering in the morning.
The 7 of us, including Rachel and Brendan who came in late last night, headed for kooskia where our gang would split up. But not before we all stuffed our faces with eggs and pancakes and some of us with butter in our coffee. In Kooskia, the Lochsa River splits in 2 directions, the Clearwater River goes North while the South Fork goes in the obvious direction.
So I took the Clearwater with Rachel and Brendan while Matt, Wally, Dave, and Marion took the South Fork with hopes we'd all see each other again, now knowing the mysterious ways of the road. Rachel and Brendan needed to make it to Lewiston today in attempts to meet an encroaching deadline; I, on the other hand stopped just after 50 miles here in Orofino, back in civilization, back on my own to hammer out the last weeks of my ride.
