Bee Sting-Day 11 - July 30, 2009 – Wilderness Gateway Campground to Lochsa Lodge, ID - 41 miles:

For whatever reason today was a day filled with calamities. To start with my camera battery died last night and it was a day without pictures. Boo. I also began the day with a pinch in my hip and a knife in my right shoulder. Our campsite was shaded and chilly in the morning so Gregory and I decided to lie out on the asphalt driveway of the campground and do some stretching. Mike attempted to pull on my leg to provide some relief and had some luck but I was still having a bad morning. We didn’t have enough to eat for breakfast so after only about five miles or so I had Mike dig out a can of beans that we ate beside the road. Though we were still riding along the scenic Lochsa River I couldn’t really enjoy it because it hurt to look to the right and it hurt to look up. I stared down at my water bottle and pedaled away hoping the Biofreeze (muscle rub) would kick in and loosen up my shoulder and neck. One bright spot in the day was Claudia and Rose (friends we met a couple days previous when they were tubing the river). They were headed back to Billings and pulled off the road to say hello. They filled our water bottles, fed us chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and Gregory got to play with their dog Lucy. Thank you! We did find a natural hot spring at mile marker 142 (tip from waitress at Syringa Café) and hiked in about 15 miles but it was so hot Gregory and I couldn’t bear to get in. Mike had a soak but Gregory and I stuck to dipping our head in the icy creek running along the trail. We filtered water and got back out on the road once again. My shoulder felt better by late afternoon but Mike and I were still dreaming of a tall cold iced tea (with a jolt of caffeine) to perk us up and get us through the last 20 miles. Stopped along the road some 10 miles later we put the kickstand down on the B.O.B. trailer (precariously perched on a rock for added height) and rested. Poor Gregory decided to get the Tyvek ground cloth out for us to sit on and the kickstand snapped off and over went the bike. Lets just say it is not easy being in the middle of this situation! To top things off Mike was stung in the lip by a bee as we pedaled along. His lip continued to swell as we grunted gradually up the grade. We couldn’t have been happier when we arrived at the lovely Lochsa Lodge. We reconnected with Randy Garmon who we’d met earlier in the day (one of the few cyclists we’ve met heading east like we are) and we shared a table for a dinner of pesto chicken sandwiches and burgers topped off with an amazing blackberry cobbler. Mike broke down and rented one of their quaint rustic cabins with access to the shower house. We capped off the evening by joining a group of bikers (motorcyclists) at the community bonfire. Mike ordered a Mike’s Hard Lemonade with Huckleberries (quite tasty) and we relaxed under a serene moon and star filled sky.