Day 6 — Scablands to the Palouse

June 18, 2021. This morning Herman gave me a lift around the endless trail detours down to the Revere grain elevator. We packed up the canoe, bike, and gear on the back of the F-350 flatbed, and off we went.

On the way, Herman told me about history of the area, the current challenges farmers and ranchers face with climate change (“it’s the real deal”, he said), and the relentless loss of family farms as the land is gobbled up by huge farming businesses.

From the Revere elevator it was relatively flat gravel roads along Rock Creek to the town of St. John, where I had a couple leaky tube fixed. I kept getting rose thorn punctures and ran out of spare tubes. The mechanic there put a big ol’ combine tire patch on my spare tubes, which I hoped would get me to the palouse.

From St. John is was a 1,000 foot climb and 25 miles through the Palouse to Colfax. The heat and sun wasn’t pleasant but the Palouse landscape was beautiful, with a lot more canola and less wheat then I remember from w

My friend Mike Wolcott picked me up in Colfax and brought me to he and Lisa’s house east of Moscow for a few days gear repair, and visits with old friends. We lived next to Mike and Lisa up the road for 13 years, and it was nice to visit and catch up.