Map: Day 7 Day: 77.3 km | Trip: 509

I left New Meadows at 8:30 AM in the morning after a long phone conversation with my parents. It was a good hill towards Tamarack but not too bad as it was nicely cool this morning. On my way to Tamarack, which is nothing but a lumber mill I got passed by 3 trucks, the last one almost ran me over. At the mill all three stood in line waiting to get in. I passed them. I don't know why they drove so impatiently. The gas station and restaurant in Tamarack were still closed.

After the road crosses the Weiser River it goes uphill quite a bit and from then on it was all downhill till Council. In Council I went to the Forest Service Station. I saw that Liz signed the guest book. Now I have her family name and a part of her address. With this I might be able to send her the picture I took of her.

After Council the road made a major climb till Mesa, from there on it was all downhill to Cambridge. I reached Cambridge already at 2 PM and checked into the RV Park / Motel. I spent the afternoon strolling through the town. I met a very nice lady in a books, art and gift shop. She told me about Cambridge. It once had a railway stop. Two years ago a lumber mill in the area went out of business. The railroad company decided that the track would not be cost effective anymore so they stopped the rail service and tore out all the tracks. A major flood some years ago destroyed many of the railroad bridges. Now there is an organization trying to convert the railroad track to a bicycle trail "Tracks to Trails". At the small community library I was able to access the Internet and check my mail.

As I have cell phone coverage I called some friends at home. Anuja told me that she was able to get tickets for my flight to India and it will be again with Northwest Airlines, well, they are the cheapest.

Tomorrow I'll cycle through Hells Canyon till Halfway. It is supposed to be extremely hot. It is already so hot that all the velcro straps on my panniers are falling off as they are only glued on.