Map: Day 8 Day: 93.7 km | Trip: 603 km

I left at 8 AM. I got an extra bottle of water at the gas station, i.e. I schlepped 3.5 Liters (almost 1 Gallon) of water with me. The 17 miles up hill in the morning were not too bad. It was still nicely cool.

The descent to the Hells Canyon was breath taking. I had to stop multiple times to let my rims cool off and to take some pictures of the also breath taking scenery. Six miles after the pass there is a motel with shop and cafe. The map did not show this. I could have carried less water. The closer I got to Brownlee Reservoir the better the views became. On the whole it was a very scenic trip.

The road along the Reservoir goes up and down and is not as flat as I hoped. Once I crossed the border to Oregon the road changed from dark gray to light brown and it became rougher. A few miles behind Brownlee Dam I met Wendy from California. She is on a Trans America tour and just started a week ago in Astoria. While cycling across the United States, she decided to raise awareness for two non-profit organizations: GeoHazards International and the Scleroderma Foundation. She is bicycling quite fast considering she carries more luggage on her bike than some people in their RVs. Wendy told me that the Dutch couple stayed in the same motel as she did the night in Richland.

The 11 miles to Oxbow did not seem to end. Once when I stopped to cool down in some rare shade a police car stopped. The police man warned me about Goatshead Weed. This plant grows everywhere in the Northwest and it has parts that look like a ball with thorns coming out (like the medieval weapon: mace!). They can easily puncture bicycle tires.

Two miles after Oxbow is Pine Creek which was supposed to be my first long rest stop of the day and also my food stop. I had only some cereal in the morning and two crunchy bars. The night before I had a very light dinner. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed. The shop was open but did not have prepared food like sandwiches. So I feasted on two snacks and refilled water.

The last 17 miles to Halfway were no fun. It was already 2 PM local time (3 PM to me, Idaho time) and of course it was all uphill. Literally on my last drop of water I reached Halfway. Two miles before Halfway I met another bicyclist. He was on his way to Virginia and wanted to reach the campground at Brownlee Dam tonight.

In Halfway my first trip was to the supermarket to refuel some water. But I got stopped by yet another bicyclist: Dick Ruthwell. He was sitting in the shade underneath a tree across the main intersection. I walked over and sat down in the shade too. We talked for a while. It seems that he is from the same small town in Delaware as Fiddling. He met her and the Dutch couple between Baker and Richland.

It is 9:30 PM already and dark. I got to finish this tomorrow in Baker City. For dinner I was recommended the Bowling Alley of Halfway. They had Mexican special. The food was good but the portions were only Halfway big though so I needed 2 dinners, for $3.99 each that was not a problem. I went to bed with the good feeling of being now Halfway to Eugene.