Traveler’s Journal
When: 7 p.m., Thursday, March 19
Where: Sequim High School library, 601 N. Sequim Ave.
Cost: Suggested $5 donation (adults); 18 and younger, free
Presenters: Heidi and Dick Pattee
Presentation: “Heat, hills and hot springs: Exploring Idaho by mountain bike
“You will sweat. Your lungs will ache. Your legs will burn. You will run out of water. You will buy your food from the ammo and bait shop. Your route will be blocked by a forest fire. You will ford a river barefoot. You will pedal uphill for hours at a pace so slow that it will be quicker to get off the bike and walk.”
It’s unlikely we would have undertaken our mountain biking adventure last summer if we had read such a brutally honest depiction of what lay ahead. Fortunately, the savvy marketing department of the Adventure Cycling Association published a more idyllic description of their brand new backcountry bicycling route:
“The Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route guides riders over and through the breathtaking landscape of central Idaho.
“From blue ribbon trout streams to sub-alpine terrain and cozy mountain towns, riders will pass through some of the most spectacular country the West has to offer, with the opportunity to indulge in the highest concentration of soakable hot springs in North America.”
What cyclist could resist a sales pitch like that? Like two unsuspecting trout in a blue ribbon stream, we were instantly hooked. In March 2014, as soon as the newly printed maps were available for sale, we ordered ours and started planning the trip. Wanting to be among the first cyclists to experience this unique and challenging backcountry route, we started pedaling in late June just as the lingering snow loosened its grip on central Idaho’s high country.
This was a lightweight, self-supported bicycle tour, meaning we carried all of our clothing, camping gear, tools, food and water — and precious little else.
Minimizing our load to include only the barest of necessities was a must. We hauled ourselves, our beefy knobby-tired bicycles and all of our gear along unpaved roads up and over daily passes with 6- to 10-percent grades. With altitudes along this route reaching nearly 9,000 feet, we found that our sea-level lungs were taxed on every uphill grade.
Our tour was one of great extremes. We experienced solitude and crowds, blazing heat and freezing cold, dusty desert landscape and lush mountain streams, scorched forests and exuberant wildflowers. Along the way we met many Idahoans who reinforced our preconceptions and a few who thoroughly shattered our stereotypes.
Seventeen days and 550 miles later we had endured heat, hills, sore legs, tired lungs, anxiety about our food supply, a forest fire and hours-long climbs on rough, sandy, washboard roads. But we barely noticed. We were too busy gawking at the breathtaking landscape, listening to the ripple of blue ribbon trout streams, visiting cozy mountain towns and indulging in the highest concentration of soakable hot springs in North America. Idyllic? Indeed!
About the presenter
Inspired by the wildness of the Olympic Peninsula, the Pattees moved to Sequim in 2001 and made it their permanent home.
They enjoy exploring the natural world by just about any mode of human-powered travel. In recent years they have developed a passion for long-distance hiking, from single-day crossings of Olympic National Park to months-long journeys along the Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail.
They have pedaled 14,000 miles around the perimeter of the United States on their tandem bicycle as well as completing numerous smaller bicycle tours by both road and mountain bike.
Frequent presenters at the Traveler’s Journal Series, Dick and Heidi also are trail adopters for Mile 16 on the Olympic Discovery Trail and members of the Clallam County Thursday Trail Crew.
About the presentations
Traveler’s Journal is a presentation of the Peninsula Trails Coalition. All of the money raised is used to buy project supplies and food for volunteers working on Olympic Discovery Trail projects.
Shows start at 7 p.m. in the Sequim High School library at 601 N. Sequim Ave. Please note the change of venue: All shows are in the library, not the cafeteria as in previous years.
Suggested donation is $5 for adults. Youths 18 and under are welcome for free.
One selected photo enlargement will be given away each week as a door prize. Creative Framing is donating the matting and shrink wrapping of the door prize.
Call Dave Shreffler at 683-1734 for more information.
