Well, I did it again yesterday. I pulled into a gas station in Salmon and pulled out my credit card and filled up the tank. Thirty Cents charged to my credit card. I'm sure it didn't used to be that much!

(What do you suppose they think about those 30 cent charges? Do they know they're bicycle tourists filling up their stove cannisters? Sure must look odd.)

I've been pretending that Nancy was here and doing some things besides just riding all day. On Friday I rode out to the trailhead and hiked up to Sawtooth Lake, a glorious alpine lake not far from Stanley. I can't wait to show you the pictures.

On Thursday I rode an incredible mountain bike loop north of Galena Summit - the Williams Creek/Fisher Creek loop. You climb up a steep uphill on a (poor) road and then have miles and miles and miles of downhill on very-single singletrack. An awesome ride. Highly recommended.

And yesterday I hiked up to an amazing hot spring called Goldbug Hot Spring. It was a steep climb, but when I got there I found steaming streams of water going into many pools and just rushing out of the mountain. You would have liked it! And a great temperature, too.

Well, I got on the Salmon River at its headwaters near Galena Summit, and liked it so much that when the guy in Stanley tried to talk me into continuing down it and going to Sandpoint via Missoula, I fell for it. What a beautiful valley! Especially the Sawtooths.

But can you believe that the salmon (fish) are still making it back here from the sea in small numbers? There aren't many left, but there are a few hatchery fish now that make the *900* mile journey up the Columbia and to this valley. It's astonishing. I didn't see them, but they're coming.

I hope you're following along on the Thanks page, because there are some awesome people on there!

On just one day, July 15, I met these people:

• 30 young Yale students riding their bikes 4000 miles across the country to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
• John and Shiree, Forest Service Pine Beetle Researchers, chatted and shared their lunch with me on Galena Summit.
• And Wade and Twila Ficklin and their kids thought about me on their return trip from Stanley and stopped to buy a gatorade and popsicle for me, and then stopped on the road when they found me and gave them to me and we chatted! How's that for thoughtful!

Jeff Palmer says: If you're ever feeling depressed, go for a bike tour. It will cheer you up. He's right!

I was planning to work my way up the western side of the state to Sandpoint, but a guy in a visitor info center convinced me that following the Salmon River down and then going to Missoula and approaching Sandpoint that way is better. And the 150 miles of downhill was kind of attractive :-) So I'll be in Missoula in about 3 days.

The last couple of days have been in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (and Wilderness) and it's a delightful area. North of the glitz of Sun Valley and a completely different place. The very headwaters of the Salmon River, just a little trickle up at the top of the valley, and quite an impressive river as you approach Stanley, just 30-40 miles later.

I had a wonderful mountain bike episode at Fisher Creek/Williams Creek - A big climb up a dirt road followed by miles and miles of beautiful singletrack winding around mountains and down canyons. And it was without the trailer, which was quite an experience.

Yesterday I went for a hike to Sawtooth Lake and Alpine Lake, just inside the Sawtooth Wilderness area. They're beautiful alpine lakes set up in the incredibly rugged Sawtooths. But the views on the way up there! I'll look forward to posting them for you when I get to a computer where I can do that.

The Wood River Valley is second home to some very famous names, including John Kerry and Arnold Schwartzenegger. It's Sun Valley and Ketchum.

I thought it would be too glitzy, but found it very pleasant and even spent a rest day there. The bike trail system is incredible. There's trail all the way up the valley, and bike lanes elsewhere. But the most amazing thing: When I was trying to cross the main highway in Hailey (2 lanes each way, both full of traffic), I was just waiting at a corner with no light, thinking that I should have gone to a corner with a light. And lo and behold, all 4 lanes of traffic just stopped for me to cross! That's pretty nice!

Craters of the Moon is a huge landscape of lava. Everything is covered with lava (of several types) and on the older stuff, vegetation has started to grow.

According to the geologists, the most recent eruption here was about 2100 years ago, and before that 4000, 6000, 7000, 8000, and 10,000 years ago. It would seem we're due :-)

The landscape is stark and yet beautiful, with all kinds of plants trying to re-establish more than 2000 years since they were completely wiped out.

This whole part of Idaho (Thousands of square miles) is basically lava flows. You can see the lava at most creek beds and highway cuts. But there's topsoil on a lot of it - those flows are earlier than the stark, new flows here at Craters.