We had thought that possibly we would just do the 20 miles to Lewiston/Clarkston today and have a rest before tackling the climb up towards Pomeroy tomorrow. However, we found ourselves sitting down to breakfast in Lewiston by 7:30 am, and were not inspired to spend the day in town. By the way, should you find yourself in Lewiston at some point, we were impressed with the Mystic Cafe. Far better than we expected to find in town. I had the huevos benedict street tacos (yum!). I believe I also saw a maple bacon cinnamon roll in the bakery case!
The first 10 miles or so heading out of town were a flat cruise along the Snake River. So far so good. Then the road turned abruptly away from the river and started to climb. Still not too bad, I think we were able to make 8 mph or so for a while, though that speed did gradually come down a bit.

Lewis and Clark went back this way.

Then the real climb started. I was immediately dropped down to a speed of 3 1/2 – 4 mph. I was in my granny gear, which is what the lowest low gear is often called. This continued for 5 long miles, though at least near the end we were able to up it to 4 – 4 1/2 mph. At first I was able to make it a mile before I had to take a break. Then a couple of 3/4 mile stretches. Then a 1/2 mile, and soon I was only making it 1/3 of a mile before wheezing to a stop.

Climbing, climbing, climbing that hill.

I was in major bonk mode, and my water was running low. Did I mention it was HOT out there? Corey hung with me, but Scott could not go that slow because he did not have the low gears we did. Finally we hit the part where we were able to increase the speed just a smidgeon, and I was able to do two last 1/2 mile bursts.
At the top I pretty much just sat down in a heap on the ground in some shade. There was a rest area there with pit toilets, but after looking around a bit Scott found a faucet with cold water. I drank at least a bottle and a half, and we all refilled for the last stretch. Between having water and eating some of my emergency candy to get my blood sugar back up, I slowly came back to life.
From there it was a breeze to make the last 10 miles into Pomeroy, all downhills and flats. We got checked into the one motel here, and then headed out for lunch and BEER. It is a sleepy town, but a bit more than we expected, including a beautiful classic county courthouse.

The Pomeroy Courthouse

It looks like we have a few climbs tomorrow, but nothing like today. I expect we will aim for another early start.