Palouse Hues

‘ll begin with a simple geography quiz. IHow many of you could find the Palouse on a map? Quickly now. Residents of the state of Washington must disqualify themselves at this point. Now that I have given you a clue bigger than Lance Armstrong’s lungs (and heart), I can reveal the site of my PALOUSEnewfound HUES cycling destination. The Palouse is located in southeastern Washington (mostly in Whitman County) with just a sliver resid- ing in Idaho. Its unique terrain is marked by unrelenting swaths of treeless hills that are rich in agricultural bounty. An artistic color Story and Photos by Chuck Haney palette revolves with the seasons. An ing along hilly fields of wheat looked like a earthy, saturated brown emerges during promising cycling destination. the spring, then shades of pale to emerald The region is named after the Palouse green predominate during the summer, Indians, a small tribe indigenous to the each taking its turn as king of color. In area most often affiliated with the Nez autumn, amber ale and glowing gold pre- Percé tribe. The Palouse also influenced side over the harvest season before the the often romanticized Appaloosa horse landscape reverts recycling back to earthy breed. In the 1870s, early settlers referred brown as the white of winter snow sets in. to the spotted horse as “a palouse” or “ a As much beauty as the Palouse holds, palousey horse.” Different spellings finally every time I mentioned to my Montana evolved into the modern name Appaloosa. friends that I had planned another trip Many of the best cycling loops rotate there, the puzzled response was always the around the small town of Colfax. A nippy same. “Where’s that?” they’d ask. In west- morning pedal down Main Street will tell ern Montana, we are only a short distance you that farming is king around these away. My friends evidently don’t get out parts. The local bank time and tempera- often enough or just haven’t had the good ture flashes to a steady beat on the shady fortune of stumbling upon the alluring side of the street. On the opposite side, the Palouse college town. Pullman is the home of Washington State University. Palouse hues. sun shines brightly on the large electronic A few years back I rode the Tour de numbers displaying the current market small market provided much-needed shade tinations is the symbol for the region, Lacs, an organized ride that loops from price for soft white wheat. from the sun and an ice-cold Gatorade. Steptoe Butte. This cone-shaped hill tow- Spokane, Washington, to Coeur d’Alene, From the commerce of commodities, After my break, I made a small detour. Just ers thirteen hundred feet above the sur- Idaho, via Lake Coeur d’Alene. That par- my attention quickly shifted to a kind of west of town, I stopped to admire a well- rounding countryside. Just a few miles ticular event briefly bumped up against the giant totem pole. Called the Codger Pole, preserved, rare, round barn. As I spun past north of Colfax, it’s a three-and-a half-mile area known as the Palouse. I remember this sixty-five–foot tribute to a 1938 high more idyllic barns, I acknowledged the ascent to the summit. The road spirals at Architectural throwback. Beautifully preserved, a round barn in Palouse country. thinking that the jet-black pavement wind- school football game between Colfax and friendly folks waving from passing cars, an upward angle, making four complete neighboring St. John is, according to a and noticed a new hue — bright yellow — revolutions around the butte (think of Chamber of Commerce brochure, the in the stands of canola fields. There was applying tinsel to the family Christmas tallest chain-saw carving in the world. fresh pavement on Green Hollow Road, tree). Although the Palouse remains a The town sits in the shallows of the and the long needles of ponderosa pines well-kept secret to most of the outside Palouse hills, which means there’s only shaded the noontime sun. This area, world, I decided from the photo workshop one way out of town, and that way is up. known as the Hollows, is one of the few vans parked along the narrow road to the Every paved road leading out of Colfax places in the Palouse where trees can be top that it has certainly been discovered by offers muscle-aching grades. While climb- seen. After churning up one last grade, my professional photographers. Many compa- ing, I’d anticipate the downhill rush lead- weary legs were grateful for the long down- nies are putting on workshops that take ing back into town as the cranks slowly hill that jetted me back into Colfax and the advantage of the Palouse’s grand natural turned and my lungs gasped for more oxy- end of my loop. design. Pedaling up and around the butte gen. Local riders are very familiar with the reveals a revolving landscape below, with After the grind out of Colfax, I headed Palouse grades that they regularly climb. each lap shrinking in diameter until the toward Endicott. On smooth-shouldered As I visited with Sean Ellis, who owns B & cyclist finally reachies the summit at 3,641 pavement, I cruised past uniform green L Bicycles in Pullman, I noticed that there feet where a commanding 360-degree view fields of ripening wheat and lentils that were a disproportionate number of road awaits. Gazing down, I could see a world of swayed softly in a slight breeze. Rustic bikes on display — compared to most spectacular color. The hills are tinged with barns sat stoically, the character of their bicycle shops in the Northwest. I also seasonal hues, red barns pop, and steely aged wood and their hardiness hearkening noticed these road bikes were almost all gray grain elevators thrust themselves out back to the days when teams of mules and equipped with low-geared triple chainrings. of the hills. A dizzying network of jet black threshing crews worked the angular hills. As I left the shop, my prevailing thought roads laced it all together. It’s one long pull up and then a plunge was, “I’m not getting any younger. Maybe While riding on Palouse roads, it’s down to the Palouse River, then another in a few years, I too will have to make the almost as if you have been swallowed up in good pull or two back up to St. John. The switch to lower gearing.” Unfortunately, an ocean of dunes. It is only when you town is a typical farming community of my 39/26 cogset would have to pull me up crest the wave of another hill and emerge less than five hundred people. On Main the steepest inclines the Palouse could dish above the snaky road system that land- Street, grain silos, a hardware store, and a out. forms like Steptoe Butte present them- Palouse Falls State Park. Basalt cliffs and a 185-foot waterfall make this a don’t-miss attraction. bank jostle for position. A family-owned One of my favorite Palouse riding des- selves. 12 ADVENTURE CYCLIST JULY 2004 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG ADVENTURE CYCLIST JULY 2004 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 13 legume gets plenty of love during the fourth weekend of August when the college students arrive back on campus. After all, the Palouse grows more lentil peas than anywhere else in the world. I missed the parade down Main Street as I prepared to help celebrate such a worthy pea. The Washington State University cycling team hosts a metric century called the Tour d’ Lentil, and I signed on and missed the parade. I guess I’ll never know what “Miss Lentil” looked like. We left town as a pack of fifty or so riders fanned out along the wheat stubble cropped close by hillside combines. We headed toward Colfax on the Wawawai Road rolling up and down through a gold- stained landscape. I was relieved that we bypassed the Klemgard Hill and its infa- mous climb, although other big-time rollers replaced it. My computer seemed to register either a crawling six miles per hour on climbs or top out at fifty miles per hour during one of the ferocious descents just before the lunch stop. The ten percent grade back out of town didn’t seem as difficult as the fearsome rumors had indicated before the ride began. A tailwind buffeted the hills along Highway 272 to the tiny town of Palouse. The last leg back to Pullman turned south along Highway 27 and into a head- wind. The 3,641-foot-high Kamiak Butte, named for Kamiakin, a Yakama chief, dominated the highway’s right flank. The sight of Pullman over the horizon was a welcome relief after four hours in the sad- dle. The one thing about road riding in the Palouse is that both your human and mechanical drivetrains get a constant and comprehensive workout. Road-bike paradise. The Palouse is criss-crossed with smooth pavement, like the winding Albion Road. As I kicked back on the outskirts of town with a cold one and some much- The unique geography of the Palouse acter. The loess is the base for topsoil that twelve to sixteen thousand years ago during land clean of all its soil and exposed the Pullman is the largest town in the needed local cuisine, I witnessed a vivid is the result of some intriguing events. has been deposited up to two hundred feet the last Ice Age. An ice dam blocked the flow hardened lava basalt rock.

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