august 27
day 110
27 miles
total 2,905
surprise it came a big rain almost as soon as i started.
surprise peter lost his phone.
surprise we finally figured out it was in the car by calling it.
surprise the battery died before we found it.
surprise my shortcut ran into a gated road, and i had to backtrack and find another way around.
surprise peter and i got separated in the process.
surprise he figured i would find my way to the right road and we got reconnected without the help of technology
surprise idaho treated me to a full day of nearly gale force winds.
i had to fight for every step.
surprise i injured my left hip at mile 22
surprise i held on to get 27 again.
but surprise i am still not to oregon.
dam close tho.
i promise i could get a better mileage total
if i had a day with no surprises!
first i need to see how the hip does overnight.
when it happened it felt like the head of the femur broke off.
but, altho i staggered a little
i did not go down.
i knew the best thing was to walk it off.
while i did get the limp under control
the pain didn’t go away.
and now that i have stopped i can barely walk.
i need some overnight miracle healing in my sleep.
on my last day in idaho i saw fields of onions, sweet corn, and sugar beets.
how can a near desert
where it never rains
(except during lazcon)
have so many lush fields of crops?
snowmelt and canals.
snowmelt provides a good supply of water all summer
and the intricate canal system delivers it where and when it is needed.
the idaho system of canals is one of america’s wonders.
they are everywhere.
virtual rivers wind around high mountains.
smaller canals branch out in all directions,
finally down to running alongside fields where it can be sent down the rows….
below the fields the runoff is collected in more canals and pipes and sent on to work again.
if the field is not flat enough for row irrigation the water is sprayed from huge irrigation systems.
idaho’s farmers have been building canals since at least 1860
and they are among the worlds best at the craft.
looking at the canals, they do not seem to have nearly enough drop to generate the rapid flow that the canals have.
however, by building level canals with periodic foot high waterfalls, the natural properties of water suction it down the canals with many times the speed it would travel if the drop was distributed evenly.
every day of the week you will see the farmers busily opening and closing sluices, moving irrigation pipes and doing all the work to assure healthy crops.
i wonder if they realize they are artists?
laz
Sent from my magic phone