Tony and I had several options mapped out for Idaho. But we also wanted to get into eastern Oregon, so we decided to hit the Lolo Motorway. I'd done it once by myself in 2009 and didn't mind heading back to it.
Of course I completely forgot how to get there, so I just kind of rode by feel. We were on a great road, twisty and fun and eventually, yup, we were in the right spot.
Easy gravel to start
Confirmation
Soon enough we got off the big gravel road onto the small Lolo motorway, the actual path Lewis and Clark took.
Along the way the big story boards told the tale
Just past here was the first rough climb and ... no Tony.
Turns out he got a bit close to one of the trees sticking into the trail and knocked one of his side cases right off the bike. No permanent damage and I didn't have to ride too far back to find him again.
The trail was much rougher than it was 5 years ago when I rode it. At the time I did see a grader working on it, so perhaps I got lucky. Our progress was slow, with both uphill and downhill rock gardens.
But we did reach some gorgeous spots. It was hot, so parking in the shade was the way to go.
Dusty too.
The drops offs were not too bad, but we were up there, over 6000 feet.
Not far to the very top.
Oh yeah, the view :)
After this it was still a ways till we got to the only cut out where we could get back to the highway. It was this or ride the entire motorway.
Even more dusty ;)
Since it was past 2pm we decided to cut out, hit the highway and head towards Lochsa Lodge and get some elk burgers. Well the fact that Tony would have run out of gas may have had something to do with the decision as well.
The ride out was a pain, either sand or rolling marbles. But we got to the highway and I _thought_ I'd picked the right way. Eventually it proved right and we got to the lodge, got gas and had some food. Out of elk but I had a very tasty bison burger. YUM.
I did hit the mother-of-all-bugs on the way to the lodge:
After a good meal, it was back to the hotel, another 2 or 3 hours of riding. It was smoking hot again when we got there, over 100 F. But happy none-the-less.
Back at the hotel before we went back for more mexican food and grade cervesas, this is what a good day looks like:
Tomorrow we'd head into Oregon and leave Idaho behind once again.
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