Today we said good-bye to everyone and rode 212 miles south on US 93 to Salmon, Idaho. We followed our son Nate on his bike to Missoula, then continued on our own.
US 93 at Flathead Lake is bordered by the Mission Mountain Range and then south of Missoula we rode by the 165 mile long Bitterroot Mountain Range.
These mountain ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains that stretch from New Mexico to northern British Columbia in Canada.
Much of US 93 was arrow-straight until we started heading up toward Lost Trail Ski area on the Montana/Idaho border. This was one of the rare times when we actually saw wildlife posted on the roadside signage - this time a small group of Bighorn sheep.
We had been riding at about 3500' elevation and the twisting climb, complete with hairpin turns, took us to about 6500' before we started winding our way down the mountain, passing trucks loaded with carnival rides.
The ride into Salmon, Idaho is absolutely gorgeous with tall and craggy mountains all around the curving, sweeping 2-lane US 93 and criss-crossing the 425 mile long Salmon River.
The temperature climbed into the mid-90's so we stopped for ice cream at Salmon Scoops before back-tracking less than a mile to our hotel right by the Salmon River.
Tomorrow we continue southeast through Idaho, planning to stop for the night just over the state line into Wyoming. It will be another hot day, so we're hoping for ice cream in the afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment