Mountains and water in Idaho and Montana

 We spent yesterday in Moscow, Idaho, home of the University of Idaho. Just about every storefront in town has a sign supporting the university which has five times the number of employees compared to any other employer in the city. We stayed at the friendly and convenient Monarch Motel just one block away from the downtown.

Today we were back on the motorcycle riding 300 miles on a longer and more scenic route to Missoula, MT. We rarely take the fastest, most direct route and especially not when interstate highways are required.

We rode north on US 95 out of Moscow through the Palouse, a large region in Washington and Idaho covered with steep rolling hills planted primarily with wheat.

We wound through several small towns, often with only 200 or fewer residents, until we rode around the outskirts of Coeur d'Alene where the 2-lane highway became a busy 4-lane peppered with stoplights. After a few miles we left the city behind and enjoyed less traffic on a 2-lane highway that wound through a valley in the Selkirk Mountains. 

In Sandpoint, ID we crossed the western part of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho's largest (43 miles long with 111 miles of shoreline) and deepest (1158' - 5th deepest lake in the United States).

After crossing the lake we turned east on Idaho 200 which hugs the eastern edge of the Pend Oreille lakeshore for several miles, then follows the Clark Fork River into Montana.

Now called Montana Highway 200, the 2-lane road winds through forests with views of the Coeur d'Alene Mountains to the southwest. 

We stopped for lunch at the Lakeside Motel and Resort in Trout Creek, not expecting the lovely patio at the back of the motel with shade trees and a lush green lawn as we looked out over the Clark Fork River.

We didn't ride over any mountain passes or encounter hairpin turns and twisties, and instead traveled through a stunning part of northeastern Idaho and western Montana.

Following Lewis and Clark

 We've come across sections of the route taken by Lewis and Clark in 1804-1805 as they explored the vast area of the Louisiana Purchase. Today we followed much of their route from Montana west through Idaho as they headed toward the Pacific Ocean. US Route 12, is known as the Lewis and Clark Highway, and in Idaho it's also the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway.

We started today's ride in Hamilton, MT, heading north on US 93, a 4-lane, busy highway in the Bitterroot Valley for about 30 miles until we turned north on US 12.

We started climbing through open fields and then heavily forested Bitterroot Range.

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Our highest point for today came at 5233' Lolo Pass where we crossed from Montana into Idaho. We stopped at the visitor center - closed today but the bathrooms were open - for a quick snack and drink of water, and enjoyed chatting with a couple from Iowa riding their motorcycle.

I missed taking a photo of a large sign that proclaimed winding mountain roads for the next 99 miles. All that was missing from the sign was a photo of an extremely happy couple zooming through the canyon on their motorcycle!

This area is the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest which covers 4 million acres in north-central Idaho. Much of this area is protected wilderness, and for most of the 99 miles we saw very little traffic as we descended down from Lolo Pass.

US 12 twists and winds following the Lochsa River, one of the rivers included as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968. 

 

We stopped for lunch at Kooskia at 1293' elevation - we had dropped almost 4000' over 99 miles. The Selway River joins the Lochsa River at Kooskia, forming the Clearwater River.

US 12 continues along the wide yet still winding Clearwater River, which Lewis and Clark paddled in dugout canoes. The elevation dropped to 864' - that is about 7000' lower than our home in Southwest Colorado.

The last part of today's ride took us away from rivers as we headed north on Idaho Route 3. The temperature was over 90 degrees and we decided to stop at the first gas station we saw for a drink of cold water - and much to our delight found ourselves at the Juliaetta Market which featured huckleberry ice cream. We saw inside the air conditioned market chatting with the friendly woman working there while we cooled off. Refreshed, we rode through the huge, rolling hills of the Palouse.

Our last turn was onto Idaho Route 99 which wound through the wheat fields of the Palouse into Moscow, our stop for tonight.

Today was another beautiful, memorable day on the BMW through mountains, along rivers, and into rolling agricultural lands crossed 220 years ago by Lewis and Clark. Much of the area hasn't changed much during those centuries and I like to believe that it will stay this way for the next few centuries for others to enjoy.

300 miles on scenic highways in Idaho and Montana

 We started the day going for a run along the Idaho Falls greenbelt along the Snake River, and stopped at City Bagels and Bakery for another authentic New York-style bagel - the second of this trip.

We planned our route today based on Butler motorcycle maps, and thoroughly enjoyed riding through wide mountain valleys, narrow gorges with tall rock cliffs on each side of the road, and along scenic rivers.

We started today riding west on US 20 under hazy skies due to smoke from wildfires in Canada. 

US 20 goes through the Idaho National Laboratory, part of the Department of Energy focusing on nuclear energy. You can't see much from the highway and we didn't have time to stop at the Atomic Energy Museum but it looks fascinating - when do you have an opportunity to see a nuclear reactor?

In Arco, the first town ever powered completely by nuclear energy (for 1 hour in 1955) and site of a large rocky hill where since 1902 graduates from Butte County High School paint the year they graduated, we continued on US 93 north.

This section of US 93 from Arco to Challis in the north is part of the the Peaks to Craters scenic byway. We rode past Mt. Borah, at 12,662' the tallest peak in Idaho and part of the Lost River Mountain, through wide valleys and narrow, twisting canyons.

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In Challis we crossed the Salmon River and US 93 is now part of the Salmon River scenic byway

Also known as The River of No Return, the Salmon originates in central and eastern Idaho not far from where we rode today, and flows north until it joins the Snake River. 

US 93 was such a fun motorcycle ride, with wide, sweeping curves along the river, tight turns in the canyons, and outstanding views of the mountains.

We crossed into Montana at the top of Gibbons Pass in the Bitterroot National Forest, and soon after winding down into the Bitterroot valley we came to Hamilton where we're spending the night. 

Although the temperature was in the high 60's when we left Idaho Falls, by early afternoon the sun came out and the temperature climbed into the high 90's. We had a reservation at the Super 8 but when we walked in were told the air conditioning just went out. After 2 hours on the motorcycle in temperatures just under 100 degrees, we looked for another option and snagged the last room at the Quality Inn just down the street.

We're now cooling off with the air conditioning blasting on high, talking about one of the most scenic rides we've had, and getting ready for another potentially hot - but gorgeous - day on the motorcycle tomorrow.

Mountains, rivers and fields in Wyoming and Idaho

 Day 3 of our motorcycle trip started in Rock Springs, Wyoming, heading north on US 191. For the first two hours we rode through a flat, arid landscape with no trees. Occasionally a dirt track wound off into the far-off Wind River Range that looked like faint shadows in the horizon.

Eventually we started climbing and the landscape changed to rolling hills and green bushes and trees as we entered the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

As we continued north we rode between the Wind River Range to the east and the Wyoming Range to the west.

We came to the first river for today and rode alongside the Hoback River, a major tributary of the Snake River, through a steep-walled canyon topped with pine trees.

In Hoback Junction the Hoback River flows into the Snake River, and we turned west on US 26, following the Snake through another canyon.

US 26 then runs for miles along Palisades Reservoir as we entered Idaho. It had been cool in the morning with temperatures in the 60's, but as we descended below 6000' elevation, the temperatures rose into the 80's. 

US 26 continues west through Swan Valley, home to much of Idaho's agriculture with endless, vibrant green fields backed by mountains.

We're more in touch with our surroundings riding the BMW vs driving in a car - feeling the wind and sun, noticing the different smells in forests, watching hawks and osprey soar overhead. It was a bit jarring to end our day on a 4-lane highway in Idaho Falls, and we look forward to more country miles tomorrow as we continue north toward Canada.

Colorado - Utah - Wyoming on Day 2 of our trip

We made a last minute decision to ride through Colorado National Monument this morning as we headed out of Grand Junction - and what an incredible experience! 23 mile long Rimrock Drive winds, twists, goes through 3 tunnels and offers breathtaking views of the canyons and the top of the mesa.

We were lucky enough to spot 2 Desert Bighorn sheep calmly watching us from a rock outcropping.

We didn't see any other motorcycles and very few cars, but there were quite a few bicyclists enjoying the newly paved road.

We then headed north on CO 139, riding first past ranches and farms and then steadily climbing into the Bookcliff Mountains, topping off at 8,205' on Douglas Pass. 

The BMW's odometer turned over to 46,000 miles and it was fun to reminisce about those miles over the past 6 years that we've had the bike.

We were on US 64 west for a few miles, then US 40 west crossing into Utah, and finally US 191 north for the rest of today's ride. The landscape kept changing from twisting through stunning rock formations to riding along the grassy, windswept mesas at over 8,000' elevation (the cooler temperatures very much appreciated!).

We crossed the Flaming Gorge Dam on the Green River and caught glimpses of the 91 mile long reservoir that lies in both Wyoming and Utah.

We rode 264 miles today through three states with amazing landscapes on very lightly traveled roads - a dream day on the BMW. Tomorrow we continue northwest into Idaho with more twisty hairpin turns and long sweeping curves to keep us happy.