58 miles, 2513 ft ascent, 4:52 saddle time. Elevations: min = , max = starting = ending =
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| View of mountains from road to Lolo pass |
Yesterday I went to the grocery store to buy stuff for breakfast, so Brian and I ate that again today. We then backtracked out of Missoula to Lolo, where we headed west toward the Lolo pass that we had to cross today. The photo above was taken on the way to the pass. The road followed a beautiful and lush creek valley with light traffic and little butterfly’s about the size of a quarter that swarmed around us. There were thousands of these little butterflies.
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| Lush creek valley on way to Lolo Pass |
This valley was a stark contrast to two creek valleys that we previously rode up to passes that had relatively recent forest fires. Those were acres of burned poles scattered on the ground and standing on all the slopes around the road. What a difference! I understand the importance of forest fires, but a lush valley is a joy to ride through. The road rose gradually for about 42 miles, and then it got steeper (6 to 7%) for the final ascent to the pass. The Montana/Idaho border was right at the pass.
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| Ninth state on my cross-country journey |
The geology changed significantly as we approached the pass. There were large glacier polished boulders and outcrops where previously there was rough fractured rock and gravel slopes.
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| Glacier polished rock |
Once we crossed over the pass we had a downhill of about 8 miles with grades of 6% according to the caution signs for truckers. I have found that I have a terminal velocity of about 32 mph if I sit up to increase my frontal area on these downhills. My bike has a lot of drag due to the front and rear panniers. The stuff on the rear rack does not increase drag because it is behind me, and therefore is in my wake.
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| Front view of my loaded touring bike |
We stopped at a grove of old growth western Red Cedar trees on our way down from the pass.
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| Grove of old growth western Red Cedar trees |
The trees have a large girth, but surprisingly are not that tall. Not like redwoods. Tonight we are staying at the Lochsa Lodge, which is supposedly in the town of Powell. As nears as I can tell, there is no town. for dinner I had locally caught trout. Fly fishing is a big deal in this part of the country. Many of the small towns really promote it and you see references to it everywhere.
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| Trout statue in Missoula |
I have seen so much of it, I want to try it. Perhaps on another trip. It is much more active than other types of fishing, and the creeks and rivers are beautiful.
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