Over Lolo And Down The Idaho Panhandle
I get the feeling a lot of people have stopped to take pictures with this sign.
Despite the blazing heat when we got to Missoula the day before on this OFMC 2023 trip, morning came in cool. Nice. I put on one extra layer.
We had to backtrack a little, to the town of Lolo, and then turn up US 12 over Lolo Pass. There was almost no traffic on the road so we had a nice cruise. And the higher we got the cooler it got. It was darn chilly!
Passing by Lolo Hot Springs of course brought memories of the first time I was there, back in about 1978, with a lady friend who was going to school in Missoula. Back then it was just a hot springs in the woods, no development at all, and we were the only ones there. We just got naked and got in the water. Then we camped there overnight. Now it’s totally developed, you have to pay to get in, and I suspect swimsuits are required. Big sigh.
We got to the top of the pass and of course we had to stop for photos at that famous sign. That one in the picture above. Is there any sign anywhere more attractive to a motorcyclist?
And it was cold! We put on more layers. And then, it was a dirty job but we were up for it. We tackled those 99 winding miles. It’s primarily sweepers that you just cruise along through, swaying left and right and left and right, in a nice easy gait. Sweet ride.
At Kooskia we stopped for lunch and then turned south on ID 13 (we were in Idaho now) and then picked up US 95 at Grangeville. The next town south after Grangeville is White Bird and our plan was to ride the White Bird Grade, which has been described as the Stelvio Pass of Idaho. But I blew it.
I had looked this road up before we went and I had it in my mind that you came down to White Bird, got off US 95, and continued south on the grade. That was wrong. I first started wondering when we reached White Bird Summit. This was marked as an historical site and I should have just pulled off to see what the situation was, but I didn’t. We headed on down the newer road and off to our left I could see a two-lane road with lots of sweeping curves over there and I figured it out pretty quickly. Dang! We got down to White Bird and there clearly was no big incline anywhere close ahead. I blew it. Next time. At least the newer road is in fact a pretty darn nice one, too.
We did some up and down and then started climbing. We were running alongside a river and the river kept getting smaller till there was almost nothing left of it. At Meadows we left US 95 and were on ID 55, climbing over a line of hills and down to McCall. Here we came into a huge alpine park, kind of like North Park or South Park in Colorado. Mountains on all sides. Beautiful area. And really big lakes.
Who knew McCall was such a huge tourist destination? Dennis said later his GPS was showing him a bypass around this massive congestion but I was leading and we don’t have communicators. I just followed the highway right through town. That took a while. From McCall we made it on down to Cascade, our destination for the night, and our nicest accommodations of the trip, at the Alpine Lodge. I highly recommend this place.
Altogether a beautiful day’s ride.
Biker Quote for Today
The three most dangerous words to a biker are “HEY… WATCH THIS!”
Tags: Lolo Pass, OFMC trip to Lolo Pass
