Days 59 & 60 – Lolo Pass & the Lochsa River

Aug 18
Missoula, MT to Powell, ID
60 miles

Aug 19
Powell, ID to Kamiah, ID
96 miles

We were reluctant to leave Missoula, and despite the long day ahead of us, we lingered for a while in a coffee shop loading up on caffeine and watching bikes come and go. Then it was off to Good Food (Missoula’s answer to Whole Foods) to load up on provisions. Thirteen miles out of Missoula we finally ran into the Dutch Couple who we had been hearing about for a couple of weeks. We were both headed towards the major climb of the day over Lolo Pass and, after a brief chat, they rode off with us just behind. That was, until K spotted a tack store and made a beeline across the busy highway towards it. Our last day in Montana and that girl wanted a big silver belt buckle to take home. She also came across a pair of used cowboy boots that were too good a deal to pass up. Even though she had mailed home everything she didn’t absolutely need and had streamlined her load to two panniers, she liked these boots so much that she was willing to strap them onto the back of her bike to get them back to Seattle. Luckily, the shop proprietor offered to mail them to us. All errands and diversions completed, we moved on to attack the pass. From the west, the grade is very gradual and after several hours of steady climbing, we reached the summit. As our reward, we gained an hour as we crossed the border into our final state before Washington. We felt a mix of amazement, joy, and sadness, knowing that we were almost done with our trip. A quick 13-mile descent and we were at Powell Campground, our evening’s destination. The Dutch Couple (we never did learn their names) were two sites down from us. After a lovely, yet small, meal of Tasty Bites Lentil Curry, we retreated to the tent and were asleep before dark.

We woke up ravenous after our tiny bite dinner and zipped up to the Lochsa Lodge for delicious plate-size huckleberry hotcakes. Fueled and loaded up, we set off to finish the descent along the stunning Lochsa, a wild and scenic river. Almost the entire day’s route paralleled the Lochsa which twists and turns its way down the pass. Construction on the road slowed traffic which passed in small, but manageable, waves along the narrow roadway. The day heated up to 98 degrees and word was it would be even hotter the following day so we decided to ride on for our Transam high of 96 miles. Just as K was flagging in the heat and scanning the river for a sweet swimming spot, she saw a huge black bear with the same idea. After swimming (or fishing), the bear idled along the shore under the shade of a pine tree. A few miles down the road, and late in the afternoon, we met Sarah and Cameron, two eastbounders who were only 15 miles into their day’s ride. They had spent the day socializing in Kamiah, (“Everyone is so NICE there”), and had just stopped for a swim in the river. We envied their relaxed approach to touring and wished we had the flexibility to idle the day away if we chose to. But on we went to finish out the epic day, rolling into the Lewis & Clark Resort & RV Park just outside of Kamiah and just short of a century.