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Pull Over Info
At least one of your guides thinks this road is in the Top 10 of the "Great" motorcycle roads. The design is just about perfect, laying out curves that are challenging but friendly. Traffic is usually light. Once you get the rhythm built you just do not want to stop. Sometimes you have to because the scenery is absolutely worth a photo or two. Remember that a single Idaho State Patrolman patrols this road and is probably lurking around one of these corners waiting to nail you for speeding!! Watch for him if you decide to get on the throttle.
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Hotel Info
We will be staying at the Lochsa Lodge located in the Clearwater National Forest. This is a full service lodge offering gas, rustic rooms, restaurant, and bar. Go to Lochsa Lodge for more information. |
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Before we realize, it’s day eight of our ride. Following a hearty breakfast, we head south out of Butte on Interstate 15. We will remain on the interstate for only about 20 miles and exit at Divide, MT picking up a nice 2-lane road to continue through the mountain terrain of western Montana. Sparkling streams, fed by perpetual snow banks above the timberline, tumble down steep canyons from high mountain meadows. We soon connect to Highway 93 and head north to Lolo, MT, and the start of Lolo Pass, famous for the location where the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed the summit of the Bitterroot Range in 1805. As you follow the Lewis and Clark Trail along US Highway 12, you are literally following in the footsteps of the early explorers. The scenic Lolo Highway 12 parallels the Lochsa River along its north bank. One of the last two-lane U.S. highways constructed, US-12 was completed in the early1960s.
During mid-September 1805, Lewis and Clark traveled westward along the Lolo Trail, descending into and out of the Lochsa Gorge, then above its north rim. They experienced significant early season snowfall and suffered near starvation before exiting the mountains onto the Weippee Prairie, where they first encountered the Nez Perce tribe.
Lochsa means, "rough water" in the Nez Perce Indian language. From its headwaters in the Bitterroot Mountains to its confluence with the Selway and Clearwater rivers, the Lochsa pounds through more than 40 major class III-IV rapids.
Arriving at our destination for the evening, we settle in to a quiet lodge retreat nestled along the banks of the Lochsa River. |
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