Over the Lolo Pass

Friday morning, and we departed the Lochsa Lodge after the nice night spent in the rented cabin near the Lochsa River.  We were promised a "steep climb out of the valley," out of the Bitterroot Mountains.  The Lolo Pass is where the Corp of Discovery, the Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled through on the way to the ocean.  Of course, the Corp didn't listen to the advice of the Nez Perce Indians and left the mountains before the last of the snows were gone.  Bad move, and they got stuck in the mud and almost starved to death.  We listened to the experts and followed the map and didn't leave until the last of the snow was (hopefully) gone.  

The lovely Lochsa Lodge

Up we went, to the top of the Pass.  It was a beautiful day, and the Pass came about 14 miles into the 56 mile day.  We stopped at the Lolo Pass visitor's center, but of course it was closed.  We met a family and their Great Dane who were looking for a double waterfall called SnowShoe falls.  We saw them later as we sped past, down the other side of the mountain, and indeed they had found them.  They waved as we went by.  

The Lolo Pass visitors' center and entering Montana (and Mountain Time)

Now on the Montana side of the mountain, we traveled the day away rolling toward Missoula, our destination for the day.  Although Missoula is not directly on the trail, it is likely the biggest city we will see for some time, and a likely good place to spend a day off, earned after a number of difficult climbs and good days in the saddle.  Jerry's foot will now be the excuse we use to take a day off, as it has been getting numb at the end of the day.  As for my, well I'll call it my undercarriage, it is much healed, thank you.  For the first time in days I was riding without bandages, although with 3 pairs of shorts between me and the bike.  Another reason to go was that we were going to visit the Adventure Cycling Association, headquartered in Missoula.  We read a few days ago that they would be open and giving tours, and their rider's lounge would be open as would their cycling store, and we could definitely use a few things at their store.  

So we rode on, down the slope as the day got hotter and hotter.  Hot enough, in fact, that despite a relatively short day of 56 miles, we were pretty spent by the time we reach the doors of the Association.  Unfortunately, communications within their organization are not very good, and the well-meaning gentleman who "greeted" us at the door, outdoors as a matter of fact, with full facemask, kindly said we would not be allowed to enter, please sign our book, here's a drumstick (the ice cream kind, not the chicken kind) and thanks for stopping, as he shooed us away. He did recommend a hotel, and we checked in at the Campus Inn up the street in Missoula, which was a great find in that it is inexpensive but clean, and nicely kept up by its staff.  When we did arrive and showered, I found the previous e-mail from the Association and replied to their membership director how we (and other guests) were greeted.  He was kind enough to return the e-mail and invited us to come in on Saturday morning, where we did enjoy a tour of their facility and did purchase some well needed items such as some rain gear for the upcoming few days' adventures.

Photos in front of Adventure Cycling, before being shooed away

Missoula seems like a nice little town of about 75,000.  The University of Montana is located here, and they have a very nice, small downtown that had a farmer's market and a number of people on the street both yesterday and today.  The hills above the town were labeled L and M.  I'm not sure, but they must have gender-limited access for the Ladies and Men of Montana (photo didn't work out). I think they are emerging from their lockdown and you can tell that everyone is enjoying just being out and away from their solitary confinement.  Attempts at social distancing and mask wearing varied from store to restaurant.  Our hotel is on the edge of the downtown area so we spent the day walking all around, a nice break off our bikes for a change

We enjoyed dinner at a local Irish watering hole named after Thomas Meagher, the first Governor of Montana, who was an Irish rebel, sentenced to death by the Queen, was sent to Tasmania in chains, escaped, came to America, became a lawyer (of course), a Union General, and then Governor of this state.  He died at age 44 under suspicious circumstances falling off a riverboat on the Missouri River.  Nothing like a good story to start dinner, and it, and dinner, was enjoyed immensely.  Actually, I had read the story of Thomas Meagher years ago in a book named "The Immortal Irishman," by Timothy Egan.  I recommend it.  We settled in for the next day or so to rest and re-stock.  Saturday morning we did the tour of the ACA, then went to about 4 bike shops picking up some odds and ends to keep us rolling.  Best of the day was finally getting a chance to do laundry in a real washing machine and not in the sink of a hotel using hand soap.  It's nice to have a chance to have clean clothes, and we've vowed to take a weekly day off for R&R whenever we get a chance to have some of these services.  Moving down into Montana and Wyoming, we are not quite sure where we will be able to do this again.

The eventual tour of the Adventure Cycling office included vintage bikes that made this trip

Actually, we will be heading toward Yellowstone Park and Grand Teton Park, so we may actually spend next week's day off hiking one or both of these parks, depending on what we find open and what is available.

We will soon be off to dinner again.  I'll catch up later this week, depending on presence and quality of Internet.

Jamer