Switching states: Whitehouse to Missoula

Another fabulous day! (but with a bit of a cop-out at the end - all of the campgrounds that I passed looked awful, and the hostel in town didn't open for several more hours, so I decided to stay at the Holiday Inn in Missoula. I desperately needed both a shower and a laundromat. More on that later...)

I'm glad I didn't attempt Lolo Pass at the end of a day. It was 16 miles from the campground to the top of the pass, and it took me just over 2 hours. As you can probably tell from my time, I'm not a very fast hill climber! I had the added benefit of riding the pass on a Sunday morning, so there was almost no logging truck traffic. The last 5 miles were at a steady 6% grade - good practice for Going to the Sun Highway next week.

I saw my first Montana speed limit sign just over the top of the pass:

Cars:   Reasonable & Prudent
Trucks: 60
Night:  55

From the top of Lolo Pass into Missoula was downhill - a nice reward for the climb. The first 3 1/2 miles were downhill at a 5% grade, with the remainder a much gentler slope. Not a bad day - 16 miles uphill and 49 miles downhill. That makes up for the uphill all the way from Lewiston (700 feet of elevation) to Lolo Pass (5233 feet of elevation).

The difference in scenery and terrain on the east and west sides of the pass is amazing. The west side was a narrow valley with a river on one side and hills straight up on the other. Once past the first few miles on the east side, everything opened up. Wider valley, with mountains in the distance. No wonder they call Montana "Big Sky" country.

I stopped for lunch in Lolo Hot Springs - my usual staple of peanut butter just didn't appeal today. I didn't go into the hot springs though; it was just too hot. Soon after I got back on the road, Sue & Pat drove by on their way home.

My last stop for a cold drink before finding a place to stay was a gas station on the outskirts of Missoula. Had an interesting conversation with someone there who told me he'd be afraid to do my ride alone. But when I asked him why he was afraid he couldn't answer me.

I pulled into Missoula in mid-afternoon and splurged on a room at the Holiday Inn. That was an adventure in itself since the smoke detector went off while I was taking my shower. I threw on some clothes and headed downstairs where I found out that there was no fire - and that the steam from the shower is what set it off! It felt good to be clean again. I found a laundromat within walking distance, then got a pizza for dinner. A good end to the Idaho section of my trip.