The Lolo Motorway

The Blue Hut, or Blue Heaven as it’s also called, really was a nice change and the people coming through who used it showed their appreciation and looked after it well. There was plenty of split firewood, it was warm, dry and the bottom bunk was very comfortable. It had an outside loo, a babbling brook and was a real little oasis. 

I packed up, swept the hut out and was on the road and ready to tackle more rock. It was mostly downhill this time – I hadn’t realised just how high I’d got until I looked at the elevation diagram on the Butlers map. Wow. Yesterday included quite a bit of very technical riding and aggression was needed in places due to this. The photos, as always, give no idea of the gradient of the roads – a bit confronting on your own.

Only few minutes down the track I came around the corner and there was a horse standing in the middle of the road. Turned out it wasn’t, it was either an elk, or a moose. I just about fell off in surprise – I couldn’t believe the size of this massive animal. It trotted off the road into the forest, stopped, turned around and just stared silently at me. As there weren’t any signs saying ‘Don’t photograph the moose’ nearby, I pulled up and snapped away from a cautious distance. Hmmmmm, no problems, let’s see if I can get a bit closer. I took a few stealthy (or so I thought) paces forward, and Mrs Moose glared at me, shook her head, snorted loudly and took a couple of not so stealthy paces in my direction. Holy crap – I was out of there in 3 seconds flat. I’ll be putting photographing moose in the same basket as ‘Don’t feed the bears’ in future.

I was sarting to see a lot more activity in the mountains. A lot of RV’s and mobile homes parked up, most without people around them. Also, heaps of quads. Everyone had huge pickups – Silverado’s, Dodges, F Trucks and the like. They generally fit 2 quads into them which they take bush. Seems they’ll park up and then head off for a fang. They’re pretty crazy – I came around one corner (on the correct side of the road – that’s the right here) to meet 2 coming the other way abreast of each other, on my side and really hooking along. Looked like I was going to have to split them, but the one on the outside just managed to pull it all in, semi under control. No acknowledgement, apology, anything. Both were in jeans and singlets without helmets. Pretty temporary you’d think.

Was back into gravel about 20 km away from Blue Heaven and was beginning to seriously wonder about where this was all heading. Not fun dude.

The GPS route had been going away from the road I was on for a while. Wasn’t too worried as this was becoming pretty regular. Was a bit lost but heading in the right direction when I came across 3 RV’s and quads with blokes sitting around a fire. I pulled up and had a yarn – they were a bit wary at first, but very interested in the logistics of what I was doing. They thought I was Swiss! Two of them were local and when I asked where the 3rd came from, one of the others piped up and said ‘A crow shat on a rock and look what it gave birth to’. Obviously good mates. Turns out they were hunters who had set up a month ago and just come back – the season started in 2 days which explained all the activity. They were hunting bear, elk and moose. I told them of my experience this morning and they said that elk were brown and very passive, while the moose were black, had heavier faces and were aggressive, especially when they had young nearby. They would very likely attack a motorbike – so no point in hanging around if I came across one. Yeah, I kind of worked that one out. I’d also seen a couple of stocky dogs with heavy coats and thick tails. They didn’t seem concerned at seeing me and I got a good look at them. Definitely coyotes they said. Wolves were very rare.They’d been traveling these roads for 20 years and had never seen one.

When I asked what they did with the carcasses, they quickly said they ate everything they shot – apparently bear sausages and burgers are really good!?!? The ‘real’ hunters hate the ‘trophy’ hunters – considering them soft and not killing the animals for the right reasons. In the store at Avery, there were walls full of photos of dead, bloodied bears in the back of pickups and draped over quads with grinning ‘men’ heroically posing for the camera. It’s all pretty sick in my view, but then ….. who am I to judge.

I finally got to the the bottom of the gravel and why it was on all the roads. It’s spread as part of programs to make the roads more useable for logging trucks in wet weather. I’d kind of worked that out, but when I started coming across huge stockpiles of it, my thoughts were confirmed. As I said, it’s like riding on ice – the quads handle it better, but they hate it too. I came across 8 adventure bikes on the bridge crossing the Dworshak Reservoir. They said the gravel started at Pierce and that I sure had some good riding in front of me. That was the best news I’d had for days.

Had lunch at a funny little grill in Pierce. The floor boards moved underneath you and I had to duck my head when inside. They advertised WIFI 24 / 7 but it was barely strong enough to download e-mails, let alone put up a blog post. Could be a while – there’ll be a few at once when I do get the opportunity again.

I was called over by three blokes and invited to join them for lunch. I wasn’t interested in the heavy burgers and the like that these places ‘specialise’ in, so ended up with a cheese sandwich. The bikers were good guys who gave me some handy advice. The were relatively local and just out for the day, 1 on an R1200GS, another on an R1200GSA and the third on a Tenerre. Joe, a wheat farmer, gave me his card and said if I needed anything or got stuck to give him a call.

After a bit of a spell, I worked my way out of town, up French Mountain Road and onto the Lolo motorway. What’s that I hear you say, a motorway? The trail has been used for centuries by Indians to traverse the country from coast to coast and is a place of great cultural and historical significance. It’s one of the great off-road adventure rides in North America, one I was really looking forward to.

And, guess what, no gravel!

The adventure riders I’d met on the bridge were dead right – what a difference it made. I’d discussed this whole gravel thing with Joe and his mates and they just shook their heads. ‘It’s a real bastard’ was the consensus, but it’s everywhere. They were planning a trip to Alaska and were expecting it all the way. This meant that they needed to do a lot of gravel riding in advance to get hone their skills in that regard.

The country at the start of the ‘motorway’ rose pretty quickly, but it was smooth red and brown clay. It was twisty, great riding and I had 50 or 60 km of bliss. Once into the ranges proper, however, it turned into rock. While pretty rough, it was firm, except for the avalanche areas where it was really loose, but still not quite as bad as the previous day. This kept up for 50 odd km and was a solid work out, on the pegs the whole way and rarely getting out of first. The suspension took a pounding, but I was rewarded with some spectacular views late in the afternoon. I’d only done 200 km, but it was a hard day and I was getting pretty tired. Rather than risk dumping the bike, I pulled up at about 6.30 in good daylight and set up at ‘The Smoking Place Camp’. The Lolo Motorway is a heritage area and an important mountain route for the Nimiipuu people. Due to its elevation, this was a spot where they would halt, pray, reflect and feel closer to their creator. They guided and stopped here with Clarke and Lewis, explorers of the day in 1806, and smoked a pipe with them. Hence the name. Rock cairns that had been at this place for centuries were removed illegally in 2001, completely desecrating the site. It’s hard to fathom what motivates some people.

‘Wild camping’, as its called here in the US,  is permitted on the motorway. It’s so mountainous though, that they’ve named all the areas flat enough to camp. It wasn’t big and there were no facilities at all. The sun was setting as I pulled up, stripped off my drenched riding gear, got into some dry clothes and set up camp. I was pretty shattered and briefly considered getting straight into my sleeping bag, but got a second wind, lit a really nice fire and put some dinner together. Had decided on a simple one tonight – bread (I keep a loaf in a plastic bag strapped loosely onto the dry bag on the back of the bike. It travels well and generally stays fresh for 3 or 4 days – somehow) tuna, tomatoes an apple and an protein bar. Breakfast will be baked beans on toast, tinned peaches (if I don’t eat them tonight), a musli bar and another apple. Cost is next to nothing, it stores easily and will certainly give me the nutrition and energy needed. Tastes pretty good too! A bit of modern day camping with the laptop pulled out after I’d eaten. No internet of course, but I transferred the days photos from the camera and iPhone, deleting the rubbish and saving the balance. It’s important to keep on top of this. I’ve had a lot of difficulty with the new DSLR – it’s just not coping with landscapes where it’s either very bright or conversely dark. It’s great for the short distance stuff though. A work in progress – I am making some headway.

I’m feeling pretty pleased with what I accomplished today. I covered a fair bit of the IDBDR, through what was a reasonably challenging section. Although the kilometres weren’t that big, I was starting to learn that 250 km was a fair day in this country and 350 a big one. Riding on my own, I needed to be sensible – it could be hours or a day before anyone came along if I had an off. I also might need to revise my earlier comments about how long the BDR would take. I could push harder, but I’ve got a couple of months of this and need to conserve myself. The body’s holding up. I’ve eaten well (plus no grog for 5 days) and haven’t put on any weight. The knees were getting a bit sore this afternoon but are OK now and the shoulder is back to normal after a few days of discomfort. I’m feeling good both mentally and physically and have enjoyed the time alone. I’ve met people on the road (and passed quite a few adventure bikes going the other way this afternoon) but will be looking forward to company when I stay with Paris, Dean, Kelly and Jessie in Boise. Am especially looking forward to catching up with Sophie and Tom in New York towards the end of September. But, that’s another story.