Day 62: Missoula, MT to Powell Junction, ID (69.1 miles)
After an excellent stay in Missoula, we left the Mountain Valley Inn around 7:15am. Traveling back through Missoula and back to Lola (8 miles), we took Route 12 toward Lola Pass. Beautiful scenery and pine forests greeted us, but we also saw stark reminders of the extensive forest fires in this area two years ago. In a chance encounter where Bruce stopped because he heard a bike noise, and I photographed his mailbox, we met Tim Hartwell, an auto body shop owner outside of Lola. We talked about the area wildfires and our trip for over 10 minutes after our random stop. It was a fun encounter!
Next we saw Fort Fizzle, a fort that was created to prevent the Nez Pearce Indians from coming through the area, but was abandoned, hence getting its name. We stopped in Lola Hot Springs for lunch. Lola creek ran parallel to our route. The next 8 miles were the ascent to Lola Pass (5235 ft) and the boundary of Idaho and Montana. The climb was 8 miles long, and challenging. Idaho has a very nice visitor center at the border with free coffee and WiFi, and comfortable seats.
The ride to our campground at Powell Junction was beautiful, and mostly downhill. At the campground, the Lochsa River flowed nearby. This is a native trout stream, all catch and release and crystal clear. I fished before and after dinner and caught several trout.
Image above: Forest recovering from fires in 2017, near Lola.
Bike trail out of Missoula on the Bitterroot River
Ranch outside Lola
Welcome to Idaho, at the Lola Pass.
Fort Fizzle, a poorly executed plan
Tim Hartzel’s mailbox, auto body shop outside of Lola.
Lochsa River in Powell Junction
Lochsa River native trout
