LoLo, Montana to Wilderness Gateway Campground (87 miles SW of LoLo)

Brian’s Ride Miles Biked: 88.2 Average Speed: 13.3 mph Max Speed: 25.7 mph Time Pedaling: 4 hours 25 minutes Total Feet Climbed: 2700 Start/Stop Time: 8:15 am to 5:30 pm Wind: Light head winds up to pass changing to medium head winds. Weather: Clear skies, lower 50’s to lower 90soF Comments. Yesterday I passed the turn off that would take me into Idaho electing instead to ride into Missoula, an extra 15 miles. To save miles for later in the day (see Joan’s entry), Joan drove me to the turnoff, US 12 at LoLo, Montana. This road has several names worth mentioning: Wild & Scenic River Corridor; Lewis and Clark Trail; and the Nez Perce Trail. The minute I started pedaling, I new this road was special. I was in a narrow valley with peaceful small tidy ranches lining the way.

The road I was on started at about 3200 feet and the mountains on either side went up to 5000 to 6000 feet in about 1 mile. And guess what, the road was headed over the mountains. So after 28 miles, the road climbed to LoLo Pass at 5235 feet. This pass and road are famous because Lewis and Clark traveled along it in their east and west journeys in 1806 and 1807 and the Nez Perce Indians retreated from the U.S. Army in the 1860s. Without the benefit of a paved road, traveling this area on foot took a lot more stamina and courage than by bicycle. The Nez Perce Indians also traveled with their families, horses, and cattle.

Once over the pass, the road dropped at a 6% grade for 6 miles. The wind picked up and the shoulder at times became a steep dropoff. The wind at times tried to push me around so I proceeded slowly and nervously.

Once the dropoff leveled off, I began to appreciate the 70 miles of curvy, descending road, steep mountain walls, and the pristine Lochsa River that were coming my way. Biking on this road was not easy because it was narrow, there was no shoulder, and semi-trailers used it. However, I appreciated the beauty and found an area that I will want to come back to many times.

Joan’s Version

Needing electricity to write my journal entries, I went for breakfast at the local diner in LoLo, after dropping Brian at the starting point. Curious about the laptop and the intensity in which I pounded on it, a nice man, Tom and his friend inquired about the subject of my writing to which I jokingly declared "my restaurant review". The conversation came around to the bicycle ride and our route. They filled me in on the clothing-optional hot springs at our destination, the Jerry Johnson Campground. Brian and I visited a similar type hot springs in Olympia National Park in the state of Washington and it remains one of my all-time-favorite experiences! I could hardly wait to tell Brian when we next met up.

Driving into Idaho, the scenery became even more spectacular, a fete I deemed unimaginable. Millions of evergreen trees crowded the mountains. At every turn, huge walls of green filled the windshield. Large rock formations dotted the mountains. Large boulders filled the Lochsa River and smooth round rocks lined the riverbed.

When Brian and I met for lunch at the mid-way point, we decided it would be better to push on another 25 miles. This way we could stay at a campground more easily accessible for the RV and get further south to meet my brother Joel and his six year old son, Evan who are flying into Boise on Saturday and will meet up with us somewhere along our route. 

Our idyllic picnic spot, nestled above the river, offered a front row seat to the scenery. As we sloppily ate delicious hamburgers, hummingbirds teetered around the feeder above our heads. Shattering my image of the gentleness of the dainty hummingbird, I watched as one territorial bird fended off two other hummingbirds trying to sample the syrup in the feeder.

Exploring the hot springs alone did not thrill me, but I was still up for the adventure. Unaware of the exact path I needed to take to find the springs, I arrived at the "day-use" parking lot where I changed into running shoes and easy to take-off and put-on clothing.

The signage at the Forest Service Board provided little about the springs other than to say clothing was optional and no perverts were invited. More importantly, it included a warning about bears being close to roads and garbage cans as berries were not plentiful this year. I saw a van full of hikers loading up with "bear (be-gone) bells" and I suddenly got a little concerned about becoming bear bait.

Shrugging it off, I started to move to the suspension bridge toward the trail to the hot springs when I noticed a skinny bearded man lurking near his van. My gut reaction was uneasiness, as he seemed to turn away whenever I looked at him….was this an uninvited pervert? I proceeded cautiously across the bridge, unsure whether to continue. He started to follow across the bridge, so I immediately turned around, as did he. By this time, the hikers were walking toward the bridge so I approached them to see if I could tag along. As I was telling the story of our bicycle ride, Brian appeared in the distance on the road, as if on cue! I thanked the hikers, and said I would maybe catch up to them.

Brian and I lingered at the unusual bridge for a few minutes and then he proceeded on the ride. He felt I was being overly cautious about the man.   Not wanting my big-city paranoia to keep me from the hot springs, I ran for 10 minutes to catch up with the hikers, who turned out to be puppeteers from Wisconsin on their way to Seattle to a convention of 600 other puppeteers! Chris, with whom I was speaking, ironically had been mental health professional for five years before he changed careers. His best friend from childhood now has schizophrenia. He knows firsthand, the wonderful support NAMI provides.

I felt very comfortable with he and the other artists, Sarah and Dyimian and Collin. Sarah had visited this area three years ago, and discovered one special spring, unknown to most, where the hot water pours out of a waterfall into some pools along the banks of the river. 

Disrobing in front of complete strangers felt surprising natural. The guys climbed to a one pool while Sarah and I gingerly clambered to the adjacent one. Last time she visited, she made tea in the pool and she instructed us all how to move the rocks to keep the cool water from the river out and to keep the hot water in. The guys were moving dirt clumps to help keep the water out, prompting Sarah say they were better artists than engineers.

After hanging out for 30 minutes or so, I pulled myself away from this nirvana, shared my gratitude with my ‘tour’ guides’ and started jogging back to the RV wearily watching for big black bear and dirty old men. I decided it would be better to conserve my energy in case an attack did happen.  Walking for many more minutes than I remembered, I wondered if I was lost! To a city girl, everything looks the same in the woods….I hadn’t looked for subtle signs to make sure I was on the right course. Within 10 minutes I saw the bridge and felt the tension leave my body.

The man was still hanging around his van and I scooted to the RV as unobtrusively as possible. Sitting in the RV, I reflected on the adventure, and was happy to have hooked up with the puppeteers.

Driving to find Brian, I watched as a large bird with a white head nosedived, at a perfect 90 degree angle directly into the river looking for fish! Later at a small grocery, I dove for the red snapper, thinking about the bird…could it have been a bald eagle?

As I drove into the Forest Service Campgrounds, I was struck by the remoteness of everything. No electricity, running water, no cellular service, few people. That was the price we paid for this absolutely fantastic campsite, which offered river accessibility.

Upon pulling into the spot, I heard what sounded like a propane leak, so I jumped on a bicycle and proceeded to the camp host, who drove up with his wife to check for me. When we all arrived at the RV, Brian had just arrived. The two men checked and fixed the cap, which had popped off a little. Easy fix. The camp host provided details of the area, saying the berries were actually plentiful this year. This gave us the latitude to go to the river where Brian dunked in the chilly waters, and I again disrobed, pretending to be in the hot spring.