Lolo Pass - from the easy side - Grampies on the Go - Again! Summer 2012

February 27, 2012

Lolo Pass - from the easy side

We headed for home (British Columbia) from Missoula this day, anxious now to get our final packing and arrangements for Europe done. There are still two months to go, but we want to be packed and ready. This could free Dodie for yet another trip to Missoula, in advance of our departure, which begins with ... a trip to Missoula. What's so great about Missoula? Oh yes:

Goodbye again to Avi and Violet. (ASUM is the University of Montana students' association. In this photo they are lobbying for more daycare funding, maintaining a family tradition.)

Missoula also has the Adventure Cycling head office, and we usually stop by to have a look at it.

The Adventure Cycling network as posted on their wall (real wall, not Facebook!)

The Adventure Cycling route through Missoula uses the Lolo Pass (Highway 12) on the way to the Coast. When we came through heading East last year we chose to go by way of Lookout Pass (I-90) but have always been curious about Highway 12. We did drive it West to East in the van a while back, but since it was night could not tell much.

So this time we headed out on a bright sunny morning. Coming out of Missoula, there is about 20 level km before the road begins to climb. After that, yes it does go up, but (in the van anyway) did not strike us as too terrible. It was the backside, though, that looked brutal. We didn't measure the kms, but the road seemed to go down and down and down. Indeed, the elevation of Missoula is 978m while that of Lewiston, Idaho is 227m. So that's about 750m (about 2500 feet) more climbing if you do Lolo west to east than if you do it the other way round.

It's gorgeous up here! (but we didn't pedal!)

Highway 12 transects hundreds of km of wilderness. Here we spot a chopper doing some logging.

We leave the unpopulated area of the pass and enter yahoo land! This T shirt was for sale in a gas station at Kamiah.

Great road (not much shoulder, but not busy) along the Clearwater River.

The south end of the Palouse, near Waitsburg.

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