Day 13 – June 16 – USFS Wilderness Gateway, ID to Lolo Hot Springs, MT – 61 Miles

So plans change….  In my last entry I wrote about going to the base of the climb over Lolo pass and stopping.  When we got to Lochsa Lodge, the stopping point it seemed to be a short day.  Kevin and Chris, whom we have be riding with felt like proceeding over the pass, to get it done and over with.  Joe and I decided to have lunch and talk it over.

The grade over Lolo pass from west to east actually started about 60 miles earlier as Route 12 following the Lochsa river is constantly heading up grade.  At Lochsa Lodge, the road separates from the river and takes a direct route to Lolo Pass.  The last 13 miles, beginning at the lodge begins a steeper grade.  It is a moderate 2-3% incline for 8 miles then the last 5 miles is a 5% grade on approach to the summit of 5,235 ft.

After refueling (lunch) and taking on water, along with the incentive of  rewarding our efforts with a trip to the hot spring after our ride, we decided to go for it.  We started our ascent over the last 13 miles around 4 PM and entered the state of Montana at the summit around 6:00 PM.  We reset our watches to Mountain Time then proceeded to Lolo Hot Springs, 15 miles further downgrade.  We set up camp at the campground, got dinner then headed for the hot springs.  It was a great ride on a nice day.  The break with lunch before taking on the Lolo pass was what made it good.  The hot springs at the end made it great.

Something else that made it great was that we are now encountering more touring cyclist such as ourselves.  About 25 miles into our ride we met another rider coming the opposite direction.  We all pulled to the side of the road to talk.  Felix was from the Netherlands and had started in Yorktown, VA in April, headed for Astoria, OR.  Felix commented that Joe and I were wearing the colors of the Dutch Royal Family, the bright “Illini Orange” shirts we both had on today.  Felix noticed my RiD4H2O flag on my bike and asked what it was about.  I told him about the well project. Felix then told us that he worked in water management, and had done work in Sierra Leone.  He understood the project and the value of shallow wells and their place in water security efforts.  I don’t know if it was chance, but it served to inspire me.

Our second encounter of the day occurred at Lochsa Lodge.  Joe and I were preparing to pull out when two other cyclists were coming in.  This was a mother and son couple from Lancaster, PA.  They had started in Astoria, OR and were headed to Delaware.  Joe and I introduced ourselves, but we never got their names.  The lodge was going to be their stopping point for the day.  We had a nice conversation, and learned that as in our case, it was the parent who had instigated the trip. For some reason that struck me as funny.