2017 West Coast Rally

[flynrider]

On Saturday we decided to cross Lost Trail Pass into Montana. We were headed for MT Hwy 38. This highway had showed up on Google maps when plotting possible trips, but with an asterisk. More study revealed that it was mostly unpaved, which made it irresistable to Kenny

The plan was to ride up US 93 past Darby and then take MT 38 past Skalkaho Falls to Skalkaho Pass.

Highway 38 starts out with average pavement, no lines and not much in the way of a shoulder.



Not long after, the road turned to dirt and gravel. While the surface was quite rideable. What I found surprising was that Montana actually called this a "state highway".



A stop for a photo op left our bikes perched on the edge of a steep dropoff.



Kenny quite literally went above and beyond to get a good picture.



We stopped for lunch at Skalkaho Falls. Knowing that we were unlikely to find a restaurant, we'd all picked up supermarket deli sandwiches at our last gas stop.



Eventually, we reached the pass summit where we decided to turn back. Going forward would likely have got us back very late for dinner.



After getting back to US 93, we decided to take a detour to Como Lake on the way back home. The lake was nice, but the local Forest Service guy gave us the bums rush when we parked on the side of the road without paying the park fee.

The road to Como Lake was nice.



I felt like I got away with something. I took this picture of the lake... for free!



Heading for home, I managed to coax Jon and Karl into passing me on the right, so I could snap an action shot.

Jon was trying to figure out why I was going so slow in the oncoming lane.



Karl was playing it cool.


As we crossed Lost Trail Pass back into Idaho, we pulled over for one last group photo.



On Sunday morning, I unzipped my tent to find my neighbor waiting to greet me. He was a bit hostile when I first set up my tent near his backyard, but we soon made friends and he'd wait for me to get up every morning. I've had much worse neighbors while camping



After packing my gear I hit the road at 8:30, for the 6 hour ride back to Emmett.