Northwest Loop to Bighorn Mountains

Jim's home | Motorcycle home | Northwest loop home

Montana and the way home

After descending Beartooth pass I rode through Redlodge, MT. Sure seemed like a nice town. Vibrant downtown with a historic feel. The rain let up so I happily removed my rain gear and headed off through some lonely, beautiful farm roads through Roscoe and Columbus. I wanted to stay off of Rte. 90, so after lunch in Big Timber headed north on 191 to Harlowton, and then west to White Sulpher Springs. You can't help but wonder what you'd do if you broke down in such isolated areas. I kept having to tell myself not to dwell on that. Don't want to make it happen by thinking about it too much. I made it Helena, MT, but didn't want to stay in "the big city" after being out in the countryside for so long. So looked up a motel in Elliston just west of Helena.

341 miles from Hunter Peak campground on Chief Joseph Hwy to Elliston, MT. Then the big day (548 miles from Elliston to Windy Point campground, WA.

My motel in Elliston. It was old, eclectic and minimal, but clean. Just across the road were railroad tracks. Trains ran pretty often. You could hear them coming by their horns off in the distance. Pretty loud locomotive sounds and more horn sounds as they passed by. Strangely, I had about the best night of sleep I've ever had there. Comfy bed, cool temps. There was a bar/grill in walking distance. The room had a VCR player and a library of VHS tapes. How retro! I really enjoyed operating the VCR. Simpler times.

Morning heading out of Elliston. Smokey skies made for a red sunrise.

Back in WA state riding towards Connell. I rode Lolo Pass for the umpteenth time, and the funky, curvy grade just outside of Orofino for fun. West of Lewiston, ID gets you on the shores of the Snake River. Then wonderful curvy, empty Rtes 260 and 261 through Starbuck and Powers.

I thought about trying to make it home that evening, but it would have been too many miles and riding in the dark. I've wanted to camp along the Tieton River between Naches and White pass for a long time. Now, finally have. The combination of the oak trees, blonde grasses, basalt cliffs and the river are beautiful. There are many campgrounds along this stretch of Rte 12.

Dinner prep. Sausages agin but with broccoli, onions, peppers and pasta. My last batch of oatmeal in the morning was awful, so I decided to make a big dinner and have leftovers for breakfast. Good call.

The Tieton River. Apparently this is one of the only rivers in the NW that you can run in rafts or kayaks in September since they release water from Rimrock Lake above this time of year.

The last day was the shortest at only 229 miles. I hit rain on the west slopes of the Cascades outside of Morton. Then had scattered showers most of the rest of the way home.