The Lolo Motorway, Part I

This past weekend we headed out to Missoula, MT to meet up with some of our family for a camping trip along the Lolo Motorway. The Lolo Motorway is actually a Forest Service Road that was built on the trail Lewis and Clark took through Idaho. (Missoula MT was the best spot for us to meet up and start out, but other than the first night in a hotel, we weren't in Montana (Hannah Montana, as Debris called it) for the camping trip--we headed back over the border and started the Lolo motorway in Idaho.) It was easily one of the most amazing Going Losting trips we've ever had... not because of the technical difficulty of the road, which was actually sort of unexciting... meaning the Forest Service Road was well maintained and not at all difficult for a capable vehicle to go upon (although it wouldn't be a good idea to take a car, just to clarify.) but because the scenery was breathtaking... absolutely gorgeous, and we all felt so very far away from any sort of civilization it was the perfect time. I couldn't find the exact quote, but I believe it was Meriwether Lewis who stated about this mountain range that it appeared to go on forever, and one would have the impression while they were in it that they could never escape... he was rather a tired, freezing, old killjoy at this point of his journey, so I will redeem his (justified) negativity for him by saying that felt so very true, but for us with vehicles, food, roads, and no snowstorms it was in a good way. I've got SOOOO many pictures from this, I've done my best to sort through them, I think I'll just do a few picture posts and try to give my readers a small sense of how amazing this road is. It's especially spectacular as it holds a huge part of our country's history. We did just under half the trail, and all of us left wanting more. I highly recommend this road to anyone who has an SUV/truck of some sort, and doesn't mind rough camping. It was amazing. Lewis and Clark passed through it September of 1805, and nearly died in a snowstorm. We (thankfully) didn't have it quite so cold... it was showery on Friday, the day we started in, but the Saturday and Sunday were clear and beautiful, although it did get down around freezing both nights.


Starting out...

Driving into the murky delightfulness...

After we set up camp, the daddies and the kiddos took off to find some fishing...

Us three women were left behind in camp to our own defenses so we (improperly, apparently) set up dutch ovens for country style ribs and Frank's baked beans.

The kids came back hungry, and wet, and tired...

and stay tuned for the next batch of pics. :-)