The Most Challenging Motorcycle Rides Have No Photos
A TRAVEL RETROSPECTIVE
Over my years of riding, I have always made a point of carefully planning routes that will bring me to some of the most scenic areas in the US. I allow time to pull over and take photos or read the roadside historical markers. But even with that as a goal, it is not unusual to get home from a trip and have a few days that have no photographic evidence. This story is from June 18, 2017 and describes one of those missing days.
I was on a multi-week trip from Washington to Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and Utah. It was a big circular loop through the Rockies. As the trip was wrapping up, I had made it to Salmon, Idaho after starting the day in the mountains east of Salt Lake City. As the day progressed, it looked like I was headed into a rainstorm, so I had stopped to put on my rain gear. And then it never rained. So while a bit cloudy, I had a nice ride up into Idaho along the Lost River Range, and eventually following the Salmon River in to Salmon for the night. For the last night of the trip, I stayed at the Stagecoach Inn, which is right on the river. A good way to end the trip.
The Lost River Range (Idaho Highway 93). One of my favorite travel photos.
Unfortunately, the storm that I had missed stuck around and intensified. So for the final leg of the trip, 350+ miles, I would be riding in the rain. Riding on curvy mountain roads for an entire day is a grueling ordeal. Much of Idaho is so sparsely populated, that I always had to be aware of miles between gas fill-ups, and where the big gaps between stations were. My bike was pretty consistent with the fuel reserve light coming on right at 150 miles. I’ve never run out of gas on a ride, so I can only guess that my reserve would get me another 30-35 miles.
Idaho Highway 12, know as the Lolo Pass Road. The section here is along the Lochsa River.
From Salmon to Lolo, Highway 93 followed the Salmon River north until the Salmon makes an abrupt turn to the west and crosses Idaho without roads and railways, making a destination for river runners, and also one of the most remote areas in the lower 48 states. The highway continues north and crosses into Montana at Joseph Pass. This is where the weather took a real turn for the worse. Steady rains began here, and would continue for the rest of the day.
Fortunately, this is not an area of steady traffic, so I was able to keep vehicles away from me and I had all the gear on to stay as dry as possible. The wind at 55 mph is your friend, sort of. I eased off the road for lunch and fuel in Lolo, MT. From this point forward, I was familiar with the route home, as I had taken a couple trips over Lolo Pass before. For most motorcyclists in the US, this route is a bucket list trip.
The location of my emergency turnout, Fort Fizzle Historic Site (on a nicer day via Google)
After fueling up in Lolo, Montana, I eased back onto the rainy highway and turned west on Highway 12, which would take me all the way to Lewiston, ID (almost to Pullman). I only made it a couple miles before a problem arose. The BWM shuddered, or sputtered and stalled, which had never happened before, especially at 50mph. I eased over to the side of the road and turned the ignition off. After waiting a couple minutes, I tried starting the bike again, and it worked. So I eased onto the road and picked up speed, but I could tell that something wasn’t right. I had just passed a sign for a small park, so I took the turnoff into Fort Frizzle Historic Site.
Now I was sitting in a parking lot about 200 miles from home with a faulty ignition system, in the rain, I needed to figure out what could be done. There is no way to troubleshoot electrical issues in the rain. It wasn’t like I had tools for that, nor any experience. My only thought was that the water was to blame, and perhaps I could make it out of the storm and riding along would air dry it. Or I could figure out a tow truck option or try to reverse course towards Missoula, which was only 35 miles away. Motorcycle shops are always closed on Sunday & Monday, and it was Sunday. None of these sounded like great choices.
According to the historical markers at the edge of parking lot, Lewis & Clark also stalled here on their way to the Pacific Ocean. They were way behind schedule and not expecting the rugged Bitterroot Mountains in 1805. Lewis & Clark were not having ignition issues, however, they were having issues with crossing mountains and starvation. They ate some of their horses. Not really a solution I could use. Waiting a few minutes was all I could do.
I’m not sure why this worked, but the trusty BMW did start up. I had about 10 miles of highway ahead that was level before I would begin to climb Lolo Pass from Montana into Idaho. I convinced myself that I would turn around if there was any continued issue, as there was almost 100 miles of wilderness ahead before the next small town.
The rest of the day was a slog through the rain. I only made a couple additional stops for fuel and made slow and steady progress through the rain. Highway 12 twists and turns as it follows the Lochsa River to the Clearwater River all the way to the Snake River. Each curve into a new section of canyon just revealed a deeper, darker rain cloud. There was nothing to do but hold on and hope it ended safely. And true to form, I have no photographic evidence of anything that day. The smartphones and cameras just get stowed away in the panniers.