Snowmobiling Lolo Pass

Lolo Pass and its National Recreation Area (all Forest Service land) were scarcely an hour's drive from our home west of Missoula, and it was at Lolo Pass that we snowmobiled more than any other place. Last year, as we revisited our many snowmobiling adventures, we didn't do Lolo--too little snow, as in much of the inland Northwest. So we drove on to the higher country, Yellowstone and Island Park, Grey River, and the Continental Divide Trails in Wyoming. But this year there was a solid four feet of snow at the Pass. Sadly, the grooming was lacking, but we were determined...

First day, we rode the trails near the Pass and in the direction of the Missoula
Snowgoers' warming hut...our club, way back when; I think we had the only
two-up and certainly the only four-stroke in the club

A gorgeous day, tons of snow all around even at these relatively low altitudes
(5,000-6,000 feet)

Vicki, covered in powder

Panning around

The warming hut

Montana and Idaho are Lewis and Clark ground zero, and they camped here at
Packer Meadows en route to the Pacific

Packer Meadows

In early summer, Packer Meadows turns blue with the bloom of Camas flowers;
indeed the first time we approached it, we thought for a moment it was a lake;
a postcard to P bears witness (she has requested postcards with princesses)

Not so in winter

We spent Tuesday night at the pass, hoping for more grooming; but it didn't come,
and we returned to Missoula and business there; Friday morning we thought we'd
try again, probably just another token ride, and then cross Lolo off our list; just as
we were about to head back to the parking lot, we noticed two guys blazing up the
route to Lochsa Lodge...completely ungroomed, but they were making enough of
a trail for us to follow...the trip from the Pass to Lochsa Lodge was always our
very favorite ride at Lolo

Tea time before the bridge at Brushy Fork

We pressed on, enjoying beautiful views of the Bitterroots

Up closer

Moose tracks, according to Vicki; we actually did see a pretty big cow on the
way back, but she disappeared before I could get the camera out; above
Killed Colt Creek, another Lewis and Clark place (they were getting low on
vittles)

Our quest is at an end...outside Lochsa Lodge, above the Lochsa River, a few
miles from the De Voto Cedar Grove...a favorite place in an historic place 

Back porch of the lodge , which seems unchanged in the 8 or so years since we
last visited

Part of the Lodge menagerie; our lunch was accompanied by a very appetizing
lecture, in the adjacent hall, on the prevention and treatment of frostbite, the
audience apparently EMTs

But we were thrilled and pleased to have made this destination one more time
on the snow, despite the conditions

There remained only the long, ungroomed ride back to

The parking lot and visitor center at Lolo Pass, a special place, especially in winter