June 10 Provo UT to Pocatello ID 10:00 AM 66 degrees Mostly Sunny
Interstate 15 was our route to Pocatello,ID. Our destination, was the Cowboy RV Park. We had a long pull thru RV site and were able to keep the jeep hitched for an easy morning departure. For us, there was nothing exciting to see in Pocatello so we stayed at the RV park the remainder of the day. It was a nice, warm, sunny day for a walk.
June 11 Pocatello ID to North Fork MT
As we headed toward MT, we continued on Interstate 15 for a short distance before exiting to highway 26. Near Butte City, we took highway 93 and continued on towards North Fork ID. We encountered wind, misting rain, and could see the fresh snow in the mountains.
The mountains were breathtaking, but, I also enjoyed looking at the ranches along the highway. I especially liked the old log buildings and hay bales.
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Highway 93 passed through the small town of Challis, founded in 1878 to supply the area mining camps. North of Challis, we entered a narrow gorge that widened to a spectacular canyon. We followed US 93 to Salmon, an 1860s mining town and now a center for ranchers, loggers, and river runners. The road followed along the raging Salmon River. The river was full and fast!
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We stopped for lunch along the river.
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The Water’s Edge RV Park was our destination. It was a small RV Park with only 9 sites. The park attraction…The Salmon River running right behind all 9 camping spots! The weather turned very chilly so we didn’t get to enjoy sitting by the river. We always meet nice, interesting people at RV Parks. Ken met two AZ couples that spend their summers at the RV Park. For sure, the weather is cooler than AZ!
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The downside to being 15-20 minutes away from civilization is no cell service. Since our Verizon phone service did not work, I learned something new…the RV Park owner showed me how to enable wi-fi calling on my iPhone. It worked…but not great. Ken was on an important phone call and lost the connection. As one can imagine, Ken was not very happy!
The park owner told me that the nighttime temperature was expected to be in the high 30’s. Just hearing that made me cold! We stayed inside, cranked up the heat, and caught up on our reading.
June 12 North Fork MT to Missoula MT
10:15 AM 50 degrees Sunny, Clear
Leaving North Fork Idaho, we continued north on highway 93. We drove up through the Lost Trail Pass at 7,014 ft and then made the long descent into the Bitteroot Valley. The valley extends 95 miles from the pass to Missoula Mt. We passed through the picturesque town of Darby and the larger communities of Hamilton and LoLo.
Highway 93 took us to the entrance of our campground – Jim and Mary’s RV Park, We were assigned a very long and spacious site for two nights. It was a very popular place!
In Missoula, we took care of some personal business, stocked up on groceries, walked the campground checking out RV’s, and the most amazing thing…watched surfers on the Clark Fork River in downtown Missoula! Surfing is actually quite popular in Missoula. Located in the middle of downtown Missoula, a man-made wave was built. An unsafe water diversion weir was transformed into a friendly, surfable wave. The wave is popular with kayakers and river surfers. Even with a wetsuit, we decided the water was too cold for us!
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We are ending our time in Missoula relaxing, reading, and watching as the RV’s check into the campground!
Tomorrow we head to Flathead Lake and Polson MT!