September 23, 2025
The weather looks cooperative, my calendar is clear, the bike is gassed up, so it’s off to the Pacific Northwest again. The destination Sequim, WA to visit my mom but there is also the desire to hit road again for what is probably the last long, multi-day ride before winter sets in.
I spent part of yesterday getting ready and noticed that it only took less than 90 minutes to round up my gear and get it ready to load on the bike. I’ve done this so many times that’s it’s almost automatic. The only thing outside of that was a trip to REI for a couple more backpacker meals.
This morning was Tuesday and Tuesday is Long Run day with Jerry, something we’ve been doing every week for the past 20 years or so. The time of day and the route varies depending on the season and today’s run was at the Four Dances Recreation Area. While this is a weekly thing, we do miss weeks when one of us is unavailable. I missed last week due to a dentist appointment. I don’t know what I was thinking scheduling that for a Tuesday morning. The two previous Tuesdays Jerry was out either working or traveling so we had lots to catch up on.
I got home a few minutes past 9am, showered, grabbed a bite to eat, loaded my gear on the bike and was ready to roll at 10:15.
Today’s destination is the Jerry Johnson Campground on Hwy 12 along the Lochsa River in Idaho. This is pretty much the same route I have done in the past and one that never gets tiring.
As usual, I avoid the freeway and stick to the two-lane roads which, according to the navigation software, only adds about 30-minutes to the day’s ride. I rode north to Lavina and picked up Hwy 12 to Harlowton. In Martinsdale I headed south which avoids White Sulphuric Springs and is actually shorter, rode to Hwy89 and then back to 12. Along the way I had two deer cross the road in front of me. Quick breaking was effective.
The weather was perfect, about 57 degrees, clear skies, but with a bit of wind out of the west. At one point I saw that my fuel consumption had dropped from the usual 52 mpg to 35 mpg. Outside of Townsend, I pulled over for a photo.
I stopped in Townsend for gas and a bit of a break. I’d been riding for exactly 3 hours.
Back on the road and I went through Helena and west of there I was routed on a different highway that looked like it was another shortcut and would take me back to Hwy 12.
Along the way, the temperature rose to about 77 and I pulled into a rest stop and shed a layer, switched to my summer gloves, and opened the vents on my jacket.
I wasn’t paying attention to the route and just letting the software guide me. I thought I’d end up in Garrison and have to ride the freeway to Missoula but it had me turn north at Avon on Hwy 141. I rode north to Coughlin where I headed northwest on Hwy 200. This seemed familiar and I remember doing this in the past. I stayed on Hwy 200 all the way to Missoula, never getting on the freeway.
Once I got there I reconnected with Hwy 12, which is Brooks, and rode that through the city. As usual, Missoula traffic was heavy. When I got to Reserve it took a cycle or two of the signal before I could head out toward Lolo.
In Lolo I stopped at the usual place and topped up the gas and picked up beer to go with my dinner. From there is was back on Hwy 12 and heading into Idaho. There were very few other cars on the road and I took my time, a bit over an hour, to get to the Jerry Johnson Campground. The road is freshly paved and, of course, a gorgeous ride, except for riding into the sun. I just throttled back when headed into it and before long I was in the campground.
The only issue I have with this campground is that the sites are generally made for RVs. They have picnic tables and fire rings but very little room to set up a tent. I’d looked at this blog and noted that I’d selected site #2 in the past because it had space foe my tent between the fire ring and the picnic tables. I never have a fire so this worked out fine. Another change is that there is now a $14/day charge to camp here. In the past it was free, I think, because they weren’t maintaining it and the water system was out. I get half price with my Interagency Pass so I paid up for the night.
I got the tent set up, unloaded the bike, sat down to write this, off line, and popped open a beer. A great day. Pad Thai is on the menu.
It was a 420 mile ride today, 6 hours and 50 minutes.
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