Day Four – Livingston MT to Kamiah ID
Miles: 453
We were all set to have a nice breakfast but we learned our first choice was not going to be open on Monday and a couple of other options didn't open until 8:00. So, we decided on McDonald's but even they were not open due to a lack of workers, so we went next door to the Cenex and got some breakfast sandwiches that were not very good. We started out on I-90 for about 15 miles before exiting on Jackson Creek Rd. (aka MT Rt 86) and riding north towards US89. The road traverses through Gallatin Valley with nice mountains on either side. The road is a little narrow and not in perfect shape but it was certainly worth the ride and what a great way to start. Despite my best efforts in the parking lot the night before I was still having audio problems. We stopped at the intersection with US89 and I fiddled around with the connections making several trial trips before once and for all fixing the issue. The solution was to switch tail bags with Steve. I don't know why this made a difference but I was not going to question success. We continued north on US89 before reconnecting with US12. We decided to ride up the East side of the Missouri River on MT Rt 284 so we would cross over the Canyon Ferry Dam. We stopped at the Shannon Boat Launch which provided a good view of the river which is basically a lake due to the dam, but the smoke was starting to become more evident making it look like a cloudy day. We crossed over the dam and headed into Helena but this time we did not visit the Capitol building we just continued on to US12. Our route had us riding down US12 south of Missoula but to get there we would have had to run on I-90 for a little more than 60 miles so we decided to route up MT Rt 141 and 200 which is a great ride and avoids the interstate. We stopped at Nevada Lake along Rt 141 but it was nothing great. We got into Missoula after 300 miles around lunch time so we stopped at Tamarack Brewing for a bite to eat. We weren't expecting much but the soup & sandwich with soup was a perfect lunch, and the beer wasn't bad either. We stopped in Lolo for gas before hitting the good part of US12 as it runs along the Lochsa River and there were signs warning of the nearby fires……great! This was our second trip down this road and it was as enjoyable this year as it was our time in 2012. The smoke from the fire made the scenery less appealing but the road itself running alongside the river was still pretty good. The ride from Lolo to Kooskia is about 130 miles and we made two stops along the way. All great riding and great stops along the river. In Kooskia we were only 9 miles from our hotel, so we off we went and it was still fairly early. We had become accustomed to either staying at a Hilton property or a more upscale place, and Kamiah had neither. We were staying at the Clearwater US12 Motel, and when we pulled in we thought …..oh boy. However, the place was really quite nice and the personnel could not have been any nicer. We didn't see any car washes on the way in or on the map but one of the workers said there was one at the Conoco station. We went there and found someone parked in it but when we enquired the worker said he though it still worked. We dropped on our quarters thinking it was a lone shot, but it actually worked. We cleaned the bikes and headed into town for dinner. Interestingly before we hit the car wash we had passed by it and had to turn around, and in doing so we passed a motel that was clearly on the lower end, and just before we go to the entrance two police cars roared into the motel lot and got out of their cars with some clear sense of urgency. Back at the car wash which was no more than 200 yards up the street we thought it must have been a drug bust or drug overdose as we also saw an ambulance arrive several minutes later. Thinking nothing of it we rode a couple of blocks into the small downtown area, jumped off the bikes in front of the Hub Bar and Grill and proceeded to go in. Much to our surprise the doors were locked, but we could see people in the bar. Shortly after, a worker came to the door and asked if we were there to eat. We responded in the affirmative and she let us in. She apologized and said they were in lock down as there was a shooting at the motel. As we walked in we assured the other patrons we were not the gunman. We ordered some beer and some burgers and enjoyed the conversation with the locals. After 30 minutes or so we were told the lock down was over and the gunman had been apprehended. It was quite exciting for a Sunday night in small town Idaho. We went back to the Motel and sat out on our porch and shared a bottle of wine.
