August 2 and 3, 2013: Fairmont Hot Springs, BC to Challis, ID via Missoula, MT

Gloomy weather, chilly and raining.  We got on the road heading south on Route 93, leaving the dramatic Rockies behind and driving through a pretty valley.  We crossed the border after waiting in line about 20 minutes with no inspections or issues.

We continued driving on US 93 south through the ski resort town of Whitefish, MT and Kalispell, the only decent sized town in this part of the world.  The road was scenic south of Kalispell as we drove along the huge Flathead Lake, but things changed as we drove through an Indian Reservations with folks living in derelict mobile homes and broken down campers.

We got a campsite just north of Missoula where the skies were starting to clear and the forecast is for clear skies tomorrow.

Saturday morning we had a nice pancake and sausage breakfast and I did the laundry.  Afterwards, we headed into Missoula to run some errands and hit McDonald's for my monthly (approx.) Big Mac fix.

Then we continued south on route 93 along the Bitterroot River and over the 7,000 foot Lost Trail Pass into Idaho, the same route that Lewis and Clark used to head north after discovering that the Snake River would not get them to the Pacific.  We drove through the ski resort town of Salmon and an hour south, stopped in Challis for the night.  The scenery was impressive, but everything was hazy due to smoke from fires in the area as we drove along the Salmon River bordered by rocky cliffs.

How did they get that flag up there?

The owner of the campground said there were three large fires in the area and the closest and largest one, The Lodgepole Fire, had 400 firefights working to contain it and expected this to continue til November.

Smoke, not clouds as seen from the RV Park.

Walked into town to grab and pizza and Jack got to enjoy USA major network news.