thoughts from a 3600 mile road trip to the Lolo, ID area

I just got home from a 3600 mile solo trip to Idaho. This thread will be less trail report and more encouragement for others to get out and do stuff. I'm pretty stiff from the drive. I'm going to go for a 5 mile run, have a beer and go to bed. I'll post up my thoughts tomorrow afternoon with some pictures from the trip.

As a teaser I'll leave you with one of the last pictures I took yesterday on the way home:

 

This is really for average people like me who don't have a really nice truck or cool friends with 4WDs who want to go on awesome trips. There are some skilled people here on TW with great trucks who take epic trips. I'm none of that.

I try to take a trip each spring and fall to some back country area each year. One of my kids or a cousin goes with me on about half the trips, otherwise I go solo. I also do a trip to south TX each winter and a trip to CO each summer. My trips are purpose driven (hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, etc.) and not specifically for offroading, but they all include some level of offroad ability.

I read a lot of responses from people about wishing they could take cool trips like some of the ones reported on TW. Well, I'm here to say you can even if you are like me with no skills or friends. The national forests are full of trails and campsites just waiting for you, for the cost of nothing. The hardest part is making the decision to go. There are a ton of empty campsites and thousands of miles of roads that don't require anything more than a sense of adventure.

This spring I decided to go to Idaho to do a little bear hunting, but mostly backcountry hiking and camping. After consulting a few maps and looking at forest service road closures, I decided to concentrate on an area near the Lolo Trail. The main road I was interested in was Doe Creek Road, 566, but also planned to check out roads 107 and 5621 as well as roads branching off and try to get to the Lolo trail. I have never been to this area and planned based on maps and satellite views. All done solo. I have quite a bit of backcountry camping experience in Alaska, BC, and several western states, so I wasn't worried about the solo part.

I started on Doe Creek Road the morning the rangers unlocked the gates. It's really nice to be the first one in. There were some areas about 8-10 miles in that I wanted to hunt. Being as I was the first one up the road, there were plenty of deadfalls and rocks in the road. After a few tight squeezes and removing a few large rocks and smaller trees, I was able to drive about 4.5 miles up. At that point I got to trees larger than I wanted to remove. Leaving the trees was good to limit others into the area I wanted to hunt. This was the end of the road for the truck:



A few miles hike up to the deep saddle, and then several more miles south toward trail 38 found the two slides I was looking for. If the trees were not in the way I could have driven the whole way, but as I was hunting, vehicle traffic was not a plus.





The views were great, as well as the peace and quite. I didn't see or hear another person for days. The ridge with the snow is where the Lolo trail is. From where this pic is taken, it's about 6 miles up the road. I made it within a mile before the snow was deeper than I wanted to slush through.




After a few days it gets a little lonely, especially at night.



One of the great things about the NF is the abundance of free camp sites. This was one of mine, but there were many like it to choose from throughout the forest.




In all I drove about 100 miles of forest road and for the most part had it all to myself. I got in about 50 miles of hiking, saw some bear up close, and had a pretty good time. It does take a little getting used to the narrow mountain trails if you've never driven them, especially when you have to turn around on a one track on the side of a cliff. After awhile you don't even notice the dropoff.







It was a great trip and really easy for those without really awesome trucks and offroading skills. The national forests have these type opportunities all over the US. All it takes is your decision to go do it. If anyone is interested I can go more into prep, decision making, things to consider for doing these trips solo. This area was 40 miles from the nearest cell phone coverage, so you are pretty much on your own if things go bad.

I also hit up a few scenic places on the way home. I never get tired of this view:




This was the first trip I've made since swapping the gears, adding the True Trac, and the ECGS bushing. I'm very happy with the results.

 

Haha I just did a 3200 mile trip

 

3200 miles one way still have the return to do.

 

Sounds like a tough trip. The longest I've done is 5800 miles roundtrip. 900 miles/day is about all I can stand these days. I'm getting old.

 

nice pics, makes me realize I need to get out more than 2-3 times a year.

 

beautiful photos! I am the same way, do a lot of solo trips. Kind of like the solitude of being out there alone but it does get lonely.

 

I actually prefer the drive by myself. I can leave, stop, eat, etc. when and where I want. Plus, I can listen to the music I want and not want someone else wants. It would be nice to have someone once I get there though. My son is in the Marines and can't make many trips with me any more. He used to do quite a bit. I have a cousin that did a lot of trips with me but he now has two little kids running around in diapers. His wife has him on a short leash for a few years. My daughter does the winter TX trip with me, so I always look forward to spending time with her.

I just like getting out and doing stuff. Most of my trips are nothing great, but they beat staying at home sitting on the couch. Most can be done relatively cheap if needed. I try to plan trips 12-18 months out and always have several in mind.

 

I've always wanted to do this. Someday. Thanks for sharing.