Picto Diary - 08 to 11 June 2023 - Lolo Pass
Above: Wasatch Bagel, Park City, UT 09 June 2023.
LSDM. Park City Mayor Nann Worel, foreground, pays a visit. Mayor Worel noted that she is anticipating an interesting campaign season for Park City Council. Incumbents for two of the three seats up for grabs have signaled that they are not running. Nine candidates have thrown their hat in the ring. It will be a challenging time for local government as housing prices have skyrocketed in the last three years putting housing affordability outside of the reach of many upon whom Park City depends. Traffic has increased. A new ski resort, Mayflower, will come on stream in 2024. Residential development in Summit and nearby Wasatch counties is on a pace to strain school, traffic and commercial capacity. Prospective solutions to these opportunities/problems will bring NIMBY controversy whatever is proposed. Nice to see so many citizens running for office ready to step up to this daunting municipal government challenge.
Above: Maverick Travel Plaza. Tremonton, UT. 09 June 2023.
Out and about on the Duc. Lolo Pass bound.
Above: Leadore, ID. 09 June 2023.
Riding to Salmon, ID via ID SR 28, on the east side of the Lemhi Mountain Range. Diamond Peak, a 12K footer, is in the Lemhi Range.
Above: Salmon, Idaho. 09 June 2023.
John Galt Riders, wearing John Galt Rider Sterling Silver belt buckles, reunite.
Above: Lolo Pass Summit. 10 June 2023.
John Galt Riders. Check the yellow sign. Why we ride. 99 miles of upcoming winding roads. This is the best route for a sustained experience of wearing rubber off the sides of your tires. You're always on a lean. John Galt rides a late model Honda Goldwing. Wyatt Earp rides a BMW 1200 GS. I'm on the 2021 Ducati Multistrada V4.
The ride today was fabulous. Partly cloudy, sixty-five degrees, little traffic. Only a time or two did we have to overtake a vehicle. On the Clearwater, as we neared Kooskia, there were a few river rafting operations. I have never been eager to do a raft trip since most of the time the raft is moving so slowly. Perhaps the occasional rapids make the experience more compelling. Lewis and Clark, Sacagawea and newfie "Dog" did a raft trip here. They began their journey down the Clearwater River on 07 October 1805. There is never a time that I ride this road that I don't look to the river and try to imagine an image of that expedition floating down the river.
The Lolo Pass connection, from Missoula, Montana to Kooskia, Idaho, a distance of 125 miles, is one of the great motorcycling roads of the United States. US Highway 12. Today marks my fifth Lolo Pass motorcycle ride, and the first riding from east to west. I'll part company with fellow John Galt Riders, John Galt and Wyatt Earp in Kooskia. They will continue east on US 12 to their homes in Walla Walla, WA. I'll ride due south, spend a night in McCall where in the early aughts I organized a dual sport motorcycle event attended by 200 riders (Big Cat), and then head home via ID SR 55 to Boise, I-84 to Echo, UT, and I-80 to Park City the next day.
There are only three John Galt Riders in the world. Exclusive riding club. Each John Galt Rider is in possession of a John Galt Rider sterling silver belt buckle.
Cultural observations: Though it be Pride Month, I didn't see one Pride flag or banner on the trip. The cooler at the Chevron convenience store in Riggins, ID was also nearly empty of beer but for a few cartons of Bud Lite.
Above: Riggens, ID. 10 June 2023.
Salmon River runs high.
Above: Shoshone Falls. Twin Falls, ID. 11 June 2023.
Sunday. A lotta people here. Parking lots full.
There is something going on with restaurants. It took 45 minutes yesterday for our order to be delivered at the Kooskia Cafe. Last night I tried as a walk-in at Ruperts, in McCall. No room. "How about eating the bar," I asked. "No, our bar is closed, we are short on staff." Add that to TiMDT's and Mwah's (sic) long wait times at Chick's in Heber, and La Jolla Groves, in Provo a few days ago, it seems a lot of restaurants are stressed with employee shortages. Anecdotal. No biggie. First world problem, right?
Above: Sinclair Travel Plaza. Snowville, UT. 11 June 2023.
From here, 120 miles to Park City. Last gas/convenience stop. Round trip was 1320 miles ridden over three days with two nights away. Divided by six, that's two hundred twenty "Springvilles." My first recollection of a conception of distance was when, as a five- or six-year-old, Dad told me that the distance from Springville, UT to Provo, UT was six miles. We'd travel from Provo to Springville regularly to see, Dad's sister Margaret and her family. Always when assessing road distance, I think in terms of how many "Springvilles" I travel.
Much of the ride was on highways adjacent to near overflowing rivers. Great Basin Drainage: Weber. Mississippi Drainage: Bitterroot, Lochsa. Columbia Drainage (Pacific): Salmon, Clearwater, Little Salmon, Payette, Snake, Malad, and Raft. The Raft River, which drains the north slope of the east west running Raft River Range in northern Utah, is an outlier among Utah Rivers as it is the only Utah river which flows to the Columbia drainage. As I cross the Raft River, riding southeast on Idaho I-84, fifty miles before Snowville, UT, I marvel at seeing for the first-time ample water flow.
Throughout the three-day ride, the landscape beneath the still snowcapped mountain peaks is disproportionately green for this time of year. There is no smoke in the air from forest fires as is often the case in this part of the country during the summer. I ran into a dozen fire fighter crew of the Sawtooth Hotshots, checking into the motel at McCall. I mentioned to a couple of them that the paucity of fires in this area was unusual. They agreed and attributed the low level of fires to frequent spring rains and the heavy moisture still saturating the land following record snowfall.
Addendum:
That is the sweetest picture of Margaret & Freddie ~
I can feel the love.
Spago❤️
Marina del Rey, CA