Road Trip #3 Day 4 - The road to Twin Falls, ID

July 16, 2012
Colorado, USA

From Darby, MT to Twin Falls, ID

We turned in early and rested well last night so we were up and at 'em earler than usual. And, we saw no reason to be hanging around Darby. It was a chilly morning. We patronized the convenience store again this morning, buying gas and sharing a cup of almost drinkable coffee. We rolled south out of Darby about 8:30 am. The temps had not yet risen to above 40 degrees and we knew it would be a chilly ride over Lost Trail Pass. We had light winds and diffused sunlight. Oh boy!

This scenic stretch of road (Hwy 93) follows the Bitterroot River. We were grateful for the patches of sun along the way because it was downright frosty in the shade especially once we began the ascent of Lost Trail Pass (elevation 7014). At this point we were riding about half a mile west of the Continental Divide.

Shortly after the summitt we crossed the state line into Idaho and as we rolled down the pass we were thinking - coffee and breakfast! Our first stop today was the North Fork General Store because that was the first place that looked like it fit the bill. We walked in, found a stoll at the bar and ordered coffee first quickly followed by eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and biscuits. The service was quick and friendly, the establishment clean and cozy and the food was good. We talked to a local who commented on the Ride and asked where we were headed. South was our reply as we had not really decided the route. He asked if we were in a hurry. Not particularly was our answer so he told us a scenic way to ride south which would take us through the Sawtooth Recreation area. We said that sounded good to us and thanked him for his time.

Slide show 1 of 2 for today's ride = 120 photos

Alternative link for this slide show

We continued south on Hwy 93 and while we were filling up the tank in Salmon, we talked to yet another friendly local who introduced himself as Kenny Rogers. He also said the Sawtooth ride would be a good one, said if we liked to shop Sun Valley was a fun little town for that and then mentioned the Craters of the Moon area as worthy of our attention. OK - it sounded like our day was set with new sights and attractions.

Just past Challis ID and the Deadman Hole Recreation Site we followed Hwy 75 south. The ride through the Sawtooth National Recreation Area was every bit as scenic as our local tour guides said it would be. I found out later that Clint Eastwood's movie Pale Rider was filmed in this area. The road wound beside the river through steep canyon walls, lush riverbottom lands and on a sunny day would no doubt be spectacular. In many places steam rose out of the rocks right beside the road from the hot springs in the area. We rode through the tiny gold and silver mining town of Clayton on the edge of the Sawtooth Rec area where a smelter was once located in the late 1800s.

It wasn't long before we noticed a good dip in the temperature and rain through a notch in the mountains. We rode most of the way in rain. We rolled over 37,000 miles on the ride somewhere around Galena summit (elevation 8990) when we were riding in the clouds. We finally rolled into the town of Sun Valley. It reminded us of the busy little ski towns of Colorado, none of which interest us in the least. So, we stopped at a gas station, topped off the tank with gas (the price of which raised an eyebrow - ok both eyebrows). We warmed up and had a cup of coffee and decided we would head a bit further south before calling it a day.

We continued south on Hwy 75 noticing signs for the Richfield Canal and the Magic Dam. The temps were a bit warmer. We were surprised when we rolled through lava fields just before reaching the kool little town of Shoshone. We heard somewhere in the middle of the lava fields are ice caves.

As we arrived in Shoshone we started thinking about where we wanted to be for the night. We decided Twin Falls ID might be just the right dose of civilization we were looking for today so we rode another 21 miles or so south.

As we rolled into town we crossed a bridge and a humongous gorge that will be something to check out tomorrow. We took a quick tour of the main street of Twin Falls but found ourselves back-tracking to a Super 8 sitting next door to a Mexican Food Restaurant we saw as we rode in.

Margaritas! La Fiesta Mexican Food Restaurant right next door. Food was great! Just the thing to warm us up after a damp, chilly ride.

Slide show 2 of 2 of today's ride = 119 photos

Alternative link to this slide show
Today ride = 346.7 miles