Day 2: Butte to Idaho Falls, indirectly...
Down I-15, it's 330 kms and 3 hours from Butte to Idaho Falls... but as the doser flies, it's twice the distance and 3 times the duration! Not that I avoided I-15 entirely: the first 20 kms or so south eases slowly up thru the morning sunshine to the aptly named Divide, where more interesting roads await to the west.
I-15 near Divide MT
IMG_5824 (1024x525) by
Don Serl, on Flickr
MT 43 west from Divide reminded me of BC 3 in the Similkameen valley:
IMG_5826 (1024x768) by
Don Serl, on Flickr
IMG_5830 (1024x542) by
Don Serl, on Flickr
...then the enjoyable Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway breaks south, past Elkhorn Hot Springs, the Maverick Mountain ski area, and the lovely Tash livestock ranch:
IMG_5845 (1024x768) by
Don Serl, on Flickr
IMG_5856 (1024x751) by
Don Serl, on Flickr
( it's more forested than the photos would indicate...)
MT 41 from Dillon to Twin Bridges runs thru a very fertile valley, and the southeastern branch up Ruby Creek to Sheridan and beyond is remarkably attractive, albeit not especially exciting riding terrain:
IMG_5868 (1024x450) by
Don Serl, on Flickr
MT 287 up thru Virginia City and especially on the big descent to Ennis is quite nice:
IMG_5871 (1024x520) by
Don Serl, on Flickr
The Madison River south of Ennis bristles with fisherman:
IMG_5875 (1024x760) by
Don Serl, on Flickr
There's a fine stretch of twisty road along Earthquake Lake and its big impounding slide (which is dwarfed, btw, by the Hope Slide, which was about twice the volume), then the valley open towards West Yellowstone. There was a huge fire burning east of the town, throwing an enormous column of smoke into the sky:
IMG_5882 (1024x751) by
Don Serl, on Flickr
The route south on US 20 was marred by heat, heavy traffic, and paving stoppages, and I was glad to quit the main road onto MT 47, the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway. The namesake falls are very impressive, over a hundred feet tall, and an uncrowded stop. The fine building on the grounds was built as the headquarters of a company that proposed in the early 1900s to channel the waters from the falls thru a power generation plant. Luckily, permissions were not forthcoming, and the falls survived unimpeded.
IMG_5888 (768x1024) by
Don Serl, on Flickr
It's flatlands south of the falls, and Idaho Falls provided my home for the night - I planned on heading east to Jackson Hole, but even the Super 8 up there runs about US$300 per night! As it was, I slumped into the Fairbridge at US$ 107 ( right on the river, not that I enjoyed the view or potential strolling) - welcome to tourist country, in high season! The adjoining Bees Knees provided a decent meal, after I discovered that the nearby Outback Steakhouse did not have wifi, and the neighbouring Dennys did not serve alcohol - welcome to the 21st century, people... And the Shilo next door had a really good breakfast buffet for only $7, which beat the hell out of the free 'breakfast' on site!
map of day 2:
https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Butt...c094c49c9!2m2!1d-112.0339645!2d43.4916514!3e0
575kms 9 1/2 hrs