We nearly let 2023 slip by without getting out backpacking. We planned a trip in September but it didn’t work out. October was here, we got the backpacks loaded and headed for the Seven Devils Mountains, towering above the Salmon River in Idaho.
The Lolo Motorway (also known as Forest Road 500) was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s and crosses the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho roughly following the path Lewis and Clark used in 1805 and 1806 during the Corps of Discovery, as well as the Nee-Me-Poo trail used by the Nez Perce for hundreds of years. We took four days to follow those historic trails across the mountains of Idaho high above the Clearwater River.
Wow how times flies, It seems like just yesterday we were watching cutthroats rise to a fly in the Idaho mountains, and now here we are in October! Back in August we took a week and explored a local river and met with great success in casting a few flies and reeling in a few fish.
