Driving 4 Rivers in Idaho and Montana

[Old Henry]

If you don't like rivers, mountains, or pine trees you can skip this one. On this 1,285 mile trip we spent 592 of those miles driving along 4 of the great mountain rivers or mountain canyons in Northern Idaho and Western Montana, the Payette River, the Lochsa River, the Salmon River, and the Bitterroot River. This is our story (Lady, our new Chihuahua, and me. AnnaRae was gone to a women's thing).

Map of route:



Interactive map: https://goo.gl/maps/fu7JVSht6nD2

The first night we made it to Meridian Idaho and stayed overnight with my daughter and her 5 girls. In the morning they insisted that I take them all and two of their friends to school.



Then we headed north to the Payette River and drove along it 35 miles from Horseshoe Bend to Smith's Ferry. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsmq15wcTT4

It was a beautiful river with snow capped shorelines and boulders.



And a very nice old concrete arch bridge:



Little Lady rode along just as happy, calm, and contented as a dog could be.



Next was the Salmon River for 26 miles from Riggins to White Bird, Idaho. Sorry, no pictures but this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzFfGQGZLwo

Little Lady decided for a while to ride up in the back perch. She loved it up there.



Next we drove the Lochsa River for 65 miles from Lowell to Lochsa Lodge. Didn't stop for pictures but took some video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U_5vPnEzKs

The final river was the Bitterroot River in Montana.



Then up over Gibbons Pass at 7,047 feet in some nice snow. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IML7W_HQ_Zo



The snow was deep up there:



Back down the mountain we met the Salmon River again.



If you look way down the river in that picture you'll see an old iron cantilever bridge that we'll see in some later pictures.

Right after taking that picture and just past that bridge going around a sharp turn I had an unpleasant surprise meeting with this $200.00 rock.



Yeah, that's the price of the almost new tire that I hit it with and destroyed it and the inner tube.





After changing the tire I went back and checked out the old iron bridge.





I took a picture of the fisherman taking a picture of Old Henry on the bridge as they floated under it.



Eventually we left the rivers and the mountain canyons and headed out on the flat for home. Here's a little 360° video of that drive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VEgC_itZ30



The only mechanical problem not caused by S.H.E.* was a loose side view peep mirror that needed tightening. I discovered the cause of another problem I had during the trip after I got home. I was going to go into great detail about how bad the roads were from the ruts worn into them by the 18 wheelers and how hard it was to drive straight down the road without constantly zig-zagging. I really struggled most of the way with it. When I got home I discovered that the right top king pin bushing was all but seized to the king pin making it almost impossible to turn the right wheel. That was my very annoying steering problem on that whole trip.

*Stupid Human Error

Previous Trips:

Red Canyon, Utah February 2016: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=188740

California Highway 1 November 2015: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182600

Great Basin National Park and City of Rocks October 2015: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181134

Pike's Peak September 2015: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showth...ht=peak&page=2

Uinta Mountain Range, Utah, August 2015: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173539

Mount Rushmore and Devils Tower, July 2015: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173539

Pony Express Trail in April 2015: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166241

Mexico and around in February 2015: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162633

Ghost towns of Modena, UT and Pioche, NV in November 2014: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155331

Million Dollar Highway, Durango to Montrose, Colorado in June 2014 https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142975

Transcontinental Railway Grade in May 2014: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139471

City of Rocks, Idaho in April 2014:https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137684

Capitol Reef National Park in March 2014: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=133018

Grouse Creek and the AAA garage in February 2014: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130966

Grand Canyon in January 2014: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128820

Moab, UT in December 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127222

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument November 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123694

Across Nevada on US 50, "The Loneliest Road in the Country", October 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120098

Mount Evans (the highest paved road in North America) August 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115013

Canada in June 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=109872

Monument Valley in March 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99523

Bryce Canyon in February 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97822

Milford, Utah in December 2012: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93137

Nevada and Idaho in November 2012: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89080

Rocky Mountain National Park in September 2012: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83966

Yellowstone National Park in May 2012: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=72864

Death Valley in February 2012: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62705

Pike's Peak in July 2011: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19141

Route 66 in April 2010: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57511