Lolo Hot Springs

Since my last post we have traveled from Cascade, ID to Orofino, ID and then over 120 miles of winding mountain highway into Montana and are set up alongside a stream at Lolo Hot Springs Resort and RV Park.  The drive to Orofino was a white knuckle trip for me.  It was the first time I had to drive for about 3 hours in pretty heavy rain pulling a camper; and to do it with our 6 ton rig on narrow, winding mountain roads alongside several large rivers was a bit nerve wracking.  Here is a picture taken at a turnout on the road, taken just before the serious rain started.

We made it to Orofino without any serious mishaps and checked into a newer campground right on the Clearwater River.  It was very modern with full hookups and wi-fi.  I liked it a lot; Rosie not so much.  She thought it was basically a parking lot; there were no trees to speak of and no good place to walk the dogs.  But it was close to the work I had to do and I didn’t want to continue on in the rain so we set up for two nights.  Here is a picture of the site.

It took me most of Wednesday to complete my work project.  We found a grocery store and stocked up the fridge.  Thursday morning we headed up US Highway 12, known locally as Lolo Pass because it ends in Lolo, Montana.  It is a beautiful drive, but it is basically 90 miles of a constant uphill grade in the mountains.  About 8 miles past the Montana State Line is Lolo Hot Springs Resort.  There is a lodge, restaurant, bar, two hot springs pools and an RV park.  We picked a spot right next to the stream and got all set up.  We had electricity, but no water hookup.  We had the place to ourselves and could let the dogs pretty much run free; up until Friday evening about 5:00 pm.  Cub Scout Troop 15 from Florence, Montana started arriving.  Turns out the Scoutmaster had reserved the whole area that included the site we were in.  Unfortunately, the person who he made the reservations with failed to inform the person that was on duty when we arrived.  The Scoutmaster was very nice when he knocked on the door to tell me what was going on.  I told him we were leaving Saturday morning and he was happy about that because most of the Scout group was arriving on Saturday.  They set up tents all around our camper, but did leave me room to hook up and a path to get out.  Here is a picture of me before the scouts arrived; relaxed with a beverage by the stream.

 

Here is what it looked like Saturday morning when we left.

Oh, before I forget; when we woke up at 5:30 Friday morning there was frost on the ground, ice on the RV steps and the temperature in my truck showed 23 degrees.  Since I was not sure how much propane was left in our second tank, I put the empty tank in the truck and we all took a day trip to Lolo to get propane and some groceries.  Since diesel was only $3.08 a gallon, I also filled up the tank.  We checked an RV Park closer to Lolo that we liked a lot.  We will probably stay there next time in the area.  I will write again when we get to Idaho and Waggonhammer RV Park.