Over the holidays I received the gift of free time, and spent a fair amount of it going through photos from Felkerino’s and my 2015 summer bike tour of Idaho and Montana. In retrospect, it appears we had a grand adventure.

While it was happening, our good times were interspersed with humbling moments and some formidable gravel sections we were  ill-prepared to ride. We rode them anyway, and now know to respect the granite sand-gravel of Idaho.

Some of my favorite parts of this tour were spent paralleling rivers. The Lochsa and Salmon Rivers– they spoke to us, and their lively company engaged us on otherwise mostly empty segments.

We also had sparkling blue sky for most of our time on the road, and appreciated many views of uninterrupted sky as we pedaled between the aloof Idaho ridges.

I like to have one post from each tour that summarizes our experience and provides links to the daily writings from the road. Over our 11 days of riding, we rode 897 miles. That’s an average of 81 miles per day. This tour was not as hilly as our Colorado tours, but enough hills for my fitness level this year.

I published a photo set of our 11 days of riding on flickr. As for the day-by-day recaps and a few photo highlights, here we go:

Day 1. Boise to Lowman: Riding Out the Bike Tour Kinks, 81 miles

Day 1: Outside Lowman, Idaho

Day 2. Lowman to Challis: Pickup Truck Dreams in Idaho, 113 miles

Day 2: Outside of Stanley Idaho

Day 3. Challis to North Fork, Idaho: Salmon River Serenade, 82 miles

Day 3: Say No to Drugs, Let’s Go Fishing Instead

Day 3: Touching the 45th Parallel between Challis and North Fork, Idaho

Day 3: Salmon River, Challis to North Fork

Day 4. North Fork, Idaho to Hamilton, Montana: Lost Trail Pass into Montana, 74 miles

Day 4: Lost Trail Pass

Day 4: Outside Hamilton, Montana

Day 5. Hamilton, Montana to Missoula: Adventure Cycling Headquarters, 58 miles

Day 5: Between Hamilton and Missoula

Day 6. Missoula, Montana to Kooskia, Idaho: 135 miles

Day 6: Climbing Lolo Pass after leaving Missoula

Day 6: Winding Road Next 99 Miles

Day 7. Kooskia to Riggins, Idaho: 92 miles

Day 7: Winona Grade outside of Kooskia

Day 7: What lies at the top of Winona Grade

Day 7: Climbing Whitebird

Day 7: Time Zone Bridge

Day 8. Riggins to McCall, Idaho: 50 Miles Up, 53 miles

Day 8: Outside of Riggins, Idaho

Day 8: Approaching New Meadows, Idaho

Day 9. McCall to Cascade: An Invitation to the Idaho Mountains, 55 miles

Day 9: Leaving McCall

Day 9: High Point on the Idaho Hot Springs Route outside McCall

Day 10. Cascade to Crouch, Idaho: Taking Off the Training Wheels, 67 miles

Day 10: Indian Paintbrush on the Sand Gravel

Day 10: Bullet Holes for Ambience

Day 11. Crouch to Boise, Idaho: Coming Full Circle, 87 miles

Day 11: Hot dry sun and blue sky in Windsor, Idaho

Day 11: Climbing Old Freezeout Road outside of Emmett, Idaho

The Return: Unexpected Letdown

Assembling this post made me thirsty for more bike touring. Here’s to a happy and healthy, bike-filled 2016!