ROUTE DESC: Sept 4-12, 2026 Montana BDR and Hells Canyon BdrX
RECAP/SUMMARY:
Saturday AM we left Rexburg area early as the sun was coming up. We did section 1 and 2 of the MT BDR. Got some cool pictures along the way and Henry lake we went around the lake and then meetup with the BDR route. We ended in Butte MT and got a hotel.
Rexburg > MT1 > M2 Butte MT, 286 miles
Sunday we road around Butte and got a nice detour due to GPS being wonkie. Then we got on the BDR and did section 3 and most of section 4. Section 4 we got a lot of rain. We got to Ovando/hwy 200 and then hit the blacktop to Missoula. Buckets of rain and it was getting dark. We got a ton of rain in Lincoln MT and hoped to get to blueskys, but it rained and rained from Lincoln to Ovando and then all the way to Missoula.
MT3 & MT4 195 miles
Monday we woke up and started decision making around the rain. We thought we would have one day of rain, not several. I looked on the map and saw western Idaho and Wyo BDR didn’t have this big rain storm, but most of MT did. I said, what about Hells Canyon? So we looked at it and Martin has wanted to do HWY 12 for a long time and it was very twisty and curvy!
So we went down HWY 12 to Lewiston and camped with my friend Oliver. We stopped at the Lewis and Clark visitor center and Martin got maps and wanted to do lolo pass, but it was raining hard. I said, lets try it on the way back to the truck.
Day3 on the bikes: Missoula to Lewiston 193 miles
Tuesday We left Lewiston and headed for the Hells Canyon Section 5 & did Sec1 and stopped in Joseph for Lunch and then made it to Oxbow that night. We stopped at the view point for 30-45 minutes and got drone footage, hoping Oli would catch up to us. He passed us…we think while we were at the view point. We did the ALT harder section and its wasn’t harder. We camped with Oli a second night in Oxbow. The RV park was nice with nice showers, but we had put our tents on the grass and woke up 1:30 am ish to sprinklers soaking everything. I got down to my shorts/underwear and put my rain jacket over my charging electronics and brought my boots into the tent cover and then came back in and changed and went back to bed. Martin moved his entire tent to the blacktop(I saw this in the morning). So…maybe listen to the signs about not camping on the grass…isn’t the worst idea!
Day4 on the bikes: Lewiston to Oxbow 242 miles.
Wednesday we left Oxbow and went to Pierce ID and believe it or not, we meetup with Oli at the gas station! We hit the highway after HCx2 (hells canyon Section 2) and Oli took the dirt roads to Pierce! We ate dinner, went to the Pierce RV park and worked on Martin’s tire. He bent his tubeless rim(they are weak-sauce) and removed his tubeless valve core with a knife and put in a tube…in the dark on a picnic table.
Next morning it was super wet and everything was wet from the dew, but no rain!
Day5 on the bikes: Oxbow to Pierce 257 miles.
Thursday we left Pierce ID and did the IDBDR Section 6 Lolo Pass and then onto Thompson Falls.
We stopped at all the historic signs along Lolo pass. It was a highlight for Martin and I because I was not able to do it last July on the Idaho BDR and he is a big fan of Lewis and Clark. Seeing them survive for 28 days in that rough country in the snow was very impressive. There was construction coming down to the HWY, so we had to back track and find another canyon to come down. We stopped by the Lolo Pass visitor center again (I showed them where the construction was) and then headed to St Regis on the HWY and then hwy Thompson Falls on the HWY.
Day6 on the bikes: Pierce ID to Thompson Falls 291 miles!
Friday I thought we would wake up and head south on the BDR because Martin needed to be home Saturday night for Sunday/Church responsibilities. BUT he surprised me and said we could get a rental truck in Eureka MT/Kalispell. So we went fast north onto the BDR!
We had lunch at Henry’s diner and it was yummy (kind of breakfast). We called around for a uhaul and everything was 1100+. So I texted my buddy Jeff where my truck was and said, we’ll pay him $300 plus expenses to pick us up in Missoula MT Saturday AM. Then we got on the trail to do section 8. By the time we got to the border, it was getting late so we got our photos and headed to Kalispell as I figured hotels would be better there. We got dinner very cold and very tired. Lots of deer strike risks to Kalispell. I ran out of gas and put my 1 liter in and then put on winter gloves and bundled up a bit more and then we blined to Kalispell and eat a celebration dinner!
Day7 on the bikes: We did section MT7 and MT8 Sept 11th, 2026 and then onto Kalispell. 340 miles!
Saturday we woke up early and headed to Missoula to meetup with Jeff and my truck. Martin had a lot of wind buffeting and loud wind noise on the freeway, so that is why we needed Jeff and my truck to travel back home to Northern UT. AND we were very exhausted and making safety mistakes. I’m not sure we’d make it back to Rexburn, so splitting the cost of $300+ expenses sounded really good to me. Jeff got to Missoula at 8am and he checked my location and headed north (SUPER NICE OF HIM!). We meetup with him around Arlee MT. Carefully loaded the two bikes and I drove to Missoula and we had a great breakfast at Cracker Barrel. It was super busy and yummy. Then I drove south for a long time. Martin slept and Jeff and I visited and caught up, which was nice. Jeff drove to allow me to catch up with my phone messages. And Jeff drove back to Rexburg and we dropped him off and got my trailer (we used that to bring Oli’s 701 to the ID BDR). Martin drove from Rexburg to his house and we unloaded his bike and gear. Then I drove home…already looking forward to Colorado BDR end of Sept! I was very tried for 3 days, but finally bounced back.
I have 700 ish GB of video to go through.
DATE: Sept 4-12, 2026
SCREENSHOT OF ROUTE:
LINK TO ROUTE:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1AgEUNmrGmmdLWEh0CoDobXPK2MRb_2A&usp=sharing
LINK TO VIDEO:
WIP
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