Lolo Pass and Lost Trail Pass are two more of the many places and spaces in the fictional world inhabited by Cale and Lane and Dana as River and Ranch morphs into New Grass Growing.
They are real world spots as well. The Lewis and Clark expedition is the easy spot to start. They first climbed Lemhi Pass and looked down into Idaho. They then followed the Lemhi river/valley to its confluence with the Salmon. From there they went downstream on the Salmon, a bit excited thinking they had found a northwest passage. Disappointed in that, they ultimately climbed the Idaho side of Lost Trail Pass and looked north into Montana's Bitterroot Valley. Ultimately, they moved north down the valley to what is now known as Lolo and again turned west ascending to Lolo Pass and then down the Lochsa and onto history.
I can only imagine what this expedition faced on a daily basis. The wild tangles they encountered, the blowdowns and understory, must have been immense. At times they likely were able to stay on trails somewhat established by the natives and/or animals, but still relative to the highways of today, traveling the area back in 1805 was not for the faint of heart, not for those wanting lots of daily mileage.
This part of the world remains my favorite part of flyover country to this day, well worth visiting and moving through by any means available.
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