we will be moving from hillsboro Or to Helena Montana. i am taking the 5'er over there first. is there any big hills to worry about. btw i am going through spokane

 

the only three I can think of is 4th of July pass just outside CDA, ID,, Lookout Pass on MT and ID border and Mcdonald Pass if you take HWY 12 east out of Garrison. pretty good pass, but better than going down and back up from Butte.

 

ok. yea i will split off in spokane washington. i forget what hwy that is. i will be pulling a little over 10000lb

 

split off? from HWY 95? Or do you mean you will come up HWY 395 thru the Tri Ciites, then hit 90 and then thru Spokane. the interstate thru Spokane is I90, I would take that all the way to Garrison and then take HWY 12 east

 

yeah i think thats what we are going to do. so how about hwy 12 is there any big passes we will go through the tri cities.then to spokane

 

I think you are getting a little confused, maybe my fault. HWY 12 is a short jaunt from Garrison, MT to Helena, but Mcdonald pass is significant, I think it is about 6200'. 4th of july is about 3500' and lookout is around 5000'. There is nothing but high desert from the Tri Cities to Spokane/ CDA. Beuatiful drive from CDA, ID to Helena. I was just went thru Helena a few months ago when I floated the Smith River just out of White Sulfur Springs. Great hunting and fishing in that area, lot of blue ribbon trout streams

 

thats good. i hope my truck will do ok on the passes though.

 

You will be FINE. I pulled my slide in camper and 78 tractor 12,000# from Rathdrum, ID to Boise. it is totaly stock and that pull out of Pendelton, OR up the Blues is pretty long, had it at 50-55 whole way. it was working hard, but it was plenty fast with the corners and such. just take your time. Plus you got a dually!

 

If you get on I-90 through Spokane it will take you to Butte, MT and then you can take I-15 North right into Helena. It's a little longer but faster in my opinion as it's Interstate all of the way and your truck will be just fine. Remember that the speed you crest the top of those hills at is the speed you will have to try and slow going down the other side. It's much nicer to crest the hill at a slower speed and then gradually let it increase as you near the bottom. You will like the Helena area.

Jezzhuntin, how did you draw the permit for floating that river? I have a few buddies who keep trying to draw that float and haven't been too successful at it. I hear it is one wicked float but I have never done it.

 

Jezzhuntin, how did you draw the permit for floating that river? I have a few buddies who keep trying to draw that float and haven't been too successful at it. I hear it is one wicked float but I have never done it.[/QUOTE]


From my understanding it is easier for out of state residents to draw cause they set aside so many permits for non-residents. that being said there aren't that many, just not many out of staters kno about it. shhhhh. This was my second time in 3 years. I have several friends in MT so we all put in each year. This year was the 1st time I was the permit holder. It is incredible, we try to go around memorial day weekend. the river is usually pretty muddy then, but it is easier to float, by July I hear it is near unfloatable. Fishing would be incredible if it was clear. we had 11 people in our group almost 2 people per boat and we were averaging 10-12 fish a day, with very few under 12". I caught 6 fish between 17" and 22". My wife lost the biggest brown I have ever seen. the scenery is second to none. we do a 4 day 3 night and try to play golf at Heaven on Earth Ranch, but next time I want to do a 5 day, 4 night. more time to fish some of the tributaries and hike up to the pictographs. I love it cause you can drink beer all day long and not have to worry about anybodies safety with class 3,4 and 5 rapids.

Great river to have the old lady row! Plus I took my lab, I have a pic in my gallery, but for some reason when I shrunk it got all blurry, weird cause it didn't on my other pic. I have yet to figure out attaching photos on this forum.

 

Gotcha. I've been in that country a lot as it only a few minutes from me but never have floated that river. The rivers are low right now but they are coming back. Nearing time for the browns to start spawning. That's always a hoot.

 

thanks for your help.

 

Welcome to MT. Get ready to throttle back and put it on cruise control.

 

I live in Montana City (just south of Helena) You will be just fine taking hwy 12 from Garrison, Mac Pass, as the locals call it, is no big deal just drop a gear and come down slow. The steep side is into Helena, you will be pulling the easy side. Drop me a line when you get here, I'll help you any way I can, I have lots of contacts around here as I have live here over 50 years.
Ken Gardner