#bigholepass

The Great Divide Montana/Idaho State Line

After departing Wisdom (the town) I crossed the Great Divide at Chief Joseph Pass and quickly came to Lost Trail Pass, pictured here. It's not actually on the continental divide, but is close to three passes that are: Chief Joseph, Gibbons, and Big Hole Pass. I couldn't reach the latter two given my decidedly not robust vehicle. And there was nothing much to shoot at Chief Joseph. (There deserves to be a sign at least.) Despite not actually being on the Divide, Lost Trail Pass (again, pictured here), is important in the saga of the Corps of Discovery while headed west. After piercing the Divide at Lemhi, they found the Salmon River too shallow to work with—which would have taken them to the Snake. So they had to trudge north to cross at Lost Trail. Only then were they able to reach the Bitterroot to the north and on to the Pacific via other rivers. Of course the Shoshones helped them with this rather difficult part of their journey.