Road Trip Day 8 – Drive from Noxon, MT to B.C. and back

We set our alarm for 7 and were upstairs having breakfast by 8 am, as we wanted an early start on the drive into Canada. The weather forecast for today was rainy and cold; as opposed to the day before when the sun was out; so we figured it was the best day to spend exploring in the car.  The drive up to B.C. was really beautiful. We took a scenic route called the Selkirk Loop, which is a popular loop in the area.


The Selkirk loop covers parts of Montana, Idaho, and the southern portion of B.C.


We were hoping to see a lot of wildlife on the way, but did not see much due to the rain and we also presume that the hunting season was a factor. We did see a coyote (it was really close!), about 700 wild turkeys (which apparently are not native to the area; they were introduced and have thrived), and a few deer. The Selkirk Loop was a beautiful drive; and crossing into Canada was pretty easy.



We quickly found that all shops/restaurants were closed, both because it was Sunday, but also because this was apparently a popular summer activity and the area almost closes down in the winter. We found a café open right at the Ferry launch; it was their last day open before closing for the season; today was Halloween, the last day of October.


We had just missed the Ferry by about 10 minutes, as things sometimes go, and we did not want to wait 2 hours for the next one. Rather than ferrying to the other side of the lake and finishing the loop, we just retraced our steps down the road; we were really not that disappointed. We drove back to the border and had a really annooying border official at the ID state line. He asked us about 100 ridiculous questions, before letting us cross back into the U.S. After crossing back into Idaho, we continued the drive back to Noxon. We stopped briefly in Bonner’s Ferry, ID, as the sun had finally come out, to walk around and stretch our legs. The entire town was closed because it was Sunday. We saw a huge rainbow and then got back in the car to finish off the drive. We made it back safe and sound. All in all; a good drive; we were both glad that we had done it on a rainy day; as we would both prefer to be doing something outside if the weather were nice. And now we can both officially say that we have been to Canada - even if only for a few hours.