Day 472 – US – Idaho to Montana [Mullan (ID) to Haugan (MT)]

20/07/21

35km

  From Mullan (Idaho) to Haugan (Montana)

North America

Crossing into Montana and into a new time zone

The Interstate 90 early morning

Entering a new state today, Montana, the 3rd state of my North American Crossing. Montana is a state I have been looking to run across for a long time. As I was in the planning phase of the world-run, two US states really had my attention: Wyoming and Montana. I will not get to cross Wyoming. But I’m happy to run through Montana for 1 month. I have heard and read so much about the beauty of the state, the lakes, reservoirs, rivers, mountains, forests, wide open spaces, the fauna… Today as I crossed into Montana at the Lookout Pass (1440m) I felt very happy. The harsh uphill had been worth it!

Up the Lookout Pass (1440m)

I chose to run on the IS90 today, the freeway, for several reasons. First and foremost, with all the fires raging around at the moment, I was not too keen on running on trails in the mountains, away from civilization. I am also in a region with no cell phone & data reception at the moment (for the next few days). Knowing that IS90 has very little traffic past Coeur d’Alene as well as a wide shoulder to run on, the decision was easy to make. Staying safe is my priority always. Tomorrow, the trail is running parallel to the main road. Shall anything happen, I’ll be a hop away from the main road and from help.

I won’t attempt to get a souvenir from this place 🙁

I’m staying in Haugan today which is literally just a highway rest area with a casino – motel – restaurant. The joint is called the “50,000 Silver Dollar Inn”. Used to be dubbed the “World Famous 10,000 Silver Dollar Bar”. But as I walked in today, the counter read “79,125” Lincoln Silvers! The whole space is decorated with wooden panels holding all the coins, it’s a very impressive and strange place, really. There’s a wooden panel holding “the bullet removed from the one man who attempted to remove a silver dollar from the famous collection”!!

There are 4 time zones in the US – I made it today to the 2nd (west to east) and there will be a further 2 time zone changes before I reach NYC.

Check out today’s flyover video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vYvr4dRXRx6

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: