turbodb
Well-known member
August 24, 2018.
How does that saying go? "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, ..."
If you've been a reader of previous trip reports, you may recall one of the craziest trips to date - The De-Tour - which occurred almost exactly one year ago. That trip was a great one for many reasons, but it had gone nothing like we'd expected - snowing or raining every day - eventually forcing us to abandon our Tour of Montana and Wyoming for what we hoped were clearer skies, in Utah.
...where it also rained on us.
Even so, upon our return, Monte @Blackdawg, Mike @Digiratus, and I almost immediately started talking about doing it all again - as originally planned - able to see the sights in Montana and Wyoming this time - "next year."
Well, "next year" was now - this time three weeks earlier in the season to give ourselves a better chance at warmer weather. And, we'd recruited two additional buddies - another Dan @drr from the Puget Sound, and Zane @Speedytech7 who would join us from Arizona.
A long trek east for Mike, Dan and I, Mike dipped his toes into route planning to find as much dirt as possible to get us there - ultimately taking us along the Nez Perce Trail - a combination of the Old Elk City Wagon Road and a path through the Magruder Corridor. It would take us three days along this route to reach Cooke City, Montana, our rendezvous point with Monte and Zane.
It was just before 7:00am when I headed out - the truck packed to the gills for two weeks on the road.
All coming from slightly different places, Mike, Dan, and I decided we'd meet in Cle Elum - to top off our tanks and so Mike could get his morning cup of coffee. Pioneer Cafe was Mike's favorite spot here, and by 9:30am we were once again headed east.
But only for a few minutes until Dan came over the CB, "Hey Dan, your jerry can fuel plate just came off. I'm headed back to pick it up!" And then a few minutes later - "I got it, but not before a big rig ran it over." Turns out that the butterfly nut had somehow spun it's way off, and then the 60mph highway winds did the rest. And it wasn't pretty; but I got it re-secured temporarily with some zip ties, and we were back on our way.
We made good time for the most part, hoping that as we drove east we'd escape the thick smoke that had enveloped the Seattle area for the previous two weeks (the worst air quality in the world at the time). Over the Columbia River, through the grasslands of eastern Washington, and finally to Clarkston-Lewiston where we stopped for lunch at Arby's, the trucks looking shiny in the early-afternoon sun.
A quick couple sandwiches later (this was my first ever trip to Arby's, and probably my last), we were back on the road for our last short stretch of pavement before hitting dirt - the Old Elk City Wagon Road - just outside of Clearwater, Idaho - where we'd air down for the first time.
At this point, though our pace slowed, we were of course enjoying ourselves on the dirt and we soon found ourselves on a short spur to the Corral Hill Lookout - the thought of camping there for the evening at the front of our minds. That is, until we found it staffed, and a very "welcoming" sign posted:
Despite the sign however, Bill (the lookout resident) soon called down to us, "You guys are welcome to come up and look around if you want." This was perhaps to be expected, because as we climbed the ladder he was immediately curious about the rigs. He'd driven himself up in a stock second gen Tacoma, so when three bad-ass first gen Tacoma's showed up...well, he couldn't resist.
.
How does that saying go? "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, ..."
If you've been a reader of previous trip reports, you may recall one of the craziest trips to date - The De-Tour - which occurred almost exactly one year ago. That trip was a great one for many reasons, but it had gone nothing like we'd expected - snowing or raining every day - eventually forcing us to abandon our Tour of Montana and Wyoming for what we hoped were clearer skies, in Utah.
...where it also rained on us.
Even so, upon our return, Monte @Blackdawg, Mike @Digiratus, and I almost immediately started talking about doing it all again - as originally planned - able to see the sights in Montana and Wyoming this time - "next year."
Well, "next year" was now - this time three weeks earlier in the season to give ourselves a better chance at warmer weather. And, we'd recruited two additional buddies - another Dan @drr from the Puget Sound, and Zane @Speedytech7 who would join us from Arizona.
A long trek east for Mike, Dan and I, Mike dipped his toes into route planning to find as much dirt as possible to get us there - ultimately taking us along the Nez Perce Trail - a combination of the Old Elk City Wagon Road and a path through the Magruder Corridor. It would take us three days along this route to reach Cooke City, Montana, our rendezvous point with Monte and Zane.
It was just before 7:00am when I headed out - the truck packed to the gills for two weeks on the road.
All coming from slightly different places, Mike, Dan, and I decided we'd meet in Cle Elum - to top off our tanks and so Mike could get his morning cup of coffee. Pioneer Cafe was Mike's favorite spot here, and by 9:30am we were once again headed east.
But only for a few minutes until Dan came over the CB, "Hey Dan, your jerry can fuel plate just came off. I'm headed back to pick it up!" And then a few minutes later - "I got it, but not before a big rig ran it over." Turns out that the butterfly nut had somehow spun it's way off, and then the 60mph highway winds did the rest. And it wasn't pretty; but I got it re-secured temporarily with some zip ties, and we were back on our way.
We made good time for the most part, hoping that as we drove east we'd escape the thick smoke that had enveloped the Seattle area for the previous two weeks (the worst air quality in the world at the time). Over the Columbia River, through the grasslands of eastern Washington, and finally to Clarkston-Lewiston where we stopped for lunch at Arby's, the trucks looking shiny in the early-afternoon sun.
A quick couple sandwiches later (this was my first ever trip to Arby's, and probably my last), we were back on the road for our last short stretch of pavement before hitting dirt - the Old Elk City Wagon Road - just outside of Clearwater, Idaho - where we'd air down for the first time.
At this point, though our pace slowed, we were of course enjoying ourselves on the dirt and we soon found ourselves on a short spur to the Corral Hill Lookout - the thought of camping there for the evening at the front of our minds. That is, until we found it staffed, and a very "welcoming" sign posted:
Despite the sign however, Bill (the lookout resident) soon called down to us, "You guys are welcome to come up and look around if you want." This was perhaps to be expected, because as we climbed the ladder he was immediately curious about the rigs. He'd driven himself up in a stock second gen Tacoma, so when three bad-ass first gen Tacoma's showed up...well, he couldn't resist.
- - - - -
Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos - it'd all be included here if it fit. But until then...
Keep reading the rest here
The Re-Tour Part 1
Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos - it'd all be included here if it fit. But until then...
Keep reading the rest here
The Re-Tour Part 1
.