A Trip To Nowhere and Everywhere

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Tomorrow morning we'll be leaving Virginia and heading north for Canada. I'm not certain how long this trip will last, nor where we'll be going. There are no deadlines, and there are no destinations. I've mapped out a possible route for the beginning phase of the trip, but this could easily change depending on what we encounter. Once we're out west, we may head north into Alaska, or we may just go south along the coast. We may go into Central and South America eventually. At some point we hope to store the rig and travel by bicycle. Much will depend on my health as I've been recovering from surgery for the past (5) months. It's been a real battle. And when I say we, my partner will be my (2) year old Yellow Labrador Retriever "Yukon".

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I thought that I'd go ahead and post a photo of my rig (from an earlier trip). I got the camper loaded onto the truck today and we're completely loaded with all kinds of gear. I've brought gear for ice and rock climbing, mountaineering, diving, kayaking, road and mountain biking, and hiking.

Tomorrow we'll be stopping north of Baltimore at Rickson's Tire and Wheel to add an extra wheel and tire.

 

[Jim1960]

Have a great trip and recover well.

 

[Hill Bill E.]

That looks like a great adventure! And the 'Northern Lights' are supposed to be really good this year!

Have a great trip! And a speedy recovery!:coffeedrink:

HB

 

[Overland Hadley]

Safe travels.

Keep us posted.

 

[wanderer-rrorc]

I envy you!

have a safe trip..if your near ohio and have any problems..give me a call!!

Tony seven four zero 605-3150 have truck-trailer and garage with tools!

 

[mountainsoul]

I've brought gear for ice and rock climbing, mountaineering, diving, kayaking, road and mountain biking, and hiking.

Sounds like it's going to be one fun adventure!

 

[geovalue]

we need to keep in contact as from your route it looks like our paths may cross
Safe travels
Janet

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Thanks everybody !

wanderer.....probably will be north of Ohio, but thanks for the invite. You never know. Heck, with these temperatures, I may go may go way north.......

I would love to meet people on this trip geovalue.

So, Day 1 was a success with a few bumps along the road. I made it to Rickson Tire and Wheel in Hunt Valley, Maryland and will overnight here in their parking lot. They were kind enough to hook me up with electricity, and not to beat a dead horse, but with these temperatures, it's great to have electricity with the camper a/c. I was on the road for (3) hours which doesn't sound like much, but it's the most truck time that I've seen in (5) months.

The picture below is my truck sitting on jacks while I get my new rear tires and spare. I had planned on buying one, but of course left with (2) new tires. And I have a 19.5" spare as well (I've driven 90,000 miles with a 16" spare).

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Not a real exciting day. We had a leisurely drive today as we headed north along Interstate 83 and 81 through Maryland and Pennsylvania. Decided to overnight in the parking lot of the Flying "J" truck stop in Lakeside, Pennsylvania. I love their facilities as they also cater to the RV crowd as well as the trucks. I've used these truck stops all over the U.S.

So, here's a few shots of the truck at our "campsite". The one shot shows the custom made deck that I had built prior to leaving. In the past, while towing the Jeep, I've always lifted the dog into the camper since you can't use the scissor steps with the tow hitch in the way. I hired a welder to build me this platform and the scissor steps hook up on the side. No more lifting of the 70 pound dog. It works quite well and saved me $45,000 as I was looking at a new Lance camper with a side entrance.

Looking forward to tomorrow when we'll enter the Adirondacks and some much cooler weather.

 

[zjsheller]

Looks like you have the complete set up!! Plus toys for every occasion! Have a great time and looking forward to following your progress.

 

[Douglas S.]

Wave at the lifted silver YJ in Regina, SK!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Day 3 finds us waking up late.........not sure how you sleep in at a truck stop. So, we got a late start and hit the interstate at about 10:00 a.m. It didn't take me long to realize that I'd had enough interstate and we quickly took an alternate route onto Route 12 and then Route 28 into the Adirondacks. I've never been here in the summer, so I was amazed at the crowds in the small villages. What really seemed odd to me was the amusement park and the masses of people. I couldn't help but wonder why you'd need an amusement park in such a wonderful wilderness. Anyhow, we continued north on Route 28 and Yukon was chomping at the bits to get into one of the numerous lakes that were passing by. Finally I relinquished and pulled over for a swim.

We hung out at the lake until it was almost dark and then we left for the trail head to Blue Mountain, where we found a nice spot to overnight.

The next morning we hiked to the summit of Blue Mountain (3,759'). We had some great views of the mountains from the top of the fire tower.

We spent the remainder of the day relaxing at the campsite. I was able to get in lots of reading. I had a group of about (15) kids with their guide stop by to check out my rig. I overheard one of them say "now, that's living the life". They were quite enamored with all my toys.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Day 5 (today) we were up early and drove to the trail head for Goodnow Mountain (2,685'). We hiked to the summit and found one more fire tower where I got some more nice views, although fog covered much of the area.

I had hoped to camp here for the night, but it's posted, so we've moved on and are in search of another free site for the night. Yukon is looking bored right now........there's a beautiful river next to us, and since I've not bathed for (5) days, I think that Yukon and I will go for a dip now. More to come............

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

After our refreshing swim in the river yesterday, we decided to stay here for the night. We were in the abandoned parking lot of Frontier Town, a place right out of the 50's. It reminds me of the days of the drive in movie theater.

Turned out to be a great decision. The campground across the street was charging $170 for two nights. Of course our spot was free. I can easily go without cable t.v., electricity, water and sewer.

This morning we drove back into the mountains and hiked up to the summits of two more mountains. First we hit Snow Mountain (2,360') where I spotted this cool looking rock / tree thing.

After Snow Mountain, we climbed to the top of Rooster Comb (2,762'). This was the first summit where we saw other people and a woman offered to take my photo along with Yukon, and so we did.

We hiked about 9 miles today and were both ready to hit the sack for now.

Tomorrow we plan to leave the Adirondacks and head into Vermont for some more hiking.