Days 15 through 30
Day 15 through 30th.
Made it through Wyoming which was a mixture of Forest, then the Great Divide Basin which has to be the most isolated I have ever been. Parts of this area is totally flat and you won’t see another soul. Nothing except antelope. Not until you get to South Pass City, where you start getting into the Oregon / Immigrant / Mormon trails. Very interesting. Saw the ruts from the Willy’s Hand Cart Company along with their memorial dedicated to the ones who lost their lives. This was still isolated and arid land. You could look off into the distance and see the Wyoming range in the distance. I spent some time in this area driving to some of the various old stage stops, what is left of them. It didn’t rain when I was in this area, but if it had, it would have been impassable.
The trail then led up past the Grand Tetons and just south of the Yellowstone National Forest. I planned on coming back though this way when I returned south so I didn’t explore this area until I was heading south again.
When I explored I found free campsites with killer views of the Tetons right across from the national park in the forest.
www.freecampsites.net. Fantastic site. All the roads are really pretty good gravel roads. I spent some time close to the Tetons though. I explored the Grey River Valley area and the Gros Venture wilderness. Both of these are absolutely beautiful and worth a lot more time than I gave them. I plan to go back. The Grey River Valley, the southern portion of it became one of my absolute favorites. The road is a little narrower and a bit rougher but that leads to more isolation. I had deer and a moose in my camp.
I continued past Yellowstone National Park and spent a very short time in Idaho where I hit Montana. I traversed through the Centennial Valley and it was magnificient. Especially the history. The cemeteries that I came across have been adopted by some of the local groups who have taken the time to research and list who is buried there. You can see that living in the west was harsh. Moving up through the valleys through the Beayerhead Deerlodge National forest and the Helena National Forest. I took in some local sights and saw quite a few mines and some old charcoal kilns. Fascinating. I did hit the little town of Rimini, but before that was Helena FS 299 which I would bypass in the future if I’m pulling a trailer. This had a very small portion right before Rimini that was a shelf road, but way too skinny and part of it was washed out. I made it though, but doubt I would do it again. There isn’t any room to backup a trailer if the road was washed out.
I wound the way up through the Lolo National Forest then the Flathead up to Eureka Montana where my time was already at 30 days so I didn’t go all the way to Banff. That will be another trip. I had to head back home.
But one thing I learned about this whole trail, you need at least 45 to 60 days to do this justice. Even driving. There is way too much to see. You need time to explore. A couple of times I had to backtrack since I hit closed gates in the forest. Some were recently closed because they were protecting habitat for grizzlies. But this trail is FULL of history. One day you can do 150 miles, but the next, you may do 40. Some rough roads, but mostly good travel. Some shelf roads, so be prepared. I will do this again, but I think I will break it up. The southern portion, in southern New Mexico I want to go back and really explore. Look up the old town of Hachita and go back to the Craters plus Chaco Canyon. But this is better in the winter months I think, when it is cooler.
Up in northern Montana and Banff area, that is another whole place to explore. I met some of the nicest people, and since I was a female traveling alone, all kinds of people would stop to make sure I was alright if I was airing up my tires or checking pressures. There are a lot of good people in this country. But this trail is one to be put on your bucket lists for sure!
Handcart ruts in Wyoming
South Pass City Wyoming, Oregon and Mormon Trails
Flathead National Forest
Clearwater lake, Lolo National Forest
Charcoal Kilns, Beayerhead Forest
Free Campsite across from Grand Teton National Forest
