My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace / OverlandNA / Foy / ITTOG / PNWY / JD / furbucket.....thanks for chiming in and offering the opinions. It's interesting for me to read others thoughts and ideas. I do appreciate that. I was thinking this morning how it is that so many people are inspired to travel due to the thousands of travel blogs that are available these days. I love reading travel blogs but they have never inspired me to travel. I was born with that bug. But you guys that follow this thread and take the time to make comments inspire me to continue blogging. Thank you for that.....

84Undecided.....thanks for posting here and thanks for the kind words. Really, so many options.....what to do ?


Now I was in a bit of a conundrum.....when passing through the Golden Spike National Historic Park the previous day a park ranger said that I might have to spend the entire 3 day weekend at the Spiral Jetty as I would not be allowed to pass back through the park during the event but now Utah law enforcement had kicked me out of the Spiral Jetty. As I approached the park & the big event (Spike 150) a parking attendant waved me into the camping area. Hmmmm.....what to do ? (again !). I decided not to make waves as there were hundreds of vehicles coming straight at us. I parked.....illegally ? Probably.....actually.....yea definitely.....



My thoughts at that moment.....I'll hang out a bit (I had no ticket to the event nor a camping pass) and I would work it out later in the day so off I went to check out the trains.....









So how big was this event ? Well, I was told that it had 15,000 attendees.....it was sold out. The governor of Utah was here, both senators from Utah attended, one congressman, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary of the Interior, and the well respected author John Meacham to name a few. I was having a good time. A squadron of military jets flew overhead.....a helicopter with snipers hovered overhead for most of the day.....this was huge.....





The day was quickly passing by and soon I began to think.....what does it matter if I'm here ? Does it really matter if I camp here ? I thought nobody cares.....





And so it was that I spent a night at the Spike 150.....

 

[Sierra Valley]

Those trains are beautiful. Be cool to see in person.

 

[Ace Brown]

I stopped there a few years ago and it was very quiet then. Those trains are sure cool. I built hundreds of models as a kid and one of the very first was a locomotive and coal car just like on display there.

I can’t recall from my past visit; do they have sheds for the trains? Leaving them out full time would be very hard on them.


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[wolfgang92025]

Jerry,

I really enjoy following following your travels.
If I would have known you were at the Spike 150 celebration, I would have tired to meet you in person.
Our experience was very similar to yours. A group of us from the teardrop forum meet up Thursday afternoon and drove to Locomotive springs (15 miles west of Golden Spike) and camped for the night.
Next morning with pass in hand drove to the Spike 150 event, luck would bring us in from the south and we drove right in without any checks.
We watched the rehearsals and went back to camp, hook up the trailers and explore the abandoned old rail bed to Lucin over the next couple of days.



What a beautiful country we live in........

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Sierra Valley.....the trains were cool. The first four train pictures that I posted were taken Thursday evening when I initially passed through. As you can see if you look closer theres nobody nearby. The following day (during the event) the trains were roped off, and off limits due to the large number of people.....

Ace.....I have no idea where they are stored. I do recall the same question passing through my mind but I never asked nor did I see any storage shed for them. And I have no idea how far the tracks go beyond the visitors center.....

wolfgang.....so you guys drove by the gravel road that leads to the Spiral Jetty ? Its interesting how close we were to one another. While at the event, and stopped at the Utah Visitors Center booth, they suggested I stay at a place with a name that ended in Springs. I couldn't remember the name later on therefore I didn't. A Utah state trooper suggested I take the northern route around the lake, and as you will see I did, passing right by you guys again.....



Friday was the biggest day of the event so the timing of my unplanned arrival was perfect. Lots to see here such as the recreation of life of earlier times.....





One of the train engineers.....



The day passed.....that evening while relaxing in the camper I heard a voice nearby.....it was a raspy voice singing tunes accompanied by a guitar. It was nice. Eventually I would meet that raspy voice.....Ken, the railroad tramp (tramp was the word he used to describe himself).....



Now this guy had the stories to tell.....it was five years ago that he kicked a drug habit and began riding the trains. He told me that he arrived in Ogden, Utah by hitching a train, and then hitchhiked to the event.....



He said that he was fascinated by trains and loved the life he had chosen to live. Without a doubt he was the most interesting person that I spoke with during that entire event. I could have listened to his stories for hours I do believe.....



We talked that night and again the following morning. Generally speaking I'm not much for donating cash to street people.....this guy was different.....trust me. I gave him some cash.....and then we went our separate ways.....

(Interesting the railroad tracks and railroad sign on his cardboard sign)



One night slept on the Great Salt Lake was not enough for me. We drove west along the northern shores of the lake.....



I stopped as we drove up a small mountain west of Promontory, Utah to take a last photo of the event.....



Now I needed to find us a new spot to explore the Great Salt Lake.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

And that spot was called Monument Point.....about as far to the northwest as you could go and still access the Great Salt Lake.....



I stepped out of the truck to survey a possible place to camp for a few nights. No more than one hundred feet from the truck I encountered this snake.....



Another one hundred feet and I encountered yet another snake.....



Suffice it to say I was now on Google to see what I was dealing with here. These were Great Basin Gopher Snakes and are quite harmless although I will say that their loud hissing and their vibrating tails in the brush would have you think otherwise.....it definitely made me think Rattlesnake.....



With my fears (not huge fears yet fears) alleviated, I picked my spot where we had quite majestic views of the lake.....



As you might imagine I hiked quite a few miles around this lake, and with the water levels being so low, I also hiked quite a bit into the lakebed.....





I loved it.....the mountain peaks seem to float in midair.....





.....and it was difficult to believe that I had never stopped here before.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Just some random pictures that I took during our two night stay at Monument Point on the Great Salt Lake.....



••••••••••"What a beautiful country we live in"•••••••••••

...............................wolfgang92025...........................

 

[Mccaf]

So, I’m chiming in a little late and a little long , Not to hijack ;=) but a little background...

The authentic golden spike celebration in Promontory was indeed a big one for the history buffs. However, the bigger story for “steam fans” culminated in Ogden UT on the 10th. If I was in the neighborhood I’d be at the promontory event for sure -after I chased the the “real” train from WY.

IMO you ended up in the right place Jerry. I would have much rather seen Jupiter and the 119! Walt Disney studios actually created drawings-from old photographs-for the manufacturing process to re create the Jupiter.
Real nice photos you got there! but your last shot got cutoff in the post.

...Anyway-
UP4014 double-headed with UP844 from Cheyenne WY to Ogden and stretched it out over 4 days. 4014 underwent a 4 year, pretty much frame off restoration. The UP re acquired this beauty that was on display at the Pomona CA fairgrounds and pulled it to Cheyenne for the restoration. They barely got in a short test run the day before they left Cheyenne... This is the arguably largest steam locomotive in the world, a 4-8-8-4 “Big Boy”. The engine and tender come in at 132’ and is articulated so as to handle the curves on the road. In Ogden the locos met nose to nose while the dignitaries did a “d&p” show and 45 minute presentation, No disrespect intended. I heard they were expecting 150k souls in Ogden for the event. Must have been crazy times for that town.

The rail fans and foamers filled YouTube all week long with their content. Don’t ask how I know lol. The UP purchased, IIRC, 25 big boys to make the haul from Cheyenne to Ogden. Seems like a big investment to fill the need.

Sorry for all the foaming but your post peaked my interest, lol.
Be safe out there!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Mccaf.....thanks for posting. I checked out the videos as I'm sure plenty of others did as well. I find peoples fascination with trains interesting.....such as Ken the tramp, and I assume you as well. I know I felt fortunate to happen upon that event.....



One thing that just amazed me about Monument Point was the amount of trash that was strewn around the lakebed. It reminded me so much of paddling on Lake Mead in the kayak and looking down into the crystal clear water and seeing all the trash on the lakes bottom. Here because the lakebed was dry you walked through the plies of trash. This spot seemed to be a favorite hangout for gun enthusiasts as there were shooters here both days and anything that didn't move had a bullet hole in it.....







Thousands and thousands of bullet shells were everywhere on the lakebed....and actually things that did move also had bullet holes in them.....



After two nights here we would continue west following the old railroad bed on the Transcontinental Railroad National Back Country Byway.....



The BLM staff has done a superb job of placing kiosks and road signs along the way and I don't think that I passed by a single one without stopping.....



It appeared as though the shooters had not passed a single one as well.....





We stopped at the former town of Kelton, Utah.....my atlas still shows this as an active town but certainly that was not the case.....



Here we checked out the remains of the old cemetery and a battered building foundation.....not much more was left.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The headstones were interesting.....







After filling our stomachs with lunch and checking out the old cemetery, we turned and finally headed north again rather than in a westerly direction, and eventually departed Utah after a wonderful three weeks of exploring the beautiful state of Utah (there was no "Thanks for Visiting Utah" sign).....



And then we crossed the line and were now into Idaho.....



After a stop in Malta, Idaho and another search on Google Maps, I found a new destination.....Lake Cleveland (8,270'), an alpine lake located in the Albion Mountains in Sawtooth National Forest. It was a steep climb from the valley floor and as we got within three miles of the lake the road was closed due to the snow cover.....



The dogs loved it but we had to make new plans.....



The views up there were pretty damn nice.....





We decided to spend a night up high (not as high as was previously planned) and spent that night on a roadside pullout.....

 

[Ace Brown]

How could anybody shoot up a tombstone?


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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....I can honestly say that most everything had bullet holes in it. I'm not sure that I've ever seen so much destruction from gunshot. Did you notice that both of the state welcome signs were full of bullet holes ? Another thing I can say is that I was always uncomfortable walking out into the lakebed. One guy was firing either a machine gun or an automatic rifle. He was shooting across the lakebed.....where I had been walking.....the shooters don't seem to care.....it's unsettling.....



The dogs just can't get enough of the snow.....



I, on the other hand, am looking forward to the summer weather. It almost seems as though I'm always ahead of the nice weather on this trip north.....





Somewhere along that forest service road I pulled over and we hiked into the forest along this beautiful stream.....





Everywhere we go we're finding that most streams and rivers are full nearly to the top of their banks.....the payoff of plenty of rain I think combined with lots of snowmelt. Hopefully this will provide substantial reserves of water for the drier summer months in the Rockies.....



We drove north, connected with the interstate, and then headed west. I had plans to meet up with the salesman that sold me the Renegade motorhome.....



We've stayed in touch even though the Renegade turned out so badly for me. He's a truck camper kind of guy.....just like me. Someday we plan to camp together.....



It's amazing the effect that those motorhomes have on me. I only went in one that afternoon.....a Show Hauler priced at $500,000. I wanted it. Of course I didn't get it.....now I was back on the interstate driving west.....stopped in a small town.....walked the dogs along a small stream. I had plans to meet another friend in Idaho.....



It's good to be north again.....

 

[GregSplett]

I am placing a dollar on a cabin in the woods. It is the most dog-friendly of the proposed.LOL. I used to live out of a Subaru wagon, with a lab and a couple of fishing rods. I traveled up and down the Washington Oregon coast fishing. After a couple of years, I became fond of one river in particular so I bought a big fancy motor home and stayed put guiding. Alas, now I am back to asphalt shingles and cable tv. Of that part of my life, the best memories are of the Subaru and the dog but I do enjoy just paying a power bill instead of fussing with generators and batteries and propane.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Greg.....so you get it that there's a lot of extra work to the lifestyle. I think that's why I enjoyed traveling for 5 or 6 months and then returning to a home and having a rest. I just have to find the right place to settle down. Yesterday I was camped near a 9 acre parcel of land that's up for sale. Last night I met the listing agent. It's a two minute walk to the Salmon River and the views are 360 degrees of beauty.....

Have a look.....all of these pictures are of the property.....







Yesterday I saw a log home package delivered to a riverfront lot.....







The plan is to talk with the lot owners to get some first hand building information (permits, well depths, drainfield design types, costs, etc.).....







Never thought about living here.....but it's pretty damn nice.....

 

[Ace Brown]

Greg.....so you get it that there's a lot of extra work to the lifestyle. I think that's why I enjoyed traveling for 5 or 6 months and then returning to a home and having a rest. I just have to find the right place to settle down. Yesterday I was camped near a 9 acre parcel of land that's up for sale. Last night I met the listing agent. It's a two minute walk to the Salmon River and the views are 360 degrees of beauty.....

Have a look.....all of these pictures are of the property.....

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View attachment 517492

Yesterday I saw a log home package delivered to a riverfront lot.....

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The plan is to talk with the lot owners to get some first hand building information (permits, well depths, drainfield design types, costs, etc.).....

View attachment 517496

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Never thought about living here.....but it's pretty damn nice.....

View attachment 517499

Dollars to you would be happy there, but what about winter time when it’s blowing 40 mph with temps well below zero.


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