My Journey
- Thread starter YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
- Start date
escadventure
Adventurer
This thread is helping me keep motivated towards a similar goal. Just bought a F150, build in progress.
To hell with "The Matrix". Explore. Be independant. Encourage fellow discontents...
To hell with "The Matrix". Explore. Be independant. Encourage fellow discontents...
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
Thanks guys......
I'll update later but we are having some fun in Glacier National Park.....My buddy downloaded a new app on my phone. What do you think ? I love it.....
I'll update later but we are having some fun in Glacier National Park.....My buddy downloaded a new app on my phone. What do you think ? I love it.....
jrose609
Explorer
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
It's called Pic Stitch. I only have the free apps.
Just arrived in Kalispell, Montana. Headed into the Great Bear Wilderness Area for the night. Posting from my iPhone.
Just arrived in Kalispell, Montana. Headed into the Great Bear Wilderness Area for the night. Posting from my iPhone.
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
Yea I got lazy while my friend was visiting and haven't been updating much lately but I'll try to get back in the groove again. I'm currently sitting in a Starbucks in Bozeman, Montana (I couldn't believe how long it took Starbucks to open here....this place is new). Anyhow as I entered the Starbucks this morning I held the door for a father and daughter entering at the same time. Five minutes later as they left the place he handed me a cup of coffee and a hot sandwich. We talked for a few minutes...........nice people.
This is Zac the professional fly tyer and buyer of my meal this morning. Here's his business link: www.fishwaterflies.com
So, we drove north continuing on Route 89, out of Great Falls, headed for Glacier National Park. We made a stop in Browning, Montana, a small town east of the park which is located in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. I found myself an awesome straw cowboy hat at an Indian trading post and had to have it. It's worked great for me so far. You know the sun out here can be brutal at times at these higher elevations. Anyhow, after a stop for diesel we were back on the road. We entered the east side of the park that evening with plans to camp inside the park. The first campground was full but fortunately they had a few spots left in the other campground. The evening was uneventful and we mostly hung out at the camper playing Uno and walking the dogs. The next morning I was up early trying to catch the morning glow on the mountainside. I caught it, but just barely and it was soooo nice. You've got to love that morning glow. After warm showers and a bite to eat, we unhooked the Jeep and spent the day driving through the park. Again, in a national park, we aren't allowed to hike the trails so we made do with traveling the road, as I believe most people do cause the road was packed. Funny thing, some people are so hurried on that road, and I just can't figure out how that can be ? I pull over often, I take it all in, I make the most of my time. I was lucky enough to see a black bear as we explored one back road. But one night in the campground was enough for us so we left and back tracked a bit. Our plan was to take Route 49 (a shortcut) to Route 2 and drive along the southern boundary of the park. But a sign said that Route 49 was not for rigs over 21'. We went anyhow, and the drive was quite rough but it was very picturesque with the views into the southern part of the park. We connected with Route 2 and drove west and north into the evening hours until we stopped in the Flathead National Forest and camped for the night.
As you can see, the views are grand..........
The morning glow on the mountainside...........
The Jeep works great in the park. And with the new netting on the rear restricting the dogs, the rangers can't stop me............
This is Zac the professional fly tyer and buyer of my meal this morning. Here's his business link: www.fishwaterflies.com
So, we drove north continuing on Route 89, out of Great Falls, headed for Glacier National Park. We made a stop in Browning, Montana, a small town east of the park which is located in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. I found myself an awesome straw cowboy hat at an Indian trading post and had to have it. It's worked great for me so far. You know the sun out here can be brutal at times at these higher elevations. Anyhow, after a stop for diesel we were back on the road. We entered the east side of the park that evening with plans to camp inside the park. The first campground was full but fortunately they had a few spots left in the other campground. The evening was uneventful and we mostly hung out at the camper playing Uno and walking the dogs. The next morning I was up early trying to catch the morning glow on the mountainside. I caught it, but just barely and it was soooo nice. You've got to love that morning glow. After warm showers and a bite to eat, we unhooked the Jeep and spent the day driving through the park. Again, in a national park, we aren't allowed to hike the trails so we made do with traveling the road, as I believe most people do cause the road was packed. Funny thing, some people are so hurried on that road, and I just can't figure out how that can be ? I pull over often, I take it all in, I make the most of my time. I was lucky enough to see a black bear as we explored one back road. But one night in the campground was enough for us so we left and back tracked a bit. Our plan was to take Route 49 (a shortcut) to Route 2 and drive along the southern boundary of the park. But a sign said that Route 49 was not for rigs over 21'. We went anyhow, and the drive was quite rough but it was very picturesque with the views into the southern part of the park. We connected with Route 2 and drove west and north into the evening hours until we stopped in the Flathead National Forest and camped for the night.
As you can see, the views are grand..........
The morning glow on the mountainside...........
The Jeep works great in the park. And with the new netting on the rear restricting the dogs, the rangers can't stop me............
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
Up the next morning early and back into Glacier National Park, but this time we visited the western side of the park. We didn't stay too long but we wanted to finish driving the Going to the Sun Highway. The park was jammed packed with people and we finally decided that it wasn't so much fun being here on the weekend. So we drove west for Kalispell, Montana where we hit the WalMart for groceries and then filled up the truck once again with diesel fuel. The temperatures were quickly rising and they were somewhere in the mid 90's when we decided to drive to a nearby lake for a dunk in a crystal clear cold Montana lake. It felt so good to relax in the water even though it was ice cold.
A few more pictures in Glacier National Park..........
Our swimming hole..........
At this point we needed to make a decision regarding our gradual return to Bozeman. I usually take Route 93 into Missoula, Montana, but this time I wanted to take the less traveled route down 83 and stay closer to the western border of the Great Bear Wilderness Area. If we took that route I would miss visiting the farm in St. Ignaous where I got Yukon (my Yellow Lab.). It pained me to make that decision but we both agreed that we should take Route 83 so we left Kalispell and drove south on Route 83. We both loved the remoteness of this road. Much of it is through state land and National Forest land so finding a free spot for the night was a simple task. It was late evening when we pulled into our campsite for the night. I love the solitary and somewhat lonely feeling of sleeping in the woods alone. The stars were excellent that night..............
A few more pictures in Glacier National Park..........
Our swimming hole..........
At this point we needed to make a decision regarding our gradual return to Bozeman. I usually take Route 93 into Missoula, Montana, but this time I wanted to take the less traveled route down 83 and stay closer to the western border of the Great Bear Wilderness Area. If we took that route I would miss visiting the farm in St. Ignaous where I got Yukon (my Yellow Lab.). It pained me to make that decision but we both agreed that we should take Route 83 so we left Kalispell and drove south on Route 83. We both loved the remoteness of this road. Much of it is through state land and National Forest land so finding a free spot for the night was a simple task. It was late evening when we pulled into our campsite for the night. I love the solitary and somewhat lonely feeling of sleeping in the woods alone. The stars were excellent that night..............
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YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
I travel with a passion, the good days and the bad. And I don't care to analyze the reasons too deeply---running to, running from, inner journeys, outer journeys, fear of commitments, fear of dying, fear of missing out on things---all of the above, or none. Who Cares ? David Yeadon, The Back of Beyond
The following day we continued driving south and stopped at several cool little Montana towns like Swan Lake and Seeley Lake. I spotted another bear out of the corner of my eye. He was crossing a side road and I really wanted to stop to watch him but with a pickup truck riding my a** I chose to drive on. We found public showers in Seeley Lake so we hung out there long enough to get clean and to change our minds regarding our route. I still wasn't settled about not going to the farm so we made a detour onto a single lane gravel and dirt road that crossed over the mountains and brought us into the valley where she was born (Mission Valley). It turned out to be a good decision as the drive was fun and we saw only (2) vehicles in nearly (40) miles of driving. As we passed Black Lake to the south I began to notice the largest paw prints along the shoreline. It had to be a grizzly bear and I wanted to get some pictures of the prints so when I saw an open / unlocked gate and a 4 wheel drive road that took me down to the shoreline, we disconnected the Jeep and we were off to get the pictures. Well it turned out that we were trespassing on Indian Reservation land (I guess that's why they had a gate). As I drove into the reservation we noticed a truck coming our way and the driver flagged me down. It was Steve, a Native American in charge of the irrigation for the valley and these lakes were built for irrigation. He said that he had opened the gate to measure the water level and was getting ready to leave and lock it. Obviously we apologized and left. We did have some great conversation with him and he did confirm that they were grizzly tracks as there are (3) or (4) grizzlies that live in the area.
This is Steve and he had some great stories to tell us. I wish I could have spent more time with him...........
The road that crossed the mountain.......
Black Lake and the 4 wheel drive road........
Took a break under these shady trees. It was a refreshing break from the heat........
The following day we continued driving south and stopped at several cool little Montana towns like Swan Lake and Seeley Lake. I spotted another bear out of the corner of my eye. He was crossing a side road and I really wanted to stop to watch him but with a pickup truck riding my a** I chose to drive on. We found public showers in Seeley Lake so we hung out there long enough to get clean and to change our minds regarding our route. I still wasn't settled about not going to the farm so we made a detour onto a single lane gravel and dirt road that crossed over the mountains and brought us into the valley where she was born (Mission Valley). It turned out to be a good decision as the drive was fun and we saw only (2) vehicles in nearly (40) miles of driving. As we passed Black Lake to the south I began to notice the largest paw prints along the shoreline. It had to be a grizzly bear and I wanted to get some pictures of the prints so when I saw an open / unlocked gate and a 4 wheel drive road that took me down to the shoreline, we disconnected the Jeep and we were off to get the pictures. Well it turned out that we were trespassing on Indian Reservation land (I guess that's why they had a gate). As I drove into the reservation we noticed a truck coming our way and the driver flagged me down. It was Steve, a Native American in charge of the irrigation for the valley and these lakes were built for irrigation. He said that he had opened the gate to measure the water level and was getting ready to leave and lock it. Obviously we apologized and left. We did have some great conversation with him and he did confirm that they were grizzly tracks as there are (3) or (4) grizzlies that live in the area.
This is Steve and he had some great stories to tell us. I wish I could have spent more time with him...........
The road that crossed the mountain.......
Black Lake and the 4 wheel drive road........
Took a break under these shady trees. It was a refreshing break from the heat........
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YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
In the afternoon we drove into and through St. Ignatius and onto Benjamin and Joanne's farm. Joanne was home and she was thrilled to see us. Benjamin came in from the fields shortly thereafter. After (30) minutes of small talk with the entire family, we found ourselves in the fields with Benjamin working on the irrigation system. We know nothing about large scale farming (he farms 900 acres) so we got quite an education on irrigation techniques and crops. We had a blast and the dogs loved playing in the fields with their dog. In the evening we were invited to stay for dinner and what a dinner it was ! We had Elk steaks on the grill (he shot the Elk), tossed salad (all the greens were picked that day in their garden), potatoes (they were dug up that evening from the garden), wheat bread (Joanne made it that afternoon), strawberry jelly (homemade of course), apple butter (yes, homemade), blueberry ice cream (bought from the store but it was still good). The conversation was exceptional. My friend is Muslim, I'm a wanna be Buddhist that never quite commits completely, and they are Old German Baptist Brother. Quite interesting to say the least. It was dark before we departed so we drove to the other side of St. Ignatius and camped in a rest area just outside of town.
Their barn was built over 200 years ago in Indiana. It was taken apart, trucked to their farm, rebuilt and updated. It is incredible with a kitchen and two bedrooms upstairs. I may stay here next summer and help around the farm. We'll see.........
That's my friend with my awesome cowboy hat. He's adjusting the pressure on the irrigation system...........
That's Joanne on their old farm. This photo was taken (5) years ago when I first met them.
And that's Benjamin, again (5) years ago on the old farm.
Their barn was built over 200 years ago in Indiana. It was taken apart, trucked to their farm, rebuilt and updated. It is incredible with a kitchen and two bedrooms upstairs. I may stay here next summer and help around the farm. We'll see.........
That's my friend with my awesome cowboy hat. He's adjusting the pressure on the irrigation system...........
That's Joanne on their old farm. This photo was taken (5) years ago when I first met them.
And that's Benjamin, again (5) years ago on the old farm.
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
We slept great that night as the nights in Montana get so cool. It's what I call perfect sleeping weather. The days get hot, in the 90's usually, but the nights are usually in the 50's. Anyhow, we backtracked once again and drove south on Route 93 with Missoula, Montana as our next planned stop. Missoula is a cool town, maybe you could call it a Hippie town ? I'm not sure. The old town is large so we spent several hours walking the streets and doing some window shopping. It was fun but our plan was to float the Madison River the following day so we left town late in the afternoon and took Interstate 90 east towards Bozeman. It was odd getting back on an interstate as I've been able to avoid them for the most part. I pulled over onto the shoulder at one point when I spotted a hobo bicycling on the shoulder (it's legal out here). It was a hot day and there wasn't a shade tree for miles. I offered him a cold bottle of water and we talked for a little. He was going to North Dakota to put shells back on turtles that had been run over by cars. Like I said, we only talked for a little. Poor guy. We continued east and left the interstate at Three Forks, Montana. After another hour of driving through some of the most beautiful, remote country we arrived at our campsite along the Madison River.
The Madison River.........
The moon rising over the mountains.........
The Madison River.........
The moon rising over the mountains.........
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
I was excited the next morning to put the kayaks back in the water. It's hard to believe that (2) months on the road and this would only be the second time that they've been off the Jeep. We were on the water by 10:00 a.m and the dogs started out by swimming the first few miles. I'm not near talented enough to describe how beautiful this river is. Just believe me. Eventually we picked the dogs up and once again they rode in the kayaks with us. At one point I looked behind me to see Montana tipping my friend's kayak over in the rapids. It took a good half mile of floating down the river before we were able to get the kayak and my friend together again. His knee was scraped up and his left ankle was hurting, and he'd lost his shirt. Of course Montana was fine and couldn't understand all the commotion. From then on both dogs swam and ran for almost the entire remainder of the trip. We picked them up for the last half mile. They slept like logs that night. Late afternoon we loaded the kayaks onto the Jeep (one fell off and broke the side mirror off my Jeep....ugh) and we drove the last (30) miles into Bozeman. We spent the evening walking around town a little, returned to the camper, and called it a day.
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
The following day was my last day to hang out with my friend. We didn't do much of anything that I recall. We ran a few errands, and spent the evening walking around town. I love old town Bozeman and never seem to tire of walking those streets. My friend wanted to check out Montana State University so we spent some time at the campus. We stayed up way too late that night talking, his last night here. Before we knew it it was 4:15 a.m. and time to get ready for the airport. His flight left at 6:00 a.m and once again I ride solo. The past few days I've been hanging around Bozeman. I've been able to get the camper window replaced, I got the camper blind repaired, I found a replacement mirror for the Jeep at the local junkyard, and I did a major cleaning of the rig (the blind guy mentioned that my rig was filthy and that I might consider getting it cleaned professionally....yikes !!), and lots of other errands taken care of. Yesterday I snagged a shower at the truck stop and then went to "Digger Days". So, apparently the local construction companies bring their equipment to a vacant property and let the kids operate the equipment. It was a blast watching the kids dig holes and honk the heavy equipment horns endlessly. We are camped at the WalMart and last night was spent talking with my neighbor. His name is Tim, he's 56, and several months ago he was told that he has terminal cancer. He's doing what he loves most, traveling, trying to enjoy the end of his life. He's a good guy and I can't even imagine what must go through his mind. His body is beginning to fail him and he's trying to prepare himself. We plan to hang out today.
This year is so much different than any of my years of travel. I've always considered myself a loner, someone that can get through life without people. I'm just now learning the value of people and how much they can add to one's life. I'm hopeful that I'll have a positive impact today, and everyday really...............
Montana.....I just love this picture.........
Digger Days...........
This year is so much different than any of my years of travel. I've always considered myself a loner, someone that can get through life without people. I'm just now learning the value of people and how much they can add to one's life. I'm hopeful that I'll have a positive impact today, and everyday really...............
Montana.....I just love this picture.........
Digger Days...........
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
Appreciate the kind words...........
I spent the following day in Bozeman with Tim showing him around town. We did all kinds of stupid stuff and he seemed to be having a good time. He sleeps a lot so I didn't think much of it when I dropped him off at his truck early in the afternoon. The next time I looked out the window he was gone. Hmmm......rather odd way to depart that way but I'm not much for goodbyes myself so I can only hope that something bad didn't happen and that he just decided to hit the road. That's one of the benefits of this type of travel......you can pull up stakes in a few minutes and be back on the road. I too needed to get out of Bozeman so we hooked up the Jeep and drove a bit south to Hyalite Canyon (and reservoir). The dispersed camp spots along the reservoir were closed due to a forest fire about (3.5) miles south of the reservoir so we camped illegally and nobody said a thing. Therefore not too much to write about this morning. I spent my days kayaking, swimming & hiking with the dogs, and lots of reading. I met some cool people, got one invitation to hang out with a guy at his place in Bozeman, one woman left me her phone number (I was soaking up the sun in my lawn chair as she walked by and commented on how nice it would be to sit there.....I gave her my chair and walked with the dogs and when I came back there was note with her phone number.....ah, the beauty of travel), lots of sky and bird watching. I spent one morning in the kayak with a bald eagle watching him fish and chill in the trees, spent an evening along the shoreline watching an osprey fish for trout (he was very good and nailed a few trout), paddled up the creek with a bunch of mallards, watched the wonderful cloud formations as they passed by. It was good up there in the canyon.............
I spent the following day in Bozeman with Tim showing him around town. We did all kinds of stupid stuff and he seemed to be having a good time. He sleeps a lot so I didn't think much of it when I dropped him off at his truck early in the afternoon. The next time I looked out the window he was gone. Hmmm......rather odd way to depart that way but I'm not much for goodbyes myself so I can only hope that something bad didn't happen and that he just decided to hit the road. That's one of the benefits of this type of travel......you can pull up stakes in a few minutes and be back on the road. I too needed to get out of Bozeman so we hooked up the Jeep and drove a bit south to Hyalite Canyon (and reservoir). The dispersed camp spots along the reservoir were closed due to a forest fire about (3.5) miles south of the reservoir so we camped illegally and nobody said a thing. Therefore not too much to write about this morning. I spent my days kayaking, swimming & hiking with the dogs, and lots of reading. I met some cool people, got one invitation to hang out with a guy at his place in Bozeman, one woman left me her phone number (I was soaking up the sun in my lawn chair as she walked by and commented on how nice it would be to sit there.....I gave her my chair and walked with the dogs and when I came back there was note with her phone number.....ah, the beauty of travel), lots of sky and bird watching. I spent one morning in the kayak with a bald eagle watching him fish and chill in the trees, spent an evening along the shoreline watching an osprey fish for trout (he was very good and nailed a few trout), paddled up the creek with a bunch of mallards, watched the wonderful cloud formations as they passed by. It was good up there in the canyon.............
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