My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Don..........I don't use photo shop and actually my pictures pretty much suck. But thanks. And yea, Preston and I had some conversation about bike touring. Nice kid you got there.

Glo...........check the picture below to see where moose antlers go.

So last night I hooked the Jeep up to the truck and did my shopping as I had planned to leave early this morning. Well, I had noticed that my Golden Retriever had started to scratch and bite at himself the last couple of days. The guy that owned the cabin told me that his dogs had fleas but I really didn't believe him. I guess they do. Today was spent trying to make sure I don't have a flea problem. First I took Montana in for a wash and he had fleas. Next I took Yukon in for a bath and she had fleas. So I took everything out of the camper and the truck, took my clothes and all the blankets and junk to the laundromat, and then set off a bomb in the camper. Ugh, what a day. The Wal Mart parking lot had stuff everywhere. I was quite the spectacle. And the show went on.................

I had been planning on moving the moose antlers onto the top of the camper so I got that done today as well. What an attraction that became. Amazing how many people stopped for a look or a quick chat. I finally decided to put a cable and a lock on them since they were so popular.

Should be gone tomorrow..........

Montana



Yukon



Moose Antlers on the Camper

 

[Mudder11]

those are the saddest pictures i have ever seen of these dogs, behind bars! awesome moose antler setup!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Rain moved in last night and it's very foggy this morning so I've decided to hang out at Starbucks, do some research on mountains to climb, and get a late start, so here I am again...........whatever.

So, ever wonder what kind of an RV/ motor home that Joe Walsh of the Eagles uses. Well, here's a picture for you. I talked to his driver yesterday while he was at the Wal Mart. I took the picture before I knew it was a celebrity rig. It is really, really nice.

 

[Billhilly]

I live in hotels, tear out the walls.
I have accountants pay for it all.
They say I'm crazy, but I have a good time.

Life's been good to me so far!

 

[Hondarider]

Enjoyable read for a New Englander stuck at home in the rain this afternoon. I'm really quite jealous of your adventure. Good for you! Safe travels.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Hondarider..........I hope you have the opportunity to travel like this. It really is quite enjoyable. I understand your feelings. I remember sitting in my cabin feeling the same. Take care.

Hello again..........so, I just couldn't seem to get my act together on Monday and before I knew it the day had nearly passed. Therefore I stayed one more night at the Chehalis Wal Mart.

But yesterday I woke up and was ready for some adventure. It was another trademark late start, then we headed south on Interstate 5, and then shortly thereafter exited on Route 12 and headed east for Goat Rocks. Just love climbing and hiking here. On our return trip with the French students, I stopped at a gas station for a fill up of diesel since it had the best prices I'd seen since leaving Aberdeen, $4.19.9 per gallon. Well, thought I'd stop in and top it off again but the price was now $4.59.9. Yow !! 40 cents a gallon in like five days ?? Well, now they were the most expensive. Too weird........Anyhow we continued east until we came to Forest Service Road 21. I found a nice spot here for a campsite, unhooked the Jeep and drove into the Goat Rocks Wilderness Area, headed for our attempt of Old Snowy Mountain (7,930). It was a great hike and once we were above treeline the views were magnificent with lots of scree slopes and large snow fields to cross. The dogs were in heaven chasing all the pesky marmots. Eventually we connected with the Pacific Crest Trail and crossed the highest point of the trail in Washington state. It was here that I tied the dogs to a sign post and climbed the last 300 or so vertical feet to the summit. I was surprised to find about 15' to 20' of lower class 5 climbing which was pretty cool. I was on the summit for maybe 30 seconds......the winds were blasting from the west and it was cold plus Yukon sounded miserable at the bottom yelping like a baby ! We hiked pretty much straight back to the Jeep, hauled butt to the camper, and called it a day with a little over 16 miles of hiking completed for the day.

I had another hike planned for today but the weather currently sucks so we shall see. We're are now sitting on the side of Route 12 at White Pass. It's cold and there's been an occasional light rain all morning. Might be a good day to hang out and read a book or magazine and wait out the weather. Time will tell...........

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

So we did indeed make Wednesday a rest day. We took several long walks along the Pacific Crest Trail, spent time reading a magazine, and reading my book. It was also interesting to talk with the hikers that are doing the entire Pacific Crest Trail. The consensus seems to be that they average around (25) to maybe (30) miles hiking per day. That's pretty amazing in my book. Anyhow, that was about it for Wednesday.

On Thursday we drove about (6) miles to the east, all downhill, to the trail head (3,400') for Spiral Butte (5,940'). The entire hike was thickly wooded, unlike the other hikes that I'd done in this area. The dogs and I were the only people we saw the entire day. When I realized at first that it was entirely wooded, all (7) miles, I was a bit disappointed, but this didn't last long. The trail was so quiet it truly was unbelievable. Several times I had to stop to listen to the silence. And it was a great hike. Once we reached the summit (which was heavily treed as well), we hiked down about 50 feet or so and found a great spot for a snack and a bottle of Gatorade. The views were awesome to the west and we caught a glimpse of Mount Rainier to the northwest. I laid my day pack down against a tree and soaked in the sun and enjoyed the 70 degree temperature. It was amazing how good it all was. Seriously. The hike down was just as silent and again we took breaks just to listen to it. I loved it, and left the forest that day feeling very good about my trip, and my life too. In the evening I walked in my swimsuit to Leach Lake, leaving the dogs in the camper. I waded into the ice cold lake and washed myself off. It was so cold and so refreshing after the past few days. Can it get any better than this ?

This morning I plan to leave the Goat Ricks Wilderness Area and head south into the back country. There's waterfalls, caves, and more mountains that await us. Take care all.......

Spiral Butte



Views from Spiral Butte



And Another



The Silent Forest



Leach Lake



Last Night's Almost Full Moon

 

[Don the donut guy]

I love the silence in the forest! I like your photos, even though you call them poor. Maybe it is different by perspective. Here I am in my house, and I think the wilderness looks great. Jerry, you are in the wilderness (360 degrees) and a photo only captures a part of it. So you might be disappointed by the photo but the rest of us love em! - Don

 

[andysgreenxj]

Hey Jerry, my name is Andy, Im pretty new to this forum, and have just read through this report, and have to say, that now I really want to get back to where Im from, which is on Vancouver Island. I you were thinking of heading up to the Island, take the trip...you wont be disappointed!!! Im planning a trip out there with my family for late next spring. Thank you much for sharing your experiences with us, many more miles and smiles, have a safe and enjoyable trip...:smiley_drive:

 

[Funrover]

Fantastic report! Thank you!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Don......Yakima isn't looking good at the moment. Maybe you deliver ?

Hey...........thanks guys. Appreciate that.

So I'm somewhere in the middle of Gifford Pinchot National Forest (along Route 88) and all of a sudden my phone starts downloading text messages (what a surprise that was) so I thought I'd pull over and check messages and then I thought what the hell, I'll post a quick update.

I've been doing a bunch of hiking and peak bagging, and having a blast. I think I've hit three more summits since my last post. I also did one of the biggest bonehead things that I've done for quite some time......... the vehicles are currently limping their way towards Portland. Since everything is still held together, I decided not to freak, drive slowly, and continue onward with my plans. Today we're going to Indian Heaven Wilderness Area and we plan to hike up to the summit of Sawtooth Mountain, and tomorrow we'll hit Bird Mountain and Lemei Rock.

 

[Micmac]

OK Jerry, I just spent an hour reading your last 40 days' of posts. Sounds like you made the right decision back in the spring. Keep up the blogs and especially those great pictures for those of us not on the road. I tried to get B to look at RVs to no avail. Take your time getting back and enjoy the journey. I also sent you an email earlier today.
Ed

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Hey Ed........got it.

So.....let's see....since my latest postings, here's what's up...........

On the 31st of August, I left White Pass, headed west and stopped in at the Forest Service Ranger Station in Randle, Washington to pick up another access permit. Great people there and they didn't charge and they gave me stickers for both of my vehicles. Turns out that my National Parks Pass covered these fees. Awesome as I hate buying passes. I bought a very useful topographic map of the entire area for $6. Then we drove south down a different Forest Service Road 21 and found a nice spot to spend the night in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Nice relaxing day and nothing more than that.

The following morning we were up early and on the road to Potato Hill (5,387') for a back country hike. This little volcano is located right on the boundary with the Yakima Indian Reservation. It was a short hike in along the Pacific Crest Trail and then about a half mile of bush wacking through Huckleberry bushes and spruces to reach the summit. I spoke with a bear hunter at the base of the mountain and he told me that the biggest black bear that he'd ever seen (he estimated 400 pounds) lived in the area. Once I got to the top I began to see huge plies of bear scat (the biggest I've ever seen) everywhere. I never saw the bear but no doubt he was around. The views were good and it was a nice way to spend the morning doing an easy, short climb / hike.

From there we took several more forest service roads and ended up at Horseshoe Lake to climb Green Mountain (5,107'). Parking was an issue here so I had to unhook the Jeep. Well, I got distracted and forgot to clip the hitch while I was moving the Jeep. The hitch feel forward and I proceeded to drive over top of it. Ugh. Huge big deal.........but I was able to to remove the bolts and get the hitch off, and then I could move the Jeep from the middle of the roadway. After a little hammering and what not, I reinstalled it although the metal had ripped apart in two different places. Fortunately it wasn't bent badly so I was still able to tow with it. I decided not to cancel my plans and we spent the afternoon hiking up to the summit of Green Mountain. Great views and you could see five different volcanoes from the summit. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so no pictures from there. We returned to the trail head, took a dip in Horseshoe Lake, and then drove down Forest Service Road 88 and camped in the National Forest once again.

Potato Hill



Big Bear Scat



Always Beautiful Skies

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The next day (September 2nd), we were on the road by 10:00 a.m. and continued south to Sawtooth Mountain (5,250'). This was another short hike, maybe like (3) miles to the summit. And once again we were hiking along the Pacific Crest Trail. The trail head was located in a huge Huckleberry patch and apparently this is a really big deal for the local people. One side of the road is for Indians to pick on only and the other side was for everybody else. Interesting to see the segregation of pickers. And this was the only time I saw law enforcement in the national forest (twice there) so I think they're serious about this whole segregation thing. Well I wasn't interested in Huckleberries so I hiked on to the mountain. Sawtooth Mountain is really rocky so finding a way to the summit was difficult. I climbed one rock spire (after tying the dogs up) to find out that there was another point higher up. So I down climbed and made my way there. Once again I tied the dogs up and scrambled to the summit of Sawtooth Mountain. Lots of fun. We spent the evening camped in Indian Heaven Wilderness Area. Great day for sure.

I'll add pictures and continue update as time allows..........

Handshake Agreement With the Federal Government ??



Posted Along the Road

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

And finally the last day of hiking in Gifford Pinochet National Park. We got another early start on another beautiful day. It was only a short drive to the trail head to Lemei Rock (5,926'). As the name implies, it's a huge rock wall and was a blast to climb. After about (4) miles of hiking along the Pacific Crest Trail we took a side trail to the bottom of the rock wall. There were (2) chutes leading up to the crest and I chose the easier of the two which was furthest from the summit.The dogs did great on the way up but once we got to the ridge, it was much too sharp for them to go all the way. I tied them off and scrambled across the knife ridge line until I made the summit. The scrambling wasn't too bad but a fall would have really sucked. I didn't stay long since the dogs were waiting but once we made it down, we laid down next to a snowfield and enjoyed the beautiful day. After a short nap we were back on the trail and headed for the camper. We made a brief stop at Cultus Lake so the dogs could have a swim. Once we got to the truck I decided that I also needed a swim so on the way to our next campsite, I stopped at South Prairie Lake and washed off. That night we camped next to the volcano fields. Another great day !

Ridgeline



Lemei Rock Summit



Cultus Lake



The Dogs in Cultus Lake