My summer wanderings

[bigskypylot]

Just thought I would show off some photos and thoughts about my travels in the month of June and July. Got to meet up with a UP friend and his FJ along the way, a good pilot friend and another couple Xterra buddies of mine . I've had some unexpected free time while I interview for perspective jobs and wanted to head back to the midwest and Tennessee area while I conduct those interviews. I am hoping to hit up the Asheville area again as well.

I started off June 10th headed out of Bozeman up to Missoula to meet up with another Xterra buddy to do some exploring south of Missoula. We ended up heading south of Hamilton to Skalkaho Falls/Pass for the night after we picked up and got my RTT mounted in Missoula with the help of Clay and Karla from Montana Outback Vehicle Tents. We got a late start out of Missoula but with the long days ended up getting to a decent spot and set up camp before getting some rain over night. It was a nice relaxing evening with a decent fire and no bear issues lol

here are some photos from our day...



Unfortunately I couldn't find any of the pics from that evening's set up but they weren't very remarkable really. Just wanted to show off my buddy Matt's ARB ground tent set up which was pretty nifty!

Another note, I realized I had to do something about my rear suspension lol. I had just put on new Alcan leafs in the fall of 2014 and those are +450 over stock, but with the rear bumper, can carrier and spare and the tent lol I do have adjustable shackles and that was the obvious fix thanks to Bill for reminding me that it was the easiest route to go. More on that later!

**LINK TO VIEW MORE PHOTOS**

http://s38.photobucket.com/user/big...rings 2016/Missoula Meanderings?sort=3&page=1

 

[bigskypylot]

Some shots of our trip back down Skalkaho Pass the next morning....

 

[bigskypylot]

That afternoon Matt had to part ways til later the next week. I decided to head over to the Elk Meadows area just west of Lolo. I had been there the previous summer but on a different section. I ran in to some issues with the tent mounting system where the cleats popped out of the extruded aluminum runners on the passenger side. I had a couple tie-down straps I used to keep it secure til I could get back over to MOVT in Missoula on Monday. Clay and Karla went above and beyond to make sure it wouldn't happen again by adding an extra mounting point in each corner and haven't had any issues since! Here are some photos from Elk Meadows (borders on Montana and Idaho and very secluded in some sections).

Some photos on the way in to Elk Meadows and my stay...



**LINK TO VIEW MORE PHOTOS**

http://s38.photobucket.com/user/bigskypylot/library/Summer Wanderings 2016/Elk Meadows?sort=3&page=1

 

[bigskypylot]

Some coming out of Elk Meadows... It was really cool to be standing in the same "spot" that the Lewis & Clark party traversed.... Really cool!



**ADDED A COUPLE PICS OF THE MOUNTS THAT POPPED OUT OF THE TRACKS ON THE BOTTOM OF THE TENT. ALL IS GOOD NOW. **

**LINK TO VIEW MORE PHOTOS**

http://s38.photobucket.com/user/bigskypylot/library/Summer Wanderings 2016/Elk Meadows?sort=3&page=1

 

[bigskypylot]

After coming down from Elk Meadows and catching up on some stuff in town (Missoula), I headed over to MOVT to fix the mounting issues with Clay and Karla after Clay got done with work. By the time we got done, it was getting to be late in the day so they offered to let me stay on their property for the the evening and it worked out just fine. In the morning it started to rain pretty good right as I was finishing up packing the tent up so we had coffee and I headed out to get some more things done in Missoula. I had picked up my 100W solar briefcase and DIY hookup to my Yeti400 for extended use so I was reading to hit up my next spot for the week. Matt told me to try out the Blue Mountain rec area, so I did. I was pretty happy with how some of the photos turned out, so you'll see quite a few from this stay lol

These first photos were from a point at the top of one mountain ~6,050ftmsl. It got pretty windy (30-40kt i would estimate, with gusts in excess of 50 at times) The new Summit Series held up well! Had some cold rain that froze to the tent one night and iced up the rig a bit but all that melted off by mid day.



**Additional Photos**

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/161645-My-summer-wanderings/page2

 

[bigskypylot]

Midweek, Matt Brought up some extra water and took out some trash for me, thanks, Matt! The Yeti keep things cool but I know I will be making a purchase of a fridge/freezer combo down the road. So much more convenient! Oh yeah, I need a winch, Compressor and Maxtrax first! The Yeti and Goal Zero kept things in order.



Had a few common accessories along for the trip

The Missions. I had been looking at these since I arrived on Tuesday.


**Additional Photos**

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/161645-My-summer-wanderings/page2

 

[bigskypylot]

Well, after spending the week up on the mountain, I was getting anxious to find a new spot. I knew it was going to get busy on the weekend and wanted to get moving after I had someone in a jeep circle my rig at 0100 in the morning. Wasn't too happy to get woken up at that hour. I caught up with Matt and made a couple stops at REI and Murdoch's and then got on my way north towards the Mission Mountains and the National Bison Range. On the way up to St. Ignatius, it poured and poured. I pretty much thought I would get beat up with hail but it never happened. I felt a bit of hydroplane action at 45mph so i slowed way down and let cars blast by me on I-90 until turning north. Once I reached St. Ignatius, I purchased a pass so that I could legally drive and camp on the reservation. I settled on Mission Reservoir and Lower Mission Falls. Weather was pretty good and it was quiet until the last day, when everyone and their brother came out on Sunday.



Ran in to a couple from Missoula with this nice FJC. I think it was a '72 and was pretty much bone stock at the moment. Had some good conversation and exchanged email addresses to catch up at a later date and maybe some future trips! I then hiked up the mountain a bit and back down to the lower falls where i fell in trying to get a good photo. Water wasnt very deep but lost my favorite hat and a pair of sunglasses. and got drenched. Some folks must have felt sorry for me and stopped to give me a lift down to where i was parked and i got changed out in to some dry clothes.

 

[bigskypylot]

Well, it was time to get out of the rez and head down to Moiese and the National Bison Range this morning and then make my way up to Kalispell and GNP to meet up with Cody who was coming out from the UP. He had weathered out a storm and high winds just outside of Glendive a couple nights before and had made GNP so it was time to meet up and hit the Going to the Sun Road and whatever else we had time for.

 

[rokklym]

Looks like a great trip so far!

 

[StomperNJ]

Keep the adventures coming Seth!

 

[bigskypylot]

Looks like a great trip so far!

Thanks, Chad! I wish i didn't have to hurry up the driving so much!

 

[bigskypylot]

Keep the adventures coming Seth!

Will do, Ray!

 

[upndown]

By far one of my favorite states to visit! My ladyfriends college roommate lives outside of Kallispell, she knew exactly where to take us. We took a helicopter ride over GNF and Canada. No words can describe the beauty we saw! :sombrero:

 

[bigskypylot]

By far one of my favorite states to visit! My ladyfriends college roommate lives outside of Kallispell, she knew exactly where to take us. We took a helicopter ride over GNF and Canada. No words can describe the beauty we saw! :sombrero:

Yep, it sure is. It's sensory overload.

 

[bigskypylot]

I decided to add more photos but I am having issues uploading to the site here so I will be posting a link to my newly created PhotoBucket site. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Here's the first link to the first day (some of which you've already seen)

http://s38.photobucket.com/user/big...rings 2016/Missoula Meanderings?sort=3&page=1