tibaal89 on the Continental Divide Expedition

[tibaal89]

Here is a chronicle of my big trip this summer. It was an incredibly good time and I want to thank the people at AZFJ.org for their amazing support as well as All Pro, BajaRack, Camping Lab, and Sierra Expeditions for their generosity in providing equipment and all sorts of useful guidance.

Basically I strung together the following different trips into one huge traveling extravaganza. I generally refer to the whole trip as the Continental Divide Expedition since it was the largest portion and the reason I did this whole thing in the first place!

- Solo exploration in Utah
- Fishing trip in Canada
- Vising Banff National Park in Canada
- Disabled Explorers Continental Divide Expedition
- 2008 FJ Cruiser Summit

Quick stats:
Gone from home: 40 days
Distance driven: 7,800 miles

You can read about the trip in my blog. Here are links to my writeups of each day of the trip:

Day 1 - Last Minute CDE Preperations
Day 3 - Gillette Ruins to Smokey Mountain Road
Day 4 - Smokey Mountain Road to Temple Mining Camp
Day 5 - Temple Mining Camp to Brigham KOA
Day 6 - Brigham KOA to Yellowstone
Day 7 - Yellowstone to Miles City KOA, MT
Day 8 - Miles City KOA, MT to Grand Forks, ND
Day 10 - Winnipeg, MB
Day 11 - Wollaston Lake Day I
Day 12 - Wollaston Lake Day II (Canada Day!!)
Day 13 - Wollaston Lake Day III
Day 14 - Wollaston Lake Day IV
Day 15 - Woodhaven Toyota of Winnipeg, Manitoba
Day 16 - Winnipeg, MB to Swift Current, SK
Day 17 - Banff National Park, Canada - Day I
Day 18 - Banff National Park, Canada - Day II
Day 19 - Dorr Road Campground, Canada to Glacier National Park, MT
Day 20 - Glacier National Park, MT to Priest Pass, MT
Day 21 - Priest Pass, MT to Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, MT
Day 22 - Red Rock Lakes NWR, MT ~> Yellowstone ~> Grand Teton National Park, WY
Day 23 - Grand Teton National Park, WY to Atlantic City, WY
Day 24 - Atlantic City, WY to Rawlins, WY (RV WORLD RAAWWRRRR!!!)
Day 25 - Rawlins, WY to Routt National Forest, CO
Day 26 - Routt National Forest, CO to (nearly) Hartsel, CO
Day 27 - (nearly) Hartsel, CO to Ouray, CO
Day 28 - 2008 FJ Summit Day I
Day 29 - 2008 FJ Summit Day II
Day 30 - 2008 FJ Summit Day III
Day 31 - Ouray, CO to ***hetopa Pass, CO
Day 32 - C ochetopa Pass, CO to Lower Lagunitas CG, NM
Day 33 - Lower Lagunitas CG, NM to 4×4 Trail of DOOM!!
Day 34 - 4×4 Trail of DOOM!! to (not quite) Grants, NM
Day 35 - (not quite) Grants, NM to Meason Flat, NM
Day 36 - Meason Flat, NM to Chiricahua Mountains, AZ
Day 37 - Chiricahua Mountains, AZ to Wilcox, AZ
Day 38 - Wilcox, AZ to SDHQ in Gilbert, AZ

And, for your viewing enjoyment, a few highlights...

Grand Canyon, AZ

Smokey Mountain Road, UT

Reds Canyon, UT

Yellowstone National Park

Wollaston Lake, SK

Banff National Park, AB

Glacier National Park, MT

 

[tibaal89]

Grand Teton National Park, WY

South Pass City, WY

Routt National Forest, CO

Red Cone, CO

2008 FJ Summit, CO

Southern Colorado

Grants, NM

 

[tibaal89]

Meason Flat, NM

Chiricahua Mountains, AZ

 

[Purple People Eater]

Awesome, Mike. I just want to shout it...

Hey everyone! Mike's an awesome guy! Look where he went!!!

.

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

Life is an Adventure












...and you enjoyed the ride!:wings:

 

[viter]

wow, thanks a lot for such detailed reports and great pictures - kept me busy at work all day!

 

[suntinez]

Mike!!

:bowdown:

Great writeup, pics and trip!! Enjoyed spending a couple of days of it with you guys. Day 33+ , wow.

 

[tibaal89]

Thanks All! :wings:

suntinez, it was great to have you along for those few days! Really enjoyed the campfire chats and having you under our evil manipulative HAM control on the road. :ylsmoke:

 

[DH2002]

awesome pics looks like a great trip

 

[Willman]

Nice shots!

Looks like a great trip!

 

[Corey]

Great pictures Tibaal.

 

[tibaal89]

Thanks All!

Corey, I hope one day to follow in your "MEGA CAMPING GEAR REVIEWS THREAD OF DOOM" footsteps... :bowdown: I learned a few things here and there about what worked, what was really stupid, what I never used, etc. Haven't gotten around to it (time consuming, eh?).

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Great pics and great inspiration!!

Mike, I sent Lance a PM too, but was wondering if you guys had any information to share about the route? I'm looking to use the CDT to meander south from Yellowstone this summer. Any help?