Traversing the US (and back)

[jessejman]

This can't be all, say it isn't so!

No, not quite but getting very close.

So this is pretty funny, but I read that guy's road report last year (which was very memorable!) and he mentioned this run-in

Hilarious. I thought about searching for him on ADV but didn't think the chances were high of any success. Thanks for the quote. I'm blocked at work but will check it out later.

Lockers

Thanks for the advice. I've tried driving circles in the parking lot forward and backward to no avail so I think I'll break down the actuators like you mentioned and give them a good clean. Hopefully that's all it takes...

Glad to keep entertaining you all with story.

 

[jessejman]

Day 51: From Montana into Wyoming

Our 51st day broke clear and cold. The night had been one of the coldest and a slight storm had rolled through that dropped the temperature considerably. We ate breakfast pretty well bundled up for being midsummer and waited for the sun to break through the trees and warm us up. We retrieved the bear bag/container (our airtight wash-bucket did double duty) and our cooking gear and moved everything out into the sun to heat water and eat. I poked around for any signs of bear but there was nothing. As we were finishing packing up the car (again! - this part was getting old) we heard a lot of noise coming towards us up the road from the valley. I didn't know what it was so but took off towards the road with my son in tow. We arrived out on the open gravel road in time to watch as 11 ADV types rode by waving and kicking up dust. I kept hoping they would stop and chat for a bit but they seemed fairly determined not to stop despite our friendliest fellow adventurer smiles and waves. It was early and they had probably only just started rolling and they were a very large group so I don't blame them. And despite trying to be friendly, maybe we looked threatening or over eager from all of our time spent on the road!

Loaded up, we reversed out of the trees into the now warm open meadows and began our descent towards Red Rock park and Targhee National Forest.





After a few miles on the 'main' gravel road we turned westward onto another un-named trail. In this photo you can see the nice gravel road in the background...



and this is what we traveled to take us out of the mountains.

 

[jessejman]

Day 51: From Montana into Wyoming

The road continued to worsen and fade. Our doubt that it would go through to our next 'main' road steadily increased. But the views were worth it -



as was the deeply rutted yet inviting road.





And soon we tried our hand at herding cattle.



Actually, I think we were undoing some herdsmen's morning work.



We came across four them over the next hill and they seemed fairly surprised to see us.

 

[EricG]

So your at 51 days so far. If you don't mind me asking what do you do that allowed you to take that much time off? I think I may be in the wrong field. I'm waiting a year at least before doing anything so I can take 2 weeks at one time. I think asking for more than that at one time would be pushing it with my boss.

Let me know when you want to get that beer. I'm always thirsty.

Eric

 

[jessejman]

Day 51: From Montana into Wyoming



The descent began slowly but steadily became steeper and the road fainter.





The GPS displayed many roads converging and leaving the one we were on but there were only hints of where the roads once were. We knew we were coming up on private property and would have to cross a section of it in order to get out of the public land and back onto the public road at the bottom of the valley.



We ended up going through a series of three gates marked private but there were no 'no trespassing' signs so we pushed ahead.



And finally ended up on a long straight gravel and sand road with the absolute worst wash-boarding effect of the entire trip. We were forced to crawl even with the same setup we'd been using in Nevada, Utah, etc...

 

[jessejman]

Day 51: From Montana into Wyoming

On this long, wash-boarded and deep-sanded road we came upon a Dodge Ram sitting on the side of the road with a flat. We slowed to see if they needed any help. On top of not knowing how to change the flat they were lost. We consulted the GPS and determined that hey had traveled a good 8 miles the wrong way (they were headed for Elk Lake for a family reunion in a rental) on seriously rough roads. I ended up doing a lot of the work for them but we soon had it changed and they followed us out to where our paths diverged. That stranded truck was our sign that we were headed into a more densely populated area.

It wasn't long until the area began to feel crowded (well, at least for what we'd grown accustomed to). We were, afterall, about to enter the western edge of Yellowstone National Park.

We encountered road work again here and had to pick a side and stick with it. Luckily the only traffic was the grader stirring up a huge dust cloud.





We crossed the state line and ended up again in Idaho and ate lunch at Henry's Lake.





It's a gorgeous lake surrounded by summer vacation homes and bright orange posted signs telling you to stay out and lots of grazing cattle. We found our way down to the boat ramp and had a pleasant, windy meal. The kids swam but it was cold! I stayed out of it this time.

 

[jessejman]

Day 51: From Montana into Wyoming

From Henry's Lake we continued East and quickly ended up on the pavement of highway 20 which we took south for a number of miles into Island Park. Island Park is a weird area. It's fairly flat there, hot and covered in short pine trees. There were millions of ATV and side by sides everywhere. I gathered that it's a big hunting and snowmobiling area in the winter and in the summer it turns into a retreat for all things 'redneck.' The swowmobile trails become ATV trails, there's lots of fishing and swimming and lots of summer camps.

We fueled up in Island Park, grabbed a cold soda for everyone (It was hot!) and made our way on gravel south towards Ashton.



We drove miles of roads like these. It was eerily similar to roads I've driven in central Georgia. The roads varied in condition: from smooth and fast to rough and deeply pot-holed.



Somewhere around where these photos were taken we spooked a black bear, who then took off running, crossed the road right in front of us and continued to parallel us at the same rate of speed for number of seconds before peeling off deeper into the woods. It was a great experience.

**Disclaimer** Some of my route ended up taking us onto an old railroad bed. That trail is for ATV and Motos only, not for trucks. And though it is really fun to drive in a full-size rig, it is also illegal - don't ask how we found out.



With our southerly jaunt finished, we suddenly dropped onto pavement and dropped into a valley(Falls River?) rife with fishing huts and waterfalls, climbed out, skirted the small town of Ashton and were greeted with this...



Nope, it's not Oklahoma again! Its the western slope of the Tetons.



We were so excited we took a bunch of crappy pictures!

 

[JCMatthews]

Glad to have you back at your keyboard.

 

[jessejman]

Day 51: From Montana into Wyoming



We meandered our way northwest on Flagg Ranch Road. It is a well used backroad and the only road that I could find that traversed east-to-west anywhere near jackson lake. There were some rougher sections but it was doable in a Subaru or two wheel drive SUV. We also met a number of CDT bikers pedaling there way south - what a trip they were having!



Crossing into Wyoming.



Having never been to this area of the country it was different than what I expected. It was flatter and gentler than I had imagined but then you would come across a deep canyon with pretty steep walls. Maybe it seemed gentler and more hospitable because we were still in the foothills of the Tetons?





It was getting close to time to camp. We knew we couldn't go too close to the Tetons because we wanted to camp without paying a fortune (and without breaking the law) in the National Park, so we headed for Rockefeller State Park.

 

[jessejman]

Day 51: From Montana into Wyoming



We continued to meander our way down wide valleys, alongside beautiful creeks.





And eventually ran into this campsite with enough daylight left to explore, collect firewood and catch our dinner. It was always a pleasant change of pace to have a bathroom and bear boxes but a big table was even more welcome. And it was a free!



We made ourselves comfortable, practiced walking and explored the creeks.



The youngest played her much-loved game of throwing all the clothes out of their box and then getting in the box to stand on the clean(ish) clothes while yelling loudly. Of course we let her continue to do it -just not in our clothes box.

We couldn't have been over 8000' but as the sun went down, the temperatures dropped and we again found ourselves putting on as many layers as we could and huddling near the fire.

 

[jessejman]

Day 52: To Jackson Hole

We left our campsite fairly early hoping to make Jackson Hole and find some gas and showers. We had made some contacts on the road that we hoped to be able to stay with or at least park in their yard and set up for a day or two. From the look of the maps it didn't seem like it would take us that long to get there. Also we'd be running a lot of pavement through the park.



It wasn't long before we had even better views but...







the park was very crowded and



we were back on pavement and in traffic of all things.

 

[jessejman]

Day 52: Rckefeller S.P. to Jackson Hole, Wy.



It was odd to sit in traffic and be on pavement but the views were great.



But I must confess that we never even got out of the car to look at the Tetons. It was a little like going through culture shock. We were amazed at the beauty and wanted to hike and climb in the mountains themselves but we were turned off by all the infrastructure and gazing tourists. We pulled over few times on the National Park loop road to take pictures but otherwise kept moving.



My wife and I played a fun game of timing these photos in between the passing roadside trees. She would keep the camera focused and centered and I would tell her when to pull the trigger in between the trees. It was fun but the photos weren't always the best.

 

[jessejman]

Day 52: Rockefeller S.P. to Jackson Hole, Wy.



I kept feeling that, ideally, I'd like to explore the park deep in the mountains, not from the road below. Again, I think I walk the line of being too elitist - that said, we did enjoy the views. But where I really wanted to be was climbing. Another trip.





The town wasn't what I was expecting. Our plans for staying there had fallen through and the town was crowded and so touristy and we added to it. It was hard to arrive in these towns and not feel completely overwhelmed and out of place. It was actually easier to stay out of the towns than to navigate them and try to fit in. We battled the traffic and bit trying to find a campground (we were even willing to pay!) but had no luck. I remembered that I pulled down a small alley trying to get out of traffic and we ended up stuck behind a UPS truck for about ten minutes. It gave us a moment to catch our breath and use some wifi.



We headed to a park close to the center of town and used their bathrooms, played for a while with other kids and enjoyed the grass and the shade. It's funny how different our experience is from other travelers - I guess everyone's experience is unique and their own. We all travel our own way - but traveling with kids changes things so much; as does traveling on a tight budget. So instead of hitting up cool local businesses, restaurants or bars we headed from the park to the Community Center!



This face pretty much sums it up. Weeks in the sun and wind in the face from driving was becoming routine, even ordinary. We were tired and dirty and feeling lost in this small town.

Turns out the community center not only had hot showers, sauna and a hot-tub - they had a water slide and an obstacle course! My son and I practiced swimming a full length of the pool so that he could 'qualify' to run the obstacle course. A little surprising to me, he toughed the lap out and made it, so he was able to play with some of the other guys on the course. The girls and I went down the slide probably a hundred times. If my memory is right, I'm pretty sure my one-year-old went down it with me numerous times. It was actually pretty fast too!



(not my pictures)

 

[jessejman]

Day 52: Rockefeller S.P. to Jackson Hole, Wy.



There is no denying that this is a wonderful and beautiful place. Even though we were ready to roll out we did so with a tinge of disappointment for missing the climbing and biking and people. After swimming for a long time and showering, we loaded up, dropped the wife off at some natural/juicing bar and went to the grocery store. We bought what we needed for the next three days and ate in a grassy area next to the grocery store - that made quite a sight and we actually had the opportunity to interact with a bunch of people who were waiting for the bus next to where we were picnicking.

As we were pulling through the parking lot to leave I noticed a couple laughing and taking a picture of us, so I stopped and playfully asked why they were taking a picture of us. Turns out they were from Spain and I stepped out and practiced Castellano with them for a bit. They were from Madrid and were in JH for three weeks on holiday. Turned out they had a van with a similar set up in Spain that they used to tour Europe and Northern Africa in. It was enjoyable to connect with other people who understood this summer-overlanding-lifestyle that we were working through.



We headed south out of town making good time and turned back onto gravel a few miles later. We headed up the Grey River and found a well-used but free spot along the river. It had a large flat area and we played tag until the adults were sore - okay, well, we did take turns running with our youngest in our arms because she loved it so much.

 

[Foy]

the "black dike" on Middle Teton

You snapped a good picture of the vertical "black dike" on Middle Teton (Mt Moran). It is about 150' wide at the summit and has been traced +7 miles east and west of the exposure on Mt Moran. It's composed of fine-grained, dense diabase which intruded the country rock in the Precambrian.

Back here on our side of the US, Jesse, we see diabase dikes pretty much everywhere, some narrower than the "black dike", and some much wider. As deeply weathered as our bedrock is, we trace/map dikes across the countryside by the rounded boulders which spheroidal weathering produces. Most will have a thin yellowish-orange "rind" encasing a very dense and hard unweathered diabase core.

Foy