Wow, I did not expect the great of a response
First off, I am not offended by the suggestion that smoking some pot would help. Who knows, it probably would but I tend to solve my issues in other ways. That goes for all intoxicants too, though I do enjoy a nice craft beer on occasion. Another point is that I struggled over whether to write up this trip at all and if so, should even include the attitude issue. I decided to write it as I have because I thought some others might have the same struggles and possibly my ramblings may be of some help to them. Heck, i am married, so obviously I don't get offended too easily eh? I am very impressed with the replies that I have received and though I am not responding to each post, I do thank all of your for your thoughts and observations. Being a bear of very little brain, I have not figured out how to post a bunch of quotes in one reply and be able to answer each quote. So. on with the trip.
So leaving camp at Erickson Creek, we headed to Marble CO. Mo has been there before and wanted me to see it. Here is a small town huddled in a very snug valley. I can only imagine how this valley is in winter. But in the summer, you couldn't ask for a nicer place to enjoy the season. Below is my favorite picture of the town and could possibly be part of the reason that I liked it so much.
A shot of the lake at the edge of town. There is also a trail that leads from the lake to Crested Butte but we did not get to travel it since we were trying to keep to a schedule that would get us to Kelowna BC on a certain day.
Coke ovens just outside of Marble.
While in camp, prior to Marble, I had a couple of mishaps that once again set me off. The first was my shower set up broke. We have a Zodi Extreme and it has worked for years without issue or complaint. This trip the pickup tube inside the tank developed a small crack that allowed air to be pulled up instead of the stream of water needed. I took it apart, tried to fix it and failed to get it right. the other calamity was my coffee percolator broke. Again I attempted to repair this absolutely necessary appliance for a happy camp, without success. So no shower, no coffee and Mo catching hell from me because I want to bag it all and just go home. {Side note - Once home, I fixed both the shower and the percolator without issue with tools no different than what I had with me on the trip.} Just another example of a really bad attitude.
Continuing on north, we were again in Utah and stayed over night in Vernal. The next morning we headed for Wyoming and the Flaming Gorge Nat. Rec. Area. I was told by a local in Vernal that the Gorge is just as spectacular as the Grand Canyon. I did not find that the Gorge is quite that striking but it is worth seeing. I noticed that there is a dirt road that follows along the east side of the Gorge and offers some secluded spots to take in the sights.
Just maybe it would be more impressive if we got closer. In fact, lets go down to the side of the lake and have a bite of lunch. What a perfect spot. A good 30 miles from a paved road and further yet to a population base (i.e. town). So we really should enjoy the solitude. So here's a shot of our lunch spot.
Unlike in Arizona, when the top looks dry, that which is below may not be so dry. Here's the quandary; if a broken percolator is enough to again bemoan the fact that we should be going home, how is being stuck by yourself, away from any phone service, CB contact, trees to hook a winch to and a pull pal that was sitting in my garage in AZ, going to affect my overly emotional state? I loved it! I don't know why but the fact that we were stuck and had to get ourselves out was a great challenge and we did it. It took a couple of hours but we did it and had fun with the burden of it all. If nothing else, I could have buried my spare and winched from that but that takes a lot of digging to get a spare tire buried deep enough to winch a vehicle out. That is a very last resort and probably would have given me another heart attack. Finally using my head for something other than a hat rack, we were able to run a long line to a bunch of Salt Cedars and pull the truck out by itself. I then hooked the winch to the trailer and winched it out to dry ground. This was done by me inserting the Hi-Lift mast into the rear receiver of the trailer and then sitting on the mast. This took enough weight off the front so that when Mo ran the winch, the front stayed up. Hey, sometimes goofy works.
Well after getting out of that mess, I was looking for more dirt. Maybe it was just all this pavement that was getting me down. I found a dirt track that went north from Kemmerer WY, north to Alpine WY. That looked liked a fun trail. It was a good trail and we had a great time on it and we were back in the trees which is always a good thing. I recommend this route to anyone wishing to see a nice piece of Wyoming. In fact we did see another overlander and three fellows on BMW adventure bikes.
Camp for the night was a nice meadow just a couple hundred yards from the road. I don't know how high we were but it had to be quite high as the dog water was frozen in the morning. A quick breakfast and we continued north.
So from there we had an uneventful trip through Montana, Idaho and Eastern Washington. We crossed into Canada at Laurier and headed to our friends home in West Kelowna. I still can't believe how much water is up in this country. Every road seems to follow a river. If you follow a river or creek in Arizona, it usually means you are travelling in the creek/river bed as there is no water in it. Just don't get caught in it in monsoon time as flash floods can be a bit of a mess.
In the four days we were in BC it rained. I guess you can't have rivers everywhere and not have rain. With my cheery perspective, I told Mo that I had enough and I was heading south. She finally got tired of my sniveling and we headed towards home. We spent some time visiting some friends who live across from Seattle, but on the peninsula. A bit gloomy for me but we did get to see Mt Rainier which I hear is not that often as it is usually clouded over.
From our friends home we traveled around the Olympic Peninsula, heading for the Olympic park. On our way we stopped for lunch at this little beach that looked across the Straight of Juan de Fuca to Vancouver Island.
While there, we met a couple in an FJ Cruiser. They came over and introduced themselves and explained that they too had an AT Horizon trailer and that they have been travelling in it since March. They were at the Overland Expo, as were we, and now we meet them at the very tip of the states. Wow. Here is a couple our age who have been traveling as we have but for over four months and planned to continue till November. That really put me to shame. I was ready at that point to head back north and start my route to Alaska again, instead we continued to the Olympic park and from there to Portland to see family. The trip was pretty uneventful from there and we did finally get back home.
We spent a month in our travels where we had planned on being out for two plus months. I have learned a lot since this trip and have had some very nice travels since and look forward to more. I now look at this trip as a lesson and will plan more and have a more distinct itinerary. Not as free spirited as I wanted to believe but more realistic for me. I do believe that I can still make a longer trip and in fact I am now working on plans for a ride to Dawson and the Arctic Circle next June. We will be traveling on Kawasaki KLR dual sport bikes. So hopefully I will still make it up to the great white north. Only this time with a better outlook and perspective. Again thanks to all that have posted. Your comments have done a lot to make me feel that I am not the loser that I felt I had become.
Mikey
