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The fourth in my series of road trip stories, this one heads north. Enjoy!
Epic Road Trip 2017
Day One (Mile 0 - 337)
Davi didn't get off work until 05:00 so we wouldn't be leaving as early as I was accustomed. Originally, this was going to be a solo trip but she somehow managed to wrangle five days out of work, then seven and, ultimately, nine days. This meant we wouldn't just be watching the eclipse and racing home, we would make this into an epic 3,000 mile adventure through seven states and four National Parks with a total solar eclipse in there, somewhere.
From southern California we headed 300 miles north to Bishop. Neither of us had ever seen the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest so we detoured out of Big Pine and drove east past the Owens Valley Radio Telescope Array (known locally as "Big Ears") then into the White Mountains and the ancient trees. They are unspectacular until you consider that some of the seedlings popped through the rocky soil over 5,000 years ago. These are the oldest (known) living, non-clonal things on the planet.
Instead of retracing our steps back down through Big Pine, we decided to head down Silver Canyon Road, a steep trail full of switchbacks that drops from 10,500 feet to the valley floor a mile-and-a-quarter below. This sign made me a little nervous. We had 2,700 miles to go and I didn't want to break something on the first day. Plus, that would put a real dent in my folding money.
Day 2 (mile 337 - 762)
We woke up early, drug ourselves out of the cheapest hotel in town and over to Jack's Waffle Shop for breakfast. From there it was 400+ miles through the Nevada desert, in the middle of August, in a 30-year old XJ filled to the ceiling with stuff. There was no shortage of interesting things to see, including this at the junction of RT360 and Highway 95.
We passed abandoned houses, a brothel-in-a-doublewide that I wouldn't dare visit even if it housed the last women on Earth and a fireworks shop that claimed to be the biggest west of the Mississippi. 'Why not?' I asked myself. It's not like somebody's gonna come along and measure. Come to think of it, biggest could refer to anything - square footage, inventory, sales, the combined weight of the staff... anything. One thing we never saw, and something that was causing us both some anxiety, was a gas station. Apparently, my GPS hadn't considered this when planning our route. My trip odometer read 245 miles with a little over a quarter tank remaining and this was the view out the windshield. We all know how quickly that last quarter tank disappears so I was pretty sure we were about to have our first crisis.
After much googling, gas buddying, and panicked WAZE searches we discovered that the closest gas station was 80 miles away, mostly the wrong way. But we made it! Crisis averted.
Here's Davi modeling the "I Survived Route 50 - The Loneliest Road in America" t-shirt she bought at the gas station. Apparently my navigation wasn't aware of the road's reputation.
With a full tank of $4 a gallon unleaded we drove north from Austin, Nevada until we got to Interstate 80. We met some friends at a car show in Carlin. Ashley and her husband are huge Jeep enthusiasts. They were each showing their respective WWII era ****** and had a J10 at home.
Our very long 400 mile day finished at Ashley and Matt's place where sleep came fast.
Day 3 (Mile 762 - 1,218)
We had determined early on that we would need to be on the road every day at the break of dawn if we were to keep our schedule. This day was no different. The night before, Matt had drawn up a map of shortcuts that would take us to Wells through the heart of Northern Nevada Ranch land. Not only would it be more interesting than the interstate but it would also trim 20 miles from our trip. Win win.
The shortcut.
We rejoined Interstate 80 east with less than 30 miles to Wells where we would eat breakfast before heading north into Idaho and, eventually, into the sticks east of Jackson, Wyoming.
No way! There's a museum about potatoes.
We spent most of the day in Idaho traffic. It seemed like every road on our route was under construction with northbound traffic sharing southbound lanes or vice-versa. We enjoyed the small towns and open spaces but were growing anxious for the Tetons and fewer people. We stopped for dinner in Victor, Idaho. The entire town had been infected with Eclipse Fever. There were organized groups from all over the world in this tiny hamlet to view the Moon's shadow that would engulf the area at precisely 11:38 tomorrow morning.
This group traveled all the way from Denmark to experience the eclipse.
After dinner we drove over the pass and down into Jackson, Wyoming
After exploring a very crowded Jackson Hole we escaped east on Gros Ventre which I insisted on calling "Gross Ven-tree" until I overheard a local pronounce it "Grow Vaunt". Thank God the only person I'd spoken the name to was Davi. Gros Ventre Road leads due east past Slide Lake until it disappears like an ephemeral stream into the grassy plains 40 miles from where it starts. Davi and I shared driving duties as this was our longest day, yet.
I had chosen Soda Lake because of its remoteness and because it lay squarely in the center of eclipse totality. I assumed that I was clever, that I was smarter than everyone else. That we would be alone so far from civilization. Oops
We finally arrived just as the last signs of twilight were consumed by the western horizon. The road leading to Soda Lake from Gros Ventre was more treacherous than it had appeared on Google Earth, lol. There were several points where 4x4 was necessary on the short 1.5 mile trip. It was heavily rutted with what seemed like two-foot deep alternating divots on the steeper sections. As we rounded the last turn and dropped down to an open area near the lake shore we were both shocked to see dozens of vehicles and tents. So much for being alone. In fact, it didn't appear there was anywhere for us to park, let alone set up our tent. Darkness and unfamiliarity can make a place seem much smaller and more claustrophobic than it is and being exhausted can certainly make a pessimist out of anyone. I jumped out and began walking up the dirt trail and into the woods to survey the situation. My first encounter was a group of Land Cruiser owners, I visited briefly before moving on. I finally came to a small clearing that looked like it was large enough to accommodate my XJ and our small tents. Someone walked out of the woods and introduced herself as "Kate". She pointed and said they were camped over there and that, after we set up, we needed come get drunk with them and play Cards Against Humanity™. So we did.
We finally crawled into our sleeping bags at... Dark and cold, that's what time it was... dark and cold. When we awoke, tomorrow, we would experience one of the (if not THE) most amazing things either of us had ever seen.
Despite our late retirement, we woke with the sun (with the Moon nearby). We crawled out of our tents and, for the first time, surveyed our surroundings in daylight.
This was the view back down to the lake from our camp.
After a little exploring, Davi used our little two-burner Coleman stove to make breakfast sandwiches while I made coffee. Chicken-applewood sausage and eggs on a gluten-free English muffin. If you've never experienced food prepared far from civilization you should, it's delicious.
We monitored the progress of the eclipse throughout the morning even though it didn't even start until like 10:00. We still kept looking, in case it started early or something, lol. Eventually, we saw the Moon carve out the first bite, other people could be heard yelling about this around the lake. We watched in awe as the Moon covered more and more of the sun's disc, wondering what it would be like when it reached totality. We had read that it got really dark, like night and that you could feel the temperature drop and see stars. We were skeptical. They were right. About everything. We sat in stunned silence as the world around us grew dark.
Canon EOS 5D with EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
As the sun reemerged from behind the Moon I noticed the crescent sun shadows cast on the side of my rig through the pine trees. Another thing I'd read about but wasn't expecting to actually see.
We had packed everything up waiting for totality so we were ready to make a run for Yellowstone the moment it got light. On the way out, we spotted a family camped a hundred or so yards from us loading their stuff into the back of a Prius. Davi rolled down her window (it was still quite cold, we had the heater on) and asked how he did it. "Mad skills" replied the man while sticking his tongue out and making the bull-horn sign with his pinky and index finger. I have no idea how he pulled that off.
It took about 90 minutes to retrace the route we'd navigated the night before and rejoin the highway into Grand Teton National Park where we spent the rest of the day exploring and marveling at what we'd witnessed a few hours earlier.
Davi admiring The Grand from the parking lot near the entrance station.
This was supposed to be our shortest day of driving, just 97 miles. It did end up being our shortest drive, but not as short as it was supposed to be. We had planned on spending a few hours in Teton before moving on to Yellowstone (they're actually connected) where we would spend the night and explore the next day. Unfortunately, Yellowstone was completely full and primitive camping was not allowed. That's never stopped me in the past but I wasn't alone so we had to drive back to Teton where we found a hotel.
Day 5 (Mile 1,431 - 1,696)
The following morning we grabbed breakfast at the hotel before soldiering north through Yellowstone.
Day five started off a little chilly with everything covered in a delicate layer of frost but it later warmed into the high 70s.
Here we are demonstrating our "enthusiastic" faces.
In this photo, my dashboard mascot has capsized.
We stopped at all of the neat spots and even managed a 5-mile hike to Lone Star Geyser. This is a special place. The colors, smells, shapes and heat are surreal.
Grand Prismatic Pool
Despite the crowds and traffic I enjoyed Yellowstone a lot more than I had expected I would but it was time to say goodbye. Helena, Montana awaited 200 miles yonder.
We exited through West Yellowstone then turned right in the general direction of Canuckistan.
In the darkness, my imagination drifted beyond the reach of my headlights. My traveling companion asleep, I mentally recounted our trip thus far. With the exception of our gas station anxiety on Day Two and last night's lodging trouble, the trip had gone perfectly. My Jeep had behaved flawlessly, the weather wasn't bad, we were on schedule without even trying and we'd seen some of the most beautiful and unbelievable things either of us ever had. Somewhere, out there in the inky black, moonless distance I saw a harvester, lights ablaze, diligently collecting its bounty from the rolling grasslands of Montana. We pulled into Helena at 01:15 and were asleep in our hotel by 01:30.
To Be Continued...
Last edited by F1Addict; 08-10-2018 at 02:16 AM.
Reason: Adding thoughts, details and captions
THIS is a GREAT thread. Maybe CF needs to fund you two just so y'all can trip around and entertain us. LOL
That pic of the red p/u reminded of one my friend had. Back then (late 70's) one of AMC's selling points was that their p/u's sat lower than all the others for easy access in and out but had more ground clearance than most. Around 10" if I remember right.
Thanks, everybody! Unfortunately, I'll be out of town until 10/13 so you'll have to wait awhile for Part 3. I think it will be worth it. There are bears and fires and an almost 30-year old XJ!
I woke up early and looked out the window of our 3rd floor hotel room expecting to see the wide-open plains of Montana. Instead, I saw this. Oh well.
Maybe the Howard Johnson free "breakfast" would make up for the disappointing view.
Nope. Their idea of breakfast was orange juice concentrate, stale English muffin pieces and dry cereal with no bowls or milk. Why bother? We ran back to the room, showered, grabbed our stuff and went looking for something more appetizing to eat. After getting gas and picking up some supplies at the store we stopped by Starbucks for coffee and snack that we ate on our way out of town.
Freeways narrowed to highways and, eventually, highways yielded to byways that cut through the rolling plains of Montana. Narrow ribbons of asphalt bisecting the hazy, uniformly beige landscape.
Blackfeet Reservation schoolhouse. Kids ride their horses to school and the horses just stand around waiting for them to finish learning stuff.
Along the way we were treated to roadside novelties ranging from amazing to creepy AF. From the amazing file I offer this seemingly endless field of sunflowers so vast it made me dizzy.
As for the disturbing, uh... somewhere in the middle of Montana, this exists.
We stayed there for a while, searching for meaning in the madness. We never found it and finally gave up.
Today's destination was Glacier National Park, the northernmost point in our adventure. Our plan was to stay in or near St. Mary's. The NPS web site claimed that there were over 1,000 camp sites available, many of them were available without reservation (all reservations were booked) so we assumed there would be some vacancies and, if not, we'd figure it out.
Here Davi waits for tourists to finish with all their pictures so she can take a selfie with the Glacier National park sign.
The unrelenting smoke was so thick that we had no clue we were even near the Rockies until we were actually in them. Still, they were beautiful. The nice folks at the visitor center just inside the park informed us that all campgrounds were full. 'Great', I mumbled to myself. She said that we might find a first come, first served spot at the large campground in Apgar Village fifty miles to the southwest over the Going to the Sun Road. What a road. Completed in 1932, the road bisects the entire National Park from north to south, crossing the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. We arrived in Apgar Village, located at the southern end of Lake McDonald, around 3:00 pm. The campground was full but the host agreed to allow us to stay in one of the vacant group sites until the following day when we would have to relocate to the first available single site. We were just happy to have a place to stay.
After getting our tents set up we headed into the village for dinner. I had the avocado club with huckleberry aioli, Davi had a buffalo burger and we shared fries. We were tired so, after dinner we grabbed a couple beers and walked down to the lake for a little chill.
Tomorrow we would hike the Highline Trail from Logan Pass to Granite Park Chalet then down to The Loop half a mile below. Total distance: 12.5 miles. Time for sleep...
Day 7 (Mile 1,969 - 2,031)
We woke to unexpected rain. I hadn't put the rain fly on my tent so it was a mad scramble to pack everything up while Davi made breakfast. After eating, we trolled the campground in search of people who looked like they were leaving. It didn't take long before an elderly couple flagged us down to let us know they would be pulling out in five minutes. As soon as they did we quickly set our tents up in the pouring rain and headed up to Logan Pass for our hike.
The rain stopped just seconds after I spent $30 on a stupid "Glacier National Park" rainsuit. Ugh.
I was not prepared for the majesty of this place. Rain had washed the smoke from the sky, everything was so clean and fresh. We finally made it to the trailhead around 11:00am
We spent the next four hours traversing the sometimes treacherous route carved into the Rockies by rail workers back in 1914.
They don't call it The Highline Trail for nothing. It's like the planners were trying to outdo each other with the ridiculousness. The road builder guy was like, 'watch this!' then the trail builder guy said, 'hold my beer.'
Davi surveying the world below her. We saw what some called a wolf down there (pooping!). I'm pretty sure it was a coyote but whatever, I'm not 100% sure so let's just say it was a wolf, k?
We found evidence of Grizzly Bears on the trail. Now I realize why the folks at the chalet recommended against bringing steaks or any sort of meat to cook.
The chalet can be seen on the prominence near the middle of this photo.
Granite Park Chalet. This building once housed workers building the Transcontinental Railway, today it serves as a lodge for weary hikers. The lodge features several private rooms but no electricity or running water. There is a communal kitchen that runs on propane and a small store with snacks and non-perishable stuff. Granite Park Chalet is the sister lodge to Sperry Chalet on the other side of the park. Unfortunately, Sperry Chalet was consumed by a massive forest fire just three months ago.
The last part of the hike was through an old burn area. Nature always seems to right itself.
We caught a park shuttle from The Loop back to Logan Pass where my Jeep awaited.
On the way down the pass Davi spotted this bear eating something on the side of the road!
We drove back to the village, exhausted, and ate dinner while sipping Huckleberry margaritas. When in Rome (if Rome were the Huckleberry capitol of the world).
This was the last day to take us further from home than the day before. The sad realization that our adventure was coming to an end started to weigh on both of us. Tomorrow, we start the long drive home.
10-04-2017, 12:21 AM
Road Trip IV - Updated 11/21
