A Quick Wrap-up... What, No Pictures?!!!

Our final morning at Hayden Creek, we packed up and got moving.  Okay, so I took a few pictures before leaving, and on the road until the landscape went flat.  The ants were happy to see us go, as we had apparently been smothering their nest with our tent.  I imagine that, for them, it might have been similar to the movie Independence Day – when the alien spaceships hovered over major cities, causing mass panic and evacuation!

It looks like a muffin!

Colorado: Part 2

Departing from Dillon, a few hours of driving brought us through beautiful landscapes in the countryside of Colorado, up and down mountain passes and winding alongside rivers.

On Distractions and Colorado

Well, here I am way beyond the point of ridiculousness… far behind on my blog posts!  I hate to even think about it, so I try not to.  I thought it was difficult keeping this blog up to date while we were on the road, but it has proven even more challenging at home.  Home is where life starts happening all around you again, generating a multitude of demands for your time and attention.  There has certainly been no shortage of such things ever since we got back.  Add to that my propensity for getting distracted, and this is the result.  Sometimes it makes me want to carve out a shelter under a fallen tree on a mountainside somewhere.  I could subsist on nuts and berries… take my chances with the bears, you know?  Of course, that would be the end of my blog, and I’d have to take up whittling or basket weaving – which wouldn’t be entirely bad.  Since I’m not quite to that point, I’ll pick up where I left off on my last post.  I have lots of other exciting things to share, too, so let’s do this!

Moving on, we left the Badlands and made a beeline to Colorado, the last remaining “must see” place on our list for this trip.  We stayed over one night in a hotel, which had a prairie dog town right next to the parking lot!  It was a short drive the next day to Dillon.

The Badlands – Beautiful Dry Hotness

We got out of Yellowstone ahead of the storm, passing familiar scenery for a little while before entering new territory.

Yellowstone – Round 2

On the first half of our big adventure, we skipped a few planned stops due to weather and vehicle repairs, and other stops were shortened due to weather as well.  Yellowstone was one of those, and a place we wanted to return to.  This put us far ahead of our original schedule, and the resulting “surplus” of time prompted our decision to see Yellowstone again on our way south.  We went back to the campground near Gardiner which was quite full, but we found a site and set up.  The campground host recognized the Jeep and came over to chat for a bit, and let us know where he’d seen a couple of bears, as well as where to get free drinking water – very nice and helpful of him.  We finished situating things and headed off for the park.  After negotiating the elk-induced traffic jam at Mammoth Hot Springs, we took the road east.

Hot Spot Hopping: Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone

The time had come for us to leave Mt. Rainier and set out for Mt. St. Helens.  While finishing packing the Jeep, we were graced with a brief visit from this Clark’s Nutcracker.

Mt. Rainier, or Mt. Ruh-neer, or Mt. Ray-neer

I’ve heard it all three ways, and that kind of thing bugs me!  I think it should be pronounced Mt. Ray-nee-ur, but I don’t live there, so I don’t get to decide what the rainy place gets called.  No matter how you say it, the roads leading to Mt. Rainier National Park were rich with the dense green foliage one expects to find in a rainforest, which is the climate we were venturing into.

Alaska: The Last Frontier, But Not the Last Stop

After leaving the Homer area, we assessed our Alaska “to do” list, and the only thing left on it was the ferry cruise on the Alaska Marine Highway down to Bellingham, Washington.  Everything else we’d wanted to do and see in Alaska had been accomplished.  We still had three weeks before our cruise date, and we were trying to think of where to kill time without spending a ton of money.  The weather forecast for the coming week was rain pretty much everywhere in the state, which meant we would continue to be cold and wet, or part with a small fortune in order to be warm and dry.  Neither choice was satisfactory, so we went with option C – leave Alaska and begin the second half of our adventure.  The decision was fitting, since we’d been pretty much flying by the seat of our pants for most of the trip so far, in spite of the fact that Ken spent hours upon hours meticulously planning this trip for months in advance.  It was with both a tiny hint of sadness and the feeling of great anticipation and excitement that we left Alaska behind and set course for the unknown adventures that still lay ahead.  One thing we knew for sure was in our future was hot, dry air somewhere in the lower 48, and we were getting a little anxious to find it.  We practically drooled at the sight of every RV we saw since Glacier National Park, enviously aware that those folks were not at the mercy of the weather.  We stayed one last night in Anchorage in order to shower and re-stock our supplies, called and cancelled our cruise reservation, and got started toward Canada.

Rainforest Surprise: Finding Alaska’s Wet Spot

After a few days of staying dry and doing day trips, we decided to bite the bullet and get on with what we intended to do – camp in the wilds of Alaska in whatever conditions were presented to us.

Denali National Park and Preserve

Visiting Denali National Park was very high on our list of must-see places, and our excitement grew the closer we got.  We had beautiful sunny weather and stunning scenery all the way from Fairbanks to the park.

The Dalton Highway Adventure – Days 5-6: Deadhorse to Coldfoot to Fairbanks

As we were leaving Deadhorse Camp, I took pictures of our room and the outside of the building.  The accommodations were simple, yet sufficient and comfortable for their intended purpose.

The Dalton Highway Adventure: Days 1-2: Fairbanks to Coldfoot to Galbraith Lake

Starting in Fairbanks, Alaska, the ride up the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay is 498 miles one way.  From Livengood, the actual beginning of the Dalton, approximately 25% of the road is paved, and in the summer, the rest is gravel, dirt or mud depending on the weather.  It is strongly recommended to bring two spare tires, and to carry extra gas for the 239 mile stretch between Coldfoot and Deadhorse where there are no gas stations.  Although not recommended, many people travel the road on motorcycles and bicycles.  The feeling of accomplishment after such a feat must be incredible.  I know it felt pretty awesome for us doing it in the Jeep!  The road is challenging and beautiful, and the best way to avoid catastrophe and enjoy the journey is to first do your homework and don’t approach it casually.  Once you’re traveling, just take your time.  For more detailed information about the Dalton Highway, traveling on it and considerations to take before embarking on this journey, take a look at this page on the Bureau of Land Management website, where you will find a very thorough downloadable PDF guide.

Our first day on the Dalton was grey and wet most of the time, but still provided some interesting scenery.  The road parallels the Alaska Pipeline for a good portion of the distance, and there are numerous access points for pipeline maintenance along the way.

Weathering the Storm

We arrived in Great Falls with dampened gear and spirits.  While we holed up in a hotel for three nights, it rained pretty much the entire time.  We were scouring the internet for anything and everything related to RV campers, and second guessing our plans for the remainder of the trip.  If we were experiencing this kind of weather in Montana, what would Canada and Alaska bring us?  Although this weather isn’t normal for this time of year, anything is possible.  We are not properly equipped to deal with snow or persistent freezing wet conditions.  Should we head back south and cut the trip short by a month or two, or should we try to purchase a camper to tow behind the Jeep?  Should we go back to Arizona or Texas where we knew it would be warm and dry for the rest of the time and skip Alaska until we had a camper?  Then it hit us both at the same time:  Don’t wimp out!!!  We will press on and take our chances as planned, and deal with whatever comes our way when it happens.  It’s all part of the adventure.

Glacier National Park - The Evil Temptress

After driving through miles upon endless miles of farm country, fields, and rolling hills, the mountains of Glacier National Park became visible on the horizon, and grew bigger with each mile.  So, too, did our excitement, as this place was one of our must-see, more highly anticipated stops on our journey.  We were teased by patches of blue sky peeking through the thick puffy clouds overhead.

Yellowstone Day 3: Sightseeing, Gale-force Winds, Early Departure

Our third day at Yellowstone started out as beautiful and picturesque, although windy.  Mammoth Hot Springs is a center of activity with lodges, stores, campgrounds and hiking trails.  We decided to visit a spot with several geothermal features, which can be viewed on foot via a boardwalk, or in a vehicle on a paved loop.  We did a little of both, getting the best of both worlds.

Yellowstone Day 2 - Geothermals, Grizzlies & Wolves!

Day two at Yellowstone was a busy one!  The first bit of awesomeness was on our way out of the campground… we got to see a family of magpies!  The others took off before I could get the camera, though.

Yellowstone National Park Day 1

Our first day in Yellowstone did not disappoint!  We got stuck in two or three “buffalo jams” which are a very frequent occurrence, some of which can take an hour or more to get through, depending on how much traffic has been backed up.  It turns out that the buffalo – or bison – like to travel on the roads as much as we do, and a whole herd of them will just take their sweet time walking down the middle of the road, leaving it for the grass only when they’re good and ready!

Grand Canyon Part 2 – North Rim

Upon waking in Kaibab National Forest at our wonderful, free and very primitive campsite, we set about our morning routine.

As I was brushing my teeth, some movement on the ground a few feet away caught my attention.  At first it looked like a toad, and when it moved it did so in a toad-like fashion.

Scenic Flagstaff, Family Time, and Altitude Woes

Let me start with a couple of pictures I forgot to include in my last post.  We saw tons of these oil wells driving through both Texas and New Mexico.

Three Rivers Campground in White Mountain Wilderness, NM (Elevation 6600 ft.)

After leaving Roswell, we continued to rack up the miles in the New Mexico desert.  It seemed to take forever to reach our intended destination, the primitive Three Rivers Campground.  We finally arrived after traveling about 10 or 12 miles on Three Rivers Road (which turns to gravel halfway in) off U.S. Highway 54.  It was getting late with little daylight remaining, so we got busy setting up camp, opting for the quick backpacking tent and the screen house.  Within 5 minutes of arriving at the campsite, we were visited by a hummingbird who was very interested in the red gas cans on the back of the Jeep.  He chirped and flitted about, trying to figure out where to drink from, but alas, there was no nectar to be found.  He returned a few more times, and my camera was, of course, sleeping on the job.