It was a very early morning, Mike @Digiratus an I each requiring an alarm to rouse ourselves at 6:00am - the sky still dark around us, only the first hint of light on the horizon. I made a quick run up to Goose Lake - alas, the darkness still too deep for any photos. We set to work packing our trucks and tents as quietly as possible, Monte @Blackdawg, Devin @MissBlackdawg, and Zane @Speedytech7 still sleeping nearby. Above us, early morning light illuminating the sky and the tip-tops of the mountains around us. Just after 7:00am we were ready to…
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Get out, go big, an explore. This is the stuff we live for!
Unfortunately, though we went to bed early, I had my most fitful nights sleep at Sawtooth Lake. Whether it was the temperature (it was cold) or anticipation of our upcoming adventure to Goose Lake I don't know, but as the sun rose over Sawtooth Mountain around 8:00am, I was happy for the warmth and to get out and explore. As usual, I had nothing to complain about as I set out around the lake; the water getting glassier over time, our camp reflected perfectly by the morning sun. As I made my way around the lake's edge, every few hundred…
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Having camping in a deep valley and stayed up late, I once again found myself sleeping in the next morning - no sunrise to coax me out of bed before dawn. When I'd pulled into the site the night before, I'd worried that we'd have absolutely no view - a shame since Sunlight Basin is so pretty in the morning light. As it turns out however, it was the lack of visibility in complete darkness that made me think that - because our site was quite beautiful - sun filtering through the trees, creek rushing by in the background, and…
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Camped in a bit of a depression and surrounded by trees, there was no reason to get up extra early to catch the sunrise - something I took full advantage of as I slept in until 8:26am - I believe my latest of the trip! Still the first out of bed, I wondered around taking in the sights - the creek behind camp, the glassy lake a quarter mile up the road. As I made my way back to our camp, I thought to myself how glad I was that we hadn't camped at the lake. September 1 is opening…
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Unbeknownst to us, the first flash of lightning traced it's way across the sky. But there was no mistaking the thunder that followed. It was 2:30am, and the next flash was followed by a boom 11 seconds later. And then the rain started; sporadic at first, it quickly turned torrential. Then, more lightning, eventually the thunder a mere 4 seconds behind. And then, as quickly as it started, it was over - the storm cell had passed, the thunder pounding away in the distance. As I fell back asleep I wondered - would there be more? If there was, I…
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Sometimes we just get lucky - and this morning was apparently one of those times for me. I mean sure, I situated my truck for success the night before, and I'd brought the camera into the tent thinking there might be an opportunity to capture a bit of early orange hue, but I never thought I'd get the display that I did, while still warm under my comforter. It started as it so often does - just a hint of brightness along the horizon and deep purple highlights on the clouds in the sky. This is the moment, I thought…
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As I'd crawled into bed a little after 1:15am, I knew this was going to be a night without much sleep. Not because of rain or snow or cold - quite the opposite actually. Because for the first time this trip we were camped in a location that would allow us to see not only the sunrise, but the glow on the horizon before sunrise. That of course meant being up before 6:00am, a tall order even for me, the early riser. You can imagine my surprise then, when I climbed down my ladder and looked around camp and saw none…
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Overnight, the rain stopped and the skies cleared - I assume - because we awoke to blue skies and sun in the morning. As was becoming a trend, none of us were up early - with the exception of Devin who I only just noticed was up and out of camp by 6:00am or so, since she had to get to work. Pretty cool to show up for one night of camping if you ask me. I was the next one up around 8:00am and with some extra time and nice weather, I set about making a breakfast sandwich -…
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The wet and cold continued all night - or rather, the wet continued and the cold got colder! We awoke, just after 8:00am to a dusting of snow spread across camp and our trucks, and several inches on the surrounding mountains. It was extremely beautiful, though the fact that it snowed on our first night with Monte @Blackdawg wasn't lost on any of us. "Welcome to Montana guys!" he said as he climbed out of his tent. As we all set about our morning activities - breakfast, breaking camp, etc., I headed out to capture what I could - the…
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We were up early, even for me. Mike @Digiratus apparently rolled out of his tent at 5:30am, and Dan @drr and I followed not long after around 6:00am. We had a long day ahead of us to reach Cooke City by our agreed upon rally time of 6:00pm, and we knew that Zane @Speedytech7 was already there, having arrived the previous evening - now bored out of his mind. Being up early also meant that we got to put our tents away wet from the overnight rain - it wasn't much, but that's of little consequence when the sun's not…
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It was a peaceful night in the valley along the Nez Perce Trail. A bit chilly maybe, but not too bad and the relatively narrow valley meant there was no pressing need to get up early for sunrise - something I missed, but could also get used to...the extra couple hours of warm sleep a nice change! Eventually of course, I roused myself and exited the tent to check out camp and the morning light. Definitely interesting to see our different truck setups as well. Given the location, camp was pretty underwhelming so I immediately set out to explore the…
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August 24, 2018. How does that saying go? "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, ..." If you've been a reader of previous trip reports, you may recall one of the craziest trips to date - The De-Tour - which occurred almost exactly one year ago. That trip was a great one for many reasons, but it had gone nothing like we'd expected - snowing or raining every day - eventually forcing us to abandon our Tour of Montana and Wyoming for what we hoped were clearer skies, in Utah. ...where it also rained on us. Even so,…
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July 4-5, 2018. Having parted ways with Ben @m3bassman and Kirsten after a wonderful couple days in Idaho, our first and second stops were in Boise for some fuel and food. We'd hoped to hit up a place that @pizzaviolence suggested as "the best taco's in Idaho," but being the Fourth of July, it was unfortunately closed. Instead, we grabbed some burgers before heading south-east - a four-state day in store through Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and finally California where we planned to find a place to camp for the night. Off the dirt, we racked up miles quickly - many…
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July 3-4, 2018. A bit windy when we'd arrived, by morning the wind had died down and Seafoam lake was a glassy surface. We'd slept soundly - warm in our respective beds (in fact, everyone but me was still asleep when I looked out the window and noticed that the cloud pattern could be an interesting one for sunrise. Hoping for the best, I donned my clothes and grabbed the camera - no time to spare now, the light was starting to work it's early morning magic. But really, I had absolutely no idea what was in store over the…
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July 1-2, 2018. The previous 17 hours had been a whirlwind, but we were on our way. Headed east this time, towards Idaho - to a ridge above Garden Valley, where we were set to meet up with Ben @m3bassman, Kirsten, and their pups as well as @pizzaviolence and his family (at this point unknown to us). But we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves. What about those 17 hours? You see, 17 hours earlier we'd pulled into the driveway after completing the WABDR - a week of adventure that would not normally be quickly forgotten. But things were not…
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June 28-29, 2018. Our campsite above Lake Chelan worked out well through the night, the small bluff sheltering us from the wind until it died down in the early morning hours, and no traffic on the nearby road. In fact, the site worked so well that none of us woke before sunrise, instead the warm sun hitting the tent was what finally roused us from our sleep. As usual, we spent a bit of time exploring the area with @mini.turbodb and stumbled upon a fenced-off area that appeared to contain some sort of well. We never figured out exactly what…
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June 27, 2018. As we awoke the next morning, everyone was well rested and happy that we'd gotten only a short burst of light rain; and that the morning was shaping up to be a beautiful one - hopefully indicative of the entire day ahead. The first order of business was something that @mini.turbodb had been asking for since we arrived in this "not the best camp site" - go explore the narrow trail that headed up the downhill side of the saddle. This of course was the motorcycle route of the WABDR, but that meant little to her -…
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June 26, 2018. The wind that rocked us to sleep in the CVT kept blowing through the night, perhaps the most continuously windy night we've spent six feet off the ground. Nestled under the covers we were cozy and warm, and it was a struggle to pull myself out at 5:30am to capture sunrise. But there's only one sunrise each day and it's not every day that you're parked on the edge of a ridge with Mt. Rainier in the distance, so pull myself out I did. I wasn't disappointed. Of course, I was up well before the rest of…
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June 25, 2018. It was a cold night - even though we were at only 4,500 feet, the temperatures dipped into the mid-thirties, making us all acutely aware that we'd expected (and dressed for) warmer weather. As usual, I was the first out of bed, hoping to catch sunrise, or at least a bit of that early morning light that is so special as it's long rays light up the landscape. And today, as I climbed up above camp, I was hoping for even more - my view through the trees suggesting that I would be in luck. As I…
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Day 1: Joe and Daisy's First Big Dirt Adventure June 24, 2018. It's not often that we end up on a trip in our own backyard. There are many reasons for that - there are amazing sights far and wide, adventurous friends are located states away, and of course the weather in Washington makes snow-free exploration tough much of the year. But when Joe got a 4Runner and mentioned that he and his wife (Daisy) wanted us to get them (and their 16-month old) out on their first trip, it seemed like a great opportunity to do something a bit…
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