The SOS Report. The Full Story

next part please

 

Chapter 4:
This Mountain Top! No, This One!
​

After a very well deserved nights sleep we all awoke and took in where we actually had ended up camping as we had no idea what it looked like till now. Not a disappointing place to be at all.


IMG_7883 by digirat99, on Flickr
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But it was a bit of a sad morning. My Dad, Sister and Brother all had to head out early to get back home for other reasons. Jess and I left with them to the end of the trail as I had to air up my Dads rig.


It was a beautiful morning.


SOSMeet-2.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
SOSMeet-4.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
SOSMeet-5.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
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At the end of the trail I loaned my CO2 tank to my Dad and he filled up his tires. When he was done. It was time for a goodbye. Not just any Good bye though as this would be the last time I would see him till I came back from school. 3 long months. And it would be the last time I would see my sister for another year. This trip had been so much fun to have them with me. And I really enjoyed all the stuff my Dad did with me and how much he went out of his way to help me. We had a blast and it was a great last adventure to cap off yet another very fun summer with my Dad. It was a tough good bye. But it had to happen.


SOSMeet-31.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Bye Dad. Love you tons. Thank you for everything. I'll see you soon.


SOSMeet-32.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


By Now Ben had had his fill of waiting and got everyone else riled up to get going. At least I would assume so because he always does this.


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Mike is loving it all


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16 by sconniehailer, on Flickr


At the end of the the trail everyone air's up their truck as we have about 25 or so miles of asphalt on very twisty road to get to our next destination.


Marc coming in hot. He loves smoothish dirt roads. BRAP!!
IMG_5509 by bspringli photography, on Flickr
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But I had a stop we had to do to first. My summer job had allowed me many cool opportunities to see some extra things and I knew of a spot we would all enjoy off the side of the fabulous Beartooth Highway.


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Our stop lead us too a rather cool water fall that cuts right through the granite. It is awesome. The bridge the highway goes on is pretty cool to see as well.


On our way to the water fall
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Crystal clear water..
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The chute!
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After this fun but short detour we headed out to get to Cooke City.
20 by sconniehailer, on Flickr


Cooke City is a cool little town although a major tourist spot. Can't blame them. The North East entrance to Yellowstone is just outside of town. Lots of people end up here to either drive the Beartooth Highway or the Chief Joseph Highway. Both are spectacular to drive. Roads made for God himself to shred down. Plus the views are unbelievable.


One bad part about Cooke City is there are a lot of people passing through and only three gas pumps. So we all horde around and pay the premium price to top off our tanks.


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After refueling we head off straight from town and climb up into the peaks. Before long we all decide to air down again. Normally not a big issue. But my Dad had failed to return to me my ARB Deflator. Which sucked. Airing down 35'' tires with a pen takes forever! So long an older couple came up on us on a 4wheeler and realizing they had no room to go around us. The guy opened his cooler and drank a beer while the wife took in the landscape. By the time I was done, he had just finished his beer. Good timing.


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We then pulled off and ate some lunch. Not a bad view is it?


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Before long we were back on the road


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Ben was leading and saw a new off shoot we had not done before and lead the way to the top. So worth it. This is the top of of Henderson Mountain. And the view down into the valley where we had just come from was spectacular.


Hiking up
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BOOM!
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We aren't even getting started when it comes to the awesome views. But with lots of ground to cover we jumped back in the trucks and headed over to the next peak which was just south.


IMG_5585 by bspringli photography, on Flickr
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Our next summit was Fisher Mountain. Which has a great view of Lulu Pass and Daisy pass and the huge valley to the north. Truly breathtaking. We took a good few minutes up here to really take it all in.


SOSMeet-35.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
IMG_7943 by digirat99, on Flickr
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Ben is loving it
SOSMeet-39.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
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But we still had to get to our campsite of the night which was down Lulu pass a ways. So down we went toward our next trail head. Goose Lake


SOSMeet-41.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Along the way we had to stop and check out some old ruins of the gold and silver mines that used to propagate the area.
33 by sconniehailer, on Flickr
34 by sconniehailer, on Flickr
DSC01797 by joshipps132, on Flickr


And then we began one of my favorite trails. Goose Lake. The views are incredible and the terrain is just right. Few bigger challenges, some slow sections, lots of water crossings, many lakes, and a few go fast sections. All with the best views ever. Can't complain much about this.


IMG_5632 by bspringli photography, on Flickr
SOSMeet-43.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
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Last time I was here there was almost no traffic at all. This time, there was a lot. All of it was ATVs and UTVs. Most where nice, one group was a bit rude in trying to get around us. But the thing that REALLY ticked us off was the very obvious tracks of ATV/UTVs that had gone off trail just to avoid a slightly bigger rock. Crap like that makes the magical areas like these closed off. I wish more ATV people would realize this and just have the sense to turn around when they get to a spot they either can't drive through or aren't comfortable with their abilities. Hell not just ATVers. Any avid offroader for that matter.


As sour of a subject as this is, we still moved on and enjoyed the hell of out the views.


SOSMeet.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
SOSMeet-45.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
IMG_7967 by digirat99, on Flickr


When came to our first slightly big challenge. Only Marc took the easier route not wanting to abuse his clutch too bad. Its not a horrible spot at all, but this year the rocks at the bottom had been tore up enough that it made picking the right line a tad difficult. No one had any real issues and it was a blast to climb up.


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We then continued to soak it all in, right up until we met a small family coming out of the area. The Father went on to tell me there where about 25-30 UTVs parked up at the end of the trail. This wasn't a great thing to hear as camping is VERY limited up there. And only 1 fire ring. We where very much hoping there weren't planning on staying up there.


As we drove away, Mike heard one of the young boys say, “Daddy, they'll never make it...”


Son...meet the Tacoma.


SOSMeet-2.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
IMG_5684 by bspringli photography, on Flickr
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And now we had our final obstacle to get to the lake. Last year this was no big deal. But man the water run off and traffic had really taken its tole. It still was pretty simple to drive and we all got over with no problems however.


The line up


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Mike was first and the only one that opted for the very off camber side.


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Followed by Marc. The lone 2nd gen


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Then Timmy
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Then Josh. He has quite the custom body work


SOSMeet-52.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
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And this is what happens when you crack a joke that makes you look like an idiot when taken out of context and there are lots of people with cameras


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Then Ben


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and finally me.


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Didn't take long at all to get through it. Its a rather simple and fun obstacle. We all where glad to get out of the trucks for a minute though.


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Marc even found some snow to throw at people!


39 by sconniehailer, on Flickr
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Out camp site was just around the corner though and we were all ready for some campfire time. And hoping the UTV people weren't camping up here. Lucky for us upon our arival and as we moved into position to camp, the very large group of UTVs took off. They had only done a day drive and had been driving all the roads in the area. Which meant we had the whole place to ourselves.


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After a quick tent setup up Marc and I got to making the beloved campfire


41 by sconniehailer, on Flickr
42 by sconniehailer, on Flickr


After which many of us split off and went around hiking. Marc and his wife Jen join Jess and I to go up to the lake.


43 by sconniehailer, on Flickr
SOSMeet-56.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
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The lake is quite large really and feeds Goose Creek through out most of the year. It was much higher from last year from the insane amount of snowfall from the winter before. You used to be able to drive all the way up into the lake area and camp around it. But too many people had taken liberties and damaged too much of the alpine tundra and they had closed the last ½' or so of trail. The tundra is only found in three places in the world, Alaska, Canada and Montana. It takes up to 1000 years to form just an inch of soil due to the extremely short summer season where the ground actually unfreezes. I am glad they chose only to close the last small bit of trail and not the full trail. Its magical up here.


SOSMeet-58.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Marc and Jen's silence and looks of wonder say it all


SOSMeet-59.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
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As we return to camp the clouds really start to roll in. But we never really thought it would lead to the storm that came next. We all just threw on another layer and stoked the fire. It was a rather enjoyable night especially because Mike and Timmy had found a drink that Jess seemed to enjoy and she had gotten rather giggly. When out of nowhere, bam. Rain.


It rained hard for a good 10 minutes and we had all retreated to hiding under roof top tents or some other form of cover when it seemed to die down. We quickly moved back around our lovely fire and resumed the story telling and arguing. And then the rain came back with vengeance. This time it was much much worse. Which lead to something that doesn't normally happen. We all looked at each other and said good night and all retreated into our tents promptly. Scrambling to put out the fire and trying to get everything covered for the long downpour.


It didn't stop for hours. Thank goodness for rooftop tents. Im not totally sure when it stopped raining but it woke me up several times in the night and was still coming down. But there is something peaceful about falling asleep to the sound of rain.

 

Chapter 4 Continued:
​

I woke the next morning to the sound of Marc's voice hollering up at me.


“Hey man! Its been fun! I'll see you another time!”


Jess and I had both slept in hardcore and forgotten that Josh, Marc and Jen all had to leave very early as they had to go home to their jobs the next day.


“Crap!” I replied, “Have a good one man! Travel safe!”


and they left.


Luckily firecracker Ben was up and went with them to the main obstacle to help spot them over.


DSC01956 by joshipps132, on Flickr
IMG_5711 by bspringli photography, on Flickr


From there they said their final good bye's and headed out.


Ben then returned to our camp where we were lazily getting things in order and the water off. He snapped some great morning photos


IMG_5712 by bspringli photography, on Flickr
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Even when we where all packed up though we still seemed to drag out leaving. Just didn't want to say good bye to such a wondrous place.


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Even though we didn't totally want to, we knew there where more things to see in the area and left one of our favorite places. We didn't really end up down grading though as you will see. So we headed off back down the mountain and came up too the main obscatle where I noticed my truck making a very bad clicking sound and dove under Frankenstein to give him his daily attention. Everyone else tackled the obstacle.


Timmy scoped out his line
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32s can make it though
SOSMeet-62.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
IMG_8031 by digirat99, on Flickr
IMG_8035 by digirat99, on Flickr
SOSMeet.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


35s walk it
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By now I had figured out what my clicking nosies was. My U bolts had come dangerously loose from when I refreshed my leaf packs with a new AAL last week. Which gave me the grand idea to check Ben's as we had just done his as well. Sure enough, they were also loose. Few minutes with a 19mm socket and torque wrench we were all road worthy again.


Its funny how going one direction vs the other things can look different. But man do things look different going the opposite way with the sun on the other side.


SOSMeet-63.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
SOSMeet-64.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
IMG_5724 by bspringli photography, on Flickr


This hill was also much different going down it then up. But man it was fun.


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YESSSSS
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Then we had our next “carnage”. Although it wasn't really that bad, but was a bit annoying. Ben's CB radio antenna mount decided to break. The whole thing just snapped off.


This left no grounding plane for the antenna and basically rendered Ben's radio useless. Not ideal for communication really but he could at least still hear us. To which we took full advantage of much teasing was had on how much quieter the radio waves had suddenly gotten. We decided eventually we would run back to the shop in Powell and re weld it together.


Onward we continued down Goose. It being a Sunday morning, there was absolutely no traffic.
IMG_5754 by bspringli photography, on Flickr
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At the end of the trail we had many options to choose from. There where another 3 roads we knew of in the area to go explore. So naturally we had to drive them all. We headed up Lulu pass again and took the first side road. Man where we in for a surprise.


Not even close to the top yet.
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I like wheeling says Timmy
SOSMeet-73.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
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IMG_5786 by bspringli photography, on Flickr


Then the road goes up. And I mean UP. Straight up the side of a peak, to the top of Sheep Mountain. This view was incredible. We could see the entire Goose lake trail and Goose Lake, and more. It was incredible.


Climbing up.
IMG_8157 by digirat99, on Flickr


We stopped several times prematurely and one of the times I wandered off to the edge of the mountain which turned into a cliff. I happened to stumble upon two wood crosses up there. I don't know about you but this would be one hell of a burial site.


SOSMeet-78.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
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Then the road ends and its a small hike up to the top
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My..god..


SOSMeet.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


I really hope you clicked full size on that. Or any of these following pictures.
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We even convinced Mike to fight through the lack of oxygen to climb to the top.


“So worth it, so so worth it” were his only words


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We all loved it.
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And here is where we just left!
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But we still have many more roads to explore and headed back down to Lulu pass


SOSMeet-83.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
IMG_5852 by bspringli photography, on Flickr
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But it was time to spice things up a bit.

“Anyone want to drive Frankenstein?” I called out over the radio.


“YES!” Replied Timmy.


We swapped trucks and prepped for fun.


Is it just me or do I look too big for the C'Bob machine?
IMG_5859 by bspringli photography, on Flickr

And Timmy a bit small in Frank?
SOSMeet-84.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


The reactions where hilrious. Its amazing how the same truck can feel so very different and drive worlds apart. Timmy's first reaction was,


“Oh my god! Your gears are so low! The torque!”


Where as mine was,


“Oh my god you have real suspension!”


Timmy didn't quite understand this as Frank appears to eat up things very well. Only when you hit an actual big bump do you realize the shocks have had way to much abuse.


Watching Timmy get the front tires off the ground over a bump in the rear view mirror had me laughing hysterically.


“Well that didn't feel good” Said Timmy.


SOSMeet-85.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Timmy- “I love your exhaust though man, it really just edges me on and makes me want to drive the crap out of it. It's happy place is 3000rpm all day. But I miss my truck. You can have him back.”


Me- “well I want Frank back but can I have your suspension?”


But it was too late. The truck shuffle had begun.


Ben- “I want a go in Frank”


So we swapped. And Mike and Timmy swapped as we started down our second side road of the day.


Ben didn't hold back either.


SOSMeet-86.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Hell I don't think any of us did. It was so fun. Everyone's truck was so different and yet, the same. The road we had gone down though was very short and a dead end.


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We did one last shuffle where I was in Mikes Red head rig and he was in Frank on the way out.


IMG_8212 by digirat99, on Flickr
SOSMeet-89.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


The ultimate conclusion was, we all wanted our own trucks back. It was very fun to get to feel different setups on essentially the same truck. Try it sometime with your own friends.


We only had one more road to explore and knew we needed a campsite for the night so we headed off in search of a place to sleep.


Of course the road we took happened to have a large pool of water and well. We just had to pin it through the water. Poor Ben did not escape taking these photos dry. HA!


IMG_5880 by bspringli photography, on Flickr
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The road ended up being rather smooth but very whoopy. Mike was leading and I began riding on his ass. Mistake.


Mike started giving it the skinny pedal more and more and of course I had to keep up. We left Ben and Timmy in the dust as they were unaware of the sudden burst of speed.


After about a mile of hard romping Mike slowed and said,

“Man, thats fun but better slow down before I break something”


It was a valid point especially given how this trip was going. So we slowed down, a little. The road ends at Lake Abundance and there were several vehicles parked there. So we turned around to look for another spot.


IMG_5866 by bspringli photography, on Flickr




By mere chance an old campsite complete with fire rig and lots of wood was found just off the side of the road. We had missed it the first time mobbing by it and the growth this year had hidden it very well. This seem like the perfect place. I mean check out the view!


IMG_5913 by bspringli photography, on Flickr


Everyone found a spot and setup. Ben and I played split for split on the logs we had found and brought to get the fire going.


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What a horrible picture haha
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Honestly we were quite happy.


One of the coolest things about this site is obvious the huge peak in the background. That's Miller Mountain and Wolverine Peak. Watching the colors change on it throughout the evening was specaular.


IMG_5930 by bspringli photography, on Flickr
SOSMeet-90.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr
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We settled in for the night which thankfully was storm free and merited a lovely nights sleep. The fire talk that night circled a lot around who's truck was better naturally as we all had gotten wheel time behind each others. But the same conclusion came out of it that we all just loved our own the best.


It was incredible to think of what we had seen and where we had been in just over a week. And we still weren't done. A finalized plan was drawn up around the fire on what to do with our last few days of freedom. Though we were in no hurry at all. I mean would you be if you were in paradise with great friends, good food, good drink and amazing stars?


Comets by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


No. No you aren't.




To be continued...

Chapter 5:
Big Rocks, Big goodbyes

Jump to Chapter 5
​

 

Enjoy!

 

I expected more things to break.

 

Also, what were your settings for that last picture?

 

Well sorry to disappoint. Haha

Last photo is about 53 photos stacked. Three for the trucks and 50 for the stars layered in special way.

 

Nice read Monte!

 

nice. Looked like a fun trip. should have done more of these when I was smaller.

 

love this thread, I've just order parts to replace my lbj for a piece of mind.

 

Bravo man! Really! The pictures, the story, the trip. All of it, awesome.

 

I'm crying. Haha not really but man that killed some time at work! Great story bud.
Now to get through the next 12 pages.

 

Great read glad I stumbled upon this.

 

This is great!!

 

Thanks guys! Glad you all have enjoyed it! It was a great trip and i have had fun writing it and reliving it.

 

Reaction from the GF after I sent her the link

 

Monte, loving the story. Very inspiring! The scenery is amazing. I'm sure you and all your friends will remember this trip and share it with many more family and friends over the years.

patiently waiting the next chapter!

 

the FRV is...damn sexy. It seriously rips too. Its crazy that a 6000+lb truck with a V6 moves as quick as that thing does. Super fun to drive. I know he is planning on the IPT valve mod too and then it'll shift like a monster.

 

Thanks man!

 

Lilys a babe

That's weird, I was gonna show and read the story to my gf tonight