AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

The Re-Tour Day 9: Our Trucks are Too Heavy
September 1, 2018.

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.

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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 day of hunting season, and several hunters were "camped" nearby in their trailers and RV's...generators churning away. Definitely not the experience we were after.

As I returned, others in camp were up and about, and we set about making breakfast - a feast really, one that would hold us over until late in the afternoon. Dan @drr got to work on some hash browns, Mike @Digiratus on scrambled eggs and salsa, and I fired up the griddle for bacon and sausage. In no time, we'd gotten everything cooked and Monte @Blackdawg and Zane @Speedytech7 setup a table for us to lay everything out.

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Everything was delicious. Our bellies full, we sat around for another hour or so just enjoying ourselves and the company. This morning we were in no rush, and it was nice. (Though, we'd be pulling into camp well after dark it turned out!) We finally pulled out of camp at 12:15pm and pointed ourselves down off the mountain through the Medicine Lodge Habitat area.

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It was a dusty drive - as was much of the trip - for anyone not leading, as we descended.

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Once again, as we had in the Pryors, we found ourselves on a road next to a canyon, water having carved it's way through hundreds (thousands?) of feet of mountain, leaving the vibrant red, yellow, and white stone exposed under the blue sky. Traffic behind us, we didn't stop much or for long, but there was no way we could pass this up completely.

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For the most part we kept up a good pace however - behind us, two brothers in their Jeep, out for a Saturday morning drive, just checking out the mountains. But then, over the CB we heard Monte - "We've got an oncoming full-size SUV."

Normally that's not an issue, but the road we were on was a relatively narrow, single-lane road on the side of what I considered to be a relatively steep hill (after-all, there was a canyon to our downhill side). So when Monte came over the radio again to say, "Looks like there are a bunch of them." I think we all wondered what was going to happen next - especially given the six trucks headed down the mountain.

Well, this was clearly these guys backyard, and they were quick to pull off the road - in some relatively precarious positions if you ask me. And after pulling off, they all piled out of their vehicles - drinks and cigarettes in hand - eager to say hi and see what we were up to.

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A bunch of our crowd popped out as well - happy to chat for a few minutes and get a closer look at their vehicles, which included a couple of really nice Toyota's that we naturally pointed out as being the best of their group!

But, being stopped on a single-lane road wasn't something either group wanted to maintain for an extended period of time, so we ultimately thanked them for pulling out of the way and continued down the hill towards Medicine Lodge - the views in front, behind, and to the side splendid all the way down.

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In Medicine Lodge we pulled over. Or more appropriately, took over the parking lot. Monte had told us earlier that there were some cool petroglyphs here, and we definitely wanted to check those out. The rock art covers the face of a 750-foot long sandstone bluff, which shelters the area (and petroglyphs) at its base from wind and rain, preserving them over time. Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation in the area stretching back nearly 10,000 years, and some of the drawings are over 2000 years old.

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It was pretty cool to see these ancient drawings in the sandstone, knowing that since the time they were created, that much more elevation had eroded away next to the bluff (20 feet in some cases). It was no White Mountain Petroglyphs, with its ghostly hands, but it was cool nonetheless, as was the bluff itself.

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Eventually our curiosity was mostly satisfied, and we returned to the trucks which were starting to attract attention in the parking lot, pointing them northwest toward our next rally point: the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracks. The road from Medicine Lodge was well maintained at this point, allowing us to up our speeds and have some fun. As most of us spaced out a bit to reduce the dust and increase the visibility, our dust clouds spread across the landscape; quite a sight to behold - and extra-cool from above, I'm sure.

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Of course, we didn't make it to the dinosaur tracks without a few stops to enjoy the landscape along the way. Bluffs and mesa's full of iron oxide stood tall and red across the landscape; fences stretched into the distance; trucks covered in mud and dirt looked right at home under the afternoon sun.

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I got artsy as Monte did his best to capture the moment.

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Even with our stops, our high speeds got us to the dinosaur tracks relatively quickly. As we got out to explore, Zane decided that this was a great place to take a "shower" and rinse some of the dust out of his hair. In retrospect, he was probably the smartest of us all; the tracks here being a bit "meh" compared to those we'd seen last year in Utah.

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As we returned to the trucks, a BLM ranger pulled into the parking lot - the first any of us had ever seen. As he pulled around behind us, we knew this wasn't going to be a short conversation - the ranger clearly interested not only in what we were up to (not for any nefarious reasons - he really just wanted to know where we'd been, where we were going, etc.) and how it was that we all had "the same awesome rigs." Story of our lives I guess and we had Monte along to engage in all the necessary conversation - a good 20 minutes of it by the time he finally bode us well and headed out down the road.

We did the same and kept the pace a bit slower now - the ranger a half mile in front of us, unable to maintain the speeds we could when aired down and with better suspension. Naturally, it wasn't long before we came across another stopping point - a rainbow ridge in the distance. This thing was spectacular; photos don't do it justice. Multiple greens, yellows, oranges, reds, purples, and whites were laid down one on top of the other.

Nature at her finest.

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Alas, it wasn't long after that we aired up and headed into town, Monte filling up in just over three minutes with his CO2, the rest of us laboring for 12 minutes or so with our compressors.

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Town this afternoon would consist of Greybull for "lunch" around 4:30pm at A&W, and a quick hop over to Powell where we'd reprovision at the market and perform a few maintenance checks on Mike's truck - specifically checking out his alternator, which had been acting up a bit throughout the day...voltage jumping between 12v and 14v. Those things accomplished, the group split up: Monte headed to Red Lodge to pick up Devin @MissBlackdawg who would be re-joining us for the remainder of the trip, and the rest of us headed to the truck scales to do a little weigh-in.

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I'm not sure how, but I somehow have absolutely no photos of this experience. The reality was that we had a great (if slightly depressing) time at the Powell, WY co-op comparing truck weights and making lewd remarks about those trucks that were, shall we say, "too big for their britches."

• Mike 6000lbs; rear axle: 3060lbs
• Dan (@drr) 5600lbs; rear axle: 2900lbs
• Dan (@turbodb): 5520lbs; rear axle: 2800lbs
• Zane 4900lbs; rear axle: 2300lbs

Mike having the heaviest truck - more than half a ton heavier than Zane - was quick to point out that this is why the RedHead was so slow up the grades - he just couldn't maintain speed carrying so much weight. And of course Zane, on the light end of the scale kept quiet and grinned the whole time; super-charged and all.

By now it was getting late - nearly 6:30pm - and we still had a ways to go, our destination for the evening over a pass and more than two hours away in Sunlight Basin - so we hit the freeway and pressed our accelerators.

Some of us accelerated faster than others, I'll leave it at that.

We arrived at Dead Indian Pass on the Chief Joseph Highway just as the sun was setting. A spectacular place any time of day, and in almost any weather, there was no way we were going to miss this stop on our way to camp. In fact, we stopped a couple of times. Our first stop was on the east side of the pass to catch the setting sun on Heart Mountain. At 8123 feet, it's top is composed of limestone and dolomite 500 to 350 million years old, but it's bottom is made of rocks only about 55 million years old. Thus, the rock on the summit is almost 300 million years older than the rocks at the base. Geologists still don't know how this occurred, though naturally one can only assume that a large explosion catapulted the older rock from it's original location.

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Our second stop was at the top of the pass, looking west. The sun had just fallen behind the distant peaks, illuminating the sky a brilliant orange. What perfect timing to be in this special place, even if it meant getting to camp after dark.

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With light scarce, we headed down toward Sunlight Basin - our plan to camp in the same location we'd camped the previous year. Alas, by the time we arrived - nearly 9:00pm - our spot was occupied by hunters, out for labor day weekend. Undeterred, we headed further up the basin, APRS on so that Monte and Devin would find us in Igor when they finally arrived. Splitting up to investigate spur roads, we finally found a spot with a fire ring and setup camp.

Then, about 10 minutes later and just as we got the fire going, a rumbling in the woods; and lights. The timing couldn't have been more perfect - Monte and Devin pulling up in Igor. We all welcomed Devin back and gathered around the fire - making our dinners, enjoying the company, and eating the remainder of the cookies.

Plenty of dry wood available, log after log went onto the fire. Tomorrow would be Dan's last day and we wanted this fire to last; with Monte solely in charge of fires from here on out, we weren't sure how raging they'd be...and we'd all gotten used to the vast amounts of heat that coal-rich fires radiated into the cool night air.

Conversation was lively and varied enough that Devin stayed up with the rest of us, and it was 1:00am before we called it a night, wondering what we'd see the next morning, the surroundings of our camp site still a mystery.

 

The Re-Tour Day 10: We Finally Explore Sunlight Basin
September 2, 2018.

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 orange cliff faces to our north and south.

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Everyone else realized essentially the same thing as they started climbing down their ladders and looking around. We also decided that it'd be a good time to air down our tires - something we'd chosen not to do on our rush into camp the night before, and paid the price for!

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Then, at our usual "early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese" time of 11:00am, we finally rolled out of camp - on our way back to the main road where we'd turn west, heading up Sunlight Basin Road, hopefully further than we had on our previous adventure.

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As was the case the previous day, there were tons of other folks out on the roads - many of them hunting, others out enjoying the amazing weather for the long weekend. That meant traffic as we headed up the valley, and most of the group kept up a speedy pace to stay in front of the trailing dust clouds.

But not me. With views like this, I just slowed down and let the traffic by. And then, I stopped and got out of the truck.

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Even so, it wasn't long before everyone else ran into a few slower UTVs and I was able to see them just up ahead, their backdrop one of the more dramatic we'd see this beautiful day. Knowing it was only a matter of time before I completely caught up, I did the only thing I could think of. I stopped and got out of the truck again.

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And again. Seriously - this is one of those places where you just can't help yourself, the views getting better and better by the moment.

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Eventually we reached a part of the trail where the creek has completely washed out (and taken over) the road. It's not deep or difficult to navigate - quite the opposite, it's a super-fun, extra-long water crossing. So in we went, unfortunately the water not really deep enough to wash off more than our tires.

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We continued up the canyon, views and UTVs revealing themselves around nearly every bend. As was our rhythm, we stopped here and there to let the annoying little buggers pass or to take photos of the moon setting over the rocky mountains. We were having a grand time, everyone in high spirits.

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Oh, and the water crossings. The trail was much drier than the previous year, but there were still plenty of crossings for us to get our feet wet - and we took advantage of them all, Monte @Blackdawg hopping out of Igor to snap head-on photos, and me hopping out to get shots from the rear.

Strategies were of course different. Mike @Digiratus, always the pragmatist, stopped in the middle of the creek to "wash off."

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But not Dan @drr, and definitely not Zane @Speedytech7. And well, I think I may have won for "most water on the hood," again; though it was hard to tell even a few seconds later as the sun dried everything up quickly.

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We were soon on our way again, followed by a group of UTVs that we decided to let pass; everyone else deciding that the slower, "stop to take pictures and enjoy ourselves" pace was the right one for today. So, just after the next water crossing we all pulled to the side of the road making a clear path for the UTVs to just keep driving on the road.

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But no. These were UTVs. And when you drive a UTV, rule #1 is "Be a Dick." So they crossed the river, and then proceeded off-trail to skirt around us. And not just by a couple feet - we're talking 30- or 40-feet off of the road.

Nice, guys. Way to be stand-up humans.

To relax our nerves, we turned back to enjoy the views around us. Despite the UTVs, life was good.

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Eventually, we found ourselves climbing mountains at the back of Sunlight Basin - further than we'd been able to travel the previous year, and sure to yield great views of the valley below once we navigated the switchbacks across scree fields.

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Before long, we reached the top - or at least, the top for us - the rest of the track covered by a 3-foot deep, off-camber snow drift. It was the perfect spot for lunch and a bit of exploration...though not in that order!

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The views were spectacular, as we'd hoped - brilliant greens on the rocky mountains contrasting with the cloudless blue sky.

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We eventually put our cameras down and got our chairs out and sandwiches made. Sheltered from the wind by our circled trucks, we ate lunch and soaked in the moment. It turns out that we also ran into the UTVs that had passed us at this point, and chatted for a while about the pros and cons of Tacoma's vs. UTVs; no one mentioning the brain cells that are lost by sitting down in a UTV - at least, not until they'd taken their leave.

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But as usual, our late start meant that we could never spend quite as long as we wanted to in any one spectacular place - and so once our food was gone and our chairs were stowed, it was back into the trucks for a race down the mountain.

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We didn't stop much along the way, having just seen most of the sights on the way up the valley - though Mike and I did take a short side-trip to see the ghost town of Lee City. To call this a town was a bit of a stretch, the remnants of a single building all that was still visible.

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We quickly turned around and continued down the road - now a mile or two behind the rest of the guys. Oh shucks, less dust for us.

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With liberal use of our skinny pedals, we caught up to the group as we neared the mouth of the basin, their spacing evidence of the fine dust and light winds billowing up behind them.

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Eventually, we all stopped one final time in Sunlight Basin to capture the gatekeeper to the valley - White Mountain to the north, part of the Northern Absaroka Range, before heading out to air up and hit the highway.

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We had two more stops to make this afternoon before meeting Monte's parents @woodnick who were going to join us for a night of camping with the Frankenstein Recovery Vehicle (FRV), so named for the numerous times it's been used to rescue Frank from trips over the years.

Our first was a quick stop at the Lake Creek waterfall just off the highway. This was one we nearly drove by, but Monte's hint at some interesting history got us to pull over and get out just pass the historic cascade. Turns out that the falls have two claims to fame - first, a bridge (now for hikers only) near the upper falls is one of the last bridges still standing from the original Beartooth Highway; second - and more interestingly - an 85-year old woman fell off the new bridge, some 90 feet to the creek bed below. She was airlifted to the hospital, ultimately surviving with only a broken leg!

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The hike was short and enjoyable, especially the shenanigans as Monte caught Mike ogling the Redhead on the way back.

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Naturally, we all remarked on the Jeep that had pulled up behind us as well. Obviously self-conscious, it'd kept it's distance. Don't worry little Jeep, it'll be OK.

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As we pulled back onto the Beartooth Highway, we fired up our APRS to see where Monte's folks were - we knew they had to be close at this point. In fact, it looked like they were less than an hour behind us, and we called out over the radio that our new rendezvous point was Clay Butte Lookout - near the top of the Beartooth Pass at 9811-feet.

Still in front of the FRV by 30 minutes, we moseyed up, the views of Clay Butte and the surrounding landscape opening up around us.

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The lookout itself was the most civilized I've seen. Several stories tall, the top story was still used as a fire lookout, while the lower and middle stories were a historical museum, and public viewing platform respectively. Clearly, this was a lookout visited by many, and we took our time exploring, and capturing it all.

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Here, Mike in front of the flag at half-mast in memory of John McCain who'd died a couple days earlier - a reminder to us all that despite the crazy political times in which we live, just because someone's Democrat or Republican doesn't mean they have to fight the other about everything; conversation, compromise, respect, and understanding the other side (even if you disagree), important building blocks of our country.

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Right on time, the FRV arrived. We heard it long before we saw it, the supercharger and custom exhaust whining their way up the pass, and then up the dirt trail to the lookout - a cloud of dust left behind.

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Greetings and smiles all around, we discussed our next stop - the final one for the day - camp at Sawtooth Lake, just a bit further up the pass. This would also be where Dan split off from the group - having to be at work on Tuesday, so headed out for a long drive that he'd split between Sunday evening and Monday.

So it was, as we pulled off the highway, Dan just kept going - a "Thanks guys, I had a great time!" his farewell over the CB. We all called back, sorry to see him go, looking forward to our next trip together, as we headed off toward the lake.

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As we did, Monte came over the CB to ask if we wanted to air down. It was about four miles to the lake he said, some of it rocky. "I think I'm going to regret this, but let's keep going." said Mike.

A statement we'd all regret for the next hour, as we bumped and bounced over the rocky terrain - some of the larger boulders of the trip taken at full tire pressure. Eventually, this even got to Zane - who is generally unphased by anything - who announced unprompted over the CB, "I'm definitely airing down before we drive out of here." Way to go Zane! So am I, so am I.

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The drive - while bumpy - was as beautiful as ever and we eventually found ourselves at Sawtooth Lake, having the entire place to ourselves. As was tradition, we each got our trucks leveled and tents setup as the last of the sun's rays hit the water and the aptly-named Sawtooth Mountain to our east.

We threw sticks into the lake for Satch and Bix (the two pups travelling in the FRV) And of course, we got setup around the campfire.

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As is always the case, with Dan gone and with Devin @MissBlackdawg and Monte's folks at the campfire, the dynamic changed. Much more ribbing of Monte and his pants - though, they could more appropriately have been referred to as "patches in the shape of pants." Having forgotten a belt this trip, they'd been slipping down his hips, and as he crouched to get the perfect shot of the trucks, they'd split along the entire rear seam.

Classy.

And somehow familiar to me.

At any rate, when your mom's around, it's suddenly a bit more important to do something about that, so Devin helped out with a brand new duct tape patch as we all commented on the fact that the sun had apparently come out again, Monte's legs so bright white!

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As the sun finally set, we all crowded around the fire - another good, hot one even with Dan gone to enjoy dinner and each other's company. The lack of clouds and our position in a bowl meant there was no spectacular sunset, but I'm not sure any of us noticed - Mike's salsa, good conversation, and the knowledge that tomorrow we were going to try Goose Lake again - more than enough to keep us all in the highest of spirits.

As the temps dropped, and with a higher ratio of older-than-twenty-somethings around the fire than we'd had to this point, we called it quits a bit early - it was 11:30pm when we said our good-nights and headed off to bed.

The dogs, Bix and Satch still wet as they huddled in their kennels, but happy as could be.

 

BEAUTIFUL pictures, & awesome writing as always

 

You guys might recognize where this bench is now...

IMG_1231 by Brett Bjorgum, on Flickr


Too bad you didn't make the couple hundred yard walk to check it out.

 

I saw it and already knew you'd made it. But the bigger site fits more trucks and with no one else there we didn't need to go there. Thats where we camped after morrison on the SOS though.

 

Glad it's still there. The bigger spot was taken when we were there.

 

Every time I've built some nice seating at a campsite it's always been burned the next time we return

 

Hahahaha, found it the next morning... Just wait for the next chapter! Was an exciting discovery to stumble upon.

 

Turbo,you missed your calling........author.
Which you are fulfilling now,wifey asked, what ya reading?I said, a book....about a man and his truck....

 

Ill say this,it was great inspiration for me.
I went out today and explored my local national forest.it was a blast,the girls had fun and I got the truck dirty.WIN WIN

 

Dan, I just found your build thread and I'm working my way through it. Love it. Your diligence to do the write-up and pics has been quite amazing. One quick question... what do you do for extending your gas tank range when out on your trips? Perhaps you covered this somewhere but I haven't read it yet. The tank size/range is really the only complaint I have on my '98 and I read Otis24 re his add-on tank but I'm not quite ready for that mod yet.

 

Two 5gal Jerry cans. What we all use. Don't really need more than that in the US

 

I used to use two, 2-gallon Fuel RotoPax, which I'd mounted to my tailgate (which I wrote up in this post Aluminum Rotopax Tailgate Mount). That worked well for keeping things organized, and I don't know if I've ever actually needed more than 4 gallons of spare fuel for myself - though it's nice to have some for others just in case.

Eventually though, as I did longer and more remote trips, I moved to the same setup as the guys I travel with - since having a similar range is always a good thing. As Monte mentioned, that's two, 5-gallon Jerry Cans. In my case, two plastic Scepter Military Fuel canisters. These aren't cheap and are hard to get in the US anywhere except eBay (I think because they are not CARB compliant) but are very robust.

I use a fuel siphon to transfer the fuel from the canisters to the tank, without removing them from the swing-out bumper. It's not the fastest, but it's clean and I like it.

 

The Re-Tour Day 11: We Mountain Hop to Goose Lake
September 3, 2018.

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.

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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.

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As I made my way around the lake's edge, every few hundred feet seemed to present a new dramatic feature to check out. Rocky outcroppings dipping into the water, creeks ending in waterfalls just feet from the lake, and stands of vibrant grass were among just a few of the stops I made in my circumnavigation.

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Then, as I passed the apex of my tour, I noticed a flock of terns(?) flying fast and low across the water. Swooping left, right, up, and down, they performed a beautiful, high-speed circle around most of the lake - an amazing sight that I stopped to take in.

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Eventually I noticed life stirring in camp - which I took as a good reason to be heading back. And then, along the way I stumbled upon another camp site - this one with a huge fire ring and a custom-made TW bench. Could the TW stand for TacomaWorld?

Probably. @Squeaky Penguin

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Back in camp, folks were starting to be up and about but there was clearly no big rush to get going. We had a relatively relaxing day ahead of us - the trip out to Goose Lake our only goal - so we soaked in the beautiful morning, Devin @MissBlackdawg making enough bacon for everyone to have a bit!

Eventually we started to put things away, and we were all sure to air down - no one wanting to experience the rocky trail at full pressure again.

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As it turned out, our exit from Sawtooth Lake was the most staggered we'd have all trip. Save Monte @Blackdawg and I, trucks seemed to leave at 5-10 minute intervals for some reason, which spread us out most of the way along the trail. Not an issue, as we all continued to enjoy the beautiful scenery as we made our way to the highway.

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Eventually though, those of us in the back caught up to those in the front and we were a bad-ass-Tacoma gang again. And we happened to be next to Chain Lakes at the time. Things couldn't be more perfect, and we took full advantage. Even Mike @Digiratus was out of his truck - maybe not quite so cranky anymore - taking advantage of his "leader of the pack" positioning.

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Eventually, after we each took our turn capturing the moment, we got back in the trucks and made the final run to the highway, the Beartooth Mountains rising up in the background. That's where we were headed - back up to Goose Lake - and I for one was definitely excited about that!

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A bit of time on the highway, Index and Pilot Peaks filling our view, and we found ourselves back in Cooke City, MT where we fueled up the trucks and stocked up on snacks - Cooke City being our jumping off point for the afternoon's adventure.

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The plan from here was to hit several peaks - each one hopping us not only a bit closer to the Goose Lake trail, but also higher and higher in the Beartooth range. So we headed out, the back way up Daisy Pass, to our first overlook - Crown Butte.

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The higher we climbed, the bigger the views got. At some point, we took a turn on a road that even Monte had never explored - a cool first for all of us. We could still see Index and Pilot Peaks, but we could now also see the valley's below - some dilapidated old structures to be explored on another adventure.

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And then, we reached the end of the road at Crown Butte. The views were spectacular. As we let the dogs out to run around and enjoy themselves, we gazed north and south - mountains as far as the eye could see. Some taller, some shorter than our current viewpoint - but all of them combined to create a picturesque panorama. Oh, and of course - trucks.

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Legs stretched, and the promise of even grander views, Monte led us back down as I brought up the topic of lunch. It was after-all nearly 2:00pm and with Dan @drr gone, I had to make sure we didn't skip our mid-day meal. Soon, I was promised. Soon. For now, we had a peak to bag.

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That peak was Henderson Mountain, and the promise that it was even better than Crown Butte was absolutely the truth. At 10,004 feet, we were not only higher up, we were also on a peak, 360º views all around us. We soaked it in, Monte and his parents @woodnick pointing out places they'd explored, and where we were headed.

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But eventually we took our turns heading down the mountain - everyone now getting at least a little hungry for lunch. The initial descent was steep, 4Lo our friend as we headed towards our next peak.

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Above the treeline for the most part by this point, I suggested to Monte that we stop if we happened to find some shade. The group was good with that, and as luck would have it, a few high-altitude trees presented themselves just as we spotted three UTVs occupying our next destination: the top of Fisher Mountain.

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Fisher Mountain had clearly had some "work done to it," lots of drainage and erosion control evident on it's faces; every creek bed completely lined with granite rock.

As we remarked on all the work, Monte suggested that it was due to the plethora of mines in the area. He also mentioned that the pad at the top was relatively small - likely too small for two groups - so we pulled over to the side of the road, made our sandwiches, and ate them while we waited for the guys at the top to make their way down. Satch and Bix were out of the kennels at this point - running around, digging for squirrels and having just as great a time as we were. In the distance, we spotted an old mine shaft - one that Monte had noted before but never explored. Again, another great reason to return in the future!

Eventually the UTVs passed us on their way down, and we headed up. Most of this trail was steep and rough, but completely reasonable and no trouble for any of our trucks. There was however one scree field that we had to cross where I found myself thinking, "I think there's a road there. But boy, maybe it's just a deer trail."

Whatever it was, it was too narrow to get out of the truck to take a photo, so I had to take one from inside as I slowly made my way up, my adrenaline pumping the entire time.

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As we ascended, we all hugged the uphill side of the road. Perhaps a bit too much - the FRV in front of me causing a small scree-slide resulting in more rock covering half the road. With no other choice, I drove over the extra rock, the truck off-camber and leaning downhill.

But I made it. And so did Zane @Speedytech7 behind me.

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Eventually we made it to the top and the views from 10 10,214-feet were even better than those we'd had at our last stop. Mike, recognizing this immediately, pulled his truck into the perfect position - and then broke out the big grin :biggrin: when Monte mentioned he'd stolen the best spot.

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As always seems to be the case, we never really get enough of a place like this before it's time to leave. As we got ourselves turned around, Monte's mom started down the hill on foot - I can only imagine because her experience in the FRV climbing the scree field on the way up being traumatic enough that she would have nothing to do with it on the way down. Smart woman if you ask me.

Eyes forward and wheel straight, we made our way across uneventfully, and then down the switchbacks leading to the main road and our final peak before the Goose Lake trail: Sheep Mountain.

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While we waited on the main road for the caravan to tighten up, we spotted some UTVs attempting the switchbacks on the north face of Crown Butte. Clearly difficult to navigate, it was clear from their troubles that there was no way we'd have stood a chance in our Tacoma's a week before.

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An then, everyone back together, we were off. At 10,414-feet, Sheep Mountain is the highest road in Montana and on our way we marveled at the views - stopping only once at some old structures along the way.

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It was at this point that we nearly lost Monte's parents - their time with us running short and their trip home long. But in the end, the pull of the highest point and the fact that it was only 15-20 minutes away kept them going and there was no doubt when we exited the trucks that they'd made the right decision.

The view from Sheep Mountain was a grand finale. In the distance, Goose Lake and it's surrounding mountains - Mt. Fox, Wolf Mountain, and Iceberg Peak.

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Photos really can't capture the beauty of this place - the views so vast and the colors so bright. Eventually, we put our cameras away and we just looked out over it all.

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...well, most of us anyway. Some of us just dug for squirrels.

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But by now it was getting late. Whether we called it late afternoon or early evening, we needed to make our way to Goose - a 2½-hour trek, and Monte's parents needed to make their way home. So we called it quits on Sheep Mountain and made our way back down over Lulu Pass to our next trailhead.

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There, we said our goodbye's to the pups, Monte's folks, and the FRV and turned north - unlike our previous foray to Goose, under blue skies and sun. Perhaps this would be the time it didn't rain at Goose Lake.

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The trail was spectacular, and the views were even better. Though we'd been here less than a week before, everything was different. Not only was the road drier, but we could see - close and far, the landscape beckoning us forward. Into what we thought we knew, but had never seen before.

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I would call the trail to Goose Lake very similar in difficulty to what I'd thought to this point was my favorite trail of all time - Boulder Basin. The difference though is that there's a lot more to see and enjoy because you're in and out of the trees, and passing small alpine lakes all the time.

Tacoma's just seem at home here, and though it was getting late, the urge to stop and enjoy it was strong.

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Before long, we came to both of the tougher obstacles we'd encountered earlier in the week. Having conquered them both at that time, we all opted for easy lines this time - enjoyment winning out over excitement. Truly, we were out for a fun drive - the destination the goal this time.

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And then, as we rounded the final corner, Monte came over the CB, "We've got the place to ourselves, boys!" he exclaimed excitedly - something we'd all been hoping, but had been afraid to bring up in the fears that we'd jinx ourselves.

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Now, a bit more relaxed, we setup camp in one of the most beautiful valley's I've ever camped in. I can see why Monte considers this such a special place - the mountains, the water, the green, blue and white. Amazing.

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As the sun began to set, we ventured up to the lake to try not only to capture the light on the mountains, but also to enjoy all that was unfolding before us.

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We spent a good 30 minutes up at the lake before heading back down - the last of the sun having left the peaks. Then, as we prepped our dinners and got the fire going, we glanced up. The light display that had so recently illuminated the mountains around us was now working it's magic the only place higher than the mountains - the clouds above.

White changed to yellow. Yellow to Orange. And Orange to red, purple, and magenta. It was our last night as a group and it was the perfect crescendo.

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Our camp fire that night was - as is often the case on the group's last night - a mixed bag. On the one hand, we were all enjoying it to the max; on the other, we knew that by the next morning we'd be parting ways. In the end, we focused as much as we could on the former, knowing that the later was only temporary - in fact, we already had our next trip together planned, and it was going to be epic!

Once again, we'd found a pile of wood, the near endless supply meaning that our fire could be large, hot, and long. Still, we called it a bit early, Mike and I wanting to hit the road by 7:00am - a long few days ahead of us to get home "the back way."

...which would definitely end up differently than we'd ever imagined.

 

@Squeaky Penguin looks like we need to find a better way to secure the backrest or whoever worked on the left side needs to retire

 

Shit, that was my side, wasn't it?

@Reh5108 should get all the credit for that bench, as his half is still standing.

 

I wasn't gonna call you out as my memory has been known to be wrong. Guess we gotta go fix it this summer.

The real question is did I use green pins or dry ones?

 

awesome are you going on another trip soon I hope

 

Well...we already did..haha

 

You got Frank running again?