Northwest Trip Reports

Slow start to the month. But knocked out three nights this weekend, and have another 9 lined up between now and July 8th. Can't complain about that. Let's start with this last Friday.



Rolled up mid day to this dope Mt Jefferson overlook spot I camped last July 4th. Wind was mellow, but the damn cloud cover wouldn't break. Moon was a waxing crescent and I was really hoping to shoot some Milky Way. No dice. That view was a good consolation prize.



Hood in the distance.



Diced beef, chopped red potatoes, and green beans in oil. No cleanup, no cooking. Just chuck 'em on and drink beer for 45 mins. Flip in intervals.



Rolled out mid morning on Saturday to continued overcast conditions.



Still found a view regardless. Make lemonade, as they say.



We headed straight for Crux and the sun popped. After a round and some sun on the skin, we moved over to Immersion, then late lunch/dinner at River Pig. That all concluded, we made our way into the China Hat area.



A li'l spot I wanted to use for its "remote" location out of the way of the main powerline connectors or hotspots. My partner in crime didn't take too well to the 8 percenters in town, and was out in her chair by 9:15. It was an early night.



The next morning, the weather continued to cooperate. But we were still missing that view to put a stamp on the weekend. Only one thing to do.



Lean to on the way to the next stop.





The lookout served us well.



Saw this baller 6x6 as we made our way through a tour of the lakes on the Willamette/Deschutes NF border and wheeled through the Santiam Pass OHV area on the loop back to camp.

Heading to Mt Hood this weekend, then off to ID/MT for a week from the 1st to 8th. Good things in the future.

 

Nice photos, I don't post on here at all, but curios, s that a pinzgauer?

 

I believe it is.

 

Not bad, was issued one of them in JNA 89/90

 

Headed out to Mt Hood NF for a quick two nighter.



The sunset on the first night was nothing to shake a stick at.




The fire lookout was closed Saturday, presumably because of COVID concerns for the spotter.



Decided it was a good time to get the day officially started with a beer at that point.



Butterfly boiz



Badger Lake was a zoo both ways with morons going everywhere. And it was pretty damn busy down there too. Every campsite was taken. But the winds were fucking up the actual lake enjoyment (20+ MPH). Not a soul in the water.



Ran down into town for dinner and more beer that evening. The clouds rolled in right as I snapped this and covered everything the eyes could see.



Made it to dark, smothered the fire, and then sat in the truck and watched 'Hostiles' while we drank beer. The wind was that obnoxious. Sure enough, not a cloud in sight or wind to be felt the next day.




Trails up there are all clear. No snow blockage or anything to note. Heading out for a week long run with the rest of the gang starting Weds morning. Til then.

 

Badger has gotten so busy. The last time I went when you happen to pass thru, my buddy said it was the most people he had ever seen down there

 

Yeah, that was an absolute zoo that day. I can't imagine how packed it would be if you didn't need a high clearance vehicle to make your way down.

 

Going to bend Oregon to visit my old lady's parent, any camp sites or campground around bend that you guys recommended

 

You can't throw a rock without hitting a little NF hideout in any direction outta town. But there's a concurrent fire ban at the county, state, and federal levels there right now. Deschutes County, Deschutes NF, and the state parks are all on a zero-fire policy until further notice.

 

Seven days and six nights of offroading, camping, crushing beers, and cooking in the backcountry will do the soul well. As such, we took advantage of one of the "big three" extended summer holiday windows to run a 1,400 mile gauntlet through WY, ID, and MT.



We started last Wednesday the 1st in Southern WY's Medicine Bow National Forest.



Our spot was next to some cool rock crops, with a giant free range field adjacent that cattle wandered through all evening.



The dogs were ready to get the fun started as well.




The sun was still relatively high upon arrival, so we all reached into the coolers.




Everyone then took care to level out and get their trucks set for the night.






Everyone got settled into the spot and we kicked our feet up for a bit before dinner. Josh made fettucine noodles with garlic spaghetti sauce, ground beef, and garlic bread.



A nearly full moon hung above the evening sky prominently.

 

Come Thursday, we began our trek northwest after a breakfast of Italian sausage, hashbrowns, and scrambled eggs.



We settled into Bridger-Teton NF mid afternoon.




Matty assembled a new lower while the sun was still up.



After some beer pole, we got set up and got things rolling for a honey chicken and rice dinner cooked by Matty in his spun steel setup on the fire.



The sun would soon start to fade.



The views couldn't have been any better at that point.



Come Friday morning, Nick was on his bacon game.



We then began to roll north towards Grand Teton National Park to take a little hidden gem of a trail into Idaho.

 

Late Friday afternoon, we made our way into Montana.



We set up camp not far from here. But the site wasn't quite what we'd hoped for. We'd arrived too late on a holiday weekend's Friday hoping to nab one of the prime spots. You can guess how that went.



Saturday we moved a bit farther and outta the way. We saw a black bear crossing the trail and knew we were in the right area to avoid the crowds. A trail full of whoops and rock wash would keep out the crossover crowd, and even capable 4x4 glampers were unlikely to set up shop in a "WARNING: GRIZZLY COUNTRY" area.




It didn't occur to us that perhaps what was really keeping everyone else out were the biblical swarms of mosquitoes attacking us even in the peak heat and sunlight of the day. A fire was made to smoke 'em out.



With some 98% deet spray, a nice waft of smoke, and some citronella candles, we got back to business.



..whatever that business was.




No explanation necessary.

 

The mosquitoes were quite literally the worst any of us had ever seen come dusk. They were going through Picarradin lotion, full deet, and multiple layers like kamikaze pilots. Sunday morning, we decided that between the bugs in the quiet trails around the lakes, and the RV crowd in the dry spots, our goose was cooked in that part of MT. And the western passes were still snowed out. We cut back towards home and dropped back into Bridger-Teton NF.




After a night of black spiced rum, bourbon, and beers, we got up and crushed a few of James' breakfast sandwiches before rolling back towards our starting point.




It had been a long day, but the evening brought beauty.





Before we knew it, the sun was once again retreating on our final night. It was a hell of a trip through some of the most beautiful country on this planet. We're currently planning on another extended run into NorAZ near Thanksgiving (a tradition three years running). Until then, you can check us out on Instagram @no_known_boundaries, or pop over to our website noknownboundaries.com 'Til next time!

https://youtu.be/auZlKHeJluI​

 

Hey guys looking for advice for a good camping spot in the MT Hood area. We are meeting some family who will also have a Toyota truck and it’s a bit out of our neck of the woods as we are from NE WA. Looking for something scenic, maybe with a creek running by but that’s not a dealbreaker. I won’t exploit your spot if you are concerned about that. Thoughts? Going towards end of july

 

Needs more bacon.

 

Haha that’s my buddies rig. It’s a Volvo.