We’re not in Oregon dodging that colossal fire—we’re still in Montana. How can you top the Beartooth? Our plan is to head north, cross Glacier National Park on Highway 2 (that we left because of the heat), and see if we can boondock for a good long while at my friend Jess’s family house on Flathead […]
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Beartooth Highway
According to Destination Red Lodge, Beartooth Highway is “the most beautiful roadway in America.” Maybe “roadway” is the operative term here, being used in a very specific way, because I sure do enjoy Highway 101 along the Pacific Coast, and The Going to the Sun Road in Glacier Nat. Park, and even Skyline Drive along the […]
Glacier Lake Trail in Wyoming
We drove away from the campsite one morning along the same road we’re camped on that follows the main fork of Rock Creek—all the way up the canyon to the source of the creek in Wyoming. Little did I know that we’re on the border, but of course Tracy did because he looks at maps. […]
Moose or No Moose?
We’ve been camping in the Beartooth Mountains in Montana for five days so far, with no cell connection unless we drive out to town. So I’ve written this and the next blog post while at the campsite and am posting them, fingers crossed, while at the brewery in town several days later. The Town of […]
Montana at 7,500 Feet
We’ve just driven into Custer Gallatin National Forest, which is in the Beartooth Mountains in southwest Montana, home of the highest peak in Montana: 13,000 feet. We’re doing “dispersed camping” in this national forest, which means you simply pull off the side of the road into a spot in the woods and park. No amenities, […]
Prairies and a Petrified Forest
Goodbye North Unit of Teddy Roosevelt’s Park I’ve been looking forward to getting out west for a year and three months now, so, in a way, this place has been a dream come true. And by “this place” I mean both the North Unit campground and the park that we’ve driven through and hiked. As […]
Teddy Roosevelt’s North Dakota
We’re camped right outside the Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit, which is in western North Dakota. This isn’t pure badlands like in South Dakota; there is a lot of green here, and the Little Missouri River runs through the park. I think the contrast between the sage brush, green scrub, and grassy prairies and […]
Banjo Fords the Mississippi Headwaters
You guys know that Tracy used to take September off work to kayak a different section of the Mississippi each year. He moved on to major lakes only after he’d reached his goal of kayaking 1,000 miles of the river. Seriously. One-thousand miles. He paddled a large part of the upper Mississippi, but he never […]
Solitude at Moose Lake
We wanted a longer break from civilization, and we got one, involuntarily. But still welcome! Moose Lake is in northern Wisconsin, actually in the same National Forest camping area we stayed in last year at Black Lake. They’re both small, no hook-ups camping loops on lakes dyed with tannin from the surrounding deep forest. Which is wonderful. […]
Rhymes with Phenomenon
We finally entered the UP of Michigan via the exciting route (last year we came up through Wisconsin, which is beautiful but not as dramatic), crossing the Mackinac Bridge that spans Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Our campsite is at the Tahquamenon Falls State Park, this time in the rustic campground (no hook-ups and no […]
