Wandering from Tennesse to Alaska 2023

[Machinebuilder]

Thanks to both of you.
I wish I had better connections as this is a lot of work

Great comments make it worth it

I hope I inspire someone else to go wander

 

[Machinebuilder]

I have made it home and will finish this report hopefully soon.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

It's always nice to get home after a long trip.
Glad you had a safe one.
Looking forward to more photos.
Thanks again for taking the time on your trip
to post your photos.They have been very
interesting and brought back many memories.

Frank

 

[buckland]

What a great successful trip. Frank is right ...coming home is sweet too!

 

[Machinebuilder]

I'm trying to finish my trip report.

Hazelton BC the worlds largest fly rod

Gabby and Sox had a playmate

The Stellar Jays are very brave, I had to be carefull with the dog food and my food

Rearguard Falls the furthest Salmon Migrate 800MI or KM, I forget which.

I campped at Whistler Campground near Jasper, I was told "there's lots of Elk", this was as i walked back to my truck

 

[Machinebuilder]

Icefields Parkway Part 1

 

[Machinebuilder]

Icefields Parkway Part 2

Because this was after Labor Day many of the campgrounds were closed, the rest of them were full.
Mosquito Lake allowed "overflow" camping in the central parking area, it was overflowing

it was cold the next morning, 29F, Sox mad friends with this group of young ladies from New Zealand

Lake Louise, almost no parking available

I didn't stop in Banff, the traffic was so heavy I didn't see a parking spot or a reason to stop.

 

[Machinebuilder]

I then went over to hwy 40 and headed south
this was at the entrance to Peter Lougheed park

at a picnic area

Crows nest Pass

The Frank slide

The Leitch Colliery

and then Waterford Waterton NP, It was surprisingly lower crowds, I managed to get a campsite there.

EDIT I mistyped

The Dogs let everyone know there were trespassers in camp

 

[Machinebuilder]

When Crossing the border at Chief Mountain, The US government conveniently put the X Ray machines blocking your view of the clearance signs. Clearance is 9', my vents are 8.5' so I didn't have to back up to use a different lane

I drove into Many Glaciers and again didn't stop, the parking along the road was full.
I did see these up the hillside

I stayed at a private campground in East glacier, again its after Labor day so many campgrounds are closed and the rest are full

The reservations for Glacier NP were not needed but all the signs say there is a 21' length limit, I snuck up the Going to the Sun Road anyway, and saw many that were MUCH more than 21'. again most parking spots were full

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks for the latest group of c trip photos.
I remember that huge fly rod from our 1990
return trip from Alaska.

Thanks.
Frank

 

[Vic Harder]

Waterton, not Waterford NP me thinks. Love the pics of my back yard!

 

[Machinebuilder]

oops mistype. my brain mistypes a lot

I edited the post

Vic, thanks for the advice months ago. I had forgotten some of it.

I camped for one night at the snow machine parking lot at Cataract Creek.
The campground was closed and I was ready to stop.
From there going south there looks to be a lot of dispersed camping spots.

 

[goinoregon]

thx for the tr pics. and info.

 

[ski3pin]

thx for the tr pics. and info.

Yes, thank you!

 

[Machinebuilder]

I had to go to Kalispell for some personal things.

I found an OK spot to camp near Hungry Horse Reservoir and took Hwy 2 east to East Glacier and Two Medicine Lake

The Camp Store was the dining hall from the original park lodge there Built 1912

Most was closed for the season and they were pulling the tour boat from the lake that day

I saw a big herd of bison near Browning MT, not wild ones like in Canada

I went through Great falls and took a scenic byway (hwy 89) south

Sluice Box canyon SP

I went through Billings and made a quick stop at Little Big Horn

I found a very nice NFS campground Red Shale campground, it was not very maintained, Pit toilets only but the campsites were well spaced out.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

What a great trip! Thanks again for letting us tag along!

 

[Machinebuilder]

I had not been to Devils Tower NM so a trip there was nessasary

a line at the entrance, and a traffic light about 1/2 mi from the visitor center to control how many people were there.

I saw a couple climbers

and spotted the "ladder" used by the "first" climbers, the arrow points to it

I found a Selfie stand on a side road and had to use it

 

[Machinebuilder]

From there I headed to South Dakota

Near Aladin, MT I saw a wooden Coal Tipple (late 1800's)

THe Geographic Center of the USA, Belle Fourche, SD

and took another scenic drive (hwy14A) Spearfish canyon Rd

I saw 4 Mountain Goats, 2 big and 2 kids

and found another great camp near Hanna

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks. Great shot of Devils Tower,or as I like to call it the giant tree stump.
How did you like The Greasy Grass battle field ( The Little Big Horn).
I found it very moving as we drove through and read the grave/site markers.

In 2012 we stayed at the city camp in Spearfish.Wanted to camp along the
canyon/river but it was later in the season and the CGs were closed.

Frank

 

[Machinebuilder]

I started running into the closed campground problem just after Labor Day.

I was too late in the day to spend much time at Little Big Horn. They close the gate early