Another Epic Journey
 

Most of us have experienced life-changing epic journeys. For me Spring Break in FLA in my college years, a solo trip to Key West in a pick-up camper, a once in a life-time tour of Italy or a fly-in fishing expedition on Lake Missinabie, ON, Canada all qualify.

I'm getting a vibe that another is due.

Road trip throughout the West. Maybe a month or three. Small, self-contained camper capable of mild off-road use.

My life-time pass for National Parks just came in the mail!

Advice?

I would love to do just that. My son has two years of college, so funds are tight, but soon enough we will be rolling in cash when he moves out, and we stop paying out for both kids.

I have always wanted to get a truck camper, and pull a 6x12 enclosed trailer with a coupla dirtbikes, and kayaks to all the national parks while I can still paddle, and ride.
It's probably going to have to be after retirement.

Only one national park in Oregon. Crater lake. Don't go there now...wildfire has everything pretty much shut down.

In Sept and Oct, I'd do: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Canadian Rockies. Besides the National Parks, I'd hit: Badlands, Black Hills, Big Horns. In Canada, do the Arrow Lakes up to Banaff area, then Icefield Parkway to Jasper, over to BC and hit Cache Creek, Lillocet, to get in the back door of Whistler. Then Abbostfords, BC, Sumas border crossing and south on Hwy 9 to Hwy 20 to see North Cascades.......Just keep going east on 20 to Hwy 2 and return....

I went there once, when I was 15.
A worker in the kitchen at the restaurant exposed people who ate there to hepatitis.

Prolly all cleaned up by now.



and CB, if you did it right you could do a whole year just in Utah.

;)

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I am sure there is a map of the national parks. We have hit quite a few of them. Arizona , Colorado and Utah are hare to beat as far as national parks overall that make you say OMG. We spent a week in Flagstaff, AZ and just drove out and back to parks and did not have to pack and unpack. Utah is just covered in parks.

Dinosaur National Monument and the Dinosaur Quarry are great.

Concur.

What time of year?

The west is so full of out of the way places. We did some UAS testing at Delamar Dry Lake five years ago. Will be heading back next Spring. Light off road to get there, spectacular solitude.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delamar_Dry_Lake

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The back roads from there to Cedar City, Utah are great.

Like the DQ ad says "go west young man". I have been in the west since about 1984 and even though we are in the Prairies we are a four drive from the mountains.
I am more familiar with the Canadian Rockies especially Jasper to the west and Banff to the south west. July and August are a little too busy with tourists. My favorite times are June and early September. June probably has too much snow for alpine hiking but early September is likely good.

Waterton Nat'l Park in the south of Alberta is spectacular too. Across the border to the south is Glacier National Park. The Hwy to the Sun is a great drive but you need to watch for early snow in the season(open when I forget).

This is just scratching the surface....

Have you thought about packing a backpack and riding a train like the Empire Builder passenger train through the Rockies and on up to Vancouver and Canada? That's a bucket list trip for me.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i12483-k6663844-Empire_Builder-Train_Travel.html

Man!

You guys have been everywhere! All my winters, every one of them, has been a Michigan winter. The most pleasurable of which has been an insult and an outrage unfit for man nor beast. So, most likely, a shake-down trip will be southward during some combo of Feb-Mar-Apr. Everglades, the Keys maybe. Stay relatively close to civilization.

Then, if I'm still inclined to roam, the Four Corners area seems to be percolating up as a primary destination in the fall. Time to spread out some maps to see what you guys are talking about. My passport has expired. Gotta renew it.

Just installed an auxiliary transmission cooler on the tow vehicle and will be upgrading the axle on the trailer. 100 watts of portable solar, 40# of propane on the tongue and I'm good for a month of boondocking even in cold weather if I could carry enough water. One gallon per person per day, they say. And food.

My cousin figures he spends $1k/wk when he travels, including fuel, for his big truck and big rig. My costs will be closer to $1K/mo. I have this desire to just sit in the desert where there ain't no one for to give me no pain.

Don't limit yourself to national parks. There are many great state parks out here too.

The four corners area is amazing. Don't miss Chaco Canyon.

A little farther away, but on a road I love is the Very Large Array. My uncle-in-laws son runs the place and I can set up a tour.

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Oh damn, that's cool!

There is nothing like the solitude of the desert to get one to ponder things greater than him/her self.

I've found Monument Valley to the prolly the best place to do just that. it's funny how you can completely loose all sense of scale there.


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I dunno Sammy. Looks like it might be all cluttered up with Hollyweird film crews...;)

Bring your fly rod. Between here and Michigan is a bunch of killer water. Sounds wonderful. If you really want the experience, drive up to Alaska. Everyone says it is spectacular.

It sure seems like that, doesn't it?

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Thank you, Paul.

Your kind offer duly noted, sir.

Serenity* is closer to sea-worthiness. 100w solar array, dual tanks up front. Honda Genny to be mounted on rear 2" receiver, somehow. Loadmaster says 100# hanging off the rear is a significant consideration. So no bikes.

Torsion axle is much like the trailing arm on a 911. The wheels do not go straight up and down. They travel in an arc. Upgraded axle will be mounted slightly forward to accommodate larger wheels and tougher tires. When fully compressed they should fit right inside the wheel wells. The axle is also adjustable. I'm starting at the usual start angle of 22 degrees down. Storm case will act as a step for ingress (not shown):http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1502304671.jpg

*Serenity is the RV

Fly Rod.

Check!

It's been hanging in the cave unused for 40 years!