6/19/17 So as the old Yiddish saying goes... Man plans, God laughs.
Waking up in the middle of the night looking out the screen window there was a planet (in the east so Saturn?) and the sickle moon over the Badlands ...hard to get back to sleep. Waking at 5:30 (still 7:30 in my head) I wanted coffee... oh the shame... instead of sitting with a nice bowl of cereal watching the day begin slowly... duh... I broke camp and head to Wall. A sad tourist town. No coffee. Really. So I set sail on the tarmac hoping to find the elusive good cup of coffee ... not gas station brew. Gawd.... I actually think I'd drink a Coke before that. After a 50 minuter drive on I-90 I found a cup. Should have sat with my cereal bowl...there is a lesson in there I am sure. The plan was to head to Custer National Forest and boon dock camp in the woods... as I got there I could see the forest has suffered from the blight and it is heart breaking, so many dead trees. I continued on with hope of stumbling on something and wanted to see the Little Big Horn but that too was a miss at $30.
A command decision was made (easy flying solo) to keep going. Getting off 212 onto the I-90 again was a shock but it did allow me to make up time. There has been a persistent 30 mph wind from west and I watched my MPG plummet. I have to admit right here I overloaded the truck. Way too much stuff. I have really built up the suspension and it is handling it with aplomb. But the load up hill in a stiff wind (power is there and I can fly as fast as I want with the turbo diesel with 369 pounds of torque) but the mpg goes way down. And so it goes.
I decided to go to the 9 hour mark and then look for camp. There was a town that looked good in name: Big Timber... so I pulled off and luckily found a small info booth just closing. A nice lady said she knew a quiet place on a fast stream with trout... nuff said. And here I sit alongside a roaring stream with a cold beer after a wonderful shower. I am indeed a lucky man. So the map below shows the days route and all told not a big mileage day 475 but I am in a good position to make Idaho tomorrow up somewhere near Lolo pass... I hear there are boon docking spots up into the forest roads. Again ...we will seer what tomorrow brings. For now I could stare at this stream a long time.
Great to read your adventures so far. Hopefully things will begin to smooth out as the days go by, and when luann shows up she will bring some balance to the " Force ". i appreciate your taking the time to write and share your adventure. I love reading adventure and history and especially about 2the people who made these trips long ago when risk of failure/ dying was high due to lack of supplies, hostile people and being alone with no direction home ,like a complete unknown ,, like a rolling stone..., well good luck in upcoming days. You are writing your own story so keep going and we will be excited to hear more by the campfire once you return . safe travels amigo. Rol
ReplyDelete