So I decided to scoot over to Washington... First I had to get across Idaho.   ...Read more

I headed west into Manti-La Sal National Forest, there was a long, twisty route that was just about what I was looking for. Manti-La Sal National Forest, is a well-kept secret and the locals want to keep it that way. It offeres a wide variety of terrain from jush forests to arid canyon lands. One ot the swell bits is the Dark Canyon Wilderness, still a largely unexplored area.   ...Read more

The Distance from Blanding, Utah to Bluff Utah is only about 25 miles but if you plan carefully you can make it in 200. I had planned carefully... I had planned to be responsible, put in a day and and drive from Blanding to Torrey. After all The previous day I had driven 120 miles and landed 21 miles from my starting point... I needed to make "progress" gol darn it! and 175 miles farther down the road was furthering my cause. I was less than two blocks down the road when I saw a sign that read "Mexican Hat 50 miles."

Mexican Hat! Just the day before I was talking to a couple & heard about a really cool road between Mexican Hat and Natural Bridges... I gotta go that way! ......And then... 15 miles down the road to Mexican Hat I saw a sign that pointed to Hovenweep National Monument. "Oooh, what's that?" Cried the hopelessly digressive airhead in the car, "That sounds interesting..." and the corner was turned without another thought. But my thinking muscle came back on line & realized the sign didn't say how far this National Monument was. Time to pull over & check out the maps.
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After leaving Gunnerson, Colorado I took a detour through the San Juan National Forest.
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Sometimes it's good to stop. All of those places you've been driving through... Well. People live there... Yes, they spend weeks at a time in one place... Years even, I hear tell. So if you want to feel like a real local, you have to spend at least a day in one place. I decided to settle down in Buena Vista it seemed like a nice place to call home... for a day.   ...Read more

I crossed the Continental Divide just to the northwest of Fitzpatrick Peak on a little dirt track called forest road 267 that runs between St. Elmo & Tincup, Colorado. The pass itself is called Tincup Pass and the western side of the pass has possibly some of the most delightfully horrible sections of road I have been on to date. Some bits had two or three tracks and I had to get out & walk them to decide which of the choices was least likely to damage the vehicle.

But it was beautifull nonetheless. I don't think I will ever tire of driving amid woods of birch and aspen trees, but that was earlier in the drive and the road was in much better shape when I was amongst them. Once I got to Tincup it was rather late in the day the crossing had taken quite a bit longer than anticipated, which is just how it should be... Many miles yet to go.
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From Limon, Colorado I headed west. Back across the plains, through the forests of Ponderosa Pine. There was a bit of business to conduct in Castle Rock and then onward to the West. A dirt road "short cut" surpriosed me with this formation... Upended strata , almiost standing free.   ...Read more

"The Windmills of Colorado" sounds poetic doesn't it? There are a whole lot more windmills in the Midwest since the last time I wandered through the area, Two of these pictures were taken from the ground... the rest from the air.   ...Read more

"Wyoming?" You ask... "Weren't you just in Canada?"

Well, um, yes... but you see... There was something I needed to get done in Wyoming,so....

"What about Montana?" You coninue, "What happened to Montana?"   ...Read more

Coming into Canada the second time I was asked a lot more questions. Was I headed home? Was I going to be staying down there for a while? Whatcha got in the back of the vehicle? I almost felt I was going to be given a limited hall pass: "This guy has five (5) days to get down to the States or else we will find him and ship him south ourselves." But, after all of the questions, I was allowed in with a cheerful, "enjoy your trip."   ...Read more

OK, so you took a ferry to Alaska, spent a few days around Haines and drove up through the Yukon to the big part of the state. What now? Well... sha... drive around, find backroads, what else?

Maps come in handy at this point. Cell phone maps really don't work up here where there can be hundreds of miles between towers... Seriously you can drive five or six hours with no connection. (There are actually people up here with no connection to the internet or cell network, Geepers! How do they survive?) ...This is why God gave us paper maps. Well, OK, I got mine from Delorme... They have the best maps. One, giant, $20, book-sized map per state. Topographical, pretty darn good resolution.... They show all of the roads, even the itty bitty ones. But there must be something wrong with the Alaskan map, it doesn't show all of the tiny sub highwys between the big ones. That's OK I'll just start driving & they will show up.   ...Read more