Where's Juneaudave...On the final leg to LCG!

[Juneaudave]

But if you head south from Wisdom through Jackson, think about camping at Bannack State Park. Great old ghost town.

Love the Wise Rive but Bannack is a great idea! We need to do the run to Dillon to see a cousin and i've never been to Bannack! We will definitely stop there!

[chukwgn]

We live south of Helena. What fabulous weather you're having for your trip!!
Safe travels :-) Love your trailer.

[Juneaudave]

We hit 2500 miles on our trip with the loop around Anaconda, Dillon, Bannack and the Bitteroot.



Our first stop was in Anaconda where we stopped to visit Marcia's brother and sister-in-law. We took in the Fairmont Hot Springs and also spent a day fishing for cutthroat trout and digging sapphires up Skalkaho Pass. This is Marcia and her brother climbing up to a big rock under some falls on the pass.



Nixon took the opportunity to visit with Marcia's brothers dog... And to help out with the fishing.



The sapphires were in the stream. We would stop fishing occasionally and pick through a handful of likely gravel!



After anaconda and Dillon, we visited Bannack State Park. This is a ghost town and the State's first territorial capitol.



Most of the buildings in Bannack are open to walk through. We spent the afternoon taking pics and enjoying the history. You can camp right in the park.



Finally, we stayed two days in the Bitteroot Valley after touring the Big Hole National Battlefield and doing some rock hounding at Crystal Park in the Elkhorn Mountains. Speaking of elkhorns....this was a big old bull in the Painted Rocks Recreational Area in the Bitteroots.



This was our camp right on the East Fork. This camp doesn't charge fees after Labor Day! We pretty muck had the campground to ourselves.

Next stop is the Bear Tooth Highway and Yellowstone....weather permitting...

[tony.latham]

Good gawd, you sure aren't in a bee-line.

When you come off the Beartooth plateau –jeeeeez, what a spectacular drive*– there's the USFS Soda Butte Campground just before you hit Cooke City. Otherwise, Pebble Creek and Slough Creek are my two favorite campsites in the park.

You gotta thermometer in that 'drop?

Tony

*That Beartooth Highway outta be a mandatory cruise before one is awarded their Teardrop Wings.

p.s. The cutties in Slough Creek are bigger than a hen humpback salmon. They're gawd-awful wise but have been known to come up for a black beetle.

[S. Heisley]

Beautiful! Thanks!

PS. Nixon sure is a handsome boy!

[KCStudly]

Nice pics. Great trip!

The pics of the dogs and elk really capture something special in the moment. Nice!

[Juneaudave]

The Beartooth, Yellowstone and Tetons were beautiful. We spent three days touring. Interesting thing, while the Parks were open, just about all of the National Forest and Park Canpgrounds were shut down for the winter.



The Beartooth Highway was scheduled to be open to till the 14th so we just made it. No doubt this is one of the most beautiful and dramatic drives in North America! Marcia is not a fan of cliffs, but she did well!



Surprising to me, there was still a lot of traffic on the Beartooth and all of the Park roads.



The Tetons were spectacular. We spent almost a whole day there and slept in the Signal Mountain Campground. That was the only one open.



The postcard shot of the Tetons on a nice fall day.

And we are off for southern Utah!!

[Vedette]

What a wonderful trip!
Wish we were travelling along with you But your pictures are making it possible for those of us who are looking at the conclusion of our season.
Thanks for the pics and enjoy Utah! We loved all of it in 2013.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[mrwall1]

What a trip!! That looks like a trip of a lifetime!! Hope to do the same one day!!!
thanks!
mike

[razorback]

Enjoying the pics of your trip to the LCG IX. See you are interested in rocks and jems. If you leave LCG IX it is only about 135 miles to the Crater of Diamonds state park near
Murfreesboro, Arkansas. For a small entrance fee you can hunt for diamonds and keep any you find. Link from LCG to the park: http://www.mapquest.com/#d35871016b62b251ebcdc79d
link to park info: http://www.craterofdiamondsstatepark.com/
Looking forward to meeting you and gazing at your TD. One of my favorites.
Larry and Macy

[mikeschn]

Nice photos! How's Nixon doing?

Mike...

[Juneaudave]

Nice photos! How's Nixon doing?

Mike...

Nixon is doing great and he thoroughly enjoyed his travels in Southern Utah! Here are some pics...



Our first stop in Utah was Green River. This is an area that is famous for its melons and as a stopping place to make a number of field excursions. We camped on a primitive BLM campground right on the river. Marcia wasn't too sure about the desolate landscape, but she managed a smile for the camera!



After unhooking the trailer, we made a couple mild four wheel excursions to see the sites. Here we are about ten miles up a dry wash to check out some petroglyphs.



We saw several petroglyphs panels along the way. I think these are Rocky Mountain Sheep, but we also saw elk, symbols and people adorned with masks that looked like aliens!

[Juneaudave]

After Green River...it was off to "Reef Madness" at Capitol Reef National Park with the Colorado Teardrops.



Our hosts for Reef Madness were Martin and Liz with their trailer "Bubbles". The Fruita Campground lived up to its billing as an oasis in the desert!





We had a great time exploring Capitol Reef and taking pics. On Saturday, a group of us caravaned around the park before the group potluck in the evening.



Then it was off to Bryce National Park. We stayed in the park itself. We were surprised as there was little traffic despite the pleasant fall weather. Again...it was more pics of spectacular scenery! We felt blessed to have to opportunity for our trip!



Next stop on our journey is Roswell NM where Nixon will be on the lookout for signs of alien life!!!!

[KCStudly]

Super pics! Gorgeous dog. You are having a wonderful trip.

[capnTelescope]

What took me so long to find this thread? Wow. What a great trip. I'm planning the reverse for next year, so I'll have a bunch of questions for you at LCG. Looking forward to seeing you then, Dave.