Destination Unknown - 2022 JTR journal

[chorky]

The following morning was early. Very early. 0-dark-30 early. The intent was to hike Doris peak, less than half the elevation as Great Northern, and less miles as well, to get a good sunrise view. And a sunrise view it was!

Hiking in the dark in griz country is really not the smartest choice. But like Great Northern, it was a one time thing.

And what a view it was. With a nice little surprise too, if you can see the shiny piece of brass below.

I always love finding these monuments

And as the alpenglow hit the peaks

The flowers and bees began to wake up

Soon the rose to the sky

So it was time to head back down

Not before stopping at the lake for some coffee though!

And so ends another awesome weekend! Only possible thanks to the Jeep and a good camping setup.

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[chorky]

After a few camping trips already this year and a 8 day trip coming soon I decided to change up some storage options in the cab.

If you recall in post # 35 & 39, I previously installed a home made 40% seat delete. At the time I didnt want to commit to a full delete thinking I might have room for a third person. But that is very unlikely and I could really hse the space since the rear seats take up a lot of space.

So, out the went. Along with the center divider

I really wanted a simple system that I could finish this weekend as I have a fee more things arriving that must go on before thursday night. So taking some measurements I cut a plain flat piece And went for a test fit.

Making a couple temporary front panels I wanted to level it out.

It is a perfect fit. So far. I wanted a taller platform to retain a good amount of storage underneath. I really despise having to move things around to grab something, and the floor based panels require you to pack all your stuff on top of itself - which IMO is a terrible design. This should work well

Thinking it would be good to have another support, I cut a center section

I was using 3/4” birch. Which is all the local store had and it turned out to work great. Initially I wanted 1/2” but now that it is together I would have had integrity issues with only 1/2”. At the rear it was resting on the plastic panels. But I wanted to find a way to secure it to the truck unlike the 40% panel I had before. So I made some quick brackets that bolt to the body, and the top could be screwed into. I also needed a 3/4” spacer for the frivers side as this plastic panel is just under a inch shorter than what is on the passenger side

Next I cut out some access panels, and glued and screwed support brackets for the panels. I only wanted access for the rear portion that would be covered by the center support as the open sides allows plenty of access to the main cubbies.

Nest was more gluing and screwing of the support panels. I opted to make a hald center support as well so the panels are structurally sound. Even though the whole system would be screwed down I didnt want the supports to have any wiggle room and risk buckling and failure.

Finally it was time for 3-4 coats of paint before a crazy rain storm dumped half an inch of water!

So in it goes. I am very pleased with how this turned out especially for being done in a day and a half. It is very sturdy, has opened up quite a lot of storage space and is secured well. In the future I probably will add some L-track but for now it will do. It also gave me a spot to mount the CB and GMRS so theyre not just sitting on the floor anymore.

 

[WILDHOBO]

And as the ridge continues south to Great Northern, the scenery changes. From grassy forbs and pretty flowers, to rocky ground, lichen, and stubby trees as the treeline gets closer. Amazing to think that in several more hours I will actually be near the summit - never did I think this would occur after some significant medical issues less than a year ago.

From here the trail continues along the ridge. Just slightly to the western side as the eastern side contained several drop-off's more than 1,000 feet down. Not the smartest adventure for a guy with balance problems...

Perspective

Looks gorgeous. Don’t stop pushing yourself. The rewards are worth it.

 

[WILDHOBO]

The following morning was early. Very early. 0-dark-30 early. The intent was to hike Doris peak, less than half the elevation as Great Northern, and less miles as well, to get a good sunrise view. And a sunrise view it was!

Hiking in the dark in griz country is really not the smartest choice. But like Great Northern, it was a one time thing.

And what a view it was. With a nice little surprise too, if you can see the shiny piece of brass below.

I always love finding these monuments

And as the alpenglow hit the peaks

The flowers and bees began to wake up

Soon the rose to the sky

So it was time to head back down

Not before stopping at the lake for some coffee though!

And so ends another awesome weekend! Only possible thanks to the Jeep and a good camping setup.

Amazing. Crap. A moth just landed on my phone, then in my food. Camping. Gotta love it.

 

[chorky]

Looks gorgeous. Don’t stop pushing yourself. The rewards are worth it.

Yeah - agreed but this one was pretty far over my limit. I had to take a nap with having such a bad migraine and the whole way down was on and off vertigo state. Not good with 1,000'+ cliffs. But it was an amazing view and experience. My friend routinely goes on 15 mile+ day hikes which is just too much for me. But it was reviving knowing these crappy surgeries didn't leave me totally couch bound. I feel extremely fortunate and blessed just to be alive

Amazing. Crap. A moth just landed on my phone, then in my food. Camping. Gotta love it.

I'm jealous of your remote working lol. Assuming that's what you got going on. Just ordered starlink last week since I'm on detail doing some heavy mapping and the office internet is total garbage, so decided to work from home for a bit to process some 100 gigs of LAZ files. I will be really curious to see how good it performs since my home internet is also pretty bad. Not much options here. Currently 15 mb/s (which is actually only 2 upload 1 download) for $85/mo! The company want's almost 100 for '25' mb/s - pretty ridiculous. But if this starlink works as good as I hope it does I might look into getting a mobile option in the future for some more remote work. But I would have to figure out a power system that can power the computer and 2 monitors. That might be asking a bit much for the already heavy Jeep.

 

[chorky]

Last week I had the pleasure of embarking on a week long trek with Homeward for Heroes. I have mentioned them before but they are a great nonprofit group for vets and first responders to reconnect after service difficulties. It was a great group this year and an awesome time seeing some new places. It was also a great chance to fully test the current build, see what works, what doesnt, what needs changing - all over 9 days off grid.

It all started with a convoy out of Missoula to head east.

The time of year chosen for this was perfect as it allowed for relatively cooler temperatures but still with fresh green plant growth.

Rigs of all types were on the trip which provided great opportunities to see what others utilize and what might be adopted later on.

For the most part this trip was accessible by 2wd but some mildly rutted roads did allow for suspension quality testing

Everyone lined up for the first bit of fun, the Boulder Tunnel.

The tunnel (also called Wickes tunnel) is about a mile and a half long with some interesting history (http://www.montanaoverland4x4adventures.org/boulderwickestunnel.html). Water was a little over 2’ on the exit and it was a great opportunity to test the aiming of lights since the new bumper install

 

[chorky]

Of course everyone made it through. Even a stock ford explorer. At the exit, one can see some inscriptions at the top of the tunel, and the date of construction.

This of course made for opportunities of some great photos. Although we were on a bit of a schedule so I didnt take the time to really make for the perfect composition.

Upon exiting it was as if we were transported back in time.

But we hit the pavement for the next camp spot

 

[chorky]

After a mild stream crossing first

Some of the group started fininding their spot for the nigh. But I wanted to scope a offshoot I spotted

And as usual, the lesser traveled road reveals some great views!

But the area wasnt quite large enough for the whole group so we settled on a spot near the stream.

where the sunset just looked fake

 

[chorky]

Of course it wouldnt be complete without checking out a little trail that quickly turned into some decent 4x4 action.

Unfortunately it didnt go too far before we had to turn around as the trail appeared to turn into a steep ATV hillclimb without indication of turnaround spots

So back down the hill we went. This ended up being a great test of my suspension build with a full loadout to see how it handles. And it worked almost exactly as expected. Some of the rocks and ledges were 2-3’ high with some 2’ deep washout sections. I did scrape frame one time, and could use some better shocks, but for the most part performance is great considering this is the max amount of true off road I intend, except for a couple bucket list places. As always, pictures dont do it justice and this was not the hardest spot. I failed to take the time to get appropriate photos.

 

[Jaxmax]

As always Chad thanks for posting this to tease me even more! I look forward to your threads very informative and I love seeing the scenery….Jack

 

[chorky]

The next day we relocated again to a small reservoir just outside Dillon.

The views along the way were pretty fantastic

With some pretty interesting old mining remains in an area with practically no water. It makes me wonder how this even worked.

And yet again making us feel thrown back in time.

But not without those perfect photos

Headed back toward pavement for a little shortcut we were unknowingly staring into the Ruby range which we would shortly be driving through

 

[chorky]

Due to navigational needs I didnt get too many photos of passing through the Ruby range except for this one where we were staring back into the Gravely range we just passed through hours before. And beyond you can see Black Butte and Sliderock peaks, both over 10,000’ at 30 and 22 miles away respectively

 

[chorky]

But we made it to our destination in time for dinner and to watch the sunset

 

[chorky]

The next day with the line-up ready we were on the way to a special surprise

We were treated to an insiders look at a ghost town where most people dont get to see behind locked doors. I always find it intriguing how fast things have changed in the last 150 years, exponentially faster than the previous 150 years.

It is interesting to me that construction of those days still hold up today with little maintenance whereas modern construction seems to have plenty of issues

Some of the tools used for mining back then can still be found today, unopened, fragile and dangerous

It is especially interesting noting the siding on one house built in the late 1800’s is the same as my house built in 1923

Yet even older buildings are still standing. I cant imagine actually living back then. What a difference in every aspect

You might notice one of these in the spin-off show from Yellowstone - 1923 I think it is?

 

[chorky]

That evening, the stars were incredible!! And with little distant light since we were so far out, you could see the Milky Way. I was barely able to capture a portion of it with the camera options at hand. It was a fantastic night.

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