On The Road w/ KC ~ August 6 - ?

[Nullifier]

Nice KC!! wish I was there too.

[kcowyo]

KC, that is too cool man. I love reading your posts, and now I have a new one to subscribe to. Keep us posted with your great travel tales and awesome photographs.

You should probably be here with me. I have room and we could compare notes.....


Thanks everyone for the compliments so far. Sorry Nullifier that you had to abort the mission. I know you've been looking forward to it and working for it for so long. Would've been nice to catch up.

Robb feel free to grab any pics you like, that's why I put 'em up. Wouldn't be right to be having all of this fun without sharing.

[kcowyo]

Greetings from West Glacier, Montana!

A couple of things to briefly mention for clarification. While the majority of this trip has no set itinerary or schedule, I did have two places in particular that I wanted to visit, Glacier National Park in NW Montana and the central Idaho area. I'm heading to GNP because my previous attempts to see the park in the fall were snowed out. I'm hoping by going in the summer, the weather will work with me even if I have to battle the crowds.

I had alloted a week to make the ten hour trip from my home to GNP via the many backroads that straddle the MT & ID border and it actually has taken 8 days. I stalled at the beautiful Hungry Horse Resevoir, just outside GNP over the weekend hoping the crowds would be less during the week. We'll find out tomorrow if it was worth it. The backroads through Rock Creek near Missoula, Seely Lake and the Flathead Indian Reservation and into the famous Bob Marshall Wilderness have been tremendous and easy to navigate with only maps and a decent sense of direction. The next several days should be spent in and around GNP, with pics and impressions to follow.

And regarding the title to this thread, if it seems familiar, good. I have blatantly ripped it off from my favorite travelling storyteller and fellow NC native, the late Charles Kuralt. It would be impossible and overly sentimental (like MarkF'nStephens overly sentimental) to convey how much I, as a child of the pre-cable era, enjoyed Kuralt's stories from the road. What a great set of pipes too. It is also a tribute to Kuralt, as he often proclaimed Montana his favorite state and a natural treasure. Maybe that's just because it's where he stashed his secret mistress all those years.

More impressions from the road.....

Part II -

• Spent Friday, 8/11 in Missoula, MT with a friend at a downtown food, music and microbrew festival. Multiple Double Whiskey Sours make for a poor nightcap following a day of sampling Micro Brews....
• Spent Saturday 8/12 swearing off Double Whiskey Sours
• It's hard to imagine any devout athiests living in Montana. If there are, surely they must have several doubts about their beliefs when they look at the mountains and rivers around them
• Had to deal with several dead trees fallen across the trail. Many of the areas I've passed through have burned in recent years. Strong winds earlier this week felled many and I've been first to come across many of them
• The Hungry Horse Resevoir, located directly south of the west gate to GNP is as beautiful a lake as I've seen. I spent 2 days driving the entire 100 mile loop around the lake. The second day I travelled only 40 total miles before finding another campsite that I couldn't refuse. I even took a super quick dip in its emerald waters
• If I put a dollar in a swear jar everytime I said "Dammit!" after hitting a pothole on the 100 mile loop around the HHR, by the end of the loop I'd have had enough money to pay to pave the whole thing. Dammit!
• The truck and camper are performing very well. I have 3 screws in the camper that shake loose after time on washboard roads. I have far more loose screws in my own head, so I tend not to worry about these too much
• You could make a lot of money in Montana, if you sold Subaru Outback Wagons or fly fishing vests
• Sometimes the map is right, the locals are right but the darn trail is closed anyway. I came across a few locked gates this weekend and no GPS, Supercharger, or Fridge can overcome that
• MarkF'nStephens is right. Moosedrool is a fine local brew to sip on the riverbanks. Wish I could figure out how to send him some
• XM Radio subscribers take note - channel 27 is called Cinemagic, featuring the orchestral pieces of some great movies. I listened for hours one afternoon to the music of Legends of the Fall, Field of Dreams, Forrest Gump, Dances with Wolves and A River Runs Through It. Really made for excellent driving music. The anxious music of War of the Worlds, really added to an afternoon's frantic search for fuel
• For nearly 20 years I have completely avoided hot dogs. Can't and won't eat them, no matter what. For some inexplicable reason over the last week, I have been craving corn dogs. Everytime I stop to fuel up and they have a little heated display cabinet on the counter, loaded with burritos, churros, etc. I have been compelled to buy two corn dogs. I bet I've eaten a dozen of them in the last few days.....?
• I should've gotten a fridge before this trip
• You can't win an argument with someone when they are not around and it's only in your head. Willie says, ".... and I know just what I'd change if went back in time somehow, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. I'm forgiving everything that forgiveness will allow and there's nothing I can do about it now."
• Trust in Willie

More pics of things I've seen -

[Jonathan Hanson]

Your photos are always awesome, KC!

[BajaTaco]

Subscribed to this thread.

This last post of yours definitely got some audible laughs here K.C. it's hard to express stuff in words sometimes... but you are doing a fine job.

And this... I'm speechless...

[pskhaat]

KC, hope you have some very serious time now to think about and consider the proper window dressings for your camper.

Love reading what you have to say here, please keep 'em coming. I'm living though you right now

[seth_js]

...Legends of the Fall, Dances with Wolves and A River Runs Through It...

Three of my all time favorite movies.

Freak'n awesome!

[datrupr]

Keep it comin' KC. Now, I do not have XM, but I might have to check my Sirius for a channel along those lines. I would love to drive up there and hook up with you and compare notes, but I unfortunately spent all of my $$ on a trip to Mexico recently, so I am now broke and have no job. Perhaps if I come across a few bucks and I still have the time I will pack up and meet you in Montana. I have not been to Monana in about 15 years, I love it up there this time of year. Or, perhaps, we can compare notes another time.

[bootzilla]

Wow - just stumbled across this thread - beautiful country, and GREAT shots! Sounds like you are having an incredible time doing something I hope we all get the chance to do from time to time - just look and admire - nature, people - everything.

I like the Sirius, too - but if you are within earshot of Missoula again, you gotta tune in my buddies Craig and Al on 99.9 - they are great!

[bigreen505]

Thanks K.C.! Beautiful!