Alberta Bound & Beyond

[unkamonkey]

I may be a strange person but I remember our first dog when I was about 6 YO. A Dachshund and she was standing on the back deck of the '55 Pontiac warning off other drivers. Used dog that we got because she was biting the children messing around with her pups.
I go over to the neigbors house and 4 dogs start the warning barks and I get up around 1/2 of the way up the driveway and they go to the welcome John bark. About 20 minutes later I have 2 dogs on their backs for belly rubs.
You could say that I get along with critters.

 

[Blackdawg]

Haha, the deer lived. Reminds me of norther pike. Catch it, get it in the boat and hit it with a hammer. Few hours later you go to open bag at home and the friggn pike bites you, hit it with a hammer. Go inside, bandage yourself up and get a knife and cutting board, when you go back out the pike is gone, it's flopping down your yard headed back to its river��. My friends sturgeon fished with a fishing rod and a shotgun just incase they caught one��.

I wonder if it wasn't the angle of the axle that caused the diff housing to break? Maybe being lifted and a rapid impact caused it not to flex at cv joints but break out of the differential housing. Very curios about the cause.

The housing crack is no doubt from the pinion getting slammed upwards after hitting the carrier itself as the pinion sits on the upper side already. The CV axles are fine and by some miracle the side bearings were fine too. Thats how i was able to get home by cutting the carrier and leaving the CVs in.

I may be a strange person but I remember our first dog when I was about 6 YO. A Dachshund and she was standing on the back deck of the '55 Pontiac warning off other drivers. Used dog that we got because she was biting the children messing around with her pups.
I go over to the neigbors house and 4 dogs start the warning barks and I get up around 1/2 of the way up the driveway and they go to the welcome John bark. About 20 minutes later I have 2 dogs on their backs for belly rubs.
You could say that I get along with critters.

haha sound like my kinda person! Id say im the same, but horses and cows don't seem to like me much..not that i like me much either.

 

[unkamonkey]

Blackdawg I sort of have to ask. I've been around black or black and tan dogs for around 55 years and our group still has 3 Black Labs, pure bred or mixes. Do you actually have a black dog?
I'm not much of a horse person but I helped out a lady friend set up a winter enclosure for her loaner horse. I walked around in the field and something is resting on my shoulder. Larry, her old retired roping horse is is trying to say hello. Just like a big dog.

 

[Blackdawg]

Blackdawg I sort of have to ask. I've been around black or black and tan dogs for around 55 years and our group still has 3 Black Labs, pure bred or mixes. Do you actually have a black dog?
I'm not much of a horse person but I helped out a lady friend set up a winter enclosure for her loaner horse. I walked around in the field and something is resting on my shoulder. Larry, her old retired roping horse is is trying to say hello. Just like a big dog.c wfc8 @comcast.net

Yes actually. Our first dog was named Tom and a black Lab. Was an amazing dog. He ate himself to death. Broke out one night and ate a plastic bag. 100% blockage of his intestine. heart failed in surgery as they were sewing him back up.

Our second dog is also a pure bred black lab, Bix. We also adopted a Yellow lab who is pure white we named Satchamo. He just showed up one day at our back gate. We took care of him and called the police saying we had it. A week later his owner showed up and told us we could keep him. He didn't have time to take care of him and had bought him on an impulse after breaking up with his girlfriend.

But the real story of my Tag is from gaming with my Dad on linux. He called himself BlackBear and i was BlackDog. But Blackdog is taken on most forums and when i got involved with those i went for Blackdawg.

So yea, i do have a black dog. And white they are great. Though not really mine, my dads. They come with us when they can but my latest setups on my rigs make it hard to pack the dogs. My Dad always brings them when he can come with his taller bed rack and i pack all the tools and parts. His work schedule just doesn't allow that they come much. They are with us in the SOS Report though.

 

[unkamonkey]

My neighbors dog seems to be going through some digestive issues. He seems to like to eat plastics as well. He is a Catahula. Large goofy dog.
We went through a few Dachshunds before I got my Black Lab. Read it forward, she became my mothers dog and I wasn't allowed to keep her. I was told that I don't know how to take care of a dog....
The neighbors have been through many breeds of dogs and they are stuck on Labs now. I can't disagree with their choice. OK, maybe a BC.

 

[Blackdawg]

My neighbors dog seems to be going through some digestive issues. He seems to like to eat plastics as well. He is a Catahula. Large goofy dog.
We went through a few Dachshunds before I got my Black Lab. Read it forward, she became my mothers dog and I wasn't allowed to keep her. I was told that I don't know how to take care of a dog....
The neighbors have been through many breeds of dogs and they are stuck on Labs now. I can't disagree with their choice. OK, maybe a BC.

I love labs.

Tom was funny. He'd eat anything! Once i was in the shop with dad working on something when we heard a terrible wreching sound....looked over at Tom and he was just wagging his tail happy as can be...then we smelled it..he had puked up a pound and half of bacon...STILL IN THE PACKAGE hahaha unbelievable..

Fun dogs though. I love them.

 

[GoodEnoughforGabe]

What a hell of a read man! You documented the hell out of this trip and looks like you had fun and learned a lot, all the while.

I'm really impressed with your expedition and I think I'll have to make the trip out that way sometime in the near future.

Congrats to the newly engaged!

Thanks for sharing The pictures are phenomenal.

 

[Blackdawg]

What a hell of a read man! You documented the hell out of this trip and looks like you had fun and learned a lot, all the while.

I'm really impressed with your expedition and I think I'll have to make the trip out that way sometime in the near future.

Congrats to the newly engaged!

Thanks for sharing The pictures are phenomenal.

Thanks! I still have to finish it actually. Just a short wrap up chapter. Then i have to start the next one which i REALLY documented well. Better then anything before. It'll be a novel almost haha

Thanks for reading and commenting!

 

[andysgreenxj]

Dude, you're killin us with rhe suspence of it all! Your write ups, and photos are epic! Hope that all is well...keep up the great work!:coffeedrink:

 

[Blackdawg]

Dude, you're killin us with rhe suspence of it all! Your write ups, and photos are epic! Hope that all is well...keep up the great work!:coffeedrink:

sorry! Been a crazy week at work. Hoping i'll wrap it up this weekend or next week and start the next one. promise!

Thanks for reading!

 

[rfoubi]

Great thread, sweet photos, and good work on the trailside repairs. Also congrats to the future married couple! What is the name of the cabin you drove to near the glacier? I probably missed it somewhere in your writeup. I have seen this cabin/place pop up in a few photos lately, apparently a good place for early season skiing. I'd love to go check it out. Cheers, and looking forward to the last part

 

[Blackdawg]

Great thread, sweet photos, and good work on the trailside repairs. Also congrats to the future married couple! What is the name of the cabin you drove to near the glacier? I probably missed it somewhere in your writeup. I have seen this cabin/place pop up in a few photos lately, apparently a good place for early season skiing. I'd love to go check it out. Cheers, and looking forward to the last part

Thanks man!

Sadly, I do not know the name would definitely be a killer spot for some back country skiing though!

 

[Matto]

Awesome trip report Monte, as always. Thanks for taking the time to write it up - I really appreciate it. Eagerly awaiting the finale.

Things I love:

• Your style of writing. It's super easy to read, it's clear and it's also concise. That's a real skill that most (myself VERY MUCH included) do not have.
• Your photography. It's clear you love it - it shows through the images you capture. They're stunning.
• Your team. You go on these crazy-*** adventures with some awesome people. I love how you're all on the same page - something breaks, and you all fix it. See a beautiful spot? Everyone stops for photos. And so on. Kudos to you and the whoel crew for creating such a great group of mates.
• Your relationship with Frank. It's clear he's more than just a car to you. I love that he's a central character in these stories.
• Your spirit of adventure. My favourite. Any of these things happened to me when out and about, and I'd be a wreck. You and the team just roll with it, look on the bright side, and keep going. There's a lot to learn from your example for someone like me .
• That you take the time to link to your new trip reports from your old ones. I came here from the SOS Report, and am so much better off because of that. Thanks!

That's enough for now - keep up the good work!

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Blackdawg]

Awesome trip report Monte, as always. Thanks for taking the time to write it up - I really appreciate it. Eagerly awaiting the finale.

Things I love:

• Your style of writing. It's super easy to read, it's clear and it's also concise. That's a real skill that most (myself VERY MUCH included) do not have.
• Your photography. It's clear you love it - it shows through the images you capture. They're stunning.
• Your team. You go on these crazy-*** adventures with some awesome people. I love how you're all on the same page - something breaks, and you all fix it. See a beautiful spot? Everyone stops for photos. And so on. Kudos to you and the whoel crew for creating such a great group of mates.
• Your relationship with Frank. It's clear he's more than just a car to you. I love that he's a central character in these stories.
• Your spirit of adventure. My favourite. Any of these things happened to me when out and about, and I'd be a wreck. You and the team just roll with it, look on the bright side, and keep going. There's a lot to learn from your example for someone like me .
• That you take the time to link to your new trip reports from your old ones. I came here from the SOS Report, and am so much better off because of that. Thanks!

That's enough for now - keep up the good work!

Cheers,
Matt

Wow man. Thank you for all of that. I really appreciate all of that. Glad we can all be a little inspiring to you! Makes it worth doing all the working putting them together.

We as a group have been doing it for almost 5 years. Definitely have been doing it with each other a while and we wouldn't do it without each other, well long trips anyways. We always try to make it work. That's mostly my fault haha i seem to be the one that always explodes. We are pretty well seasoned now and ''callused" haha

Thanks for all the compliments! I will have this finished before saturday i swear. I am SO stoked to start the next one i need to wrap this up!

 

[Blackdawg]

Alberta Bound and Beyond

Chapter 3: Separate Endings​

The following morning we awoke and took some time to enjoy the marvelous lake we had been parked on the edge of. Was a near perfect mirror.



Alberta Bound!-59.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

Alberta Bound!-60.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_0242 by Benjamin Springli, on Flickr

IMG_0245 by Benjamin Springli, on Flickr

Alberta Bound!-61.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


But the morning had a sadness about it. I was leaving my friends now as I felt continuing on with the current state of Frankenstein was not safe. We said our good byes and packed up and I hit the road south to the US border.


IMG_0249 by Benjamin Springli, on Flickr



Ben and Mike were not done however. They had other places to be, things to see!


I ask Ben to write about their ending as I was not there and they went and saw many more beautiful things. Here is his contribution and ending:



We were now down to two rigs. Mike and I worked our way over to Toby Creek to have a leisurely day of exploring.

Stopped by a washout

We even saw a bear!

Eventually we worked our way back to the creek where we set camp at the waters edge.

Then next morning we headed north. An important stop we made was the iconic Lake Louise. Incredible place but tourist central!