Spring Time Wandering - The good, bad and the ugly

[sdmarkus]

Most of my trips are typically destination or activity driven, but this past March/April the perfect storm of events came together for what could be considered some true wandering.

I had three destinations between Hamilton, MT and Silverton, CO over the course of three weeks. Rather than drive home between events, my wife signed off on what would become a three week journey like no other.

I headed from San Diego to Las Vegas in late March to meet part of our group for the first leg of the mission. I spent the day in Red Rock Canyon waiting for my friends to get off work before we made the long drive up to MT.

The weather was perfect and the area is truly unique, I could spend days exploring the various trails. But alas, it was time to rally the troops and continue north.

We loaded up and jumped back on the interstate for the 13 hour drive to Montana. Unfortunately, things don't always go according to plan....

 

[sdmarkus]

Was it just plain bad luck or the excess weight in the rear combined with a series of dips that snuck up on me just outside of town?

This is what happens when your upper ball joint fails and your rim rides on your upper control arm just long enough to get off the road. The tire lost pressure/bead and bassically blew off the rim, I was very fortunate this disaster was not much worse.

 

[sdmarkus]

This was going to be no quick fix and we were on a schedule. I had my truck towed back to town, left it with a friend and we continued our journey in a rented truck. There would be no stopping us!

We drove through the night and arrived in Idaho Falls the next morning, having a lovely brunch at Smitty's Pancake House. The drive from there was pretty incredible as we worked our way up the 28 towards our destination in the heart of the Bitterroot Valley.

We pulled into Hamilton, MT later that afternoon and meet the rest of our group at the trailhead for the Donner Mountain Lodge just outside of town. I've done plenty of backcountry hut trips, but this facility would turn out to be the Ritz Carlton of b/c lodging.

The temps were warm and the snow soft, but we made the best of it and had a wonderful weekend of touring, comradery and breathtaking views of the surrounding wilderness.

https://vimeo.com/64194993

to be continued...

 

[craig333]

Wow, glad it wasn't worse. I admire your resolve to continue the journey. I'd have probably been too bummed to continue.

 

[4buckeye]

Glad you made it. I have to agree with Mr. Mumbles....I would've been pretty bummed too. Looks like the rental was we'll worth it though!