Category: Places

On Friday, I decided to leave my campsite outside of Winnemucca, NV. I wanted to spend the weekend again exploring the Loneliest Highway In America: Nevada’s section of US-50. I didn’t make any actual plans, choosing only to hit the road and see where it took me. Seeing artifacts of the old Pony Express and taking in the views of the road, I finished with a day in Great Basin National Park before heading across Utah to Grand Junction, CO.

On Friday, I left my campsite outside of Bend, OR, and I headed to Southeast Oregon. I found myself driving through the recently newsworthy Malheur National Wildlife Refuge before finding a campsite at the Western base of Steens Mountain. I woke up in the morning Saturday to explore the mountain and then head down to Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. Finally, Sunday, I headed into Winnemucca and founding camping in Water Canyon just outside of town.

After boondocking in Snoqualmie Pass and visiting Seattle, I ended up deciding to move to just outside of Hanford Reach National Monument. I spent a good week and a half there before moving on to visit John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, which I absolutely fell in love with spending the day there. However, as there is no cell service there, I had to move on to Bend, where I also dropped by Newberry National Volcanic Monument today.

On Tuesday, I woke up in my hotel room in Walla Walla, and set off to the local tire shop. After getting the tire repaired, I set off to a campsite for the week, finally ending up on the Western side of Snoqualmie Pass, at a free boondocking spot in the National Forest.

On Friday, I set off from my spot at Hayspur Fish Hatchery, headed West towards Oregon. I spent one night on the Snake River outside of Huntington, Oregon, before spending all of Saturday exploring Hells Canyon. Saturday night, I camped on the West Rim of the canyon before heading towards Washington on Sunday. Due to a flat tire, the weekend got cut short, ending with me in a hotel room in Walla Walla for a couple of nights, waiting to get replacement tires.

Late Wednesday night, a wildfire started up on the mountains above my campsite at Shorts Bar. I had fun watching the fire burn, but as the smoke continued making my stay uncomfortable, I set out Friday afternoon to find some new camping. I ended up checking out a good portion of the Idaho side of Hells Canyon before finally setting up camp at the historic Hayspur Fish Hatchery.

On Friday, I finally decided that it was time to move on out of Montana for the year. I have been eyeing Idaho, wanting to get in and explore it more than I did last year, when I really did barely any more than just driving through. Already, I’ve been having a lovely stay and adventure in the Idaho Panhandle, if going a little faster than I originally planned nonetheless.

After my hike in Two Medicine, I stayed for a time at Cut Bank Campground again, before finally saying goodbye to the national parks for a while. I didn’t move too far, though! After Sunday night on the Middle Fork Flathead River again, I moved over to the Blacktail Mountain area for some quiet solitude and amazing views.