Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Tom's Neighborhood Workshop

[wreckdiver1321]

The next part of the dresser project was to get the drawer pulls installed on the larger, lower drawers, which each require two pulls on each drawer pull. To do this, I used another piece of scrap wood to make a different jig that fits the bigger drawer. Pretty straightforward job here...



The rinse and repeat the process with these six drawers and test fit.





With those done, it was time to get ready for paint. Since the drawer carcass is in good shape, all I needed to do was scuff the carcass and drawer fronts with a Scotchbrite pad. But not before pulling each drawer.



I did take the time to mask off the top since I was leaving it alone. I went over everything twice just in case a spot got missed. I know it's unlikely that this will get much beating because it'll be in our bedroom, but I have two young boys so I ain't taking any chances.

Speaking of young boys, this whole process was supervised.



He likes watching me work and asking me questions. Really enjoying this phase.

Then it was time to paint. I used my compressor to blow any dust off the carcass before starting. I used Valspar Furniture & Cabinet paint, which is expensive but seems pretty damn tough all things considered. After the first coat, I was stoked about the color. After the third, I was ecstatic. This goes perfectly with the aesthetic we have in our house and really updates it a lot.



Painting the drawers was more painstaking, but not difficult. Just lots of pieces.





I left the drawers overnight to dry after that.

Prior to reassembly, I did take a moment to fix part of the carcass, which caused the drawers to fit too loose on an upper drawer and too tight on a lower drawer. A scrap piece of wood and a couple screws shored it up nicely.

I used a screwdriver to install the first two drawer pulls, but realized that installing all the drawer pulls in this manner would take such an excessive amount of time that my bones would be brittle and my hair would be devoid of pigment by the time they were all installed. Couple with the inevitable arthritis kicking in, and I would never get them finished.

So, out came the impact. 5-minute job. And look at the results!



I'm really pleased with how this worked out, from the color to the sheen to the drawer pulls. Not even $100 invested in this and it looks like a million bucks. Very happy.

We did get it moved into our bedroom and were able to eliminate our two dressers, bestowing them upon our kids. One of their smaller dressers was needed to fit my wife's clothes (shocking, I know), but that's much smaller than what was there. Overall, it makes the bedroom feel cleaner and more open, bright, and airy. That certainly accomplished the mission I'd hoped it would.

The next project I had on the never-ending list was some maintenance and modification to the youngest member of our fleet:



To be continued...

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Dresser turned out great, I like that color.

 

[bugnut]

what he said! looking good!

 

[XJSuperman]

Thirded on the color being nice. Looks good Tom.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Dresser turned out great, I like that color.

what he said! looking good!

Thirded on the color being nice. Looks good Tom.

Thanks guys! Really pleased with how it worked out.

I forgot to mention in that post that I didn't do anything to fill the holes left by the original drawer pulls. The new ones covered the holes and made them impossible to see unless you're sitting on the floor, so I just left them. Made it a lot faster.

I'll have to grab a shot of it in our bedroom, it looks really nice in there now.

More to come! Work has been keeping me busy, so I haven't made the rounds of everyone's threads. I will soon though!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

My next project involved some much-needed maintenance to my wife's 2017 Subaru Crosstrek. This car is the unsung hero of my family, by the way. I'll tell you why...

Back in early 2018, my wife was pregnant with our first boy, ready to pop, and we were living in an apartment. My Nissan was in the midst of some major work, and we owned a 2014 Ford Focus as our sole vehicle at the time. We piled into the Focus to get her to work, and didn't even manage to get it out of the snowy parking lot. The parking lot. In a bout of irritation, I told my wife not to be surprised if she came home from work to find I had traded her car in on a Subaru. Fast forward a few hours and we were standing in front of this car at the local Hertz lot. The rest of the story should be pretty self-evident. We've owned this car for about 80k miles and four years without a single problem. Not so much as a burnt bulb or broken interior parts. Zip. Nada. Naught. The square root of jack. The front end has been rebuilt, twice, after deer strikes, both of which it drove away from without mechanical damage.

In the interim, between selling my Nissan and trying to obtain, and subsequently rebuild, my Land Cruiser, the car has been our gateway to adventure travel. Despite somewhat diminutive size, it's proven to be capable of carting my family and our stuff all over the backcountry.

Nearing 100k on the odometer, it's time to lavish some love on this hero of a car.

I have a big list of preventative maintenance that I'll be tackling over the course of the summer:

• Serpentine belt
• Oil change
• New radiator hoses
• Air filter
• New coolant
• Spark plugs
• Diff oil changes
• Struts (with 1" spacers)
• Sway bar bushings
• Front push bar with auxiliary driving lights

The first bit of work centered around the basic maintenance of filter changes, oil, bushings, and struts. Everything engine-related is surprisingly easy to access and work on.



I started with the belt and air filter. Thanks Rock Auto!





I had a fun incident here with the oil change. I've always noticed the drain plug is unusually snug every time I change the oil. I don't reef on it when I do the oil change, or even use a long-handled ratchet. Yet every time, without fail, the plug is damn near welded in there. Well this time, it was basically stuck solid. I tried to use my 6-point socket and impact, but for some reason my impact wasn't working. That turned out to be an issue with the @Stedlin male air fitting not allowing enough air to pass through and get to the gun, but it took me a few days to figure that out.

Attempting to get the plug off the pan with a breaker bar and 6-point socket, the bolt ended up rounding quite nicely. I had to run out to my brother-in-law's place to get his electric impact and his Gearwrench rounded bolt kit (which is just about the best thing out there for rounded bolts as far as I'm concerned) to actually get the damn drain plug out. A quick drive to the Subaru dealer to get a new drain plug and I could finally finish the oil change. Isn't wrenching fun?



The next thing to tick off the list was the struts. I got a set of KYB Excel-G's. which I've had great luck with in the past, as well as a set of 1" spacers from Anderson Design & Fabrication. Since we use this car in backcountry situations, we (meaning me) wanted a little more ground clearance. With a trip coming up, It was time to get the job done.

I started with the front end.



Pulling the struts is pretty easy but does require some faffing around. There's not a lot of extra play in the suspension. With enough wiggling, the strut assemblies come out, but then a problem arises with trying to fit new ones.



The photo above shows the old strut assembly. For some reason I had already put the spacer on. The first thing we did was knock out the old mounting studs with a sledge and run the new longer hardware into the top plates. I think I forgot I was replacing the struts while they were out. Anyway, you can see the design of the coil spring in the photo, and it presents a problem. There are only two exposed coils of the spring upon which you can get a spring compressor. While this does allow enough compression to remove the top hats (with a slight jump, I might add), it is not enough compression to install them on the new struts. It took us about an hour of screwing around, often dangerously, to figure out that we could put the spring compressor on the lower spring perch and one of the upper coils to get enough compression.

Though really sketchy, it worked. We reassembled the struts, with the spacers, and reinstalled them.



After they were reinstalled, I took the time to swap out the sway bar bushings. This isn't normally something I'd do, but I had a rattle coming from the passenger's side of the car and as the ball joints were in great shape, the only thing I could think of that might be worn out enough to rattle was the bushings.

With all that done, I called it a night and prepared to go after the rear struts the next day.

 

[gearhead1960]

I have a big list of preventative maintenance that I'll be tackling over the course of the summer:

• Serpentine belt
• Oil change
• New radiator hoses
• Air filter
• New coolant
• Spark plugs
• Diff oil changes
• Struts (with 1" spacers)
• Sway bar bushings
• Front push bar with auxiliary driving lights

The first bit of work centered around the basic maintenance of filter changes, oil, bushings, and struts. Everything engine-related is surprisingly easy to access and work on.

Tom,

I don't see that you have timing belt on your list. Used to be 60K was the interval for replacement, but know that 100K seems to be the new norm. My first Outback (RIP), 1998 model year had a timing belt and while it was replaced, at the time Subaru recommended replacement of the Crankshaft Pulley (harmonic balancer) as part of the service. Here is a story about my Outback that was not serviced correctly. As I don't know the recommended interval or procedure for the timing belt (I assume it has one, unless it is a chain) service for your Crosstek, I just thought I would bring it up to save you some aggravation in the future, if it can be avoided.....

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Tom,

I don't see that you have timing belt on your list. Used to be 60K was the interval for replacement, but know that 100K seems to be the new norm. My first Outback (RIP), 1998 model year had a timing belt and while it was replaced, at the time Subaru recommended replacement of the Crankshaft Pulley (harmonic balancer) as part of the service. Here is a story about my Outback that was not serviced correctly. As I don't know the recommended interval or procedure for the timing belt (I assume it has one, unless it is a chain) service for your Crosstek, I just thought I would bring it up to save you some aggravation in the future, if it can be avoided.....

Good point!

I did look into that actually, as it was something I was dreading. I know the recommended interval is around 100k now, and both my Outback and Land Cruiser have a while to go before they need a replacement. So I went searching for a timing belt for the Crosstrek, thinking I'd need to undertake that huge job before more trips this summer. I was absolutely dreading it.

Turns out, it's a chain. Happy days.

Sounds like the biggest thing I'm going to have to mess with on this car is maybe the CVT. Subarus of this age don't even seem to have head gasket problems anymore. Probably helps a lot that our 2017 is the last of the first generation of the Crosstrek. They worked out all bugs I guess.

 

[gearhead1960]

Yeah, Subaru says the fluid in the CVT in our 2022 Outback Touring XT is lifetime. If you go on the Outback forum there are people who who say that’s BS. The 2009 Mazda 5 we sold to buy the Outback never had the ****** fluid changed as Mazda also said it never needed changing. My SWMBO told me not to change it against my better? judgement. Car had 170,000 miles on it. Never experienced any issues with the ******.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Day 2 of the Subaru maintenance project went off a little smoother than day 1, but still a total pain.

I had plenty of help in the shop though, so that was a bonus.



Bram, my youngest, actually had a ton of fun with this thing. He loved that dad could hold it in place and he could pull the trigger, removing a nut in the process. Each time he would just giggle and giggle. It was great.

Steps here are pretty straightforward, if a little time consuming. This strut is easier to remove than the front, but more difficult to reinstall when all is said and done. Good news is there's lots of things to unbolt in order to make room. Bad news is they don't fit together quite right after the strut spacer is installed, so reinstallation requires judicious but selective use of swear words and threats towards unknown car engineers.



Fully removing the rears requires removing most of the Tupperware in the rear of the car, which isn't a big task really. This is one occasion where I'm really glad I have trim removal tools. Anybody who works on cars should have one of these kits. They're ****** cheap too.



Anyway, the rear strut is pretty easy to wrestle free. I hope everyone likes my fabric pattern.



So here's a look at what adding the spacers entails. You run into an issue with the original hardware because it's not long enough to accommodate the spacer, so you have to remove the factory studs. I used a small sledge, though a press or even a small ball joint separator would probably be less violent.



Once the old studs are removed, the spacers go in place. They have captive nuts inside that allow you to run a bolt through, thus replacing the factory hardware. Clever.





With that done, it was a simple job to swap the struts, namely because these coils are easier to deal with than the fronts are.



To get all the hardware snugged up properly, I used a socket held by a pair of vise-grips to hold the upper nut in place, then turned the the strut shaft with an Allen bit. Janky, but it works.



Meanwhile, Bram is still hard at work...



With the struts done, it was a simple matter of getting them reinstalled. Like I said before, with the spacers in place nothing quite lines up right so I had to do a lot of prying, hammering, and creative swearing. But I got it all back together with the wheels back on. For whatever reason, I decided to test out the struts by bouncing the rear end, only to hear a harsh knocking sound coming from the right side.

"Oh bother," I said to myself.

Up went the car and off came the struts. The upper nut hadn't quite been tightened enough. I also removed one of the spacers from each strut. Eagle-eyed readers will notice that I had two stacked on the rear, totaling 1 3/8" vs the 1" on the front. This was to combat the infamous Subaru "saggy ****" and give me a little leeway for carrying stuff, but the issue with the Crosstrek is that the rear wheels are not quite centered in the rear wheel arch. They're biased forward a bit. When you lift the suspension, the geometry changes such that the rear wheels move even farther forward in the arch, running the risk of rubbing. Without the realignment kit, I opted to remove the 3/8" spacer to bring everything back to kosher.

Then it was done!



I had Beret take it in for an alignment the next day, and it was ready for our long weekend adventure.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Our family trip was one I've been thinking about for a while, though in a different form.

I've long held this desire to explore the Gravelly Range of southwest Montana. It's a very large chunk of wilderness with very little visitation by anyone other than locals. The Gravellies are somewhat of an island chain, framed from the north by the narrow valley housing the historic mining town of Virginia City, the south by the desolately empty Centennial Valley, the Ruby River to the west, and the Madison River to the east. Despite being isolated and largely unvisited, this mountain range is laced with dirt roads and trails, a vestige of the mining heritage forming this part of the state.

Our trip took us west from home along the interstate until reaching Montana's most famous city, Bozeman. Or, as we like to call it nowadays, Boz Angeles. This tongue-in-cheek reference is largely due to the recent influx of non-native Montanans buying large tracts of the Gallatin Valley and moving out there full time to enjoy the scenery while simultaneously voting to ruin a lot of the things that make Montana, Montana. I won't get too deep into it, but suffice it to say that the majority of Montana residents view Bozeman as a lost cause now.

Anyway, we turned off I90 and onto backroads, following the hills and valleys southwest towards one of Montana's not-so-secret gems: Ennis.

Ennis is another former mining settlement that has been turned largely into an outdoor paradise catering to fishermen coming to ply the waters of the Madison River. Less than a thousand people are permanent residents, and the main street is all of 660 yards, but the town is big on character. A sporting goods store, a couple of bars, two coffee shops, a distillery, and a few places to stay make Ennis an interesting place to hang out in. It was there we decided to find a place to camp, and funnily enough there is a campground nestled along the Madison River slightly more than 400 feet from the edge of town. We found a spot to get set up, and Beret started getting the sleeping bags set up while I worked on dinner.





The boys chased a ball around camp while I put together our tacos. I'm a bit of a taco nut, by the way.



Without any firewood and not enough time to get any, we watched the light fade. But not before a fellow camper urged us over to the entrance to the campground to see a very cool sight. This young bull was lazily grazing by the river closer to the highway. This guy hadn't started showing his antlers yet, but you can tell that this is a bull because of the dark patches above each eye. The presence of one on each side of his head are the spots where he will sprout antlers. The small size and lack of antler growth this season tells me this is likely a year or two old.

Very cool to see.



After getting cleaned up, we put the kids down in the tent and chatted while we watched the view develop along the Madison Range. Nice way to end the night.



The following morning, I headed into Ennis to grab coffee while Beret got packed up with the kids. We would be staying elsewhere the coming evening, so we were packing everything up. I grabbed some coffee from this charming little place, which also serves waffles on a stick. Sort of like a corndog, but a waffle. Tasty.





We gathered up our stuff, loaded it into the car, and set out to the west, over a small divide into Virginia City, another old mining metropolis. Funny thing about Virginia City is they've left it largely unchanged since the late 1800's, making it sort of a living ghost town. Storefronts, the court house, an old train line running along the main road, all of it evokes a feeling of the old west.

As we've already visited Virginia City and this wasn't the main focus of our trip, we just stopped for gas.



This is actually the town information center as well, and has a great little history exhibit that we let the boys wander in for a bit.



From Virginia City, we followed a series of backroads following the foothills of the Gravellies and offering a great view of the Madisons. This route took us to places I've not yet been, but many places I'd love to return to. Lots of roads out here to explore, and a Forest Service rental cabin.



Eventually, we wound our way out of the foothills and up to the tabletop plateau of the Gravellies. A number of roads go shooting off in all directions, going to more places I want to see. Before long we had to stop for lunch, let the kids run, and take a break from the car for a while.



The view at our lunch spot was pretty solid I think.



We were stopped along the main road running through the mountains for close to an hour, on a weekend, and saw no more than two vehicles pass us the entire time. Pretty nice to be that alone.

We pressed on, following the spine of the mountain range south towards the terminus of the road at Red Rock Lakes. The views only get better the farther south you go, as it turns out.







It was around this point that I made the determination that the Gravellies themselves weren't the most beautiful mountains. Rather, it was the mountains surrounding the Gravellies that make them worth visiting. But then, yet again, they surprised me.





Black Butte is the crown of the mountain range, rising 10,489 feet into the sky with sheer, rugged reliefs on all sides. The roads actually take you right up against it, but we had to cut our time short as we were starting to think about finding a place to sleep for the night. I had a very popular campground in mind, hoping it would work out. It didn't.

To be continued...

 

[zmotorsports]

Looks like a great trip. My wife and I thoroughly enjoy the Madison Valley and usually stay in Ennis with day trip in the Jeep over to and around Nevada City and Virginia City. We love that area. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Looks like a great trip. My wife and I thoroughly enjoy the Madison Valley and usually stay in Ennis with day trip in the Jeep over to and around Nevada City and Virginia City. We love that area. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Thanks for checking in Mike.

It was a lot of fun. My wife and I have really been holding off on this kind of travel for a while since my Land Cruiser is in pieces. Been killing me personally. But it was good to get the family out, sleep in a tent, wake up cold and make coffee in the woods. I love all that.

More to come!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Enjoying the pics so far Tom! Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the rest.

 

[loganb]

Loving the pics, thanks for bringing us along! I haven't spent much time up in your neck of the woods but definitely looks like I should think about fixing that!

 

[jbrentd]

What a great trip! Enjoyed the ride along.

 

[zanyad]

That's some gorgeous country!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Enjoying the pics so far Tom! Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the rest.

Thanks for checking in Marc!

Loving the pics, thanks for bringing us along! I haven't spent much time up in your neck of the woods but definitely looks like I should think about fixing that!

Thanks for reading Logan! I really enjoy getting out and exploring the state. Lots of beautiful areas in Montana.

If you do plan a trip out here, let me know! I'll give you the details on what you shouldn't miss!

What a great trip! Enjoyed the ride along.

Thanks Brent! More to come!

That's some gorgeous country!

I love this state for that reason. Lots of beauty to explore and enjoy. Believe it or not, this is some of the more "mundane" scenery I've visited in Montana. Even prettier photos coming soon!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

So my original plan was to camp a couple of nights near Wade Lake, an extremely popular campground. For good reason though, it's beautiful. Clear waters, nice campsites, nicely available amenities. Unfortunately, upon our arrival it appeared everything was taken. It was getting close to dinner time, so we gave the kids a snack and consulted my maps to find another viable place to spend the night. We landed on a National Forest campground just between Hebgen Lake and Earthquake Lake. Those sites were almost completely full too, but we managed to snag a site that was reserved for the following evening.

With the mosquitos attacking viciously, I cooked a new dinner idea: Philly cheesesteak bowls. Make the onions and peppers in a pan, drop in some steak strips (in this case, elk sirloin), and cook. When they're done, put it all in a bowl and melt some provolone on top. Tasty!

We got to sleep early that night and woke up refreshed thanks to the mild night and very tired kids. We had a quick dash into West Yellowstone to fill up with gas (at $5.25 a gallon!!!!!) and get some coffee, then had a discussion about where we should go.

Another destination I've long wanted to explore is less about the views and more about the loneliness. Down in southwest Montana there is a place called the Centennial Valley, which stretches from Alaska Basin in the east to the town of Lima in the west, about 50 miles in length. The valley floor is 10 miles wide at the center, making for one very large expanse of flatness between two distant mountain ranges. What makes the area interesting is the absolute lack of habitation. There are maybe ten homes in the entire valley, and no infrastructure whatsoever. There's roads, fences, and animals. Nothing else.

Since we were in the neighborhood and in the groove of exploring new places again, we decided to make the trip through the valley.

On the way out of West Yellowstone, we were held up by a rather funny traffic jam.





The Diamond P Guest Ranch was taking this group out to explore the area around Hebgen Lake. Very Montana.

From there, we crossed Targhee Pass into Idaho and around the north edge of Henry's Lake, where there are several summer homes. We crossed back onto dirt and cruised through Red Rock Pass back into Montana at Alaska Basin.



Immediately, the desolation struck me. The size numbers are impressive, but it's tough to visualize until you're going through it. There is nothing there. Nothing, barely even any trees.





There is an unbelievable amount of emptiness. You can see for miles in every direction and see a lot of nothing. It's a really interesting experience to be in such a place as there are very few of those left. There's not a lot of escape from people or infrastructure anymore, so being in a place that is so large and so desolate is a bit of a shock to the system. The advantage, though, is animal spotting. As we turned to the north side of the valley, this guy gave us a great view from very close up.



Funny thing about bald eagles. My wife lost her father several years ago to cancer. He always loved seeing bald eagles sitting or flying, and he would point them out at every opportunity. After he died, we started seeing more bald eagles everywhere and something tells us it's a sign of his presence. Thus, every bald eagle we come across is Jim.

After that encounter, we kept pushing along the sandy valley floor.





We pushed further into the valley, seeing the occasional mule deer and several large herds of pronghorn antelope. Antelope are funny animals but so well adapted to their environment. Unlike deer, moose, or elk, they are diurnal rather than nocturnal, meaning they are active during the day. The reason is their eyesight is incredibly acute, able to pick up great detail along large distances. Since they are prairie dwellers, this is a more useful adaptation than night vision. On top of that, they are North America's fastest land mammal, able to sprint up to 60mph and capable of maintaining 30mph for hours. Also interesting is they don't really have the ability to jump fences. Since they have never lived in a forest, they never really learned how to jump, so instead they hop through gaps in the fence. An interesting tactic to hunting them is herding them against a fence, which they are reluctant to cross.

Anyway, before too long we dove off north along the Ruby River valley towards the highway. At lunch time, we stopped and ate while reviewing the map. Since we were doing a whole "explore new places" thing, we decided to push north of the highway and into the Tobacco Root Mountains near Sheridan. Mostly this was a decision we made due to the topography of the area. A narrow canyon climbs into 10,000 foot peaks with several camping opportunities along the road. This turned out to be an awesome decision.

With the kids napping, we pulled into Sheridan and headed off into the Mill Creek area. It was a fairly long drive to the Branham Lakes area, where we originally wanted to go on the map. It was every bit as pretty as we were expecting, and one of the few places we've found in Montana that hasn't been "discovered" yet.





With the rain falling and the temperatures dropping, we decided to camp lower along the road in a free National Forest campground. While searching for a site, we came across another one of these.



The kids were very excited to see another moose but anxious to get out of the car. So we set up and got the kids out to play and make dinner.



Dirk, my oldest, discovered the container of jelly after finishing his PB&J dinner and bag of chips. You could see the wheels turning in his head and before we could stop him...



He's a fan.



Poor Bram was having a different experience on this trip. Unfortunately, he is apparently the worlds tastiest human to the local mosquito population. While my wife, Dirk, and I had a few bites each, but Bram looked like this.



By the next day, he looked like he had a severe case of chicken pox. Luckily his attitude was good and he seemed none the worse for wear.

As they were now high on sugar and not ready to go to bed, we decided to get back in the car for a bit and take a sightseeing drive. This was another random decision that turned out to make a big impact on our trip. Thanks to the rainy weather and late hour, we caught one of the more magnificent sunsets we've witnessed.







After exploring all the way to Twin Bridges, it was time to head back for bed. We arrived at camp around 10 and put the sleeping kids into their sleeping bags.

The following morning we packed up and decided to take the scenic route home. Rather than go north to the interstate and back home, we decided to go back through Ennis, then further east past the ski town of Big Sky. This route briefly passes through Yellowstone and some really pretty scenery.



We took the opportunity to have some lunch in Big Sky, where we've never been. While it's an interesting place to visit, it's definitely an out-of-state-visitor destination, with swanky restaurants and high-end shops. They're working hard to make it a northern Aspen or Vail. The food we had was great, and our kids loved the playground there, but it was time to head home.

We hopped back on the highway and into Bozeman again before heading east to home.

It was a great trip that got our kids back into the groove of camping and exploring. It was also a great reminder that despite what I sometimes feel, I don't need my Land Cruiser or another 4x4 to go on these adventures. Is it a better experience with the 4x4? For me, yes. But the great thing about owning a Subaru is that the door for that kind of adventure is never fully closed.

I took some lessons too about camping with the kids and timing our stops.

Overall, a fun adventure to prepare us for the next one.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Looks like an awesome trip Tom, thanks for sharing the photos!

Where I'm from in Western Nebraska, we refer to antelope as "prairie maggots"...they are the bane of a rancher's existence. Most don't find gaps in a fence, rather they destroy the fence as they plow through it @ 30mph....and as far as I'm concerned, their meat is a bit like a snow goose, only good for coyote bait!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Looks like an awesome trip Tom, thanks for sharing the photos!

Where I'm from in Western Nebraska, we refer to antelope as "prairie maggots"...they are the bane of a rancher's existence. Most don't find gaps in a fence, rather they destroy the fence as they plow through it @ 30mph....and as far as I'm concerned, their meat is a bit like a snow goose, only good for coyote bait!

I refer to them as speed goats and think they are really goofy looking. I'm sure our ranchers and farmers out here have a similar opinion of them.

That being said, the goat I shot a couple years ago was tasty! I think the trick is to sneak up on them lying down or not let it run before taking the shot. Sometimes hard to do because they like to sprint 10 miles just for fun occasionally.

 

[Blackbyrd]

Gorgeous pics, looks like a good time with the fam!

 

[loganb]

Where I'm from in Western Nebraska, we refer to antelope as "prairie maggots"

I like that one! Thank goodness we don't have them in our farming area in Kansas...but we have their cousin the whitetail which we call a "hoofed rat" and their no good, nasty tasting adopted cousin Tom Turkey!

If anyone happens to need a lead on north central Kansas whitetail or fall turkey...I can direct to some spots we have in public walk in!

 

[loganb]

BTW Tom....thanks for continuing the great pictures and keeping your area of the country high on the "need to visit" list! Looks like a great time out with family and away from the grind! I will be the first to admit with 2 small mini-humans in tow I've lost the urge for tent camping and the amount of stuff my wife feels must come along... She also has horrible luck picking camping trip times with her group of friends that doesn't end up being absolutely miserable weather so that hasn't helped my motivation either...your climate looks more enjoyable...well minus the mosquitos that with coordination may have had sufficient qty's to carry away your son!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Gorgeous pics, looks like a good time with the fam!

Thanks man! It was a great time.

I like that one! Thank goodness we don't have them in our farming area in Kansas...but we have their cousin the whitetail which we call a "hoofed rat" and their no good, nasty tasting adopted cousin Tom Turkey!

If anyone happens to need a lead on north central Kansas whitetail or fall turkey...I can direct to some spots we have in public walk in!

Some people just don't appreciate the real taste of animals.

BTW Tom....thanks for continuing the great pictures and keeping your area of the country high on the "need to visit" list! Looks like a great time out with family and away from the grind! I will be the first to admit with 2 small mini-humans in tow I've lost the urge for tent camping and the amount of stuff my wife feels must come along... She also has horrible luck picking camping trip times with her group of friends that doesn't end up being absolutely miserable weather so that hasn't helped my motivation either...your climate looks more enjoyable...well minus the mosquitos that with coordination may have had sufficient qty's to carry away your son!

Thanks for the feedback Logan! Stay tuned, I have a lot more even better scenery coming up in future posts.

It was such a good time. We love getting out there with our kids and seeing more of our state. Montana is a must-do!

True, sometimes tenting with the kids is a tough sell, but my wife and I are committed because towing a trailer or driving an RV is somewhat prohibitive and we like to get "way out there", as you'll see once the Land Cruiser comes back into play. I'm a lucky man too as my wife is a backpacker, so what she needs is pretty basic compared to other women I've met. Luckily my kids are low-maintenance too, so the tent works for us. But I've met my brother's family and there's no way they'd handle tent camping well at all. Every family moves at their own speed.

Ha! We've had a weird weather year. Wettest spring on record, then typical summer weather. Yeah, I don't know how he attracted that many of hell's denizens, but he was the only one hit like that. By day two I was concerned he'd need a transfusion.

Cheers.

 

[MacTexas]

Did you take a picture of the fly fisherman statue in Ennis?

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Did you take a picture of the fly fisherman statue in Ennis?

I did not.

 

[nicholam77]

Absolutely stunning scenery, looks like an awesome time! Enjoyed reading the details and learning a bit about Montana. Those sunset pics are next-level. I know nature does a lot of the work with shots like that, but out of curiosity what's your camera setup (apologies if it's been mentioned already)?

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Absolutely stunning scenery, looks like an awesome time! Enjoyed reading the details and learning a bit about Montana. Those sunset pics are next-level. I know nature does a lot of the work with shots like that, but out of curiosity what's your camera setup (apologies if it's been mentioned already)?

Stay tuned, more to come on Montana and more photos inbound.

Camera setup is a Nikon D610 with a trio of lenses: 50mm f/1.8, 16-35mm f/4 (this one is a new addition), and a 24-120mm f/4. I'm mostly using the 16-35mm and then the 50mm for portraits or when the large aperture is needed, but for a long time I used my 24-120mm almost exclusively. I had the 50 and 24-120 for probably 4 years before buying the 16-35 because I wanted the option to go wider for landscapes. It's a compromise though because the 24-120 is more versatile. I get the reach of 120mm and 24mm is "good enough" for a lot of the stuff I like to shoot. But having the access to 16mm is really nice. What may happen is I'll sell the 16-35 and pick up a 16 or 18mm prime to compliment my 24-120. Who knows?

The body is a good one though. I really like the D610. I graduated to that from a D3100, and going from a crop sensor to a full-frame is an absolute game-changer. The increase in quality and dynamic range is worth the step along, but the low light sensitivity is also a huge plus. I did consider switching platforms a while back and tried out a Fuji XT-4 for a couple of days and in the end was just not very happy with the results. Not enough detail for my liking since I'm largely a landscape photographer, and I just really did not like using the electronic viewfinder. I considered going to a more refined and newer DSLR body like the D750 or D780, but in the end I think I'm going to wait and see how I feel about Nikon's new Z series mirrorless cameras. Their full-frame versions are in-line with FX DSLR pricing, but smaller, lighter, and with some newer features. But I'm not really in a hurry to make the jump because I still hate electronic viewfinders.

The DSLR is dying though. Nikon won't be making any new versions and I suspect Canon is going to be going the same route. If a guy was just getting into it, I'd urge moving into mirrorless and finding what works for you. I've been playing with cameras since film though, so my love of optical viewfinders has precluded me from jumping into mirrorless for now. Only a matter of time I suspect.

So there. You got what I use now as well as my windbag pontifications on the future of hobbyist photography.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Right, back into it.

Not a lot took place over the next couple of weeks. This family trip was only about two weeks prior to another family trip, this time longer and in a different place. I did spend part of a day out in the workshop with my neighbor cleaning up the recent body work on the Cruiser and generally puttering about, but otherwise I kept my nose to the grindstone at work and prepared to go on our next trip.

This one is a somewhat normal outing for us in the summer. My mom and dad retired to a small town in northwest Montana called Seeley Lake. They fell in love with the area and the people when my dad was still working. Back in 1996, my dad got his pilot's license and began a life-long love affair with flying, specifically backcountry flying. A number of mountain airstrips in Montana showed him a new way to get out there, loading the plane with camping equipment and winding up in the middle of nowhere. While discovering all this, he found a small enclave of pilots living on the airfield in the town of 2500 permanent residents. Turns out you can lease a chunk of land from the government and build whatever you want on it, in this case a few houses. Seeley has a relatively active pilot community that they fell in love with, as well as almost immediate access to mountains and wilderness that they've long enjoyed.

So, when it got close to the time of their retirement, mom and dad built a house up north with an airplane hangar attached on the airport at Seeley Lake. Not a bad place to set up I think.



For whatever reason, I have zero photos of this place during the summer, nor of the awesome hangar space my dad has setup in there. Going to have to fix that so my friends on GJ can see it. For now, here's what their house looks like in early spring.





Seeley Lake started life as a logging town, with access roads cutting through the Swan Valley up against the Mission mountains to the west and the Swan Range to the east. The entire area is thick with old-growth pine forests, so the lumber mill set up shop within sight of the lake itself. Before too long, the Wilderness Act saw the creation of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex (colloquially referred to as "The Bob" in Montana), which brought a new industry to the area: outdoor tourism.

Couple that with the slowdown of logging in the area and close access to Glacier National Park, and Seeley Lake turned into a secret spot for locals to live in the mountains and visitors to enjoy what a small town in the Montana mountains should be. It's still that way today, though struggling a bit more these days for various reasons. But it's still alive and well.

Anyway, the day of our departure, Beret had to work, so I spent the day getting the car packed and ensuring we would be set to leave when she was finished. She lucked out and was able to leave early, so our 5-hour drive north was able to begin around 3pm. We stopped to have dinner in Bozeman (seeing a theme here yet?), and we continued on as the sun went down, arriving that evening to warm beds and happy faces.

The following morning, everybody had something to do. Dirk, Beret, and my mom needed to head into Missoula (about an hour away) to get groceries for our visit as my brother was also coming into town with his family. My dad was meeting a friend of his and they would be making a tour of airports in a section of the state hanging density altitude signs. Bram and I had no real need to be anywhere, so I hopped in the Subaru and took a drive on some of my favorite backroads in the area, up to Condon to buy coffee, then back down along Rice Ridge, where a fire caused a lot of havoc with the town in 2017. Bram napped.





It was a pretty laid-back day, just relaxing and preparing for the inevitable pandemonium when my brother's family would arrive. The next day was mine and Beret's anniversary, so we left my mom and dad in charge of the kids while we had fun by the lake and went out to dinner at the resort near town. Another laid back day.

On day 3, I drove into Missoula to pick up my brother and his family. He lives in Oklahoma with his wife and two kids, working for the OU medical center there. They rarely make it out to this part of the country, so it was nice to get together with them and connect again. We spent a few hours taking care of errands in Missoula before going back to Seeley and celebrating their arrival with a family dinner.

On day four, we loaded up with my kids, my brother, his oldest, and Beret, in my dad's Polaris Ranger to visit the Morrell Mountain lookout tower just outside town. One of the few active firetowers left in the state, this outpost helps watch over the town and keep an eye out for bigger forest blazes. A road runs to within a quarter mile of it, and the staff always seems ready for visitors. Fun little side trip for the day.







The views here are great, as one would expect.





From this vantage point, you can see the whole town of Seeley Lake, as well as the airfield and the lake itself. Cool way to look at the place.





Eventually, it was time to head back down the road and meet up with everyone for dinner. Most of the rest of the day involved visiting with family and drinking Summer Shandy.

The next day, we planned a hike with my brother and his family. My brother is a bit of a health nut, being a hockey player for much of his life, a vestige of our family's Minnesota heritage, so I've always been used to him being able to outdo me on hikes or anything physical. But here I was on home turf, a few years into taking better care of myself, hunting, hiking, and backpacking, and I had kids who are used to long hikes outdoors. Dirk, for example, loves to hike. Bram is getting more excited about it with every outing. I was interested to see how I stacked up. He's still in better shape than me, but this is my home turf, and he's suddenly 3,000ft higher in elevation than he normally is. I'm not normally this competitive, but I like to have a little fun with it when my brother is involved, sibling rivalry being what it is. You know how it goes.

Our destination for the day was the magnificent Holland Falls, a gorgeous wall of water falling from the Bob Marshall Wilderness and spilling into Holland Lake. Holland Lake itself is a favorite spot of mine, feeling far less encroached upon by people than Seeley, but more of a rough experience as well. It does, however, have a great rustic lodge with a bar serving up some tremendous G&T's on a lawn by the water's edge. Here's a look from a previous trip:



Oh, you're probably more interested in the scenery than the drink aren't you.

Ah, right. Here we are:







The starting point for our hike was near the lodge, then a meandering path along the lakeshore until the trail starts to climb into the cleft of the mountains through which the falls... fall. The hike itself is pretty short, just shy of two miles in one direction, and not particularly strenuous, but adding a few small children to the mix always makes things more difficult than they need to be.

Nevertheless, the hike went off without a hitch. I'm very happy to report that I kept up with my brother, whilst carrying a four year old on my shoulders about half the time. Upon reaching the falls, we were both breathing about the same, and I had no problem keeping time with him. Life goal achieved!

The views were pretty awesome too.





The hike back offers a really incredible view over Holland Lake and the surrounding mountains as well.



Our next stop for the day was lunch at the Mission Mountains Merc, just outside Condon, before heading home for the day. It was just a warmup, really. The next day, Beret and I would be heading into Glacier National Park for our annual big hike up there.

To be continued...

 

[nicholam77]

Camera setup is a Nikon D610 with a trio of lenses: 50mm f/1.8, 16-35mm f/4 (this one is a new addition), and a 24-120mm f/4. I'm mostly using the 16-35mm and then the 50mm for portraits or when the large aperture is needed, but for a long time I used my 24-120mm almost exclusively.

Very nice. I could tell you had some sort of piece of kit from the images

I used to dabble in entry level Nikon back in the day. Started with a 35mm film camera my dad gave me — he only had one lens which was a 50mm f/1.4, manual focus of course. Then I got an entry level D40x body when I was in film school (some people used DSLRs to pre-visualize lighting and exposure settings when shooting 16mm). It came with an 18-55mm zoom which I didn't care for that much. Often I used it with my dad's old manual 50mm but sadly I dropped it and it broke the focus ring. In college I picked up a few other Nikon lenses for it, an autofocus 50mm f/1.8 to replace the broken manual one, a 30mm f/1.8, and bought an older manual 85mm f/2.8 prime off a friend for portraits / telephoto. As you know because of the cropped sensor these all felt longer. Never got one of those all-encompassing zooms although that sounds amazing. Years later I "upgraded" to a by-then-outdated D90 body because I wanted to do some timelapses and the D40x didn't support an intervalometer. There was a period of time before kids and before smartphones got decent that we traveled a fair amount and I carried that D90 and a few lenses with me.

Now it's all just sitting in a closet. Like you said a big sensor is amazing, and I never even got to experience a full frame with digital. But for everyday use, it pains me to say it but my iPhone gets me 90% of the way there. I'm not saying the quality is on par, I know it's not, and there are plenty of limitations, but it's so convenient and especially for kids where fun moments pass in a second, I think I'd miss a lot if I was trying to chase them around with a big camera or switch lenses. The phone is usually on me and they have gotten exponentially better in the past few years, especially with the multiple lenses and Portrait Mode etc.

If I ever got back into it I think I'd definitely go mirrorless. I'm mostly basing this off video performance, but I've had my eye on the Sony A7 line for years. It's doubtful I will (can't do every hobby!) but I definitely respect quality gear and people who do proper photography, it's a powerful tool!

 

[gearhead1960]

I went the mirrorless route years ago with one of the Olympus Pen cameras. While I love the images, my I-phone 12 does such a great job, I like @nicholam77 use it 90% of the time now......great image though!

 

[250]

I think you'd end up liking the Z system nikons. I spent over a decade in the dx line, and a still love how small the d3200 body is. Great little body if you don't mind its limitations. I thought I was going to hate the EVF (I don't really like it), but given that I do mostly landscape work as well, how I shoot has evolved now to where I use the live view on the back LCD. The Z system/mount has lots of room to grow so it will be interesting to see what shows up in the next few years.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Very nice. I could tell you had some sort of piece of kit from the images

I used to dabble in entry level Nikon back in the day. Started with a 35mm film camera my dad gave me — he only had one lens which was a 50mm f/1.4, manual focus of course. Then I got an entry level D40x body when I was in film school (some people used DSLRs to pre-visualize lighting and exposure settings when shooting 16mm). It came with an 18-55mm zoom which I didn't care for that much. Often I used it with my dad's old manual 50mm but sadly I dropped it and it broke the focus ring. In college I picked up a few other Nikon lenses for it, an autofocus 50mm f/1.8 to replace the broken manual one, a 30mm f/1.8, and bought an older manual 85mm f/2.8 prime off a friend for portraits / telephoto. As you know because of the cropped sensor these all felt longer. Never got one of those all-encompassing zooms although that sounds amazing. Years later I "upgraded" to a by-then-outdated D90 body because I wanted to do some timelapses and the D40x didn't support an intervalometer. There was a period of time before kids and before smartphones got decent that we traveled a fair amount and I carried that D90 and a few lenses with me.

Now it's all just sitting in a closet. Like you said a big sensor is amazing, and I never even got to experience a full frame with digital. But for everyday use, it pains me to say it but my iPhone gets me 90% of the way there. I'm not saying the quality is on par, I know it's not, and there are plenty of limitations, but it's so convenient and especially for kids where fun moments pass in a second, I think I'd miss a lot if I was trying to chase them around with a big camera or switch lenses. The phone is usually on me and they have gotten exponentially better in the past few years, especially with the multiple lenses and Portrait Mode etc.

If I ever got back into it I think I'd definitely go mirrorless. I'm mostly basing this off video performance, but I've had my eye on the Sony A7 line for years. It's doubtful I will (can't do every hobby!) but I definitely respect quality gear and people who do proper photography, it's a powerful tool!

I think my first ever film camera was a Vivitar with half of the paint missing (still have that camera actually), but I was always on the hunt for a Nikon F series. I have always been a fan of Steve McCurry's photography (which probably shows in the way I edit my photos) and remember seeing him with Nikons, so 8-year-old me thought that was the only way to go. I eventually got a Nikon N55 SLR (still have that one too) but sorta fell out of it shortly after.

Back in 2014 I decided to pick it up again and along came the D3100. You know the rest.

Don't feel bad about it, my Pixel 6 takes some fantastic photos. I think sensor and processing technology is worlds away from where we thought we'd be, and I take a lot of family snapshots with my phone. Especially when I don't want to be lugging my camera around, like on family trips to the park or whatnot. You're right too, if you're working with the big camera a lot of times you'll miss living the moments.

I still bring the D610 around a fair bit on outings with my kids, but I just stick a 50mm 1.8 on it and chase them around. I find that combo is the least distracting and gets bomber results no matter how you use it. Love shooting like that and I've been able to capture some awesome moments with my family.

I've actually made the switch in the last year to shooting in aperture priority mode vs. full manual so that setting up the camera takes less attention and I can focus on being there. That small change actually makes a huge difference in the shooting experience because you're not constantly trying to juggle settings to get the exposure meter exactly where you want. Instead I set it to shoot "dark" (about -1 EV) since I know I can bring details out of the shadows with my full-frame setup. Then just pick the aperture I want for the effect I'm aiming for, and change the ISO to suit. Makes the exposure process a lot easier.

I've got a few hours behind the A7 platform, and agree it is a solid machine for photography and videography (though that opinion is largely anecdotal since I never got into video), but I don't like the control layout or the shape of the body. I find the Nikon or Canon options a lot nicer to grip and manipulate, though I've not worked with their mirrorless full frames yet. But it's impossible to deny the powerhouse that the Sony is.

I went the mirrorless route years ago with one of the Olympus Pen cameras. While I love the images, my I-phone 12 does such a great job, I like @nicholam77 use it 90% of the time now......great image though!

Yep, hard to argue with the quality and convenience of today's smartphone cameras. They're honestly more than good enough for most people most of the time. I think actual cameras are now reserved for people really interested in quality or the experience of using a camera.

I think you'd end up liking the Z system nikons. I spent over a decade in the dx line, and a still love how small the d3200 body is. Great little body if you don't mind its limitations. I thought I was going to hate the EVF (I don't really like it), but given that I do mostly landscape work as well, how I shoot has evolved now to where I use the live view on the back LCD. The Z system/mount has lots of room to grow so it will be interesting to see what shows up in the next few years.

Absolutely agree, I think this is the very start of a new evolution in smaller, lighter, and more powerful mirrorless systems. I know Nikon makes a quality product no matter where you fall on the lineup, and I've gotten so used to using them that it'll probably be their cameras that I go to when I finally switch to mirrorless.

I just need to keep trying the EVFs on the market and get used to them. Not my favorite setup at all but I love the idea of a smaller and lighter camera and lens system with the same power. It's very hard to argue against the practicality.

Very exciting time and I can't wait to see what comes next from them.

 

[jbrentd]

All those beautiful shots are making me want to get outside with my old Canon 60D.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Our day in Glacier was an awesome one. We left the house not quite early enough with a couple of hikes in mind. We were either going to hike to Cracker Lake on the east side of the park, or up to Sperry Chalet on the west side, depending on what time we arrived and what traffic looked like. Our drive up was a nice one, with the morning sun peeking through the trees along the drive up the Swan Valley.

We stopped for coffee in Columbia Falls before continuing on to West Glacier, where traffic surprised us a lot.

The line to get into the park was one of the biggest we'd seen in all our years going there. Stuck in traffic at 9:30, we waited it out until we got past the snarled line of cars and into the actual park entrance. It looked a lot worse than it actually was, only a ten minute wait longer than it normally would be. We passed the usual park shops and lines of tourists waiting to get a photo in front of the National Park sign. At the entrance, I showed my road pass and we were off, with very little residual traffic now that we were actually in the park.

In 2020, Glacier instituted a ticketed entry system to combat the crowding on Going-to-the-Sun Road, the main thoroughfare running through the park. Glacier National Park is not large, less than half the size of Yellowstone, and has fewer roads for people to spread out, so the number of people visiting has been a problem for people seeking to enjoy the park. The ticketed entry system restricted the travel on the main road and two spur roads to help minimize the issue. This was very successful actually, and decreased the traffic significantly. It's not a perfect solution though, as several businesses outside the park have taken hits to their traffic and income as the number of visitors has gone down. Regardless of your stance, the ticketed entry is doing what it was intended to. In my experience, the tickets aren't to difficult to obtain either.

Anyway, clear of the traffic, we made the decision that driving all the way to the east side of the park would be untenable. It would take an additional two hours to get there, and we would be driving home in the dark. Instead, we wanted the opportunity to take our time on the trail and afterwards, stop for a beer, and meander home at whatever pace we liked. So our hike for the day would be the famous Sperry Chalet.

Sperry Chalet is one of two remaining backcountry guesthouses in Glacier, both built by the Great Northern Railway way back when. The other chalet, Granite Park, is a smaller and more spartan affair, with rooms requiring you to pack in your own sleeping mat and bag, and a small cash-only shop selling backpacker meals and energy bars. Sperry is much more refined. Sperry Chalet has electricity and running water, real beds with blankets and sheets, and a full kitchen staffed with serving the guests three square a day, not to mention the walk-up service where you can buy a sandwich, candy bar, and more.

Sperry actually burned down in 2017 during the Sprague Creek Fire, but that loss was met by such an outpouring of support and volunteerism that it was not only rebuilt, but fully functional and open to the public again by 2019. When you consider that it's high in a mountain cirque with only one way in and really only accessible by foot or horseback, the amount of work that went into rebuilding is seriously impressive. It's easy to see why it is so loved when you arrive.

The hike is somewhat brutal for those that aren't in the mountains pushing themselves often. It's a 6.8 mile trek one way, with a total elevation gain of almost 3400 feet. My poor but determined wife was struggling, but with the chalet in view most of the way, we dug deep and pushed up the mountains, arriving just after 2pm. The trek is absolutely worth it.



This building, the kitchen, beckoned and we walked up to a sign that put big smiles on our faces.



We placed our order and took in the views, catching our breath. Before long it was time for our snack. Where else can you complete a nearly 7 mile hike and then get a sandwich and a pitcher of lemonade?





With our snacks filling our bellies, we took a walk around the cirque to look at the views and feel the history.





This building is the bunkhouse, and the one that burned in the 2017 fire. The lettering in the eave of the roof stands for "Great Northern Railway", and was put there in 1913 when it was built. Luckily, the Sprague Fire did not do much damage to the rock walls, though there is some damage still visible.





Satisfied and ready to get back down for beer and dinner, we loaded back up and started to head off. Not before stopping by the kitchen to drop off our pitcher and glasses. In doing so, I saw a glass display case filled with something heavenly looking: double chocolate cake.

What the hell, since we're here...

We sat down and ate a slice of some of the best chocolate cake I've tasted in their rustic dining room. Such a surreal experience.



The hike down was uneventful and took half the time as going up, averaging about three miles an hour and putting our knees through hell. But we made it down to realize that we had not seen a single person making their way up that day. Nobody when we set off, nobody we met along the way, and nobody on the way down. We had the trail almost completely to ourselves, a rarity in a place like this. Such an awesome experience.

As we are wont to do after a hike in Glacier, we stopped in Apgar Village to grab a burger and a huckleberry-infused beer before getting back into the car and meandering our way back to Seeley Lake, arriving around 8pm. Not a bad day's travel at all.

We had a few more days up north, most of it marked by relaxing with family. We did make another excursion up to the lakeshore town of Bigfork, where we walked around the fun little downtown shops before having a tasty lunch at Flathead Lake Brewing. Beret and I took the kids down to the lake for one of their favorite activities, throwing rocks into the water, and Bram sent her phone into the lake. We luckily recovered it and it seemed to work, but unfortunately it lost it's ability to connect to wifi. Bummer there, but a great day all around.

The last day, we gathered up the family in the morning and got dressed in our nice clothes to have family pictures taken. Turns out, the photographer we scheduled fell and broke her leg, so I ended up as the de-facto photographer. Thanks to a tripod and some fancy footwork, we were able to get a good run of family photos. Our first time with everyone together in years, we really liked having that opportunity.

Afterwards, we packed our bags, loaded the tribe into the car, and started on the long road home. A fun vacation for the summer, but not our last visit up north for the year, as it would turn out.

Thanks for reading, more to come!

 

[wasfast]

Glacier is such a "grand" experience. It reminds me of the Alps in Europe yet is right here in the US. So beautiful.

 

[zmotorsports]

Awesome. Glacier is one of our favorite NP's. So majestic and beautiful. Looks like you had a great time.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Glacier is such a "grand" experience. It reminds me of the Alps in Europe yet is right here in the US. So beautiful.

You're not kidding, especially with regards to the hotels and resorts. So much majesty to it, much more of an alpine feeling compared to other parks I've been to, like Rocky Mountain or Yellowstone.

Awesome. Glacier is one of our favorite NP's. So majestic and beautiful. Looks like you had a great time.

Funny enough, more Glacier photos coming soon!

Along with some workshop updates, FINALLY.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

In between trips, mowing the lawn, and drinking beer with my neighbor, I did manage to putter around the workshop a bit.

Not big updates for now, but a few things that I've managed to do. The first was getting a couple extremely minor steps in completing the hangout area near the TV. As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, and my neighbor, and my wife, and my friend... I needed to move the TV higher on the wall, so I did that, then moved my vintage Land Cruiser ads up to suit. I also had a chance to frame this awesome shop poster and get it hung up.



Nothing says "modern warfare" like a Toyota with a gun mounted to it.

I do have another poster that will go up, but as it turns out, 24x36 poster frames are fricken expensive.

The next cosmetic upgrade I performed was hanging up this little memento.



This broken CV shaft has a whopper of a story behind it.

A few years ago, I did a semi-famous 4x4 trail in Wyoming called Morrison Jeep Trail (I suspect @zmotorsports knows of or has done it) with a few friends. The epic scenery is only half the allure, the other half being the difficulty of the first chunk of it.

Morrison rises a few thousand feet from the floor of the Clark's Fork Canyon to the Beartooth Plateau, topping out over 10,000 feet in elevation. It does most of that climbing in a space of two miles and 27 hairpin switchbacks, most of which require several multi-point turns to navigate. I took my 2005 Frontier, which had seen a lot of action at that point.





The first few hours of our day went off without a hitch, and we climbed slowly but surely out of the canyon, testing our vehicles and armor quite extensively.

About 2/3ds of the way up, I was negotiating another corner when I heard a loud pop and felt the truck bind up. That snapping noise was the sound of my 6-month-old CV shaft catastrophically failing. It was new because I had recently upgraded the front differential, and this was my first real outing with the new setup. That snapping noise made life awfully difficult because I didn't have a spare with me.





So here I was on a 100 degree day, baking in the sun, without 4 wheel drive on the most challenging trail I'd ever experienced. Neat.

With the rear locker engaged and the rear tires spinning, I experienced a crash course in winching. Using whatever was available and the immensely helpful spotting from my group, I ragged on my truck and dragged it unwillingly up the trail, hour after hour. Three switchbacks from the top, we heard a loud crash punctuated by frantic yelling. Looking over the edge, we saw a large group of people running down the trail. Catching up to one of them, we found out an older couple had backed their Polaris Razor off the trail accidentally and rolled five times before coming to a stop a few hundred feet below.

We rushed down to assist, taking direction from a nurse that happened to be in a different group on the trail. With a phone in one hand and a ham radio in the other, I scrambled up the hill with a member of our group to reach emergency services. He was able to connect through his phone and summon search and rescue.

After a short wait, a helicopter circled and landed at the bottom of the canyon.



Word reached us not long after that one of the occupants had died, while the other was in critical condition. Ultimately, both people in the Razor passed away from the crash.

Emotions completely shattered, we limped my truck the rest of the way out of the canyon and started retreating back towards the highway.





I ended up driving all the way home that night instead of continuing the trip, somewhat rattled by the incident and just wanting to hug my wife, pregnant with our first child at the time.

The broken CV shaft hangs on the wall as a reminder of how incredibly sideways your journey can go at a moment's notice, even with experience and skill. It's also a reminder to keep life in perspective. Though I snapped a CV struggled the rest of the day, I left with my life and my health. My day was rough, but it could have been much worse.

Anyway, I got that talisman hung in a place of prominence in the workshop.

The following weekend, my neighbor was able to come over and assist with more body work on the Land Cruiser! I began work on piecing the rear driver's side back together, while he worked on the right side of the truck, patching another rust spot in the rear wheel arch. Overall, we made decent progress. Still a lot to do though!



This patch panel needs a little rust treatment itself, but should be a fairly simple fix compared to what was on the truck. I'm hoping to get the majority of the metal work done soon so I can throw in the towel and get this pig finished.



More shop updates and another trip report coming soon!