8/19 - Day 1. Eager to get moving and get somewhere so I drove too long the first day. Made it from my house to Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan. Long day! I decided to take the Canadian route so went up toward montreal and got on the trans canada highway which isn't really much of a highway. Saw hundreds of balloons around Montreal. Very cool but need to keep your eyes on the road. The trans canada highway is nice with good scenery and non-highway driving. You do go through towns and traffic lights however so it isn't fast. Less mileage than getting to the upper peninsula through the US so probably a good choice all in all. The first night in the van wasn't planned well. I was tired and it was getting near sunset. I found a day use area in Hiawatha National Forest. I thought I may get hassled in the middle of the night but tired and wasn't going any further. Turned out to be a nice beach on Lake Superior. I was the only one there and had no problems. Quiet and nice! Only picture taken that day from the day use area just before sleep...
8/20 - It was a short drive to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. I only saw a small portion of what there is to offer in this area. This area could be a trip in itself. Lots of camping and hiking trails on Lake Superior. Also Grand Island which looked well worth exploring. I hiked on the Chapel Rock trail and the Miners castle trail. Both trails had waterfalls and lake access at the end. Nice area that felt like eastern hiking although relatively flat since you are hiking around lakes. Did I mention that Lake Superior is big? Looks like the ocean.
8/21:
Next stop was South Dakota and the Black Hills area. Getting there on rt 90 was total highway. Speed limit 80 and they had gates on the highway that they could put down in the winter and shut everything down. Lots of people going 70 in campers and trucks. Some people go 85-90. Basically pretty crazy but not too much in the way of traffic. Big fields of sun flowers off the highway that blurred past. I stopped at a rest area that had a sign that said beware of poisonous snakes! I missed the eclipse due to a thunderstorm that you could see coming from far away and then wham. A good one! Interesting clouds following the storm. Did make it to Custer State Park and a very nice camp ground on a lake (center lake). At camp grounds I go for the tent site and then just sleep in the van. I had a tent but never used it as the van was easier and more comfortable. I met a full timer who showed me her van at the camp ground. Mercedes custom van. You can stand up and very well thought out. They used every inch and it had heat, AC, kitchen, shower. Everything you can think of. Very nice but I was thinking after that my van has zero maintenance on the heat, AC, water system etc. since I don't have any of that. Another nice thing the custom van had was a big screen that opened out in the back. Felt like you were in a screened in porch. One thing I did get for my van, which turned out to be essential, are screens that go over the back windows so you can leave the windows down at night. Worth their weight in gold.
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| After the thunderstorm. |
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| Lake at Custer State Park where camp ground was |
8/22:
Custer state park was a lot better than I expected. Lots of wildlife and nice hiking with a 7200 foot mountain and lots of interesting rock formations. Some buffalo and some mountain goats that were showing off climbing some cliffs. Also mountain goats in a tunnel licking some type of mineral from the tunnel walls. Maybe salt? Climbed Harney Peak which is a 7200 foot mountain with a CCC stone building built in 1939 on top. Very nice day! Rock formations reminded me of Joshua Tree NP. Could have easily spent more time at this park.
While there were very few people camping and hiking in Custer State park there were a lot of people outside the park where Mt Rushmore is and unlimited tourist opportunities like eating food and then eating more food. I drove by Mt Rushmore and took a picture but there was a long line of cars going into the parking area to get closer to it. I had seen enough and drove back into Custer state park!
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| In tunnel licking the walls |
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| Top of Harney Peak |
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| Drove by Mt Rushmore |
Drove to Devils Tower at the end of the day which is in Wyoming. Bad light for any decent pictures. Interesting rock pinnacle but the drive there was interesting. Red rock formations and some mesa type areas. Pretty dry in these parts! Farming doesn't look very good but I guess it is a grazing area and this is the end of the summer.
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| Bad picture of devils tower |
8/22:
Driving to Glacier. Ended up driving 200 miles or so on "back roads" in Montana. That means the speed limit is only 70. No one around so you could probably go any speed you want. Very dry. Saw a farmer turning over "dirt" but there was a big dust cloud behind him. Didn't look promising to me. The west is great for sleeping where you want. Rest areas have 24 hour bathrooms as a rule and are safe and you are welcome to sleep there. Plenty of truck stops which are noisier but food options and you can pay for a shower if you are so inclined. Pulling off pretty much anywhere seems to be fair game also. The only thing I ran into that I wasn't sure about was indian reservations. Can you pull over there? I didn't try. Always just drove out of them but probably OK. One good truck stop is Loves. They have an auto section and a truck section so more quiet. Lots of food options, clean, and a high end truck stop in my opinion. All the employees are friendly. As an easterner I assume that they are forced to be friendly or are drugged by the corporation. In reality I think people out west are just a lot more open and friendly.
Eastern Montana is flat and had grazing land as far as you can see in every direction. Doesn't look like a whole lot of people live there particularly on the route I took.
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| Away from trucks living the high end truck stop life. |
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| This is what Eastern Montana looks like |
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