Fogarty Summer Travel 2017: Westward Ho!

Our first stop on our journey west was the Enchanted Highway in western ND. This is a highway along which eight large metal sculptures have been placed

The List

#1 Geese In Flight

Arriving at the park.

After enjoying the sculptures we moved on to Teddy Roosevelt NP near Medora. We camped for several days in Cottonwood Canyon, enjoying the wildlife and the scenery.

Hiking in the petrified forest.

Hoodoos near the petrified forest

Greeter at the entrance to the North Unit

Prairie dog checking us out.

Pronghorn resting in the shade.

Two inches+ of hail one night!

Wild horses

Cruising down the highway we came upon Pompey's Pillar which we decided to explore.

Named after Sacagawea's son

The rock

William Clark (of Lewis and Clark) autographed the rock.

Continuing westward we stopped in Gallatin Canyon near Big Sky, another one of our ski haunts from days of old.

Camping in Gallatin Canyon along the river.

Big Sky has become a city!

The next stop was the surreal Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. Here we camped surrounded by ancient lava flows.

Craters of the Moon campground

Lava flow

The campground at Craters of the Moon

Arriving in Boise a couple of days before the eclipse gave us time to settle into the campground at Mack's Creek on Lucky Lake, visit with Catherine's nephew Matt and his family and rendezvous with Cate who flew in from LA.

View of Lucky Lake from our campsite.

The news media had lots of dire warnings about the traffic jams that were likely and the Idaho DOT had signs set up on the road so we got up early. Our spot north of Boise was really crowded!

75 miles north of Boise at the center of the action!

We settled in and waited for the big event.

The Nerd Zone

Waiting for the moon

We are underway

Almost there

It got dark and the temperature dropped noticeably. The mosquitos even got confused and came out of the nearby pond.

Wow!

Marching on

Almost done

See you in 2024!

Cate returned to LA and we headed north to the Coeur d'Alene area camping at Farragut SP a former Navy training base during WWII on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille.

Coeur D'Alene

Farragut SP

Lake Pend Orielle

Lunch with Bullwinkle

We enjoyed our stay at Glacier even though it was smoky. The Sprague Fire started on 8/10 and was at 2,000 acres when we arrived growing to 16,000 acres by the time we left. Our campground was upwind so we didn't experience smoky conditions there. As the fire grew the park was slowly closing areas affected. Shortly after we arrived the Sperry Chalet burned (similar to the Many Glacier Chalet below). It was one of the chalets built by the Great Northern Railroad in the early 1900s. A week after we left the park closed due safety concerns. The smoke obscured the mountain scenery reducing the experience of the park.