In 1920, the National Park Service, the Nation Park-to-Park Highway Association and the American Automobile Association jointly sponsored a tour following the route of an envisioned a Part-to-Park highway linking the twelve National Parks in the western United States. The purpose of the tour was to promote interest by neighboring communities in providing the infrastructure (i.e.: roads and accommodations) to facilitate visitation of the National Parks. It is this route that Jean and I intend to follow as closely as surviving roads will permit. The actual 1920 tour, which proceeds in a counterclockwise fashion from Denver Colorado and back, covered approximately 5,500 miles. If we include Lassen Volcanic and Zion National Parks which were bypassed on the 1920 tour, and adding for some side trips to friends and attractions, our tour will be approximately 7,800 miles plus the driving distance from Raleigh, NC to Denver, CO and back. We hope to complete the adventure in 8 to 10 weeks door to door.
Acknowledgements:
As we make final preparations for this once-in-our-lifetime adventure, Jean and I wish to express our thanks to all who have helped make this trip possible through their words of encouragement and tangible assistance.
First of all, the idea of recreating the journey of the 1920 Park-to-Park tour of 12 twelve of the western National Parks would never have come to mind had we not watched Brandon Wade’s documentary PAVING THE WAY on UNC-TV, our local Public Television station in 2010 and Lee and Jane Whitely whose book THE PLAYGROUND TRAIL: The National Park-to-Park Highway inspired both the documentary and our aspirations.
Secondly, we would assuredly have never fully realized the quest had it not been for the encouragement and diligent efforts of our Mike Petersen, who, with the assistance of Lee Whiteley and his publications, created a point by point set of directions that follow the original route to the best of his ability using available information.
Additionally, we might never have considered attempting this journey in our 1950 Willys Overland Jeep station wagon had it not been for the helpful assistance of many friends and the several automotive parts suppliers and rebuilding services providers that helped us over the 37 years since we first begun the restoration and maintenance of the vehicle. We would be pleased to share our experiences in this regard with others.
And finally, we are so grateful to have the support and encouragement of our friends; most of which do not think that we are totally bonkers for undertaking this adventure at 70 years of age.
Documentation:
Owing to the interest of many well-wishers (a probably more than a few folks that think we are nuts), Jean and I intend to make daily entries in this blog complete with photographs and video documenting our journey and activities once when our journey commences on August 15, 2013. Until then, we will be making sporadic entries describing the history of our relationship with our Jeep and our preparations for the trip. We hope that you will have time to follow us and we welcome your suggestions as to how to make the trip and the blog more meaningful.
Regards,
Jean & Dan
The Planned Route for the 1920 Park-to-Park Tour
Jean and Dan Fuccella – Photo taken in Wilmington,
We did a complete rebuild of the original F-134 4 cylinder engine as part of our original restoration in 1976 (more details on this type of engine in the future). It turned out pretty well, providing us 53,000 miles of relatively trouble free performance over the next 36 years as we drove the Jeep station wagon over most of the eastern United States from Maryland to Mississippi.
In anticipation of the demands of this summer’s tour we decided that a fresh engine was in order. So as not to interrupt our use of the Jeep during the engine rebuild, we decided to search out and rebuild an engine with identical specifications to the original while keeping the car in driving condition. We had decided that the rebuild would as well done as possible, as we intended the engine to not only weather our upcoming 10,000 mile trek across the western USA, but also provide reliable service for the foreseeable life of the vehicle.
We located a candidate engine through a post on the WillysTech parts board. Mike Petersen, our trek pathfinder, and I drove to Staunton, Virginia to inspect and ultimately purchase the engine; bringing it home in the trunk of my Camry. The rebuild was thorough with final assembly in our work room.
In addition to the basic engine, the distributor and carburetor were rebuilt and all other components checked over. We are very pleased with the results. We have logged 5,000 miles on the engine as break-in for the trip and it has been performing very well. Of course, as any owner of an older car knows, we could always be surprised.
Our friend Lou and our grandson assist with removal of the original engine February 2012
Rebuilt engine being prepared for installation April 2011
Engine: 134 cu. in. 4 Cylinder “F” head
72 hp @ 4,000 rpm
Transmission: 3 Speed Column Shift
2 Wheel Drive with electronically Actuated
Overdrive
7days to the start of out trek
As we approach the start of our trek on August 15, 2013, we thought you might enjoy learning something of the history of our Jeep.
In 1977 we found our 1950 Willys Overland Jeep Station Wagon advertised in the local paper in Saline, Michigan, our city of 5,000 people. Years earlier, I had rebuilt a few cars and thought that monkeying around with a “project car” would provide a little diversion from my job as a plastics engineer.
The ad caught my attention because the wagon was a 2-wheel drive model with overdrive, similar to one I had driven as a fraternity pledge when eight of my pledge mates and I “deposited” one of our fraternity brothers in the Kentucky countryside; a six hour drive from our college in central Ohio.
Overdrive is a must for touring with the early Jeeps, as the combination of a 538:1 rear end and a 135 cu. in. 72 hp 4-cylinder “F” head engine that doesn’t like to cruise above 2800 rpm, would otherwise restrict sustained top speed to less that 40 mph. The 1.3 to 1 electrically actuated overdrive raises the cruising speed to over 50 mph!
I thought the wagon would make a fun project because it was relatively simple (no power equipment or solid state devices) and the asking price was within reach for a guy with a wife and 2 preteens. The Jeep had been manufactured at the Willys-Overland plant in Toledo, Ohio, and then purchased by a gentleman in Biloxi, Mississippi for $1885.10. In the mid ‘70s it was transported to Michigan where we purchased it for $250.
When my asked by my wife how long it would take to get the car into decent running condition (it had no brakes, was badly “bio-degrading” and smoked a lot), I told her 6 months tops. Wisely, she added two years to my estimate, as that was the time it took for me to do the original restoration in our family garage.
Before restoration – 1977 6 months into restoration – 1977
We lived in Michigan, and the engine rebuild came up during the winter; so naturally, I convince my wife that it was imperative that the engine be assembled in the controlled temperature of our family room. She was good-natured about it, but did complain that the cylinder block did not make a good end table, as her wine glass kept falling into the cylinder bores.
While in Michigan, we had many fond memories of our preteen age girls sitting on the tailgate as we participated in local parades. As originally envisioned, we also put the Jeep Wagon to work hauling construction materials for many home projects.
When we moved to Cary, North Carolina in 1992, we brought the Jeep to that location. That year we founded Applied Technologies, Inc., a product design and engineering firm in Cary. Once again, the Jeep was called upon to haul materials for several home projects. With the rear seats removed and the tailgate down, the wagon will hold 22 bales of pine straw! It was still in decent enough shape to run in a parade or two. This time my grandchildren sat on the tailgate.
In 2000, after 20+ years of outdoor storage and moderate use, it was time to either sell the Jeep to someone who would probably convert it into an off-road monster, or re-restore it myself. Fortunately, my wife encouraged me to keep the wagon and bring it back to its earlier “beauty”. With some skilful assistance with the body prep and painting, we went back through the jeep, replacing the windows and rubber components, re-chromed much of the bright work and refreshed the interior and drive train.
Shortly after the second restoration, we took time off from our engineering business to take the wagon on a 2 week tour of North Carolinas’s Outer Banks and second trip to western Pennsylvania that included a stop in Charlottesville, VA, a run down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Boone, NC, and a return to our home in Cary, NC via Pilot Mountain, NC.
In 2002, we found and restored a 1959 Hobie long board. We built a custom set of roof racks to mount the 9’ 6” long, 45 lb. surfboard on the Jeep. This addition seems to have broadened the age group of curios onlookers.
The original owner had purchased a warrantee that entitled the owner to a free inspection every month or 1000 miles at an authorized Willys Overland dealer. Since Willys Overland Motors, Inc. became Willys Motor Company in 1953, which was then purchased by Kaiser-Jeep Corporation in 1963, which in turn was purchased by American Motors Corporation in 1970, which was then purchased by Chrysler Corporation in 1987, which merged with Daimler-Benz in 1998, I wonder if my local Mercedes dealer will honor the warrantee.
We have found (actually always suspected) that there are not too many people strange enough to have restored a Willys Jeep Station Wagon. As we travel back roads or display the wagon, this fact, plus its weirdly attractive appearance, have provided us with the opportunity to talk to many warm and interesting people. I particularly enjoy hearing people reminisce of their personal experiences with early Jeep Station Wagons. So far, I have not heard of anyone else who used one for kidnapping.
In the fall of 2002, after being won over by the enthusiasm of a Club member, we joined the Triangle Chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America. We have since been participating in many of the activities conducted by the fine members of this organization.
In 2003, we drove the Jeep to Biloxi, Mississippi to show it to its original owners who were then in their early 90’s. We have subsequently driven it to Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania; as well as Florida, Tennessee, and Kentucky for AACA national events.
Finally got on the road at 10:30am today. With all the personal and company organization to do in preparation for the trek, Jean and I actually did not start packing for the 2 month trek until this am. Several folks asked if we had a list of things to do in preparation for the trip. Actually, I did; the first item on the list as to make a list – well we never got that far.
Jean and Dan as they prepare to leave on their 10,000 mile trek (think they will still be as chummy at the end?)
Packed the Jeep with engineering precision; taking weight, frequency of need, and value of each item into account in determining its placement in the Jeep’s bed. Just wait until day two… Decided to leave the rear seats at home for space and weight considerations.
Strategic packing at the start of the trek (just wait until the first stop)
Anyway, after topping off the tank at a local station we were on our way – well almost. Just five miles down the road on NC 64, the wireless sensor for the GPS flew off its perch on the cowl in front of the windshield. With uncanny accuracy, a car 100 yards behind us trampled the sensor as it slid down the roadway. Must have been a skeet shooter. Fortunately, Jean had a wired back-up which she got working with the DeLorme GPS software on our tablet within minutes. Not that we needed it at that point, just that it prevented me from going ballistic in a confined space just 3 feet from her in the first moments of a 200 hr trip together.
Heading West on NC 64 near Asheboro NC
Stopped in Lexington, NC for some great local barbecue and proceeded northwest to challenge the eastern range of the Appalachians. For those not familiar with the handling characteristics of early Jeep Station Wagons; well, it takes some finesse to maintain any level of progress on curvy, hilly roads. With 72 hp, drum brakes all around, and marginal steering performance; one must continuously anticipate the next change in elevation (up or down) and change of road direction. Fortunately, our wagon’s components, although authentic, are in pretty much top shape. A newly rebuilt engine, electronic overdrive and Planar independent front suspension, all stock, did their part to get us through in fairly respectable shape.
Tomorrow we tackle the western side of the range with Bowling Green, KY as our destination.
Willys Trek 1950 Willy Jeep Overland Drive Through Western NC
It is the wee hours of the morning of the 20th of August, and it is only now that I have settled down well enough to reflect on the events the past four days.
While cruising at our usual mind-bending speed of 55mph down a 4-lane stretch of open road in eastern Kentucky Friday afternoon, the Jeep abruptly lost power for an interminable second and then cut back on again. At that instant, there was a huge bang followed by the continuous roar of uninhibited engine exhaust. It was obvious that unburned fuel vapors that had accumulated in the exhaust system during the power interruption had ignited explosively when the engine regained power and damaged the exhaust system components. Traffic was light, the shoulders wide and the day was bright, so we collected ourselves and pulled into the paved entrance to an abandon side road to assess the damage and ponder its cause. Sure enough, the muffler had been split down the length. The internal construction of the muffler was fully exposed – quite a scientific marvel of acoustical engineering – but not so interesting to us at that moment.
Unfortunately, the engine continued to exhibit a continuous misfire at moderate rpm; not enough to cut completely out, but sufficient to cause concern that we might struggle to make it to “civilization”. So, as cars and semi trailers blasted by, boy wonder pulled out his carefully packed emergency tool box and commenced his diagnosis of the problem. Funny how different highways are when you are standing still beside them. Presuming that the cause of the sharp power interruption was electrical in nature, I first checked for loose wires, then proceeded to replace the ignition coil and condenser – with no perceptible change in the intermittent engine stammer.
We tried to keep calm heads as I tried different remedies. The weather was mild, there were still several hours of daylight left, and no real personal harm had been done. Shortly after we began this process, a Fish and Game officer pulled up with his skiff towing SUV to see if he could be of assistance. Soon after, a member of the highway safety patrol pulled in to lend his support. It was reassuring to have these friendly folks there, but unfortunately neither had the background to assist with the technical aspects of our plight. Jean, all the while provided rock steady confidence and encouragement to me as she engaged in conversation with the gentlemen.
August 16, 2013 Recognize that butt?? – Dan attempting engine repair along KY80 shortly after the big bang
After 2 hours (in retrospect, probably only 45 minutes) of attempting various fixes, it was deemed prudent to attempt to proceed to Somerset, about 15 miles down the road, where there would be ample auto parts stores, repair shops and if needed, lodging facilities. The safety patrol officer followed us in his van as we rumbled our way west – mostly trouble free. It is amazing just how much noise a car (even one with only 72 hp) makes without a muffler.
We elected to settle in at a strip motel on the main drag where we could park the car conveniently in front of our room and continued working on the intermittent power interruption (stammer) problem. The location afforded ready access to several automobile support facilities. How hard could it be?
August 16, 2013 – Dan working on Jeep in motel parking lot – smiling at this point
The point ignition system on early Jeeps is extremely rudimentary, consisting of an ignition coil, a distributor with points, condenser, rotor and cap, ignition wires and spark plugs. Well, after bypassing the ignition switch and substituting all of the above items (with the exception of the spark plug wires which were, the very reliable copper stranded type), with new or historically proven components, engine roughness not only persisted, but got worse.
August 17, 2013 – Mike and Michael searching for lost screws as Dan attacks the fuel pump – not smiling so much
Getting a little panicky at this point. Really want to have this solved and back on the road by Saturday morning. Would then only be a day delayed in visiting my cousin and his wife in Washington, MO.
One nice thing about having an unusual vehicle is that it attracts on-lookers; incidentally, many of which, much to my pleasure, and my wife’s feigned consternation, are good-looking ladies. Well fortunately, this time the car drew the attention of a soft spoken, local fellow with a sound practical knowledge of cars and a very kind heart. After an hour of assisting me in my efforts to solve the engine roughness problem, he called in his dad, also a car nut, from his nearby home to assist. There had been a perceptible change in the symptoms that I had completely overlooked in my lather to resolve the issue. Now, instead of abruptly cutting in and out, the engine seemed starved for fuel, bogging down when the throttle was open.
Mike, the father, zeroed in on the fuel system; although, I was skeptical because I did not think that fuel starvation would have caused the abrupt misfire experienced earlier on the highway. However, I had been at it for 3 hours of semi-panicked effort at this point and was desperate for a solution. As Jean pointed out in calm, reassuring manner; let’s try to fix the problem now and worry about the theory later. So we sucked and blew on the fuel lines – no apparent obstruction there. Changed the fuel filter, even though the old one was relatively new and appeared clear. Mike, Michael (his son) and I surmised that the fuel pump must be weak, and despite upon inspection of any evidence of wear or damage to the diaphragm or check valves, decided to call it a night and have me find a replacement in the morning (Saturday). Needless to say I did not eat or sleep well that evening. Jean, in her infinite wisdom (really), had summed up the situation arranged for a rental car Friday afternoon – such a realist.
After several phone calls to the local auto parts stores early Saturday morning (“sorry sir, but our books only go back to 1980” or “station wagon, is that anything like a CJ?”, or “only have “L” head listed, are you sure it is a “F” head?”) a prince at the local CarQuest located a fuel pump for a CJ-3 on Lexington, Ky, “just 75 miles north. So, after talking to the folks in Lexington and without any real assurance that the fuel pump was the cause of our problems (the abrupt engine cut off on the highway still nagging me) we headed out on a 3-1/2 round trip to Lexington in the rental car to retrieve the replacement fuel pump. I was squirming in my seat the whole trip wondering if this tact was taking us in the right direction. What if the pump was not the problem??
We got back around 4pm Saturday and I immediately installed the new pump and guess what —no improvement. Now where to turn?? I could feel desperation building in me – for I could see us shipping our car back to NC and our whole trip going down the tubes. Worst of all, my pride would be hurt; not having the ability to weather the to be expected “adventures” during the trip. All the time Jean stood reassuringly by my side. So, I call on my knights in shining armor from the previous day and they agreed to try to come by Sunday afternoon to see what we could do. I am now starting to mentally calculate the chances of getting to Yellowstone by August 31st to meet up with our daughter’s family that are flying in from Raleigh, NC for a 3-day tour of the area together.
Not much sleep or nourishment Saturday evening. Attended Mass with Jean Sunday morning, but sadly, found no solution to the car problem in the hymnal or sermon. After church, going on a hunch from Mike that it might be bad fuel, I purchased a 1 gallon fuel can and some fuel injector hose (we had opened up the freshly rebuilt and proven carburetor; immaculate, so Mike had suggested it might be a case of contaminated fuel). Although we had not seen any evidence of dirt or water in the carburetor bowl, there really were not many alternatives left. When we arrived home with the full fuel can, there they were, Michael and Mike, pouring over the engine. What a relief that was. To test the bad fuel theory, we ran a fuel line directly from the fuel pump to the 1 gallon can of fresh fuel I had purchased and started the engine. After 2 minutes (seemed like an hour) — no improvement. Took the lid off the carburetor (now for about the third time) and siphoned the fuel out of the bowl to be sure we had purged the allegedly bad fuel. Buttoned things back up and started the engine. It is now late Sunday afternoon. It fired right up and ran very smoothly!!! We laughed and hugged (man-style). Calculating that there were probably about 5 gallons of fuel remaining in my tank, Mike and Michael generously retrieved a 5 gallon container from home into which we siphoned virtually all for the fuel from the Jeep’s tank. Mike instructed me to put the fuel conditioner, which they had purchased, in the tank ten make a couple of trips to the gas station to get some fresh fuel and then drive the Jeep to the gas station to fill it with high-test gas.
The car ran flawlessly to the gas station where I did as he instructed. On the way back to the motel, the Jeep started breaking up badly again. I managed to keep it running well enough to drive it up and back a service road attempting to “clear” any bad fuel (the blown muffler accentuating the engine misfire). In retrospect, the problem was more like the original intermittent power loss than the fuel starvation problem. No luck, and I just managed to pull into out now familiar parking spot in front of our motel room door (Jean standing there sympathetically) before the engine quit for good. Dark was approaching and I was tired, hungry and crestfallen (what is a crest anyway?), so we headed to a local restaurant for a little nourishment – don’t remember a thing. When we got back to the room Jean encouraged me to call someone who might be able to give me some fresh ideas. It is now Sunday evening around 8pm. Fortunately, fellow Antique Automobile Club of America chapter member, Ted, was willing to walk through the events of the past few days with me and offer a methodical approach to diagnosing what now appeared to be an electrical problem again – back where we started. Needless to say, not much sleep that night. About 2:30am I laid out a flow diagram combining Ted’s ideas and mine for a logical approach to solving the problem. Jean and I decided that we should once more replace the ignition coil and condenser – did I mention that we had replaced the points and inspected all wiring and insulation on Saturday? Jean, maintaining a clear head and confident attitude, suggesting we should focus on solving the problem in the most expedient, albeit less economical manner. We were running out of time and energy.
August 18, 2013 – Dan giving the Jeep repair one more try – not smiling at all
Early Monday morning I headed down to the NAPA store and purchased a new coil, condenser, set of spark plugs and analog volt meter and got back to work with as much enthusiasm as I could muster after about 15 cumulative hours of having worked on the engine over the past three days. I replaced the coil and condenser (for the second time). Started the Jeep up — the intermittent running problem persisted! After a moment of self-pity and frustration, I began re-inspection of this really simple electrical system for the umpteenth time. As I was rechecking the coil connection of the wire to the distributor – out slid the wire from the connector. The connector fastened to the coil had lost its grip on the copper strands of the wire running to the distributor. Was the wire always loose (been in use for 35 years) or did we dislodge it during all the component replacement activity?? I had checked and even by-based that wire a couple of times with no improvement – but was that when the fuel contamination problem was causing the engine roughness??? No time to ponder that now. Put a fresh connector on the end of the wire –problems solved. Drove around the motel parking lot a few times to test out the solution and decided we were ready to go. It was now 11am Monday morning.
Gave Jean a big hug – Called Mike and Michael to tell them problems (electrical and fuel contamination) solved and thanked them profusely for all for their help and support – I would never have guessed at a fuel problem on my own.
Take-Away
(Caution – mushy part)
With the disaster now turned into an “adventure” (although I am still recovering), I can see that the experience provided just what we were hoping to find on out trip.
Reminded us of our shortcomings and reliance on our fellow persons
Put life’s other little problems in prospective
Reassured our faith in the generosity of others as evidenced by State officers, the concerned folks at the Red Roof Inn, the supportive auto parts dealers and the many on-lookers that wished us well in the city of Somerset, KY; and especially Mike, and Michael who are really responsible for us being able to turn the disaster into an adventure.
And, most of all, it renewed and reinforced the admiration and love for my wife Jean, who reassuringly stood by me, providing support and encouragement throughout the whole “adventure”. By the way – today, August 12, 2013, is our 48th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary Jean. Love, Dan —ahhh
After discovering and repairing the loose ignition wire on Monday, August 19th, I set off to the local shop to replace the muffler that we had blown out the previous Friday evening (access Entry #5 if you would like the whole gruesome story). The muffler replacement started with a reciprocating saw massacre of my exhaust system, but ended reasonably well considering what we had to work with.
Around 11am, August 19th, Jean and I bid farewell to our motel hosts and on-lookers (we had been there for three days), grabbed some lunch in Somerville and continued our westward journey to Denver for the start of our Park-to-Park trek.
Jeep ran well. We logged around 240 uneventful miles before deciding to settle in for the night at the State of Kentucky run Ken Lake lodge on the western edge of the state. Price was reasonable, surroundings were peaceful, and food quite decent.
August 19, 2013 Jean at Ken Lake Lodge in Western Kentucky
August 20, 2013 – visit to cousin Walter and Judy
From the Ken Lake Lodge we drove approximately 300 miles to the home of my cousin Walter and his lovely wife Judy in Washington, MO; located about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis, MO. The route took us past Cairo, IL and across classic bridges crossing the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
Walter and I grew up on opposite sides of the Hudson River together; Walter in Teaneck, NJ and me in Yonkers, NY. In those days one thought little of allowing early teens to take public transportation unescorted, so he and I routinely made visits to terrorize each other’s households.
We spent the evening catching up on family and reminiscing over our past antics. Truth be known, we would repeat some of our feats again if given the chance – stunts that included things like cigars, fireworks, and old cars.
August 20, 2013 Map of river crossings at Cairo, IL
August 20, 2013 Crossings the Missouri at Cairo, IL
August 20, 2013 Driving Route 66 south of Washington, MO
August 21, 2013 – Washington, MO to Lawrence, KS
Left Walter and Judy around 11am after replacing some leaky wheel valve stems and having the wheels balanced.
August 21, 2013 Judy and Walter with Jean
Headed west once more. Past through Jefferson City, Missouri’s state capital (they call it Jeff City) and settled in at Lawrence, KS; the home of University of Kansas. Jeep died in the motel parking lot (could have been worse). Popped the distributor cap (good at this now – after the umpteenth time) and found that some debris had found its way between the ignition point contacts. Heard a clicking noise from the overdrive solenoid and discovered some loose wires and a loose governor. Prolonged vibration takes its toll on everything. Cleaned things up a bit and off we went for our 48th Anniversary (seems like yesterday) Dinner at the local steak dive next door to the motel. We were happy for having a reasonably uneventful day and having made some progress toward Denver.
August 22, 2013 – Drive, Drive, Drive
Logged another 300+ miles through Kansas. Actually, the back roads route that we took gave us a good flavor for Kansas life. There are other crops than corn grown in Kansas – a surprising amount of tobacco. Decided not to complain about the ethanol laced fuel. Bedded down in the small town of WaKeeney, KS. Had dinner at the Western Kansas Saloon – surprisingly good chicken parmesan. Discovered this day that the Jeep’s cooling system does not like sustained high speed cruising (steady 55mph for hours) when the temperature is in the 90’s. Seldom gets that kind of use in the Carolinas. Had to back off a bit on some of the long inclines to keep the coolant temperature within safe bounds. The Jeep and we survived.
August 23, 2013 – Denver!
Another 300+ mile day and we reached Denver, CO. The last leg to Denver was state route 83 running west to Denver. As we entered State Route 86 at its eastern terminus, what lay before us was 100 miles of a sparsely traveled, narrow asphalt strip running over and around hillocks and gullies that were covered with a thin layer sod and sage brush. OK, Mr. Jeep, don’t fail us now. It was very picturesque once one got over the fear of being found in a stalled Jeep as a dried stack of bones by some hitchhiker.
August 23, 2013 Driving the lonely final 100 mile stretch to Denver, CO
Eventually (everything at you do at 55mph is “eventually”) we broke out into the suburbs of Denver and were soon longing for the serenity of the previous hours. Reached our hotel with the help of our GPS, braved the Denver traffic for some dinner at a local mall and called it a night.
As previously reported, we reached Denver, Colorado the evening of August 23rd. Following the suggestion of Lee Whiteley, the fellow who, with his wife Jane, documented the original Park to Park Tour in their book The Playground Trail, we stayed on the southeast side of Denver; out of the inner city congestion. Saturday was to be a layover day for taking care of needed tasks.
First orders of business for me that Saturday were
Get the Jeep lubed – it had been almost 2,000 miles since I greased the chassis just before we left Cary, NC. The recommended lube and oil change interval in 1950 was 1,000 miles. I figure that with less dusty roads, and improvements in lubricants and metallurgy, 2,000 miles for a thorough lube job and 4,000 for an oil and filter change was perfectly sufficient. Personal experience with the Jeep had shown this to be the case.
Get a haircut – I had meant to take care of this task before we left Cary, but it had fallen off the priority list.
The haircut came off without a hitch – just as handsome as ever. I wish I could say the same for the lube job. Late Friday afternoon I spent a good hour trying to line up an appropriate place to get a 1950 vehicle maintained. The only “service station” that I found within practical range did not answer the phone – found out later his garage door was broken, so he was not in a position to help me. Although previous experience had not been good using a franchise auto repair establishment for this kind of work on an older car, in desperation I made an appointment to take my Jeep to one such place that Saturday morning. Here is the scenario:
8:30am: I apprehensively show up as arranged. “Sorry, but we are shorthanded, and will not be able to work on your car until 10 or 10:30 when more technicians arrive. Why don’t you come back then?”
10:15am: I show up “Not sure how to enter this work request into our billing system, this could take some studying….”
10:30am: “You cannot drive the car onto our service rack; one of our technicians will have to do it.”
10:35am: “Sorry sir, but none of our technicians knows how to drive a car with manual shift on the column; but one of them is willing to try.” Finally one of the old-timers from the parts department comes out to the service bay; and with a little refresher as to the proper lever position, gets the Jeep safely on the rack.
10:45am: Technician “I have never used a grease gun before, but I think I saw someone do it once.”
Finally, a very courteous and patient young service person managed to scrape together the equipment to complete the lube job, check the transmission, overdrive, and differential oil levels; and through some creative manipulation of plastic parts improvised an oil dispenser to lubricate the generator and distributor bearings.
I was so happy to have accomplished the task without injury to the Jeep or myself that I actually drove off without paying (later called in my credit card number from the safety of our hotel room.
The balance of Saturday and Saturday evening was spent paying attention to unfinished personal and company business.
Sunday, August 25, 2013 – Starting the Park to Park Tour!
7:30am: Snuck down to the Jeep to disassemble and clean the carburetor’s idle circuit in an attempt to solve a rough idle problem. Helped somewhat, but decided that I might have to wait until we returned to sea level before I could properly remedy the problem. Denver is at 5,000 feet above sea level, which affects the air/fuel mixture ratio – something that is handled by carburetor modification for those who reside in the mountains.
9:30am: Packed the car and off we went to share a sumptuous brunch with Lee and Jane Whiteley, who as I mentioned previously, wrote the book that inspired the documentary that drove Jean and me to take this epic trek. We had a great time sharing stories. Lee presented us with a color copy of a rare map originally produced for the 1920 Part-to-Park Tour. We presented to the Whiteleys a reproduction set of the early 1920 window decals for each of the 12 National Parks, which I had made using illustrations from the Whiteley’s website. Lee also came armed with highlighted maps to guide us on the first leg of our journey.
Jean with Lee & Jane Whiteley after brunch in Denver, Colorado
Dan & Jean starting the Park-to-Park tour at Overland Park
After brunch, the Whiteleys escorted us to Denver’s Overland Park, now a public golf course, which as a camp ground in 1920, was the official starting point of the 1920 Park-to-Park Tour. We said our good-byes, and off Jean and I went on the official start of our own Park-to-Park Tour. The first part of the journey led us up Federal Avenue through the whole of Denver’s Westside. It provided an informative view into the diversity of that city. We enjoyed the experience, but welcomed the breakout into the suburbs and finally the countryside.
View of Denver looking east from Federal Avenue – Bronco’s stadium on the left
Lee’s suggested route lead us down lesser traveled by-ways and finally up a winding and undulating (often simultaneously) Route 7 which works its way circuitously up to the town of Estes Park, a tourist haven at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park.
We spent the evening in a ‘60’s era log exterior motel after having a tasty Nepalese meal that consisted of ground chicken and vegetables stuffed into wrinkled skinned “dumplings” that resembled Star Trek’s Lt. Commander Worf’s forehead and might well have been alien egg pods from some science fiction movie. Anyway, they were very tasty.
Lodge in Estes Park
Monday, August 26, 2013 – Rocky Mountain National Park
Recalling a brief tour that Jean and I had taken of the Park when we were younger (the mountains were taller then), and noting that the Jeep struggled to make it up the grades to Estes Park the previous day, we stowed all for our luggage and electronic gear at the Lodge office before attacking the assent into the Park. I also stopped at the local NAPA auto part store (never can pass one up) and purchased an extra jug of 50/50 antifreeze solution in case the jeep overheated on the way up and coolant needed replenishment.
We did quite well; electing to enter at the northern entrance to the Park as the least vertically challenging. We made a big splash (small one actually) when we stopped at a lookout near the top of the climb and the resting engine emitted a soft mist which supplemented that of the surrounding clouds. I had improvised a coolant overflow reservoir from a plastic pop bottle and some wire ties to catch any antifreeze escaping the coolant system. No harm done – as long as no one mistakes the antifreeze containing pop bottle for a Mountain Dew. Come to think about it, they are quite similar…
After reaching the Alpine Visitor Center at 11,796 feet above sea level (+ one’s own height) where we had a warm drink and looked at tourist stuff, we descended, leaving the Park through its southern entrance. It was an exhilarating experience for both of us (more so for me, as I am aware of all the 63 year old parts on the Jeep that could fail without notice and send us hurling over the edge…).
Ernest Hemingway in the Himalayas – or maybe Dan at the Rocky Mountain National Park visitor’ center
Jean at a lookout in Rocky Mountain National Park
Road out of Rocky Mountain National Park with Long’s Peak in the background – note the sign
Anyway, we survived, gathered up our gear at the Lodge and headed north on a three day journey to Yellowstone National Park and our eventual rendezvous with our daughter Jeanette and family who are planning to fly out from Raleigh to join us for a few days in Jackson Hole and Yellowstone National Park. Can’t they take the hint – we drove 2,000 miles in an old jalopy risking life and limb just to have some private time – – – just kidding.
Stayed in Laramie, Wyoming Monday evening. I spotted this convenient motel on our way into town and suggested we check it out. Was I proud of myself when I learned that they were having a special offer of a $49 rate!! But when I returned to the car to inform Jean of my wise business transaction, she was less than pleased. In my intense effort to close the deal I had failed to notice the dilapidated sign, the cracked entrance way, the stained carpets……; well you get the idea. I could ignore all that for $49, but apparently she was not so forgiving. We did survive, and to the best of our knowledge, have no strange insect bites or intestinal aliments – yet observed.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Left the hospitable confines of our $49 room (did I mention that the room was only $49??) and headed north and east to a scheduled stay in Thermopolis, Wyoming. Not surprisingly, Jean made this evening’s accommodation arrangements. The trip to Warm Springs covered a lot of rolling prairie with scrub brush and rock out-croppings. We had lunch at a little restaurant in Casper, Wyoming with virtually no windows. Not sure if that was to keep outsiders from seeing what was being served or to keep customers from displaying dismay at the food. Wasn’t half bad, actually.
The highlight of the trip to Thermopolis was the 15 mile winding trip on Route 20 down Big Horn River Gorge with its tall craggy stone walls and railroad tracks sharing the route with the river and our roadway. Beautiful trip in, and being down sloping, an easy ride in our power challenged vehicle.
Traveling north on Route 20 in Big River Gorge just south of Thermopolis, Wyomong
When Jean said that we would be spending the evening in Thermopolis I thought “hot dog – “Therm” means “hot” and “opolis” means “town” – so I was expecting there to be a hot time in the old time tonight. No such thing; just a quiet town with some hot springs dispersed around the area. Never-the-less, I will try to enjoy a night’s rest with semi-trailers cruising by the window of our “rustic” suite and the nostalgic sound of an occasional train whistle to sooth me to sleep. Did I mention the room rate was…
Got up early and went out to the Jeep at our lodgings in Thermopolis to see if I could find the source of an annoying intermittent stumble in the engine at idle. 30 minutes later I was no closer than when I started. The Jeep was otherwise running relatively well, so I buttoned things up and we packed up for the trip to Powell, WY where we had arranged to meet with Ms. Diane Martin at the Hinckley Library on the campus of Northwest College. It is here that they maintain much of the archive collection of memorabilia from the original 1920 Park-to-Park Tour.
Left Thermopolis around 10:30 am after a sound breakfast in a Thermopolis downtown café. The trip from Thermopolis to Powell traversed a lot of open prairie with rolling hills covered with scrub brush. To keep the juices flowing we elected to take some lonely secondary roads through the Shoshone Valley for the last legs of the trip to Powell. The remote locale was both awesome and a bit intimidating. 45 minutes later we popped out in downtown Powell, happy that we had taken the road less traveled.
Had a pleasant visit with Ms. Martin in the afternoon. She and her husband are avid campers and as such she was able to share travel suggestions for the balance of our trek through the Parks.
Dan with Diane Martin at Northwest College’s Hinckley Library in Powell, Wyoming
That evening was laundry night. While Jean remained back at the motel taking care of some company business, I made my way to the local Laundromat. Did pretty well, no socks lost and most of the clothes ended up the same color as when they were before I washed them.
Once again got out early to work on the engine’s drivability problem. Previously noticed prematurely pitted points, so I decided to file the points and change out the condenser for one of the three additional ones that I had accumulated. After trying most of the spare condensers, filling the points, and replacing the rotor and distributor cap with ones that had previously performed well, I hit upon a combination of procedures and components that somehow provided good idle and power performance. Still don’t know the root cause; but I ain’t touching a thing until/unless it starts acting up again.
Also installed a coolant recovery bottle that I had purchased the previous day as a precaution against losing too much coolant under the sustained high load conditions anticipated climbing hills in the upcoming Parks.
It was a short uneventful drive from Powell to Cody which is at the doorstep to the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park about 50 miles west. During the Park season Cody caters to the Park’s visitors with an abundance of, albeit somewhat pricy, lodging, restaurants, and gift shops. We passed through Cody and on to lodging that Jean had arranged for us in a cabin complex an additional 20 miles closer to the east entrance to the Park.
Jean at our cabin 30 miles east of the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park
After unloading luggage at the cabin for weight reduction, at around 1:30pm we drove over to the Park with the intent of driving the full figure 8 road system to get a feel for the layout.
Well, boy we were wrong about that. Between winding roads and stops for bison in the road and road construction projects, it was nearly 4:30pm when we reached the Roosevelt Lodge at the northeastern corner of the upper loop for a late lunch. While we waited for our Bison burgers to arrive, we did a mental calculation of the time we would arrive back at the lodge if we continued on with our counterclockwise traverse of the upper loop of the figure 8. With sunset estimated to be around 7:30pm – three hours being the same duration as it took us to get from the lodge to where we were, and my concern about any possibility of breaking down in the Park after dark, we elected have our burgers and steamed vegetable sides put in to-go boxes, topped off the gas (@ $4.19/gallon) and headed back out the way we came in. We ate our “lunch” during one of the road construction delays, spent 15 minutes close-up and personal with a herd of Bison crossing the road. We made it back to the lodge just as dark fell on the complex. The Jeep ran sweetly throughout the whole journey back to the lodge. After a glass of wine for jean and chocolate cake alamode for me, we called it a day – another good day.
Coming up to the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park
Corkscrew Bridge in Yellowstone National Park – The main Park road once passed across the top of the bridge and then down and through the tunnel
Roosevelt Lodge in the northeast side of the upper loop of Yellowstone National Park where we stopped to grab a late lunch
The north rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Approaching our cabin complex at the end of our first afternoon in Yellowstone National Park
Knowing that our younger daughter and her family would shortly be spending 6 days with us visiting the Gran Tetons and Yellowstone National Park, Jean and I elected to go back to Cody, 20 miles east of our lodging to visit their expansive museum complex rather than go to the Park. We had a grand time; first browsing some of the shops on the main street and then visiting the Buffalo Bill Center of the West which consisted of 5 separate but interconnected well appointed exhibition halls. We spent about 3 hours just viewing the highlights – it would take a good day to do it justice.
Before traveling back to our cabin we visited the expansive Irma Hotel in Cody, established by Buffalo (William) Cody and named after his daughter. We had a snack in the main dining room which houses an elaborate bar installed at the time of its construction in 1902. We returned to the cabin complex, had a light dinner in the lodge and settled in to reflect on the events of recent days and the times ahead of us.
Had to take this shot of “then and now” on the main street in Cody, Wyoming
Dining Room with elaborate bar at the Irma Hotel in Cody, Wyoming
We left our cabin west of Cody, Wyoming and traveled 30 miles further west to the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park and then south down the eastern side of the lower loop road toward Grand Teton National Park.
As we proceeded southward through Grand Teton National Park we could see the Teton mountains off to our right – looked just like the photographs. Huge walls of jagged stone seemingly jutting straight up out of the ground. The sharp transition from relatively flat lowlands in the foreground to the tall peaks in the background accentuates their majesty.
Our younger daughter had arranged lodging in a house near Jackson, Wyoming, a few miles south of the Park. She and her family were flying out from Raleigh, NC to spend 6 days with us exploring the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
The last leg of the trip to our lodging took us down a narrow two lane road that deteriorated into a potholed dirt road for a couple of miles before returning to pavement. I ordinarily enjoy driving this kind of terrain; however, being 2,500 miles from home I was a little uncomfortable with the thought that we might shake something loose navigating the bumps.
(I was happy that I installed an original type spring loaded float needle valve in the Jeep’s YF carburetor. From my experience with the solid type needle, I think it would never have handled the bouncing around without allowing overfilling the carburetor bowl creating engine roughness or stall-out)
After some lunch in Jackson, Wyoming, Jean and I retrieved the house key from the management company, unloaded our luggage at the house and went into Jackson to buy some groceries for the incoming horde which includes 3 young growing boys.
Kids showed up around 6pm in good shape and hungry after a day’s drive from Salt Lake City. Tacos and beans did the trick.
Jeep continues to run smoothly since I changed out the condenser for the third time and filed the points – not planning to even pop the distributor cap unless the engine acts up.
Approaching the Grand Tetons from the northeast
8-31-13 Approaching the Grand Tetons
8-31-13 Road less traveled to lodging near the Tetons
Explored Grand Teton National Park with our daughter’s family on September 1st and 2nd. On Sunday, September 1st we drove up to Jenny Lake, a 1-1/2 mile diameter lake bounded by the moraines left by the last glacial period. Its waters are crystal clear and around 65 degrees F. We first attempted to follow a trail around its perimeter to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, an elevated area from which one can view the surrounding terrain. However; some distance in, the original trail was closed for construction and we got ourselves sidelined down a path that eventually led to nowhere.
We returned to the starting point of the trail at the Visitors Center and decided to take a ferry across to the base of Inspiration point. Jean and I stayed on the ferry and returned to the Visitors Center to look around while the young’ns made the trek up to Inspiration Point after viewing Hidden Falls. They returned on a subsequent ferry.
Nice day with great weather. One of the grandchildren rode up to Jenny Lake with me in the Jeep from our lodgings and another rode with me on the way back. On the return trip we elected to pass through the town of Jackson to stop for more groceries – those boys can eat. The streets were filled with tourists in for the Labor Day weekend and we had fun blasting old songs on the Jeep’s radio as we passed slowly through the town’s traffic.
On September 2, 2013 we returned to the Grand Tetons National Park; this time stopping at a look-out along the Snake River and at the Colter Bay Visitors Center along Jackson Lake before hiking to the top of Grand View Point approximately 7,800 feet in elevation. It drizzled most of the day, which gave us a different perspective on the area. The Teton Mountain Range was looming ever present to our west with strata of clouds running at varying elevations along its length throughout the day.
Returned to our lodgings with just the right level of tiredness and soggyness to make it a perfect and memorable day. Off to terrorize Yellowstone tomorrow.
Elk antler arch in the center of Jackson, Wyoming’s tourist section
Home that we rented south of Grand Teton National Park – roughing it
Luke, Eli & Tommy in Grand Teton National Park
Jean & Dan in Grand Teton National Park
Jenny Lake with the Teton Range in the Background
Jeanette, Luke, Tommy, Mark, & Eli at Snake River Overlook with the Teton Range in the background
Luke, Tommy, Jeanette, Mark & Eli at Grand View Point – elevation 7,823 feet
View east from Grand View Point in Grand Teton National Park – elevation 7,823 feet
It is 6:30am Sunday morning (for those of you that are looking after my soul, Jean took me to Mass last evening) and I am trying to sum up the three days that we spent in Yellowstone Park with our younger daughter Jeanette, her husband Mark, and their three pre-teen sons Luke, Eli, and Tommy.
We spent the three days terrorizing much of the Park; accumulating an over abundance of photos and movies in the process. Everywhere we looked, Park visitors ourselves included, were taking pictures with equipment that ranged from an iPhone to some instrument that resembled the Mt. Palomar telescope.
The thought occurred to me that in the interest of preserving the moment “on film”, we may not be taking the time to actually embrace the experience “live”. A sign of the times I suppose. Another thought – what will become of all these photos? Did you ever wonder what is going to happen when the world runs low on pixels? People will be selling their pixels on line or hoarding them under their mattresses in case of a major pixel crises
Anyway, at the risk of being hypocritical here, I am going to rely primarily on our photos and videos to describe our last three days. Here is a brief summary of our visit to Yellowstone National park:
Tuesday, September 3rd we drove with our daughter and her family from Gran Teton National Park to Yellowstone National Park where our first stop was Norris Geyser Basin. This being our first experience with geysers, we were amazed by the the variety of colors and variation in clarity of the geyser pools. One could find a clear aquamarine tinted pool just a few feet from a brown muddy one. We saw some bleached animal bones in the shallow water at the edge of one of the pools. No idea if it was someone’s Fido or wild animal that strayed to close to the edge of the deceptively inviting pool of near-boiling water.
At the risk of exhausting all of our wonder on the first day – we next visited Old faithful, the iconic symbol of Yellowstone. (No worry, there was much, much more to astound us in the following days).
We watched a couple of eruptions of Old Faithful (pretty cool if you don’t watch the guy turning the valve – just kidding), after which a lone bison bull casually meandered (being so big they do this a lot) across the front of Old Faithful’s base as if called in on queue for a photo op.
Dan at Continental Divide in Yellowstone National Park
Geyser Pool at West Thumb in Yellowstone National Park
It was dark (very dark) when we reached our lodgings north of the town of West Yellowstone that evening – more on the lodging “adventure” in a separate blog post.
Wednesday, September 4th we traveled back into Yellowstone National Park to visit up close and personal a couple more areas of dramatic geyser activity including Lower Geyser Basin. Again, we were struck by the variety of geysers – actually of the 30 or so bubbling mud pools, hot water ponds, spouting geysers and steaming fumaroles (openings in the ground that emit hot gasses) that we visited – no two were the same.
We capped off the day by visiting the Upper & Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone on the east side of the Park. The massive quantity of water that flows over the falls, their fall distance (the lower falls drop more than 300 feet), combined with the fact that they are deep in the Canyon, makes them a wonder to behold.
Proving that Yellowstone has something for everyone, we witnessed a toddler having the time of his life stomping around in a puddle in the Lower Falls parking lot, his mother encouragingly looking on.
Got back to our rural lodgings on the west side of the Park before dark – how simple it was to find the house in daylight – and enjoyed an evening around the fire pit viewing more celestial bodies than this mind can process.
Jeep at West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park
Falls at Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Young Lad enjoying water sports at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Thursday, September 5th we traveled to the north end of Yellowstone National Park to first check out the Mammoth Hot Springs region. The first thing that strikes one entering this area is (are?) the piles of massive white jagged boulders strewn across the landscape.
The geysers at Mammoth Hot Springs have formed a large hillside of colorfully stained white mineral deposits. The jewel of the formation is a set of aquamarine pools at the top of the huge mound from which spill sheets of steaming water over the edges of the serrated walls of the pools.
Next, we moved on to the Gardner River for a soak in an area where the hot water from an underground spring spills down the hillside into the rock strewn river. By carefully walking (mostly crawling) among the rocks one can seek out a region of the river where the extremely hot water from the spring blends with the cold water from the river to enjoy a warmish soak. Due to the strong flow from both the river and the hot spring, the situation can be more of experiencing continuously fluctuation water temperature from barely tolerably warm to chillingly cold.
Got to know the right places to sit.
On our way up the river path to the confluence (one of my favorite words) of the hot spring and the river, we passed a heard of elk being closely watched by flag waving Park rangers. As we sat in our soothing pools of mixed warm and cool water, the elk slowly made their way up the river toward us; grazing on algae in the river bed and grasses on the river bank. Soon we were face to face with these rather large but strikingly beautiful (please excuse the cliché –it’s early) creatures. Bathers sat pretty much motionless as the mini-herd slowly ambled by.
It was late when we finished our soak in the river, so we decided to have dinner at the Mammoth Hot Springs Lodge before making the 70 minute journey back to West Yellowstone. As we journeyed back down the winding two lane road through the Park on a moonless night, we encountered a bull bison standing directly in our path. We came to a stop as he stood there seemingly sizing us up and deciding whether to punch a hole in our car with a casual swing of his head. After a bit, he slowly ambled on with an expression that said “d—m tourists”.
End of another great day in Yellowstone thanks to the great preplanning on the part of Jeannette and Mark.
Approaching Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park
Bathers in Gardner River with Hot Spring Water entering on the left
9 -3-13 Bison in front of Old Faithful
9-3-13 Old Faithful blow No 1 at Yellowstone
9 3 13 Old Faithful blow No 2 at Yellowstone
9-3-13 Churning geyser at West Thumb Yellowstone
9-4-13 Heading toward Yellowstone from the Grand Tetons
9-4-13 Geyser at Norris Geyser Basin Yellowstone
9-4-13 Fumarole at Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone
Been a busy last few days for Jean and me taking in many of the experiences at Yellowstone National Park with our daughter Jeanette, her husband Mark and their three pre-teen boys. We will get you caught up on that shortly; however, there is one item that I wanted to share with you while I am at the scene – our West Yellowstone lodging.
First, a brief disclaimer. I am pretty much OK with the concept of hunting. For thousands of years we either individually or in small bands killed wild game for vital sustenance. And, in fact, we still rely on animals as a food source – plants also. With the exception of perhaps salt and a few other minerals, virtually all of our life sustaining nutrients come from killing or modifying some living thing (I really have not thought this through very much at 5:30am). Also, it is nice to have something else out there to kill so that we don’t use our primal survival of the fittest instinct to kill each other – more often.
OK, with that being said, we were all taken back more than a little when we arrived at our prearranged lodgings in a rural area near the town of West Yellowstone. We arrived at the vicinity of our lodging well after dark on the evening of September 3rd. It was a moonless, overcast night providing us little assistance in finding the location of our unlit residence among the fields and multi-acre home sites well off the major thoroughfare. However, after peeking down a couple of incorrect driveways; we found our home for the next 3 days.
We were all tired after our trip through the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks and more than happy to have a place to bed down. As we slowly accumulated ourselves to our new surroundings we became aware that we were not alone. Within this nicely appointed home (modern-rustic-western??), were an abundance of animal remains. OK, OK, call them trophies. Let’s see – as I sit here at the breakfast bar I can see two mounted elk heads, one mounted deer head, and the bleached sculls of two long horn sheep and two deer. There are two chandeliers made out of elk antlers (a ubiquitous artifact in this area). If I peak around the corner in the living room, I find the fur pelts of a grizzly bear, two gray fox and a red fox. Bird feathers adorn walls and vases. We discovered at daylight that there are six additional bleached sculls some large animals outside the front entry.
Some of you are aware of my personal affinity for river otters. I envy their playful, seemingly carefree life slithering down the muddy or snowy banks of streams or winding their way playfully over the ground and within the water. I’m sure life is not all cherries and cream for them, but it looks pretty inviting to me for the most part. Well, you guessed it, mounted on the entry wall opposite what I believe is a wolverine, there is a stuffed OTTER. That hit very close to home, as that might have been me!
Ordinarily one of the boys would have bedded down on one of the couches in the living room while the other two shared a bedroom. However, due to the abundance of staring eyes on the walls of the living room (Luke called it a taxidermist office), he elected to sleep on cushions in boy’s bedroom instead.
The house was otherwise very comfortable and roomy; and we enjoyed the hot tub and fire pit under a clear moonless sky so full of brilliant celestial bodies that I could not identify any specific features.
More on our adventures in Yellowstone National Park to follow.
Jeanette sitting among the creatures in the living room of our West Yellowstone lodging
Mounted Otter in entry of West Yellowstone Lodging
Jean and I in the jeep and our daughter Jeanette and her family in their van all left our lodging outside of the town of West Yellowstone mid-morning on September 6th. Our paths diverged less than a mile from the house. I accused them of wanting to get away from the old geezers just as quickly as possible. They did not comment. While they started their journey toward Salt Lake City to catch a flight back to Raleigh, NC, Jean and I headed back into the Park for a final visit and to begin our trip north to Glacier National Park in Wyoming.
On our way through the park, Jean and I elected to travel the northeast section of the upper loop of the figure eight that roughly describes the road pattern within the Park. We had planned to go as far as the Roosevelt Lodge, which we found (to the disappointment of my bladder) to be closed for the season. A quick stop back at Mammoth Hot Springs for dewatering and we were ready to exit the north entrance to Yellowstone National park; passing under the famous Roosevelt Arch on our way out of the Park.
The Roosevelt Arch at the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park
Predicting that we would not be getting on the road very early that day and knowing that we would be spending some final time in the Park, we booked the evenings lodging in Livingston, MT only about 50 miles north of where we exited the Park.
On our way north, we stopped at a nearly vacant primitive campground on the floor of a canyon for a picnic lunch. We have found that having a peanut butter and honey sandwich mid-afternoon works out well from a time and expense standpoint. Thus far, we have good luck finding lunch spots and the weather has cooperated nicely.
Lunch Stop north of Yellowstone National Park
Along the route we passed through the small town of White Sulphur Springs, MT (that’s how they spell it) which was documented pictorially as one of the stopping points on the original 1920 Park-to-Park tour. We looked for the Sherman Hotel depicted in one of the original photographs, but unfortunately, according to one long time resident of the town, it had been torn down several years ago to make way for the widening of RT 89 through town. Took a photo of Jean in front of the Murray Hotel which architecturally appeared to be of the same vintage. Oh well..
Jean on the main street in White Sulphur Springs, MT
On September 7th Jean and I left Livingston, MT for Choteau (pronounced choto), MT our next stop on the path Glacier National Park on RT 89. Other than a brief detour to take a peek at a dam on the Missouri River in Great Falls, MT, the trip was rather uneventful. For those of you who are keeping track, we did attend Mass in a small church in Choteau Saturday evening. Since the Jeep had been behaving quite nicely for the past several days, no Divine Intervention was solicited.
September 8th was an exciting day. Our plan was to reach Glacier National Park early enough in the day to visit some of its attractions before retiring in our “economy” accommodations at St. Mary Lodge on the eastern side of the Park. More on the “economy” part later. We were forewarned that there was some roadwork being done on RT 89 between Choteau and Glacier. We elected to stay with that route, as it was the most direct route and closest to the one followed by the original 1920 tour group. Well, we were not disappointed; we encountered 8 miles of unpaved and rutted road which coated our sweet Jeep with a layer of light grey mud. Eight miles is a long way when you are enduring a jostling, mudslinging ride.
Approaching Glacier National Park from the East at Dusk
Anyway, we found ourselves at the southeastern edge of Glacier National Park around 4pm. We decided to hit a couple of the areas in the Park that afternoon. Living up to our philosophy of taking the road less traveled, we took RT 49 down into the Two Medicine area of the Park. RT 49 lived up to our expectations; having curves, steep drop-offs, questionable footing, and beautiful scenery (if one dared to look). We had our traditional peanut butter and honey sandwiches in the Jeep at the edge of a lake in the picturesque glacier carved valley and headed up to the Many Glacier area of the Park backtracking on the same RT 49 that scared the webejeebees out of us on the way in (this time we were on the uphill side of the road).
Entrance Sign for Glacier National Park
The Many Glacier area of the Park was similar spectacular to the one we left; in that it consists of a lake-filled valley floor surrounded by tall jagged mountain peaks. It is more open, and the peaks more visible than at Two Medicine. Here we saw the expansive Many Glacier Hotel on the edge of Lake Sherburne. The hotel dates back to 1915. We took a short hike to a lake that was purported to have frequent visits by moose and black bears. Well, after 20 fun filled minutes waiting for something other than other spectators to appear, we decided to head back to our accommodations at the St. Mary Lodge. At dinner we ran into a couple of fellows that stuck it out at the lake far longer than we did with apparent no luck viewing wildlife. I just wonder if the wildlife was hiding on the other side of the lake quietly viewing the spectators and saying something like ”oh, look at the funny one with the green fur…”
Many Glacier Lodge in background. Established in 1915
Anyway, now for the “economy” room thing. So some of you may recall from previous posts that Jean and I do not make room reservations more than a day in advance, as we never know where the Jeep or our curiosity might leave us. Despite my poor judgment in selecting a motel to stay at in central Kansas (did I mention it was only $49?), Jean left the arrangements for our stay at Glacier National Park up to me. There really are not many motels close to the eastern entries to Glacier National Park, so I decided to explore staying at one of the Park’s lodges (they are actually run by an independent firm) knowing that they could be pricey. Then I saw it, right on the computer screen before my eyes “economy rooms”. Such a deal, how could I pass this up? I casually mentioned to Jean that I had found economical accommodations at one of Glacier’s lodges; and she (probably not understanding the full ramifications of my suggestion) said “sure”.
OK, so we get to the Lodge, which is clean and nicely appointed, and I sign up for our economy room. First, let me say that the room was indeed a good value considering it was clean and convenient to the Park’s services. However, she was a little taken back with its basement location and limited maneuvering room. So how much room do you need to sleep anyway?? However, the coup de grace was what I discovered upon returning to the room after a couple of hours of computer work in the lodge lobby. There in one of the two beds was my bride under the covers cloaked in several layers of clothes. Our sub terrarium abode had begun to take on the temperature of the surrounding earth and Jean had not discovered that the room was equipped with an efficient in-wall heater. I turned the heat up and soon everything was nice and cozy in her bed (and mine).
Jean in cold room before discovering the in-wall heater – note the rustic furniture
9-6-13 Driving the northeast loop at Yellowstone National Park
9-6-13 Bison in northeast portion of Yellowstone National Park
9-8-13 Eight miles of road construction on RT 89 going north to Glacier National Park
9-8-13 Drive into Many Glacier, Glacier National Park
9-8-13 RT 49 to Two Medicine in Glacier National Park
9-8-13 Drive north to Glacier National Park from Choteau
Pulled ourselves together the morning of September 9th, had a hardy breakfast at St. Mary Lodge on the eastern side of Glacier National Park, and headed for the Going-to-the-Sun Road which traverses the Park in a roughly east/west direction. I say roughly, because it has a “few” twists here and there – both horizontally and vertically. This was a most anticipated crossing. Anyone who visits the Glacier National Park region will tell you it is a must-do experience. It would also work out well for us, as the Road continues on as RT 2 on the west side of the Park, along our planned route to Mt. Rainer.
Typical Scene of Livestock Grazing alongside the roads in Glacier National Park
Within minutes of leaving St. Mary Lodge we were at the southeastern entrance to Glacier National Park and the start of the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Feeling kind of like one leaving the loading point on a roller coaster ride, but with the added apprehension that we were the ones who had to control of our coaster car, we started the gradual assent through a nicely wood forest and river valley on our journey westward along the Road. The Going-to-the-Sun Road did not disappoint, providing us with a variety of sensations ranging from spectacular views of the craggy peaks and verdant valleys left by preceding glaciers to total disorientation when visibility was fully obscured by a low cloud layer wrapping itself around the mountains as we negotiated the switch-backs at Logan Pass 6,600 feet above sea level. Perhaps it is just as well that we could not see the sheer 1,000 foot drop-off on the side of the road as we felt our way along around (sometimes under) the stone out-croppings on our side of the road at a speed just fast enough to limit the risk of someone coming up behind us and pushing us off the edge.
Tunnel along the Going-to-the-Sun Road – Happy they didn’t decide to go around the outside of this particular out-cropping.
Looking into a valley along the Going-to-the-Sun Road below the cloud layer
The view of the mountains and valleys reappeared as we descended below the cloud layer, providing Jean with spectacular views of the adjacent mountains and valleys below as she clicked away with her i-phone – I was too busy concentrating on not creating the newspaper headline “two people die as their antiquated Jeep plunges off the edge….”
After a long decent (the Jeep’s 72 hp engine appreciated the recuperation time), we reached the Apgar Village visitor area on the southeastern edge of McDonald (not the hamburger guy) Lake. There we found a picnic table near the water and enjoyed our traditional peanut butter (actually sunflower butter) and honey sandwiches. This being Jean’s birthday, I treated her to a Moose Tracks ice cream sugar cone – what a guy.
Schoolhouse in Apgar Village on the western end of Glacier National Park built in 1915
We left Apgar Visitor Center and were shortly exiting the Park’s western entrance to continue our trek westward; our next destination – Mt. Rainer National Park in Washington State. (have you been noticing my creative sentence structure and clever use of punctuation).
Leaving the western entrance to Glacier National Park
Incidentally, with the days all running together for the past month as we leapt from destination to destination with punctuations of “unpredicted adventure”, I had let the occasion of Jean’s birthday slip my mind (I know, I know “how could I”). Fortunately, early on the morning of her birthday, as I sat in the lobby of the St. Mary Lodge blogging, it struck me. In a panic, I ran 20 feet into the gift shop at the Lodge which was just opening, picked out a more-or-less suitable card (had a picture of a moose on the front), signed and dated it, and took it down to our economy abode to present it to her. I later related the circumstances of the gesture to her – she was not surprised.
Among the folks kindly following our journey is an online group of avid Jeep enthusiasts called the Old Willys Forum. Through this forum we have had the opportunity to chat with several interested and helpful followers. We have actually been able to meet up with some of them, the first being Laurie who was kind enough to drive her early Jeep pick-up down to Evergreen, MT to visit with us for a while at the local McDonalds (not the lake). We had a pleasant time exchanging our Jeep experiences. Really nice to see some likeminded folks – provides some reassurance that we are not totally bonkers – or at least the there are other folks out there that are equally as bonkers.
Dan and Laurie with her Jeep Pick-up in Evergreen, Montana
After leaving Laurie, we traveled west for a couple more hours through wooded rolling countryside dotted with lakes and small farms to our evening’s accommodations in Libby, MT. Though a ~ 70’s era single floor motel, it was very clean, well maintained and the rooms fully equipped with conveniences. The owner/proprietor was very accommodating, permitting me to use his facilities to wash the road construction grime off of our station wagon.
We are encountering many road construction projects along this portion of the trek. With most of the roads being two-lane and twisty, this often included prolonged lane stoppages traffic was alternated through lane closures in the construction zones. Winters are hard on the roads in the northwest. The local joke is that there are two seasons up there – winter and road construction.
9 9 13 Starting up Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park from the East
9 9 13 Going over the top of Going to the Sun Road Glacier National Park
9 9 13 Continuing West on the Going to the Sun Road Glacier National Park
On September 10th we awoke to another beautiful morning. With the exception of a couple of short-lived thunderstorms in mountainous areas, we have only experienced one day of sporadic light rain in the last month on the road. We are aware of this because our Jeep station wagon has vacuum driven wipers.
Wiper explanation: Unlike the electric motor driven wipers of later vehicles, our Jeep’s wipers depend primarily on the vacuum generated by the engine to power them. All other factors being equal, the engine’s vacuum level is inversely proportional to throttle position (i.e. the harder you press on the accelerator peddle, the less vacuum you have to drive the wipers). So, just when you need windshield wipers most, such as accelerating to pass a semi-truck spraying sheets of water off of its many wheels, the windshield wipers come to a halt. Only by momentarily lifting one’s foot from the accelerator peddle, will the wiper blades resume their sweep. So one has the choice of continuing blindly on in their attempt to pass the truck before becoming a speck on the windshield of an oncoming truck, or prolong the time in the oncoming lane by lifting one’s foot from the gas peddle. Ascending winding mountain passes in fog or rain with limited wiper action is equally as exciting. In all fairness to the engineers of that day, on our “up-scale” vehicle there is a vacuum pump incorporated in the fuel pump assembly on the engine that is “intended” to supplement the vacuum generated by the engine in low engine vacuum situations; however, its assistance is marginal, particularly if the total vacuum wiper system is not in super prime condition.
So, we generally remember when it has rained by recalling the moments of sheer terror we experienced navigating roads on those occasions. Hope that the insurance company is not reading this.
Anyway, September 10th was primarily a “getting from A to B” kind of day. We set our sights on making the trek from Libby, Montana to Colfax, Washington. We had anticipated a late start out of Libby, as Jean and I both had some maintenance items to take care of; mine being Jeep related and hers of the more personal variety. The trip was uneventful (a good thing for the moment). The Jeep is behaving well. As we approached Colfax, WA, we witnessed a flurry of activity in the fields as the farmers worked to wind up the wheat harvest and ready the fields for planting. In some instances, the farmers had set the fields alight to remove the remaining stubble. We found Colfax to be mainly a no-nonsense farming town. We ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant reported to be the best eating spot in town. The food was good. We ate and retired for the evening.
The morning of September 11th, while Jean made final preparations for our departure, I visited a local auto parts and repair facility to beg the use of an oil can to lubricate the jeep’s generator and distributor bearings. In my haste to get back to the family back in West Yellowstone, I had neglected to do this when I had last had the Jeep greased. The auto repair folks in Colfax did not have an oil can. Not a surprise to me after my previous servicing experiences. However, the auto parts folks across the parking lot did and thankfully lent me their oil can.
Our objective for September 11th was making the 5 hour, 250 mile trek to Packwood, Washington which lay just 11 miles south of the southeast entrance to Mt. Rainer National Park. The most memorable part of this journey was traveling through the large rolling wheat fields of western Idaho and extreme eastern Washington State. Soon after, the scenery returned to semi-arid sagebrush covered hills with an occasional patch of farmland.
After having our traditional picnic lunch at a rest area just over the Columbia River, we again began to see more evidence of agriculture. First there were apple orchards with farm hands hard at hand picking the fruit and tandem semi-trucks whisking along in both directions loaded with large stacks of apple crates. Then came the occasional corn fields and finally large plots of hops; their 10 foot stalks growing up vertical lines suspended from overhead cables.
The final leg of the journey to Packwood, WA included a 10 mile winding stretch of RT 12 where loose gravel had been spread over a bed of tar; relying on vehicles including ours to either embed the loose stones in the roadbed or throw them at oncoming vehicles. Fortunately we made it through that section unscathed and coasted into Packwood in time to have a pizza dinner with some folks from Australia that we met at the lodge.
9-11-12 Crossing the Columbia River in Eastern Washington State
9 11 13 Back into arid country in eastern Washington
On September 12, 2013, Jeff, a fellow Old Willys Forum member and resident of Puyallup, WA, made the 1 ½ hour drive over to our lodging in Packwood, WA in his nearly as-original early 1950 Jeep station wagon to guide us through a tour of Mt. Rainer in our Jeeps.
Jeff with his early 1950 Jeep station wagon in Mt. Rainer National Park
As it happens, Jeff’s and our station wagons provide an interesting contrast on many levels. First, Jeep actually made a styling change halfway through the 1950 model year. The front of the wagon (and I believe all of the models of this body style) was changed from the relatively flat nose and front fenders incorporated when these models were first introduced in the mid-forties, to more pointy features. Also, five horizontal chrome bars were positioned in the grill. On the mechanical side, in the latter part of 1950 the 4-cylinder “Go Devil” flat head engine first used in the military Jeeps of World War II was revised to incorporate overhead intake valves (the exhaust valves remained in the engine block). This unusual, but convenient to implement configuration named an “F-head” was claimed to increase the engine’s output from around 61 hp to 72 hp. The “new” engine was named the “Hurricane 4”.
The other significant difference between Jeff’s station wagon and ours is that while our Jeep has undergone an abundance of restorations and rebuilds during the 36 years that we have owned it, Jeff’s is largely unmolested – cosmetically at least.
Jeff early and Dan’s late 1950 Jeeps with Mt. Rainer in the background – illustrating the changes in the front end made mid-year
So, as Jeff and we traveled through Mt. Rainer in our respective wagons, we displayed a noticeable contrast in body style, power plant, and level of restoration to those who were interested. Incidentally, while I tend to baby my wagon when it comes to pushing on it, Jeff is not reluctant to drive his wagon (which is his daily driver) hard when the situation is called for. He had no problem outpacing us when climbing the mountain roads; although we both taxed our cooling systems pretty heavily on the long inclined stretches to the Visitors Centers.
The first place in Mt. Rainer that we visited was the Sunrise Visitors Center. From there we were able to get a close up view if the mountain’s northeast face. From there we backtracked to the Stevens Canyon Park entrance on the southeast boarder of Mt. Rainer National Park, stopping to take a small hike among the tall standing trees and huge fallen trees in which younger trees had taken root. The trail took us across a suspension foot bridge on to a pristine island.
Dan & Jean on Suspension Bridge in Mt. Rainer National Park
We then proceeded to Paradise Visitors Center. Although it was now mid-September, the parking lot was packed. Can’t imagine what it is like during peak season. Someone back in the lodge where we had stayed the previous evening said that the visitor profile shifted from families with children in the summer months to “the newlywed and nearly dead” in the off season. Makes one stop and think where one fits in. Anyway, Jeff and I climbed Alta Vista Trail to an elevation about 1,000 feet above the parking lot before deciding that the view was just fine from there (the trail continued on for a vertical distance of another 500 feet).
View of Mt. Rainer’s southern face from 6,300 feet on the Alta Vista Trail
Looking south down the path of receded Nisqually Glacier the Alta Vista Trail, Mt. Rainer, WA
Looking north toward the origin of the now receded Nisqually Glacier, Mt. Rainer National Park
After rejoining Jean at the Paradise Lodge, we had a light lunch and parted ways with Jeff who began his 1 ½ hour journey home. We enjoyed our time with him and really appreciate his taking the time to show us around the Park. Jean and I then commenced our two hour drive to Lacey, Washington (near Olympia) to spend the evening with our prior neighbors in Cary, NC. Jeep continued to perform well and we arrived in Lacey, WA in time for a pleasant dinner with our friends Barbara and Herb. Barbara and I were running partners for the three years prior to their move to the West Coast last year. We would run before dawn with our headlamps on over a 3 mile course that we mapped through the Prestonwood Golf Course. I am sure we were a source of entertainment for the first few runs as we fumbled our way around trying to find the right paths. All and all we survived pretty well during those days.
9-12-13 Jeff in Rearview Mirror Ascending Mt Rainer
9-12-13 Following Jeff into Mt Rainer National Park Entrance
We arrived at the Lacey, Washington home of Herb & Barbara (former neighbors in Cary, NC) the afternoon of September 12, 2013 and had a nice meal with them after relaxing around the fire pit in their back yard overlooking the golf course. Barbara is very active in this “55+” community promoting wellness programs and serving on the emergency preparedness planning team from the community’s very nicely equipped activity center.
View from Herb and Barbara’s back yard in Lacey, Washington
Herb & Barbara with Dapper Dan at their home in Lacey, Washington
Jean with Dapper Dan in Lacey, Washington
We got back on the road mid-day Thursday, September 13 for the trek to Corvallis, OR about 50 miles south of Portland, OR to visit our niece Deborah and her husband Oscar. The 8 hour trip was quite tedious. We attempted to travel I-5 for a couple of miles, but very quickly realized that we were going to die. Our 55 mph Jeep was no match for the continuous onslaught of 70 mph semi-trailers. We elected to take the circuitous route through city and township to reach our destination.
Deborah is a naturopathic physician with an active private practice in Corvallis. Her husband Oscar is an accomplished woodworker who has designed and constructed several attractive large furniture pieces – mostly using reclaimed wood.
Corvallis places a strong emphasis on environmental responsibility and personal health. Recycling, composting, exercising and use of organically produced food items is prevalent throughout the community. Deborah and Oscar fit well in this setting, growing a variety of food items at the home – including 3 egg laying chickens.
Niece Deborah and Dan with hens in Deborah’s back yard, Corvallis, Oregon. Can I wash my hands now?
Jean holding a hen in Deborah’s back yard, Corvallis, Oregon
Dan, Jean with Deborah & Oscar in front of their home in Corvallis, OR
Jean, Deborah, and Oscar with Luna, Corvallis, OR
We had a delightful variety of meals during our three day stay with them. They had invited us to stay through Monday to get caught up on our paperwork (internet service in Mt. Rainer and Glacier regions was very sketchy), do laundry (always a good idea), and reorganize our clothing for anticipated colder weather at Crater Lake to which we will trek on September 17th.
9-16-13 Driving to Sushi Restaurant with Deborah & Oscar
Jean and I spent the night of September 17th in lodgings affiliated with the historic Prospect Hotel in Prospect, Oregon about 50 miles from the southeast entrance to Crater Lake National Park. Constructed in the 1880’s, the hotel was in existence prior to the 1920 Park-to-Park tour.
We drove through Crater Lake National Park using the west section of the rim road on our way from Corvallis, Oregon to our lodging in Prospect, Oregon. The Rim Road was heavily fogged in. We could see absolutely nothing of the Lake or the surrounding terrain (and little of the road). We made the best of it by stopping to view a film about the Park at the Visitors Center. There we were told that clear-to-partly skies were predicted for the next morning with a chance of isolated showers in the afternoon.
We elected to stay in the Prospect Hotel’s motel-like annex rather than the main Bed & Breakfast hotel, as we were hoping to get on the road to Crater Lake early the next morning. We did not want to risk the opportunity to see the lake because of fog or rain (and yes, the room without breakfast was less expensive).
Historic Prospect Hotel, Prospect, Oregon
Not wanting to miss an opportunity to see the Lake, we skipped breakfast and headed directly for the Park. With the morning cloudiness burning off as we headed for the Park, we decided to risk a stop at Natural Bridge on our way in. We were surprised to find that rather than the traditional elevated stone arch of natural bridges that we had seen on previous Jeep outings in Virginia and Georgia, this one was an extinct lava tube through which a respectable size stream flows. Except in heavy flow occasions when the tube cannot handle the full flow of water, a section of the otherwise aboveground stream is naturally channeled underground through the lava tube and exits back into the aboveground stream bed approximately 300 feet downstream. The stream was running at a fairly good rate probably due to the rains of the previous day. Seeing all that raging water disappear into the ground beneath our lookout vantage point and reappear just within our sight downstream was quite impressive.
As we traveled further up the slope of Mount Mazama toward the crater confined within, the skies continued to deepen in blue and the few puffy clouds remained scattered; so we decided to make a 12 mile side trip off of our counterclockwise drive around the rim road to see Pinnacles, a collection of mineral projections formed by the fusion of volcanic ash by superhot fumaroles. It was worth the trip.
The Pinnacles in Crater Lake National Park
Now finally we were back on the rim road anxiously looking forward to our first look of Crater Lake. But first we had to pay our dues. What they don’t tell you in the brochures (speculation, since I do not read the brochures) is that the majority of the rim road snakes its way (snake being the operative word) along the outside of the crater’s rim – that is, the side away from the lake. The crater walls are high and have steep slopes on both the inside (lake side) and the outside. So, if one travels the rim road in the counterclockwise direction as we did, and naturally being on the right side of the road, one finds one’s self perilously close to the steep (and deep) downhill of the crater’s outer slopes. Maneuvering the handling-challenged Jeep on this road with its abrupt elevation changes and sharp curves with the often un-guarded downward slopes (cliffs in some cases) on my right made this passage the most harrowing to me of any on the visits to five of the western National Parks thus far taken on this trek. All the time, Jean was clicking off photographs and videos; I surmised either to keep her mind off of the imminence of death or to document its occurrence for the Accident Investigation Team – our own “black box recorder”.
Anyway, it was worth the near-death experience. The view of the lake from the various overlooks was truly spectacular. Surely, the mountains, waterfalls, geological formations, steaming and boiling features, and variety of animals that we had observed over the last month were awe inspiring; but the sight of that massive blue lake with its two islands was truly memorable. Perhaps it is the combination of viewing from elevations that permitted on to see practically the whole lake from each vantage point, the contrast in “textures” between the glasslike flatness of the lake surface and the tall craggy slopes of the crater’s rim, together with the color contrast between the pure blue of the lake and the mottled shades of brown of the crater’s slopes. Anyway, the views were so spectacular that even the photos that I took looked great un-retouched.
Jeep at Phantom Ship Overlook, Crater Lake National Park – same setting as photo from 1920 Park-to-Park tour
Dan & Jean at Phantom Ship Overlook, Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake from Cloudcap Overlook
Panoramic photo of Crater Lake from Watchman Overlook, Crater Lake National Park
We capped off counterclockwise sojourn of Crater Lake National Park with a stop at Crater Lake Lodge to take a photo of the Jeep in a similar setting as one taken during the 1920 Park-to-Park tour. Due to the conspicuous appearance of our vehicle, we ran into (not over) many folks several times during our time in the Park. They recognized us, and I of course, had to be reminded. Anyway, it was fun visiting with folks from places such as Seattle and northern England.
Jeep at Crater Lake Lodge, Crater Lake National Park – same setting as 1920 Park-to-Park photo
We left the park at around 4pm on the 18th and having anticipated that we would not be up for much travel that evening, set out for our evening lodging in Klamath Falls, Oregon only about two hours from Crater Lake National Park.
9-18-13 Driving up the east side of Crater Lake rim road I think I deserve a T shirt
We left Prospect, Oregon mid-morning on September 19th on our trek toward our next stop big stop, Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California. A couple that met on a few occasions in the Crater Lake area suggested that we swing through Lava Beds National Monument on our way south. It was well worth the diversion. Lava Beds National Monument comprises a region that was engulfed in lava flows from a nearby volcano some 500,000 years ago (I take their word for it, as I was only a child at the time). Anyway, the event left the region covered in huge jagged chunks of dark brown lava. The geologists have a name for it – I just think of it as big pieces of chocolate brownies. Another striking feature of this region is the labyrinth of underground caves (come to think of it – all caves are underground) formed by flowing lava. There are several hundred of these hollow lava tubes throughout the park presenting a wide range of exploration difficulty. Visitors to Lava Beds National Monument are welcome to explore the caves. Equipment guidelines and flashlight are available at the Visitors Center in the Monument (I guess that a “Monument” is one step down from a “National Park”).
9-19-13: Entering California from Oregon
Jean and I selected “Scull Cave” for cursory exploration. It was on our route through the National Monument and required little exertion, being close to the main road and having tall ceilings – no stooping required at the entrance. After checking out the cave we proceeded southwest through the Monument and on to Glass Mountain which had be suggested as an interesting stop by the Monument’s ranger. Glass Mountain, which sits at an elevation of 7,600 ft, is one huge, huge pile of chunks of both solid and foamed obsidian brought to the earth’s surface by volcanic action. Very impressive to see layers upon layers of continuous and fractured material.
9-19-20: Jeep at side of Glass Mountain, northern California
We continued on toward our night’s lodging in North Station, 14 miles north of the north entrance to Lassen Volcanic National Park; making a couple of stops. We had seen Mount Shasta peaking off to our right as we traveled generally southward. We decided to get a closer look by taking a westerly side trip to the northern California town of McCloud. From there we had a good view of the mountain from our lunch stop.
9-19-13: Mount Shasta from our McCloud, California lunch stop
We then gassed up and headed once again for Old Station. Incidentally, what kind of gas mileage we get in the Jeep is one of the top five questions that we are asked by folks that are interested in the station wagon. The answer is: 21mpg if mostly highway cruising at 55mph (we do not use expressways). Probably does a little better than that; however, we seldom have a straight highway run for a tankfull of gas to know for sure. Around town the mileage drops to around 15mpg. Surprisingly, the first question asked by most folks is “is that a woodie?” Being an all steel station wagon, and having no wood on it with the exception of the roof rack, it perplexes me a bit to have that question asked; however, I understand that the question is aimed more at the class of car rather than the materials of construction. The second most asked when we describe our Trek is “does it have air conditioning?” to which we reply “yup, two door windows, a cowl vent, and a liftable back window.”
Back to the trip – the last stop that we made before reaching our evening’s destination in Old Station, California was MacArthur-Burney Falls. There is an impressive waterfall just minutes from this State Park’s parking lot. The falls drop from roughly the level of the parking lot to a lagoon some 130 feet below. Perhaps the most striking feature is that some of water from above, in addition to that which is in the stream, emanates from the face of the stone cliff face on either side of the main stream, providing a veil like appearance. We walked down a paved trail to the base of the falls in its canyon to experience the deep roar and fine cool mist of the falls. Must be refreshing on a shot summer day.
The Jeep has been performing very well, negotiating major changes in elevation (often to 7,000+ ft requiring with sustained full throttle runs) without a hiccup. Guess Jean, in her infinite wisdom, was right in advising me to keep my hands off of the engine as long as it was operating well. One usually gets a few signals when it is time to do general maintenance, and with less than 4,000 miles since I got it tuned in, I feel confident in heeding her advice – a while longer. Arrived safely in Old Station to rest up for our visit to Lassen Volcanic National Park (our sixth National Park in the Trek) the next morning.
9-19-13 Glass Mountain south of Lava Beds National Monument, California
9-19-13 MacArthur-Burney Falls northern California
Honestly, we had not heard of Lassen Volcanic National Park before it was brought to our attention as one of the stops on the 1920 Part-to-Park Tour; and we are pleased that it was. Ironically, although Lassen Volcanic National Park was one of the scheduled stops on the 1920 tour, due to lack of roads to and within the Park, the Tour group did not actually visit this Park, but rather encouraged the construction of roads during their stop in Reading, California some 50 miles west of the Park. Nevertheless, this was one of the intended stops (and besides, we had had a Park sticker printed for it), so Jean and I decided to spend half a day driving through and exploring the Park.
9-20-13: Entering Lassen Volcanic National Park
An important note of disclosure: Although our original intensions had been to follow the route of the 1920 Park-to-Park Tour as closely as possible, we have since deemed that plan to be impractical and not well suited to our safety and enjoyment. First of all, in several cases the roads used by the 1920 tour (Interstate-5 running through much of California, for example) are now high speed heavily traveled Interstate Highways. At a prudent top speed of 55mph, we do not belong on such thoroughfares. Often there are no closely paralleling byways; and if there are, they are very tedious to maneuver in congested areas. Secondly, the Tour group went well out of a direct Park to Park route to visit municipalities such as Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles to promote the construction of roads to the Parks – as well they should. With those cities considerably larger now, and incorporating the Interstate Highways previously mentioned, it was just not practical for us to make every city stop on the Tour’s itinerary. With the desire to avoid major thoroughfares, the elimination of the impractical stops, and to permit the inclusion of other interesting places, Jean and I at times selected routes that were different from those of the original Park-to-park Tour.
That being said, we are making our best effort (thus far successfully) to visit in prescribed order, all twelve of the National Parks originally mapped out for the 1920 Tour, and to experience the roads and points of interest in the Parks outlined in the original or actually visited by the Tour group. Actually, with our recent visit to Lassen Volcanic National Park and our intended visit to Zion National Park (neither of which, for good reasons, the 1920 Tour did actually accomplish), we hope to make up for our lack of tracing the actual path by visiting all of the Parks laid out in the original plan. So there..
OK, back to Lassen Volcanic National Park. After a super, reasonably priced breakfast in the town of Old Station (population 51), we drove the 14 miles to the northwestern entrance to Lassen Volcanic National Park where at the Visitors Center we received very helpful directions to those features assessable to the day visitor such as ourselves. At the Park Ranger’s suggestion, we started our tour of the Park with an easy ½ mile walk along the shore of Manzanita Lake to a point where we could see Crescent Crater and Lassen Volcanic Peak across the lake; jutting up above the tree tops some five miles distant*. Great way to get the juices flowing.
*Do you like my use of varied punctuation to break up run-on sentences?
9-20-13: View of Lassen Volcanic Peak from Lake Manzanita
Then anticipating the consumption of a fair amount of fuel making it to the top of the 8,500 foot pass across the Park road, we topped of our gas tank we and headed out to our next stop – labeled on the Park map as “Devastated Area”. This is where the circa 1915 eruption and resultant mud flow caused by the melting of the snow cap, wiped out the forest below for a distance of three or more miles toward the point where we stood. We took a photo of the Jeep in the same location where Benjamin F. Loomis took a six photo sequence over a period of 20 minutes of the 1914 eruption that preceded the more devastating one shortly afterward. The rich soil in carried down the mountain by the mud flow has supported hardy reforestation in that area.
“Devastated Area” Site of the 1914 eruptions photographed by Benjamin F Loomis
We next traveled to King’s Creek. At an elevation of 7,400 feet, the creek meanders through a lush upland meadow bordered by mature pine and fir trees towering above. Very peaceful setting with the light wind whispering through the branches. Enough of that. Jeep did well so far on the climb.
We continued our assent on the Park road to Bumpass Lookout at an elevation of 8,500 feet. Not quite sure if that is pronounced. Anyway, we made it up there without anyone bumping us in the _ _ _. The spectacular view from up there helps one envision that the surrounding 8,000 foot to 10,000 foot peaks are mere remnants of a much, much larger volcano that resided in the Park. Equally amazing is the existence of a megaton bolder perched on the edge of this Overlook – the bolder have been deposited there by a receding glacier that was thick enough to have covered that location. Extremely windy up there. Glad they had opted for stone restrooms and not Porta-Potties. Please view video to get a sense of this stop.
Next stop on the journey down the main road in the Park (the operative word being “down”) was the Sulphur Works. No halfway respectable Park in the west would be seen without at least something bubbling out of the earth and the longed-for aroma of rotten eggs. Actually, this bubbly pit was quite impressive with its very energetic display.
Last stop on the trip through Lassen Volcanic National Park was the Kohm Yah-mah-nee (pronounced “kohm yah-mah-nee”) Visitors Center at the southwest entrance to (or in our case – exit from) the Park.
We had our traditional sunflower butter & honey sandwiches on wheat bread, took one last look at the peaks surrounding us, and headed off on byways to, of all places, Reno, Nevada. Despite having portable hotspots for two different phone carriers, we had been suffering from feeble internet connectivity for the past several days. Jean had some company “paperwork” to do that required strong connectivity to our server, so we elected to hold out in Reno for a couple of days to get caught up. Will probably head out for Yosemite (pronounced “yosemite”) on the September 23, 2013.
Thanks for listening,
Dan
9-20-13 Driving to 8,500 ft pass in Lassen Volcanic National Park
9-20-13 Passing thru volcanic rubble in Lassen Volcanic National Park
9-20-13 View from Bumpass Overlook in Lassen Volcanic National Park showing Breakoff Mt. & glacially deposited bolder
Jean and I spent Saturday and Sunday September 21st and 22nd in Reno, Nevada where good internet connection and comfortable accommodations permitted us to get caught up on company and personal business.
Monday morning, September 23rd, after a good breakfast at a locally owned restaurant, Jean and I headed south toward our lodgings on the east border of Yosemite National Park. Our destination was a “rustic” cabin in Lee Vining, a small town at the base of Tioga Road which winds its way up to the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park by way of 9,500 foot elevation Tioga Pass.
Lee Vining resides on the western shore of Mono Lake, a large, extremely alkaline lake with a salinity level several times that of sea water. Nevertheless, specifically adapted algae, water flies, and brine shrimp provide an ecological formula that feeds thousands of birds and water fowl that annually travel up and down the Pacific flyway. We were there during the offseason; however, we did get to see ducks, geese, and seagulls preparing to make their way south for the winter.
Dan at Mono Lake, Lee Vining, California
Jean in front of a cluster of monoliths at Mono Lake, California
Sample of monoliths (~10’ tall) totally on dry ground at Mono Lake, California
Partially submerged monoliths on Mono Lake, California
The most intriguing feature of Mono Lake is the presence of tall monolithic mineral formations. As recently as 60 years ago the lake level was 20 feet higher than today. In the middle of the 20th century, it was decided to divert water from the snow melt tributaries that normally feed Mono Lake, to supplement the Los Angeles water supply. This resulted in the continual drop in the lake’s water level. Before the lake level was lowered, underground springs would release water onto the lake floor. When calcium compounds in the spring water reacted with the calcium containing lake water, irregularly shaped calcium carbonate formations were created on the lake floor. Many such unusual formulations are exposed now that the lake level has receded. As a side note, a compromise has been negotiated between the powers to be to increase the water supplied to the lake by reducing the amount of water diverted to LA.
View of Mono Lake, California with sun setting behind us (un-retouched photo)
Jean and I enjoyed exploring these monoliths up close and subsequently touring fresh water June and Grant Lakes on the June Lake loop road a few miles south of Lee Vining, California before settling in for the evening. I should mention that prior to touring the region, Jean and I “sampled” the lower portion of the Tioga Pass and decided that due to its long, steep inclines, it was something that we would leave for the next morning. I did not sleep well that evening thinking about the best transmission shifting strategy for the assault on Tioga Pass the next morning.
The morning of Tuesday, September 24th was filled with a combination of excitement and apprehension; for me anyway. Jean continued with her undaunted faith and trust in our ability to meet any challenge. My concern was based on our pervious evening’s “sampling” of the Tioga Road leading to the east entrance to Yosemite National Park. The eastern end of Tioga Road contains a 5 mile stretch of steep grade ultimately taking one through Tioga Pass at an elevation of 9,943 feet. We had gained enough mountain climbing experience on this trip to recognize the challenges to our horsepower-challenged fully loaded station wagon (72 advertized horsepower).
We left our lodging earlier than usual, as we wanted to take advantage of the cool morning air to help keep the Jeep from overheating on the long climb (I usually let Jean sleep in until 8 am while I am up at 5 am to work on the blogs). At 9:30 am while Jean was paying the breakfast tab, I was across the street topping off the gas tank, oil and water; and getting the business card of the local car towing service – just in case.
Sunrise on Mono Lake, California the morning of our departure to Yosemite National Park
So off we went westward toward the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park, some 12 miles up the Tioga Road (“up” being the operative word). So technically, we have 5 forward gears to work with. Starting with the highest torque (lowest top speed) gear we have 1st gear, 2nd gear, 2nd gear with overdrive, 3rd gear, and 3rd gear with overdrive. Sounds complicated; however, we seldom use 2nd gear with overdrive and the overdrive engagement in 3rd gear is generally “automatic” being based on vehicle speed.
OK, so now we are sitting at the entrance to entrance to the Tioga Road looking at a sign that said something like “not advised for commercial vehicles towing trailers” (commercial vehicles towing trailers out-climb us all the time). So we do our preflight check: oil pressure – good; engine temperature – good; generator charging – good; brakes – OK (as good as they get); seat belts – secured; doors – locked (sort of); and off we go.
Tioga Road starts off with a steep grade, but levels off enough for us to get all the way up to 3rd with OD (at 40mph!). Then, we hit the 5 mile continual grade to 9,900 feet. Starting to lose speed – shift back to 3rd without OD (36mph). That lasted for a few moments until the speed drops to 28mph at which point we drop back to 2nd gear without OD and continue the next 4.5 miles at between 25 and 28mph; when called for, pulling on to the right shoulder to let those show-offs with their new-fangled modern cars wiz by; and while continually scanning the gauges for any sign of impending trouble.
We are running at nearly full engine power with manifold vacuum at around 3 in Hg (close to full throttle). The water temperature slowly rises to about 210F and stabilizes. This is significantly higher than our usual 180F, but still tolerable (we hit 235F climbing in Rocky Mountain National Park a month earlier). Oil pressure stabilizes at 30psi which is sufficient to maintain lubrication and cooling of internal engine components. One thing that we do not have to watch as we negotiate the winding road is the speedometer. No chance that we are going to exceed any speed limits any time soon.
Faster than imagined earlier we make it over the top of the pass at nearly 10,000 feet and drive on to the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park, running surprising well considering our carbureted engine, unlike modern computed controlled fuel injected engines, has no means of compensating for the thinner air at this altitude.
Side note: One thing that some of we old car drivers (that is drivers of old cars) dream of is the day when a solar flare sends an electro/magnetic pulse to the Earth that wipes out the solid state ignition systems ubiquitous on all modern cars – leaving us old car folks to carry on the task of handling transportation for the foreseeable future. Not true (the dreaming part), but with our strong dependence on solid state devices, it is something to think about.
The east entrance to Yosemite National Park on September 23, 2013 (notice the snow)
9-24-2013 Ascending Tioga Pass from the East toward Yosemite National Park
9-24-2103 Completing the Ascent of the Tioga Pass toward Yosemite National Park
On September 24th, after catching our breath from the traverse of 9,900 foot elevation Tioga Pass (see previous blog entry “Conquering Tioga Pass”) we we entered Yosemite National Park’s east entrance. We then proceeded on to our first stop; Olmsted Point overlook – named after the famous landscape architect, who laid out plans for Yosemite National Park as well as New York’s Central Park and Raleigh’s Olmsted Park.
The Olmsted Point location, high on the east/west road bisecting Yosemite National Park, provides a long distance view of the impressive features to the south. Although one cannot distinctly see Yosemite Valley from this vantage point, one does get an introduction to the magnitude and variety of features contained in the Park.
Looking south into Yosemite National Park from Olmsted Point overlook
OK, for the uninformed such as I, Yosemite National Park covers a large expanse of territory containing many impressive stone faced mountains, lush forests, verdant meadows, lakes and streams. Not unlike other Parks you might say. Well, what sets Yosemite National Park apart is the close juxtaposition of the features. This is particularly true in Yosemite Valley where the huge, steep faced essentially bare stone mountains are positioned on the edges of a 1 mile wide by 8 mile long flat bottomed valley containing areas of large trees, meadows, and the Merced River. Unlike the Grand Tetons, Glacier or Rocky Mountain National Parks where one might trek miles off the main road to reach the base of a stone faced mountain, in Yosemite Valley, the walls of the mountains on either side of the Valley seem to be within touching distance as one travels down the loop road.
An extreme example is El Capitan which appears to jut straight up from the north side of the Valley floor within touching distance of the loop road. It is not until one spots one of its many tiny climbers on its face that one realized it is perhaps a mile away from the road. That is pretty close considering the base of the Grand Tetons, as impressive as they are, are perhaps 30 miles (I’m guessing here) away from popular viewing points. Our cabin in Yosemite Valley virtually backed up against a 1,000 foot near vertical wall of granite.
A view of El Capitan as we entered Yosemite Valley
After taking the afternoon of the 24th getting to know the “lay of the land”, we attended an evening Search & Rescue presentation put on by a 35 year veteran of the Search & Rescue team. He provided real-life examples of situations requiring his group’s assistance and provided tips for increasing one’s chances of survival when trekking through wilderness areas. Not that we plan any of that at the moment; however, we tried to remember some of his suggestions as we wondered about in the dark, trying to find our way back to our cabin on the unlit Valley floor – “the bears only come down to the cabins at night”. Incidentally, our cabin was “primitive rustic”, but did have a bathroom with a shower.
On September 25th we elected to take a 1 hour commercial open-air tram tour to get an overview of the Valley. It was well worth the expense, as we were able to sit back and watch the scenery as our well informed Park Ranger guide pointed out the features of the Valley and took us to the Tunnel View overlook for a great (don’t want to wear out “spectacular”) view of the Valley and surrounding mountains including El Capitan, Half Dome, and Cathedral Rocks.
A view eastward into Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View overlook with El Capitan on the left, Cathedral Rocks in the right foreground and Half Dome the whitish peak on the center-right.
After lunch in the main dining room of the exclusive Ahwahnee Lodge (it was the least I could do for Jean after refusing to pay the $490/night fee to stay there), we left Yosemite Valley and headed south toward our evening’s lodging in Fresno, California.
Jean in the main dining room in The Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite Valley
The lounge in The Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite Valley
On our way out of Yosemite National Park we passed by the Wawona Hotel (circa 1915) and stopped in the Mariposa Grove where I got my first real look at the giant redwoods. Jean, being a real woman of the world had previously seen the giant redwoods – but of course, the trees were much smaller then.
Wawona Hotel (circa 1915) at the south end of Yosemite National Park
9-24-13 Driving into Yosemite Valley with mountains just visible above the trees
9-25-13 Jean at the base of a large redwood in Mariposa Grove on the southern end of Yosemite National Park
We left Fresno, California mid-morning of September 26th and headed toward Kings Canyon National Forest.
A note of explanation here: As one of the 12 National Park stops on the original 1920 Park-to-Park Tour the participants visited what was then called “General Grant National Park”. Today, as best as I can determine comparing the 1920 and current day maps, much of General Grant Park has been assimilated into both Kings Canyon National Forest and Sequoia National Park (the park boundaries look much like those of some of the gerrymandered electoral districts in North Carolina, with “fingers” jutting out into surrounding areas. Can’t imagine why the deer vote is so important to them that they broke things up the way they did. Because of these irregular boundaries, General Grant Grove (where the “Grant Sequoia” resides) is technically in a “thumb” of Sequoia National Park; and Hume Lake, which was in 1929 the furthest reach into what was then General Grant National Park and is now in Giant Sequoia National Monument district of Sequoia National Forest (or perhaps Sequoia National Forest district of Giant Sequoia National Monument) – oh well, just as long as someone keeps folks from turning the trees into toothpicks.
OK, back to the Trek. So, we were merrily making our was east from Fresno to Kings Canyon National Forest on a nicely improved and well maintained route 180. Then, I recalled that the original 1920 tour may have taken a route through the town of Dunlap which on the map appeared to be just a small diversion from the straight shot to the Forest that we were on. So, we hung a right toward Dunlap and soon gained an appreciation of the contorted route the rural roads in this region take as they wind themselves through this semi-mountainous rural region. The surface condition of these extremely winding (both horizontally & vertically) roads was reasonable – they just lacked such refinements such as shoulders, curve markers and guard rails in critical locations. The other thing that we found humorous, if one dare break one’s concentration to think about anything else but the car that one might meet around the next blind curve, was the presence of a dotted yellow line down the center of the road for most of its length. Having just turned off of route 180 where there were double yellow no passing lines in areas where one could have easily pass safely, we found it perplexing that they would have passing indicators on this road where the sight distance seldom expended beyond ones front bumper (slight exaggeration). Fortunately, we were practically the only ones traveling these roads (the others either, a) knew better than to use these roads or b) were eliminated through natural selection; having gone over the edge or experienced a sudden stop against an oncoming vehicle). While stopped at an intersection to confirm that we were generally headed in the right direction, a local gentleman politely asked us “what are you doing here?” explaining that route 180 was a much more convenient path. When we explained our attempt at reenacting a prior route, he said the roads would eventually improve as we neared the Forest. Sure enough, after a half hour or so, we were on a 2 lane road that felt like a super highway – no-passing lines and all.
We entered the “thumb” of Sequoia National Park from the west and drove directly to the General Grant Grove area of the Park. There we had our first first-had exposure to giant sequoias. They were really large! Sequoias are generally shorter than their redwood cousins, but existing specimens may be twice the diameter and weight of the redwoods and up to 3,200 years in age (wonder who counted all those growth rings?). The prince of the sequoias in the General Grant Grove is the General Grant Tree (reminds me of the old Groucho Marx the quiz question “Whose buried in Grant’s Tomb?”). Anyway, the General Grant tree is the largest standing tree in the General Grant Grove region of Sequoia National Park.
Jeep at General Grant Grove in Sequoia National Park
Jean at Grant Tree at Grant Grove in Sequoia National Park
Disguised Yeti in front of giant fallen sequoia in the General Grant Cove
While in the General Grant Grove we experienced a situation that was duplicated several times during our Trek of the National Parks. At some point when we were either leaving or returning to our Jeep, a tour bus transporting a group of Europeans (usually French or German) would pull in to the parking lot; their iPhones immediately aimed at surroundings. However, once they noticed the Jeep, their attention would be redirected at the car; their iPhones, like miniature radar dishes homing in on the target. We would have fun trying to communicate with each other regarding the age and lineage of the Jeep. Many of the older folks were familiar with the name Willys Jeep from World War II and understood when I pointed out the bronze “Jeep” medallion in front of the diver’s-side door. We enjoyed “talking” to them.
At the time of the 1920 Park-to-Park Tour the road into what was then General Grant National Park only extended as far as Hume Lake. Jean and I decided to make the innocent looking trek to Hume Lake. Well, it was worth the effort to be able to say that we had been there; however, the final 3-mile curvy stretch down (the operative word being “down”) to the lake and campground did not disappoint. After some photo taking to document our achievement we clawed ourselves out of that depression and back-tracked our way to the Kings Canyon Visitors Center for some lunch before heading south to the adjacent (in some placed intertwined) Sequoia National Park.
9-26-13 Jeep at Hume Lake in Sequoia National Forest
We enjoyed a driving tour through the giant sequoias as we headed south (on average) on the extremely (you guessed it) winding Generals Highway. In places the switchbacks were so tight that we could almost see our own taillights. With ample examples of giant redwoods and sequoia visible from the car, and fearing any break in concentration as we negotiated the path south, we elected to be satisfied with viewing the trees from Jeep. We exited Sequoia National Park at the southern Ash Mountain entrance and headed on to our evenings lodgings in Bakersfield, California.
Lower gear sign leaving Sequoia National Forest (what if you do not have a “PRND21”?)
9-26-13 Driving Generals Highway South out of Sequoia National Park
Most of Friday, September 27th was spent driving from Bakersfield, California to Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas was selected as a convenient launching off point for Zion National Park in Utah; the 10th scheduled National Park stop on our Trek. Las Vegas also provided decent internet connectivity and a selection of church service options.
Welcome to Nevada – View as we crossed into Nevada from the south
Looking eastward from our northern Las Vegas hotel room at sunset. We often observed this coloration in the eastern sky at sunset throughout the West
Saturday, September 28th we made the 45 minute drive from Las Vegas to Hoover Dam located at the terminus of Lake Mead to check out this wonder of the modern world. If you like big and high and heavy, and powerful; this is the place for you. After making the obligatory drive across the top of the dam we headed back to the Visitors Center with intension of purchasing tickets for a 2 hour full tour of the facility. Unfortunately, they were not offering that tour, so we opted for the 45 minute tour of the generating system. Everything about the dam is measured in tens and hundreds of thousands including tons of concrete, gallons per hour, watts of electricity, man-hours to construct and so on. The thing that impressed me most was the fact that it was constructed in only 3 years! One would assume that a lot of the design and engineering was well underway before the actual construction commenced; but still, the most massive structure of its time constructed in 3 years is incredible especially given all the manpower, materials and construction logistics challenges in what was then a very remote and rather stark region of the country.
Jean at Hoover Dam
Dan at Hoover Dam – Convenient Men’s Room on the top of the dam (wonder where the water goes?)
View upstream into Lake Mead from the top of Hoover Dam (water level was 60 feet below typical; but very seldom reached the top of the bleached border – talk about a bathtub ring)
View downstream into the Colorado River from the top of the dam
We wrapped up our visit with a tour of the exhibits at the old and new Visitor Centers and started back to Las Vegas for Saturday evening Mass. That is when our “adventure” happened. Our beautifully performing Jeep wagon developed a serious overheating problem. Ever since I installed a fast responding mechanical engine temperature gauge and a new coolant thermostat for the Trek, I had noticed that when starting out with a cold engine, the engine temperature would rise slowly but continually past the normal thermostat setting and then suddenly drop back to normal. I concluded that this was due to a normal lag in the opening of the coolant thermostat, and something that I had just not seen previously with the slower responding original electrical engine temperature gauge. However, as we left the Hoover Dam parking garage and started up a long uphill climb out of the canyon, the engine temperature continued rising to a point where the cooling system began boiling over. We pulled over into a turn-out and waited a few moments for the temperature gauge needle to drop to normal and proceeded back to Las Vegas with no further problems. Like many unpredictable issues and despite my superficial attempts to diagnose the problem – this one would rear its ugly head again at a later date.
Saturday evening Jean and I went to 5 o’clock Mass at a small, modestly appointed church nestled in the uptown casino district of Las Vegas; where I sought spiritual guidance on our overheating problem.
On Sunday morning September 29th we left Las Vegas on our Trek to Zion National Park. As far as we could determine, much of the 125 mile stretch from Las Vegas, Nevada to Littlefield, Arizona used by the original 1920 Park-to-Park Tour group has been covered over by I-15. We usually avoid Interstates; however, since there did not appear to be any other reasonable route from Las Vegas to Zion National Park, we decided to take I-15. We tried our best to stay out of the way of the faster vehicles (basically everyone else on the road).
We stopped off at Valley of Fire State Park, just a few miles east of Interstate I-15, which was on the 1920 Park-to-Park Tour route (called Red Rock Canyon at that time). Turned out to be another memorable experience for us. The Park is filled with a unique collection of large vivid convoluted red sandstone mounds amidst course sand rolling hills.
Then proceed to our lodging in Springdale, Utah at the southern entrance to Zion National Park.
We arrived at out cabin in Springdale, Utah Tuesday evening, September 29th; settled in and walked down Springdale’s main street to have some dinner at one of the many interesting cafés and restaurants. Springdale is nestled in and directly adjacent to the south entrance of Zion National Park. The town has managed to maintain a high quality, non-glitzy appearance despite the high volume of activity concentrated on its main thoroughfare. Shuttle busses run on a very frequent schedule between the motels, eateries, and shops up and down the main thoroughfare. The northern most stop on the Springdale shuttle route is a very short walk from the entrance to Zion National Park.
View from our cabin near Zion National Park as the sun set
Driving of personal vehicles within the Park itself is strongly discouraged by the Park Service during the lengthy tourist season. However, a very convenient shuttle system within the Park makes one totally comfortable with leaving the driving to someone else. So, Saturday morning we boarded the Springdale shuttle for a five minute ride to the Park entrance, picked up some Park literature at the Visitors Center, and headed off to the Zion Canyon shuttle stop.
The Zion shuttle stops at eight locations within Zion Canyon. As suggested by the Zion shuttle driver, we elected to start our tour of the Park by taking the shuttle to the furthest stop, a 15 minute ride to the north end of the canyon – The Narrows. At this stop one can take a non-strenuous one half mile walk up the canyon to a point where it narrows sufficiently that one must wade up the North Fork of the Virgin River to continue further. We found it sufficiently impressive just looking up the narrowing canyon and at those wading further up stream.
Jean on The Narrows walk in Zion National Park
Approaching The Narrows in Zion National Park
Looking up-stream into The Narrows in Zion National Park
Panorama view from the front of the Zion Human History Museum
It is interesting to compare the Zion Canyon to the Yosemite Valley. Whereas, as reported in a previous blog entry, the shear stone walls of Yosemite Valley are light grey granite and quite smooth, the walls of Zion Canyon are coarse sandstone and multi-colored. Zion Canyon is much narrower than Yosemite Valley and the base of the walls even more accessible. Each location has its own special attractiveness.
After visiting the upper end of Zion Canyon, we proceed back south toward the mouth of the canyon on the Zion shuttle, soaking in the views of the canyon as the shuttle made its designated stops at places such as “Big Bend”, “The Grotto”, “Court of the Patriarchs”, and Zion Lodge. We stopped at the Zion Human History Museum” where we saw exhibits of and watched a video presentation of the history of inhabitants in Zion National Park throughout the ages. Life was difficult for late settlers in the canyon; with alternating periods of drought and raging floods. Few stayed.
After taking the Springdale shuttle back to our cabin, “we” decided that it would be “interesting” to drive 15 miles out of Springdale and up Kolob Terrace Road (operative word being “up”) as far as we could before having turn around and return back to the cabin before dark. We chugged our way up Kolob Terrace Road (mostly in 2nd gear) to an elevation of about 7,500 feet – 3,500 feet above Springdale in about 12 miles. The sights were striking, but I was too worried about the stress on the Jeep (particularly with engine overheating tendencies) to enjoy the view. Jean, on the other hand, with her unflappable confidence, loved every minute of the drive.
Traveling up the Kolob Terrace Road into Zion National Park
View from Kolob Terrace Road in Zion National Park
We concluded our stay in Springdale with an evening meal consisting of turkey sandwiches and roasted almonds on the lawn of our cabin complex as we watched the shadows grow on the red canyon walls.
Woke up at dawn Tuesday, October 1st at our cabin in Springdale, Utah on the southern edge of Zion National Park. Our plan was to head out toward Grand Canyon National Park, the 11th National Park on our Trek. We had stayed up until midnight the previous evening to hear if they would be closing the National Parks. Sure enough, they did close the Parks.
We were undeterred in our quest to at least reach the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park as a requirement for our Trek. Two things did affect the route to the Canyon however.
We had learned the previous day while in Zion National Park that if they did close the Parks, the main east/west highway across Zion National Park would remain open. However, there was concern by a fellow traveler that National Park personnel might not be immediately stationed at the highway entrance to screen large vehicles for their ability to navigate the tunnel along the route. If this were the case there could potentially be a major traffic jam at the tunnel, as there is really no place for unsuitable vehicles to turn around in that vicinity.
Also, the reason I had gotten up so early the morning of the 1st was my concern over the erratic engine cooling system behavior the previous few days. I wanted to see if my tinkering had solved or at least mitigated the overheating problem. Unfortunately, a short drive down Springdale’s main street at 7am demonstrated the problem of overheating during warm-up was worse than ever. So I waited on the side of the street until the engine temperature settled down and then drove back to the cabin to set a plan of action with Jean’s help. The night before, I had put out a request for suggestions for a solution to our overheating problem on an on-line Jeep owners forum that I recently joined – great folks. By morning a number of members had come through with possible causes and suggested fixes. The most plausible cause was a sticking coolant thermostat. This thermostat senses the coolant temperature in the engine and allows (or is supposed to allow) cooler coolant from the radiator to enter the engine’s coolant passages when the engine temperature exceeds the opening temperature prescribed by the selected thermostat – in my case 160F. If the thermostat fails to open as prescribed, insufficient cooler water moves from the radiator to the engine and the engine temperature will continue to rise past the boiling point of the coolant (~240F) eventually to the point of causing catastrophic damage.
Second Guessing: A decision that I had to make for each of the critical components on the Jeep (e.g.: carburetor, distributor, water pump, generator, etc), was whether to make the 10,000 mile Trek using components that had performed well on previous shorter trips, or replace them with new or rebuilt parts. In the case of the thermostat, I figured that since I had the old one out during the engine rebuild, why not put in a nice new one. There is no knowing if the old one would have lasted the Trek, but the new one apparently did not.
Assuming that a sticking thermostat was the primary cause of the overheating, I made some calls and found an auto repair shop in La Verkin which lay along our alternative route to the Grand Canyon. Thankfully, they said that they would be able to obtain and install a new thermostat. When we arrived at their location at around noon they took us right in and a gentleman familiar with older cars took great care in installing the new thermostat. After an excellent lunch of handmade tacos at a local restaurant we were happily back on our way. (Unfortunately, we were to find out a few days later that engine damage – albeit reparable, had indeed occurred during the high temperature excursions.)
Auto repair shop in La Verkin that changed the thermostat
On the way to Jacob Lake, Arizona we spotted an early jeep station wagon in the employee parking lot of a local electrical utility company. The owner was out working in the field, so we did not get to compare notes. Mostly to break the boredom of long stretches of 55mph driving, I am constantly on the lookout or Jeeps of our vintage – either on the road or rusting in someone’s back yard.
Jeep Sighting on the way to Jacob Lake, Arizona
Arrived at our Jacob Lake, Arizona lodging around 5pm I think. I was never quite sure what time it was in the central west. Some regions honor daylight savings time, while others do not. It is not uncommon to see clocks behind hotel registration desks labeled “correct local time”. Our iphones and GPS try to keep up with the local time, but only do a reasonable job of it. Running clocks cannot always be relied upon, but at least stopped clocks show the correct time twice a day.
We had selected Jacob Lake (never did see a lake) for the evening because it was strategically located as a launching point to either the north rim, or at considerably greater distance, the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We were aware that Grand Canyon National Park was closed by the Government shutdown, but felt compelled to “touch bases” as a token of our adherence to the route of the original 1920 Park-to-Park Tour route. We would decide how to achieve this the next morning.
10-1-13 On the way from Zion National Park to Jacob Lake, Arizona
10-1-13 Vermillion Cliffs on the way to the south rim of the Grand Canyon
Since the Grand Canyon National Park was closed, the folks at the Jacob Lake Inn provided us with a hand-sketched, not-to-scale map of a 30+ mile un-paved and mostly un-marked single lane route to a location outside the National Park boundaries where one could view the Grand Canyon from its north rim. Due to road conditions they estimated it to be a 3 hour round trip. We considered this excursion, but I really did not want to beat up the wagon’s suspension for that length of time.
We elected instead to take the 120 mile trip down to the south east entrance of Grand Canyon National Park; the entry point of the 1920 Park-to-Park tour group. The major difference is that while the Park-to-Park tour group was cordially invited in to the Park and provided lodging at the 100-room El Tovar Hotel on the Canyon’s south rim, we were greeted by signs clearly indicating that we were not welcome to proceed into the Park. We, having anticipated this, took a few photos to document our presence and headed up to Page, Arizona for our evenings stop on the way to Mesa Verde – where we anticipated receiving the same rebuff.
Fortunately, we had previously been to the Grand Canyon. For our 25th wedding anniversary (I’m trained to say “seems like yesterday”), Jean and I had taken a 7 day rafting trip down the Colorado River through the 250 mile length of the Grand Canyon. Of course the canyon was much shallower back then.
Southeastern closed entrance to Grand Canyon National Park – note the stickers for the National Parks that we had visited to this point
With the final length of direct path north (AZ-89) from the south rim of Grand Canyon National Park to Page, Arizona being closed, we were detoured onto a temporary route (AZ-89T). While fueling up for this leg we inquired as to the condition of this temporary route north – this is very desolate territory. We were assured that with the exception of the initial short climb to the top of the mesa, the ride would be smooth and effortless. That was in fact the case. They had apparently recently re-paved the road in anticipation of closing the primary route. This temporary route was lightly traveled (we always worry about holding up faster drivers), and being on the top of the mesa, provided some excellent views of the surrounding terrain – another prime example of the road less traveled.
On the temporary road to Page, Arizona
The World’s Largest Petrified Cow Pie along the road to Page, Arizona
We arrived in Page, Arizona a couple of hours before sunset. I refer to sun time because as in other areas of the central west one cannot be sure of clock time. The hotel had two clocks on the wall set an hour apart – one was local (Pacific Time) and the other was some other local time. We unloaded the Jeep (which at this point in the Trek means scooping up armfuls of loose belongings along with a total of 5 computer and travel bags – so much for strategic packing.) The folks at the Powell Museum/Visitors Center provided a hand-drawn map of local sites. With the sun falling in the sky (we do not like to drive at night due to lack of side marker lights), we first set off for Horseshoe Bend lookout which provides a breathtaking (literally for acrophobiacs like myself), views of a very tight u-turn in the Colorado River. It was a good ½ mile walk to the edge of the canyon from the parking lot, and as we neared the rim I felt my joints stiffen up and my breathing shorten. I managed to get within 10 feet of the edge to take one photo of the river bend below; all the time being certain I would at any moment be flung by some explicable force over the edge never to be seen again. Fortunately, Jean and I had been getting along reasonable well at this point (at some other times also), so I was quite sure she was not to be source the force shoving me over into the abyss.
The trail leading to Horseshoe Bend in the Colorado River south of Page, Arizona
Looking down on to the Colorado River at Horseshoe Bend south of Page, Arizona
We made the trek up to the parking lot to retrieve our Jeep and headed over to the site of the Glen Canyon Dam, which, although smaller than her sister Hoover Dam a few hundred miles downstream, was still very impressive to view. The Visitors Center was closed due to the US Government spending cuts; however, the parking lots and viewing points were still accessible. I wonder if they are still funding the guy who stands ready with a freshly masticated wad of chewing gum to plug any leaks in the face of the dam.
Glen Canyon Dam across the Colorado River near Page, Arizona
We had a nice meal at a local American Indian run Italian restaurant and retired for the evening.
10-2-13 Going over the Colorado River on the way to the south rim of the Grand Canyon
10-2-13 Road from Grand Canyon National Part to Page,AZ
10-2-13 Crossing bridge at Glen Canyon Dam, Page,AZ
Left Page, Arizona the morning of October 3rd and headed toward Cortez, Colorado – at the foot of Mesa Verde National Park. We were well aware that Mesa Verde would most likely also be closed due to the Government shutdown, so we decided to make the best of travels by driving through Monument Valley and visiting Four Corners monument on the way to Cortez.
The Monument Valley region extends from northeastern Arizona into southwestern Colorado. At the southwestern end of Monument Valley resides the Navajo National Monument complex of campgrounds, picnic area, and Visitors Center. Unfortunately, it too was officially closed due to the Government shutdown. The Visitors Center was closed, but we were able to “sneak” into the picnic area for our traditional lunch of sunflower butter and honey sandwiches.
Fortunately, the remainder of Monument Valley is not controlled by the US National Parks Department, so we were able to traverse the 40 mile length of the Valley undeterred. The folks in Page, Arizona had told us this was a “must see” addition to our trip and that several western movies had been shot in its scenic rugged countryside. Sure enough, we encountered several large buttes and cliff faces jutting out of the sagebrush and scrub tree dotted high desert floor. One could easily envision the good guys in their white hats scrambling on horseback across the rugged terrain and up into the bolder strewn hills after to bad guys with their black hats.
Monument Valley region, Arizona & Utah
I saw my first western in about 1952. Our family lived in a 4-story walk-up apartment building in a low-to-middle class neighborhood in the north Bronx, New York. A youngish professional couple across the court yard had purchased a brand new television (black & white of course) and would invite a few of us kids from the building in from time to time to watch TV shows like Howdy Doody, Captain Video, Flash Gordon, and of course, westerns such as The Long Ranger, Roy Rogers, and old Tom Mix movies. Most of the other guys wanted to watch the westerns, while I preferred the science fiction programs (remember the space scenes with model rocket ships hanging from wires and powered by sparklers?). Anyway, I could picture the westerns being filmed in the Monument Valley setting.
Next stop was the Four Corners monument. Four Corners is the only place in the United States where the borders of four states intersect (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah). I am not aware of any other notable significance attributable to this site other than the presence of permanent stalls for the sale of Native American goods – they were unoccupied at the time we were there.
Jean at the Four Corners Monument
Interestingly (to me anyway), we had traveled through to point where three states; Kentucky, Missouri, and Illinois, converge on our way west earlier in the Trek. Not sure if there are other similar convergences – good geography quiz question. When we get home we will have to list the states that we passed through on out Trek.
From the Four Corners monument we proceeded to Cortex, Colorado for the evening.
Sunset east of the Four Corners Monument, Colorado
We left our lodging in Cortez, Colorado the morning of October 4th for the short trip to Mesa Verde National Park and then on to Salida, Colorado by way of Wolf Creek Pass. As anticipated, we only got a few hundred yards into Mesa Verde National Park before we were met with road closure signage and a pleasant but unmovable young National Park ranger. Not expecting to receive any special treatment, I none the less, approached him to explain the purpose of our visit and desire to at least drive to the top of the mesa. Of course, he had strict orders to thwart any attempt to enter the Park– no exceptions.
Fortunately, we had visited Mesa Verde National Park and the surrounding region with our younger daughter Jeanette and our then 9 year old grandson Tommy 14 months ago. We had a great time climbing ladders into several of the cliff dwellings inhabited by the Anasazi Indians 600 to 1,300 years ago. Jean and I were too young to travel when they lived there.
Obediently, we took a photo to document our presence at the Park and moved on along AZ-160 toward our next evenings stop, Salida, Colorado on the far side of the San Juan and Sangre de Christo mountain ranges.
Traveling east from the Grand Canyon to as far as Pagosa Springs, Colorado one has a fairly level ride through picturesque canyons and rolling (by comparison) plains. However, soon after Pagosa Springs (named for the warm mineral springs that emanate from the ground in the downtown area), one is faced with the challenge of traversing the San Juan Mountains. The most convenient route is to follow AZ-160 over the mountains through Wolf Creek Pass at an elevation of more than 10,500 feet above sea level. This effort of this accomplishment is somewhat mitigated by the fact that one begins the serious ascent from the altitude of more than 5,000 feet. Never the less, the final 5,000 foot climb is achieved in something on the order of 10 miles of steeply ascending road. We (actually I) were not too intimidated by this challenge, having accomplished roughly the same feat at the beginning of our Park-to-Park loop when we ascended to the Visitors Center in Rocky Mountain National Park. As we were to learn on a later date, the Jeep (Jenny) thought otherwise. Apparently, the experience of having overheated on a couple of recent occasions due to a faulty engine thermostat, combined with the 30 minute 2nd gear climb to the top of Wolf Creek Pass was a little more than Jenny’s engine could take.
Heading toward the San Juan Mountains and Wolf Creek Pass
Cresting Wolf Creek Pass and the Continental Divide at 10,850 feet above sea level. Notice the snow!
After an additional three hours of driving, some of which was along the 35 mile long gun barrel straight stretch appropriately named The Gunbarrel Road, we successfully traversed Poncha Pass through the Sangre de Christo Mountains and continued down into Salida, Colorado for the evening.
Gunbarrel Road – 35 miles of straight road through the San Luis Valley, Colorado toward the Sangre de Christo Mountains and 9,010 foot Poncha Pass.
Cresting Poncha Pass on the way into Salida, Colorado
OK, so I woke up early the morning of Saturday, October 5th in Salida, Colorado thinking “wouldn’t it be great if I could get the Jeep’s oil changed and chassis greased before we left for Denver this morning?” I’m sure that others wake up Saturday mornings with the same thoughts – doesn’t everyone? Seriously (and anything to do with the Jeep is SERIOUS), the original owners manual for the Jeep recommended oil & filter change and chassis lubrication every 1,000 miles. I have rationalized that with modern metallurgy, advancements in lubricants, and the clean running environment provided by today’s road system – an oil (and filter) change interval of 3,000 miles and a chassis lube interval of 1,500 miles should be sufficient.
Bless me mechanic, for I have sinned – it has been 3,500 miles since my last oil change and 1,700 miles since my last chassis lubrication. During that time I have traveled dusty, rut strewn roads and traversed two major mountain passes. “Your penance is – change the oil & filter and lubricate the chassis (and a few Hail Marys couldn’t hurt)”.
So I did what I had done before with varying degrees of success along the Trek. I called an auto parts store in Salida and asked for suggestions as to whom I might contact on a Saturday morning to have service our very special (to us anyway) 1950 Jeep. Only one of the suggested sources of old car lube service was available. After receiving a noncommittal response from the gentleman at the service station in a phone conversation, I agreed to bide my time until 11am (the earliest he could see me) and then headed down to his location.
Here is roughly how it went when I introduced myself and the Jeep to the two attendants at the service station: (Please excuse my abuse of proper grammatical punctuation (as if you did not know this about me already).
Attendant #1: “going to be at least another 20 minutes – got something else that is going to need my attention before I can start on your Jeep” I am wondering “why can’t you at least put the Jeep on the rack while you are waiting for that something else to start?”
“Besides” he says, “I have to let the engine cool down before I change the oil – don’t want to scald myself.” I try to explain that one is supposed to change the oil while it is hot so that more debris is flushed out – and that I had barely gotten the engine warm making the 2 mile trip to their station. The response was, “Don’t tell me how to do my job – I have been doing it this way for 5 years”.
Turns out, he did not need to do that something else and explained that he will have to be the one to drive the Jeep on to the rack.
I ask “Do you know how to drive a column shift 3-speed”. “Sure, my dad had a (something or other) with column shift”. Moments later I am standing beside the Jeep trying to figure out how, if necessary, I am going to keep it from careening through the back wall of the garage. Then he says “something isn’t working right here – it will hardly move forward”. “That’s because you have it in 3rd gear”. “Oh yea” he says as he puts the shift lever in 2nd, and then Reverse. I am thinking “Only one more position left and he will have it”. He finally gets the Jeep on the rack and I try to explain to him where the grease fittings are (some are in unusual places and could easily be missed). While we are “talking”, senior attendant #2 comes in and says that they must close the garage door – and that I am not permitted to be in the working area. OK, I can understand all the liability stuff, but that does not permit me a way insure sure that the “5-year” veteran of automotive technology will know to grease the fittings on the rear outer wheel bearings, or properly install the cartridge oil filter.
I protest. Senior attendant #2 “suggests” I take my Jeep and leave (at least, to my surprise, he lets me drive it off of the rack). So thirty minutes later (it is almost noon and we have not begun our day’s journey to Denver), I am back at the motel trying to make light of a very frustrating and humiliating experience.
We finally began our journey from Salida to Denver by traveling through a very picturesque canyon along the course of the clear, fast flowing Virgin River. I was having difficulty enjoying the trip. First, I had not gotten over the humiliation of the service station episode, and secondly, I believed that after two very arduous traverses of mountain passes, a change of oil was really in order.
Anyway, we trudged on; or at least I did. Justifiably, had I expressed the causes of my discomfort to Jean, she would have suggested I try to “get over it and we will see what we can do down the road”.
Drive down the Virgin River Canyon between Salida, CO and Canon City, CO
Now, the happy ending:
An hour or so later we were passing through the moderate size town of Canon City, Colorado. As we drove through town I kept my eyes open for any semblance of an appropriate service station. Sure enough, across a set of railroad tracks appeared a non-franchise, down to earth auto repair garage. It was hard to tell from our vantage point on the main street if they were open – this being Saturday. Jean agreed that we should give it a shot; and in fact when we turned in their bay doors were open and people were milling about (what is “milling” anyway?). The Jeep caught the eye of a couple of mechanics, so I went up to one of them and explained my desire to have the Jeep greased and its oil changed. The answer was “no problem, we usually close at 1pm on Saturday” (this being 12:30pm), “but we will take care of it”. When I explained that I would like to stay with the same brand and grade of oil that I had been using, the answer was, “sure, you go down the street and buy what you want us to use; besides, it will cost you less if you supply the oil”. Well, I actually gave the guy a hug (after sizing him up as the huggable type) and procured the oil (I still had one sometimes hard to find oil filer left for this last oil change).
Auto repair ship in Canon City, CO that provided great service
When we got back with the oil, they immediately had me drive the Jeep onto the rack and set to work. The fellow doing the work, having previously had a car restoration business, was familiar with the maintenance of older cars. He also allowed me to point out some of the less apparent grease fittings. He wiped the grease fittings before greasing them and took great care in emptying and cleaning the oil filter housing before installing the new canister. We were ready to go in 1/2 hour, and the price was embarrassingly low.
With my faith in personkind once more restored (I forget sometimes), and our Jeep happy; we set off once again for Denver. It final leg of the trip to Denver was quite demanding. Our approach was from the south by way of Colorado Springs. We were confronted by 30+ mph headwinds for most of that leg. This may not seem like a big deal to those driving low profile cars with 3 digit horsepower, but to us in a vehicle with lots of frontal area and 72 horsepower, high head-on winds significantly impact performance. (This is one those rare cases where big frontal area adversely affects performance). Anyway, the combination of high headwinds and fairly significant hills along that route had us taxing the Jeep’s engine quite severally in trying to keep up with traffic. Both we and the Jeep were done in by the close of the day. I was happy that she had fresh oil lubricating her moving parts.
When we got back with the oil, they immediately had me drive the Jeep onto the rack and set to work. The fellow doing the work, having previously had a car restoration business, was familiar with the maintenance of older cars. He also allowed me to point out some of the less apparent grease fittings. He wiped the grease fittings before greasing them and took great care in emptying and cleaning the oil filter housing before installing the new canister. We were ready to go in 1/2 hour, and the price was embarrassingly low.
With my faith in personkind once more restored (I forget sometimes), and our Jeep happy; we set off once again for Denver. It final leg of the trip to Denver was quite demanding. Our approach was from the south by way of Colorado Springs. We were confronted by 30+ mph headwinds for most of that leg. This may not seem like a big deal to those driving low profile cars with 3 digit horsepower, but to us in a vehicle with lots of frontal area and 72 horsepower, high head-on winds significantly impact performance. (This is one those rare cases where big frontal area adversely affects performance). Anyway, the combination of high headwinds and fairly significant hills along that route had us taxing the Jeep’s engine quite severally in trying to keep up with traffic. Both we and the Jeep were done in by the close of the day. I was happy that she had fresh oil lubricating her moving parts.
Sunday, October 6, 2013 was a big day. We were back in Denver, the city where we, as well as the 1920 Park-to-Park Tour group, had begun and completed our respective National Park tours. We felt that it would be appropriate for us to finalize the tour by traveling to the very spot where the original 1920 tour group completed their tour.
Jane and Lee Whiteley, the authors of the book The Playground Trail that inspired Jean and me to make our Trek, graciously offered to guide us to the termination site of the tour; the location of the former Gates Rubber and Ford Motor Company buildings on the 900 block of South Broadway Street in Denver. After a scrumptious brunch at the same location where we met the Whiteleys prior to the start of our tour, Jane and Lee escorted Jean and me with our Jeep to the very spot where good roads boosters greeted the Tour party at completion of the 1920 Park-to-Park Tour.
In 1920, this portion of Broadway had been cordoned off for the festivities. We, of course, commanded no such recognition and were resolved to taking photographs of our finale from a less trafficked side street. Fortunately, through a fortuitous twist of happenstance we were able to pose the Jeep directly in front of what was in 1920, a Ford Motor Company assembly building.
Jeep in front of the former Ford Motor Company assembly building on South Broadway Street, Denver, CO, on the route of the 1920 Park-to-Park Tour finale.
Dan & Jean with Jane & Lee Whiteley in front of the former Ford Motor Company assembly building on South Broadway Street in Denver, Colorado
Note: It is my understanding that the former Ford Motor Company assembly building is now owned by an independent management company. The Gates Rubber Company building that stood across Broadway from it has been razed and the balance of the huge Gates manufacturing complex mothballed.
As with many anticipated achievements in life, the total Trek including this culminating act of actually driving our vehicle down the street where to 1920 Park-to-Park Tour group completed their tour, will take some time to sink in. Certainly, we did not, for a number of reasons, follow the exact route taken by the 1920 tour group; nor did we follow the exact route mapped out by the original Park-to-Park Tour planners. However, we did visit all 12 of the National Parks designated in the original Park-to-Park plan and did, as well as possible, drive at a minimum, the routes within the National Parks traveled by the original Park-to-Park Tour group.
Unquestionably, the 1950 Jeep station wagon automobile, although spartan and primitive by today’s standards, was a far more luxurious and potentially more reliable than the 1920 vehicles on the original 1920 Park-to-Park Tour. That being said, we did experience a strong sense of adventure traversing long expanses of sparsely inhabited territory and negotiating difficult passages in our 63 year old vehicle, as well as resolving mechanical issues in unfamiliar surroundings. From that standpoint, we humbly profess that we can in some way relate to the experiences of the hearty folks that partook in the original tour; and in some small way, share in their sense of accomplishment.
What’s next: For Jean, me and Jenny the Jeep there was still one last leg of the journey, from Denver, Colorado to Cary, North Carolina to complete. The discovery of copious amounts of steam pouring from Jenny’s tailpipe just as we approached the site of the tour finale in Denver soon prove to add an additional challenge to the completion of our Trek.
Indication of a likely serious engine problem at the completion of the Park-to-Park tour loop in Denver, CO
10-6-13 Driving up Broadway, Denver, CO to the former Ford Motor building for the completion of our Park-to-Park tour
Let me start out by saying that this entry does have a happy ending.
Let me start out by saying that this entry does have a happy ending.
If you read the blog entry for 10-6-13, you may recall that in Denver, just two miles short of the official finish of our Park-to-Park Tour loop of the 12 National Parks, Jean noticed that there was an unusual amount of white “smoke” coming out of Jenny’s tailpipe. In the excitement of reaching the location where the original Tour party concluded their tour, I dismissed Jean’s observation as nothing too serious. It did not appear to be oil smoke, but rather, water vapor. I had kind of written this off as the normal vapor one sees on a cool afternoon – perhaps exaggerated by the poor idle performance that we were experiencing at Denver’s 5,000 foot altitude.
First indication of engine problem – smoking tailpipe at termination point of the 1920 Park-to-Park tour in Denver.
However, later that afternoon when Jean and I arrived at a Denver church for Sunday evening Mass, the level of vapor exiting form the tailpipe was embarrassingly high. So, as on two previous occasions, I entered the church totally preoccupied with car challenges; this time thinking about potential causes of the steaming tailpipe – none of the options I could think of were trivial. There are only a couple of traditional ways that coolant can get from the cooling system over to the combustion side of the engine; either through a blown (failed) head gasket or through a crack in the engine head or block. The former requires removal of the head to replace the gasket – a relatively straightforward one-day project if you have the parts and proper tools. The latter most likely means trying to find and totally rebuilding a used replacement head – probably a several day project considering the difficulty of first locating a suitable head.
I had taken great care in preparing the existing head during the recent engine rebuild. A very talented engine builder had prepared the head and installed the valve assemblies. During engine assembly, I had carefully selected and mated the components of the rocker arm assembly for proper clearances. I shuttered to think about undoing all that work. I had also taken care to prepare the head and block surfaces before installing a correctly positioned head gasket and torquing the head bolts in the proper sequence during the engine rebuild and after a 500 mile break-in. I really did not want to go through that routine again – especially 1,500 miles from home.
We confirmed the leakage of coolant into the cylinders was the problem by noting that the level of vapor was greatly diminished when we took pressure off the coolant system by loosening the radiator cap.
Apparently the violent backfire that we experienced on our way out to Denver, the two overheating episodes that we experienced in the west due to a malfunctioning thermostat, and/or the heavy demands that we put on the engine clawing our way over the western mountains had done our Jenny in. It is almost theatrical the way she held on until the day we completed the Tour loop before giving out.
OK, so this next move was dumb (just ask my wife). After deliberating during Mass, I had us stop at a local auto parts store on the way home from church and purchase their finest head gasket sealer. My thought was to see if this quick fix, which one pours into the radiator, could allow us to limp back to Cary, NC where I would address the problem in a systematic and controlled manner. Jean, maintaining a cool head, encouraged me to think really hard before gunking up Jenny’s engine on the chance we might make it home with this quick fix. Undaunted, I went to bed intending to try this magic elixir at first light. (Unbeknownst to me, Jean had resolved that had I tried the “quick fix”, she would rent a car and drive separately back to North Carolina as my sweep car should the attempt fail – tough woman, that Jean)
I guess I came to my senses sometime in the wee hours of Monday morning. I was up at 6:30am googling “Denver Jeep repair”. One should remember that Denver covers a wide physical area, with many independent cities abutting its borders. It would have been convenient to select a repair facility closed to our location on the southwestern side of the metropolis; however, the most important thing was to get the Jeep fixed correctly and if possible, expediently. One shop, several miles south of our hotel, stood out as a place to investigate. They had been in business since the ‘70s, specialized in Jeeps, and had machine shop services. When I called, the capable young lady at the service desk did not seem put-off by the age of our vehicle or our desire to have it attended to as quickly as possible.
Jean was relieved to hear that I wanted to have them look at the Jeep before using the magic potion that I had purchased the evening before. Using the same logic as she did when we encountered our serious problem in Kentucky at the beginning of the Trek, she began to investigate rental car and hotel arrangements closer to the repair shop’s location. We packed up and gingerly made our way down to the candidate Jeep repair shop, with radiator cap loosened to minimize intrusion of coolant into the engine cylinders. Having been disappointed by some other repair locations during the Trek, I was very apprehensive regarding what we would encounter. Turns out, it was a first class, clean, and professionally operated facility. We were met by the owner and two of their technicians. They were all familiar with older cars and the Willys Overland Jeeps. The fellow assigned to our project was actually one of their engine builders with many years of F-Head engine experience under his belt. From the symptoms, they were quite certain it was a blown head gasket (the likelihood of a cracked head considered somewhat remote) and asked us to leave the Jeep with them for a few hours during which time they would assess the problem.
Here is where it got tough for me. I have been babying that Jeep for 36 years. It has only been out of my sight twice for painting and once for a differential refurbish). So, I had been planning to set up office in their waiting room for the duration, ready to answer any questions and offer advice at will. However, this was not the way they liked to operate. Before we were aware, the service desk attendant made arrangements for a rental car to get us away out of the shop and off to a convenient hotel. And so it went; my inquiries over the next two days were met with oblique responses as they assured me that they would treat “my baby” and their own. I was not a happy camper for that two days (sorry if some of my blog entries during that time are a little starchy). However, in retrospect, they were taking the exactly correct measures – some of which I would undoubtedly disputed in the interest of time and cost had they let me interfere.
Auto repair center south of Denver that did the engine repair work
They did indeed find that the head gasket had failed. However, the extremely attentive technician did not stop there (as I would have). He disassembled the head, had it Magnifluxed for cracks and checked for flatness; and noticing leakage past two of the intake valves during a vacuum test (possible due to the overheating episodes), reseated the valves. He took great personal care with the repair work and also fixed a problem that I was having with the carburetor’s idle circuit. The repair was not inexpensive; but I must say was commensurate with the quality and service that we received. It only took a few hours driving east from Denver driving through a windstorm on open prairie knowing that the best possible care had been taken not only to repair the damage, but also to insure that no other issues remained, for me to justify the dent in my wallet. And, they had completed the work in 48 hours with no advanced notice.
Turning lemons into lemonade: So, as we start the trip back to North Carolina we are aware that in spite of my best efforts to have the jeep in absolute top-notch condition prior to the trip, owing to our “adventures” on the Trek we now had a vehicle with a properly functioning thermostat, properly terminated distributor and generator ground wires (did not tell you about the generator on yet), a strong fuel pump, a new muffler, balanced tires with new valve stems, a repaired carburetor and an engine top-end that has been expertly examined and reconditioned.
This should not only get us home, but put us in great shape for our next Trek – where ever that takes us.
It is Sunday morning, October 20, 2013 and Jean and I have just had the opportunity to reunite with our fond friends at Church. I mention this so as not to keep anyone hanging – yes, we did make it home to Cary, NC from Denver, CO in six and one half relatively smooth sailing days.
The Jeep repair shop had completed the head gasket and head reconditioning work in Denver Wednesday afternoon, October 9th, but we felt it would be best to use the balance of that day to wrap up some office work and get a fresh start for home Thursday morning. This also gave me an opportunity to drive the Jeep locally to make sure no additional gremlins remained from our arduous trek to the 12 National Parks. I was confident that the fellow who did the engine repair work had done all possible to assure us safe and reliable transportation home (he had even gone around the engine to check fuel, water, and vacuum fittings for leaks, and took it out for a long test drive after the repairs). However, there could have been some issues that were unseen and/or unforeseeable resulting from the Jeep’s recent experiences. Jenny ran as well as ever.
October 10, 2013: Denver, OC to Scott City, KS
We left Highlands Ranch, CO on the southeast side of Denver mid-morning of Thursday, October 10th. We had selected Scott City in west central Kansas as our day’s stopping point primarily as it was on a different route from our trip out and would be as far as we felt we could travel before dark. (It is a whole different world if one has car problems once the sun sets.) It was not long after we started our southeastward journey from Denver that we began to encounter fierce winds from the south. In a “normal” vehicle, this might be just a small annoyance; but to us this was a significant challenge. The strong winds, which we had learned of on the Weather Channel before we left Denver, represented a significant challenge to our ability to maintain highway speed and direction. Nonetheless, we wrestled with the situation southeast to Eads, CO where we began our 150 mile due east shot out of Colorado and across Kansas to Scott City.
Heading east with 30 to 40 mph winds coming out of the south meant a constant right-hand tug on the steering wheel to maintain a straight line course. It was unseasonably warm, so we had to crack the door windows (our air conditioning) which resulted in a constant din of noise as the buffeting wind passed through the interior of the Jeep. We were determined to make our evening’s destination and plodded on. One entertaining feature was the presence of tumbleweeds crossing our path as we made our way down the road. The bush “creatures”, measuring from 1 foot to 3 feet in diameter, were lifelike in their behavior. A number of them would collect in the ever-present gully on the windward side of the road; and then, as if on cue, would collectively scamper across the road in defiance of on-coming traffic. They played this game of chicken with us through the greater part of western Colorado, at times ending up directly in the path of oncoming vehicles, including ours where they would either bounce over the top or get collected by the offender. One could imagine that the idea for the Star Trek episode “The Trouble with Tribbles” came directly out of someone’s similar tumbleweed experience. We got a chuckle during a mandatory fuel/potty stop in western Kansas to find tumbleweeds lodged in our grill, under the car and in the wrap-arounds of our rear bumpers.
10-10-13 Tumbleweeds crossing the road as we head out of Colorado
As a side light, I have always had a tendency to anthropomorphized inanimate objects. When our children were young I often conversed with them through talking objects that ranged from athletic socks to eggbeaters. (Don’t tell anyone, but along the same lines, I still take it as an intentional personal affront on the part of some tool or appliance that refuses to perform as I expected, or worse yet, makes itself difficult for me to find.)
Back to October 10th and the beginning of the trek home – another byproduct of the incessant southerly wind was the dust that it kicked up from the semi-arid plains that we were crossing in western Kansas. At one point, perhaps owing to a lack of vegetation on an upwind plot of ground, we encountered a stream of dust crossing our path for a couple hundred yards that was so thick that we had to slow to a crawl with headlights on lest we run into some similarly blinded critter or vehicle stalled on the road ahead of us. The dust was so fine that it did no damage to the exterior of our Jeep; however, a coating of it still remains to be removed from the Jeeps’ interior and engine compartment.
Dust storm mid-day in eastern Kansas
We arrived in Scott City, Kansas just before sundown having survived on peanut M&Ms on the go for lunch in order to make up for the wind-caused delays. We had been running east just ahead of what was predicted to be a severe thunderstorm at our backs. We quickly got settled in our motel room and ran out for a fast-food meal in order to get back and honker down for the impending storm. The motel proprietor was kind enough to let us park the Jeep under their front canopy for the evening as protection from potential hail accompanying the predicted storm. Fortunately, the storm was far less severe than predicted and all was well the next morning.
October 11, 2013: Scott City, KS to Emporia, KS
As with the previous day, the selection of the evening stop for October 11th was primarily determined by the distance that we predicted we could reasonably cover that day. The previous day’s battle with wind and dust had worn us down a bit, so we did not try to be too aggressive in our travel plans. Kansas route 96 and its eastward extensions provided an essentially straight due east shot from Scott City to Emporia, KS with primarily cross-roads sized towns inter-dispersed along the route to interrupt our mind-blowing 55mph pace.
In Ness City, KS we spotted the impressive Ness County Bank building constructed in the late 1880s. With its finely carved limestone exterior, it is purported to be the “most imposing structure in Kansas west of Topeka. It is currently home to the Ness County Chamber of Commerce and the Prairie Mercantile. Later we stopped for one of our traditional peanut butter and honey picnic luncheons in a municipal park in Great Bend, KS situated along our straight-line route to Emporia and night’s lodging.
The Ness County Bank Building in Ness City, Kansas
Picnic lunch in a city park in Great Bend, Kansas
October 12, 2013: Emporia, KS to Willow Springs, MO
Despite a very tempting and gracious invitation from my cousin Walter and his wife Judy to spend an evening at their home southwest of St Lewis in Washington, MO, we decided that it would be best to stay on our southern route across the of Missouri. Besides, this route we selected took us through the Ozarks where Walter and Judy have a farmstead that they use for family get-togethers and weekend retreats. We had never traveled through that part of the state.
So, on October 12th we headed south a bit from Emporia, KS and then east toward our next evening’s lodging in Willow Springs in the Ozark Plateau region of southeastern Missouri. On the way we stopped for our picnic lunch in Nevada Missouri just east of the Kansas/Missouri border (if Jean was getting tired of peanut butter and honey sandwiches – she never let on). Approaching Nevada, Missouri I noticed some erratic movement from the needle in the Jeep’s amperage gauge (battery charging system indicator). A post-lunch inspection of the generator revealed a nearly separated ground wire at the generator terminal. Not a big problem, as I had brought along an assortment of terminal connectors and a crimping tool. We were soon on the road again with a well behaving generator system.
Repairing a broken generator wire during a picnic lunch in Nevada, Kansas
At the end of the day we entered the Ozark region of rolling hills covered with a patchwork of small farms and woodlots packed with deciduous trees (very few pines). It was a pleasant drive over well maintained country roads and pleasant scenery to our motel in Willow Springs, MO at which we arrived just before sunset. After a nice meal at the western style restaurant next door we settled in to prepare for the next day’s journey.
Entering the Ozark Region of southern Missouri
October 13, 2013: Willow Springs, MO to Aurora, KY
The biggest challenge for our travels on Sunday, October 13th was to find a place to attend Mass, having arrived in Willow Springs to late to attend their Saturday evening services. It worked out quite well. We knew that we wanted our final destination for the day to be KenLake Lodge on the western shore of Kentucky Lake, near Aurora, Kentucky. We determined that Popular Bluff, MO, about 2 ¼ hours (for us) east of Willow Springs, MO had an 11am Mass scheduled for Sunday. It meant getting on the road about a couple of hours earlier that our usual departure time; but not an impossible achievement. So, we set a goal of getting started by 8:30 am on the 13th and were on the roll by 8:45am – quite decent. We had not fueled up the prior evening, and hoped to stretch our remaining fuel to Poplar Grove. We ended up stopping to fuel along the way when it did not look like we were going to make it comfortably on what we had remaining.
Although we have a 15 gallon fuel tank and get around 20 mpg on at 55mph, we seldom let the fuel level fall below a 5 gallon reserve. Just have not established just how much of the fuel tank capacity is actually available to the engine. Despite my best effort to calibrate the fuel gauge during rebuild, the needle remains above the full mark on the fuel gauge for the first half of a tank and then drops precipitously to the empty mark over the next 75 miles. Just watching the needle’s rapid decent was enough to scare us into the next gas station, particularly when we did not know when we might find another one open on a Sunday morning.
We arrived at the church in sufficient time for me to study its internal construction – always important, as there have been predictions of catastrophic collapse whenever if and when I ever enter a church. After Mass we had lunch at the city’s finest Mexican restaurant and then headed off once again toward our KenLake Lodge destination.
Although we tried to follow a different path on our return route than that which we had take west 7 weeks earlier, the two paths did coincide at the crossing of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. There are not too many options for crossing these huge bodies of water; and besides these crossings near Cairo, Illinois, with their tall, narrow bridges are a thrill to travel – if one does not think about it too much. Going east, one first passes from Missouri into Illinois by crossing over the Mississippi River and then within a few moments, passes from Illinois to Kentucky by crossing over the Ohio River – neat stuff.
10-13-13 Crossing the Mississippi River from Missouri to Illinois near Cairo, IL
10-13-13 Crossing the Ohio River from Illinois to Kentucky near Cairo, IL
Shortly after fueling up in Mayfield, KY we spotted and photographed a prime example of a Pink Elephant. This has particular significance to Jean and me, having been past recipients of our antique car club’s pink elephant booby prize at our traditional annual Yankee Trader gift swap at which someone takes home a breadbox size pink elephant in lieu of a more attractive gift. Now that would be something to send someone home with!
Decent size pink elephant near Aurora, Kentucky
We reached KenLake Lodge near Aurora, Kentucky late in the afternoon of October 13th in time to celebrate my 71st birthday with peanut M&Ms and diet Dr. Pepper (go figure) on a bench overlooking the west branch of picturesque Kentucky Lake in the southwestern corner of Kentucky. We had dinner later that evening at the Lodge and set plans for the next day’s travels. Incidentally, unlike the National Parks, where lodging rates can be extremely high, the nightly rate at the KenLake’s state-run lodge is quite reasonable.
October 14, 2013: Aurora, KY to Harriman, TN
On Monday October 14th we set out for Harriman, Tennessee; once more selected for its strategic location at a travel distance that we could reach before nightfall. At this point the destination was along the path that we wished to follow skirting Nashville, TN on the north side and setting us up to skirt Knoxville, TN on the south side the next day. This route took us through settings varying from deeply rural hilly regions to highly trafficked commercial areas. About midway in our day’s journey we spotted the station of an unfamiliar express-lube franchise. I was hoping to give the chassis one last greasing for the trip home and decided to give these folks a shot. As we drove into their lot we were immediately met by an enthusiastic young gentleman who patiently listened to my practiced plea for a well monitored (meaning with my guidance) grease job. His response was an immediate “no problem” which his coworkers affirmed by inviting me down into their clean and orderly pit level to assist with the lube process. Within 10 minutes we had completed task including the greasing of the shifter mechanism under the hood. I gladly rewarded them for their assistance and we were on our way. We reached Harriman, TN, near Oak Ridge, just before sunset and prepared for the next day after dinner at a convenient restaurant.
October 15, 2013: Harriman, TN to Wilkesboro, NC
Wanting to take a different path over the Appalachian Mountains than the Cumberland Gap route that we took west, on October 15th,we drove under Knoxville, TN and continued northeast through Tennessee with the seemingly impenetrable Appalachians continuously looming off to our right. Although nowhere on the same scale as the mountains that confronted us on our travels in the West; these large hills nonetheless posed a significant challenge if not traversed in an appropriate location. Actually, we really enjoy traveling through the Cumberland Gap and visiting the surrounding historic sites.
Like a horse that has sensed the proximity of his home barn, and knowing that North Carolina lay just over the crest of the path we had chosen across the mountains; I incessantly ask Jean if we were in the mountains yet. Finally, just east of Hampton, TN we began to experience winding upward grades indicative of our assent over the Appalachians. I was somewhat familiar with this route, having worked on a mobile home renovation outside of Hampton on a church mission trip some years earlier. However, it was a different experience making the passage as a driver in the Jeep. It did not take us long to crest the mountain and to be greeted by the “Welcome to North Carolina” sign. Although we still had the bulk of the long state of North Carolina to traverse, we were starting to feel the security of having made our way home.
Crossing the Appalachian Mountains on the way to Boone, NC
We stopped in Boone, NC for a 4pm “lunch” and then proceeded down the mountain to Wilkesboro, NC where we spent the night.
October 16, 2013: Wilkesboro, NC to Cary, NC
We got underway reasonably early (for us) on Wednesday morning October 16th. During our past travels around the state of North Carolina, we had traversed, in sections, the full length of NC 64. This road takes a sometimes circuitous route from the Outer Banks on the very east end of the state to the Tennessee border on the very west end of the state. We elected to drop down directly south to pick up this familiar route just south of Taylorsville and travel it east the 150 or so miles to a point just 5 miles south of our home in Cary, NC west of Raleigh. On our way south to Taylorsville, I noticed that our amp gauge was indicating a slight battery discharge when it should have been indicating a slight charge (i.e., the generator was not charging the battery. We pulled into a convenience store parking lot to have a look. Sure enough, a second wire had detached itself from its terminal connection at the generator. I had made up a new wiring harness for the Jeep when I first rebuilt it 1977. Over the years a stiffening of the insulation in combination with fatigue of the wire at the crimped terminal junctions had apparently lead to wire separation for the third occasion on this trip. Totally understandable now that I see it, but we had not experienced this on any of the previous 57,000 miles of traveling over the past 36 years. Guess I will have to do some serious rewiring. Anyway, it was another quick fix and we traveled the remainder of our trip home eventless; arriving in Cary, NC mid-afternoon.
When we started the Trek 63 days and 10,000 miles earlier, it had been hard for me to imagine what it would be like arriving home at the completion of the journey. Now, even with four days having passed in which to recuperate, I am still having trouble mentally wrapping my mind around all of the events that we experienced during our adventure. If you will give me a few weeks, I promise to organize and compile not only the blog entries that you have so patiently slogged your way through and add some statistical information, but also, better acknowledge our appreciation for the generous contributions time, talent and encouragement by the folks who assisted us along the way. Thank you all for making this a truly outstanding experience for Jean, Jenny and me.
Arriving home after our 61 day, 10,300 mile Trek to 12 of the western National Parks – Thank you all!
Jean and Dan return home to Cary, North Carolina after traveling 10,300 miles through 15 states to visit 12 western National Parks over 63 days in Jenny, 1950 Willys Overland Jeep Station Wagon
OK, so here we are back in Cary, North Carolina snug and warm in our modest abode the evening before Thanksgiving. Five weeks since we completed our 10,000 mile adventure, we are still getting back to normal (our normal anyway). I am pretty much back in the daily routine and not having dreams about climbing tall mountains in 2nd gear (to often, anyway).
It is fitting that we are coming up on Thanksgiving, as we are very grateful for having the opportunity to experience the great adventure of driving our old Jeep station wagon across the country, then tracing the path of the 1920 Park-to-Park Tour, and making our way back home again.
We are grateful for the kindness, encouragement, and invaluable assistance that so many people extended during the preparations for, and during the length of the Trek.
Truly, we would probably never have attempted the Trek and certainly we would never have accomplished it had not been for the support of both friends and especially previous strangers (now friends) that stood by us along the way.
The members of the Triangle Chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America, the members of the Old Willys Forum and Willys Tech chat groups, Mike & Michael who came to the rescue in eastern Kentucky, the Whiteleys who provided support and encouragement with the Tour route, Diane at the Hinckley Library, our daughter Jeanette and her family who added additional enjoyment to our time in Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks, Laurie and Jeff who met with us with their Jeeps along the way, the personnel at shops that provided maintenance and repair services including Scott who treated Jenny as his personal “baby” during the engine difficulties in Denver, friends and family who provided a bit of home during our travels, and all the many people along the way who provided guidance and shared their interest and experiences in old cars – we thank you all.
Above all, I am personally deeply appreciative of the companionship and unwavering support, confidence, and guidance that my wife Jean provided throughout the fun times and challenges of the journey. Deducting the early my morning blogging sessions in hotel lobbies and other occasional separations, we spent something of the order of 1,200 hours in each other’s company over the length of the Trek; a fair amount of it in the confines of our station wagon’s cabin. Not that we did not have our “disagreements” (we laugh about them now), but their always remained a sense of togetherness and concern for each other’s enjoyment of the trip.
Not wanting to misplace any of the memories of the Trek, we have spent a fair amount of time this past five weeks documenting our 63 day journey. We started by logging 217 fuel stops, meals, and lodgings on a spread sheet. Surprisingly for a guy who regularly forgets garbage day, in all but a very few instances, I was able to picture the location clearly in my mind as we recorded it. The quirky filling station, the “creative” food offerings, the imaginative accommodations, and of course, the amazing sites that we visited – visions of virtually all the locations came back to me. At times I found myself getting a little choked up at the awe of it all and thinking “we really did this”.
Incidentally, over the 44 individual locations where we stayed, the only item that we left behind was one pair of non-prescription sunglasses. This is impressive if one considers that at virtually every stop we dragged to our lodging not only two suitcases of personal items, but also two computers, two internet hot-spots, a printer/copier/scanner, two iPhones, a total of seven associated chargers and cable sets, and an invaluable power strip.
For those who are interested in the numbers, here are the totals derived from our spread sheet:
Total Trek Distance……………………10,025 miles*
States Visited……………………………..15
Total Fuel…………………………………..526.8 gallons
Average Fuel Economy..…………….19.0 mpg*
Total Trek Duration…..………………..63 days
Number of Lodging Locations……44 individual sites
Park-to-Park Circuit Distance……..6,252 miles*
*Compensating for Jeep Odometer error of ~ 3% high
As far as the investment that we made in the Trek, all that we wish to say is that the experience was priceless and worth every penny. (This from a guy who in his younger years would to turn the check book (pre credit cards) over to his wife and excuse himself to the rest room or car when the restaurant or motel check came because to know the cost would put a serious damper on his vacation)
So, as Jean prepares fixin’s for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family, I wish you all well and thank you for being a part of our amazing Trek and our lives.
This afternoon Jean and I departed Cary, NC on the start of our one month trek to New England.
Farewell Party at Cary, NC
On the 750 mile trip from Cary to our first official destination, Jean’s sister’s home in Oneida, NY, we spent our first evening in Culpeper, VA, about 30 miles north of Charlottesville. Considering that our 55 mph cruising speed relegates us to the “blue highways,” that 240 miles was a pretty good distance, as we did not get on the road until around 1pm today. Usually, we take Route 29 into Charlottesville. This time however, we took Route 15 which bypasses Charlottesville. Nice route with less congestion.
(From top to bottom) Entering Virginia, Entering Pennsylvania, and Entering New York
We reached Scranton, PA the second evening after negotiating a fairly harrowing path over a mountain ridge west of Harrisburg in our effort to avoid that city. The trip from Scranton to Oneida went peacefully; initially on back roads following peaceful river valleys and terminating on roads through rolling farmlands in the Adirondack foothills.
Jean with Elaine, John, and Granddaughter Ally
Jean and I arrived mostly incident free at the home of her younger sister Elaine in Oneida, NY the afternoon of Monday, August 28th. I say “mostly” because we did have one close call exiting an off- ramp on to a 2- lane highway in Virginia. Apparently (and we subsequently verified this at other intersections), they ran out of “yield” signs; so we merrily came off an off-ramp anticipating a merging lane for the intersecting highway. Not so; we found ourselves merging into the side of a car traveling in our direction in the main lane of travel. Fortunately, they were alert and drove us to a braking stance with a prolonged blast of their horn as they camealongside. No harm, no foul; but it did get the blood flowing. Other than that the Willys performed flawlessly (albeit within the limits of its performance).
We had a restful stay at the home of Elaine and her longstanding companion John. John is a Jeep guy, having three early models in various degrees of roadworthiness. John assisted me in disassembling and re-sealing the new exhaust system that I had installed in the Willys just prior to the trip. I could not have done it alone. Willys is running very well. Average gas mileage to date is 19.2 MPG
St. Patrick’s Church
Jean’s family has resided in Oneida for several generations, prompting her to state that she is related to half of the population. It was fun to see St. Patrick’s; the church where Jean and I tied the knot 49 years earlier (seems like yesterday – most of the time).
I am writing you from Fort Ticonderoga on the western bank of Lake Champlain in eastern New York State. Jean felt I could use some history learn’n so we elected to visit the Fort and spend the night in the town of Ticonderoga. For the past 90 years, a private foundation has been undertaking an impressive restoration of the Fort and grounds; including several informative indoor displays. A docent decked out in authentically fashioned garb gave an excellent oration on the part that the Fort played in American history from the French and Indian War through the American Revolution. The 155 mile trip from Oneida, NY to Ticonderoga was largely a peaceful drive over winding 2-lane back-country roads. Traffic was light with most fellow travelers local and in no particular hurry. Not holding up traffic is always upmost on our minds, so on the few occasions where we were not able to maintain sufficient speed or where others wish to exceed our 55mph cruising speed, we were able to pull onto broad berms and let traffic pass.
Jean at Fort Ticonderoga
Lake George
Well, that is it for this evening. Tomorrow we are off to western Maine in preparation for the next days’ run to Bar Harbor, Maine for a few days in AcadiaNational Park and surroundings before heading south to northern New Hampshire for the start of the 6-day Sentimental tour of that area with members of the Antique Automobile Club of America.
It might be hard to believe, but it is 9-3-14 and here we are in Bar Harbor, Maine adjacent to Acadia National Park. We arrived midafternoon after spending last evening in the town of Bethel in western Maine. The prior day, 9-2-14, we traveled from Ticonderoga, NY, through Vermont and New Hampshire to Bethel. That leg was generally uneventful with a good serving of two-lane country driving. It did get a little exciting when our backcountry route took us up and over the 3,600 ft Stark Mountain in the Green Mountains in western Vermont. You would think that after navigating 11,000 ft Wolf Creek Pass on our western trek, a mere 3,600 ft hill would not represent a challenge. Two factors are more important than the gross elevation when determining the severity of a hill traverse; the starting elevation and the rate of change of elevation. Several of the western passes start out at several thousand feet above sea level and owing to the immensity of the mountain ranges; the approaches to the summits are long, but reasonably gradual.
Driving Through the Adirondack Mountains
Route 17 up Stark Mountain, on the other hand, starts out at near sea level and mounts the summit in a very short distance. So, it went something like this; start out in overdrive in 3rd gear at 55mph, then as the grade steepened, straight 3rd gear down to 35mph, then second gear down to 15mph, and yup down to 5mph in first gear for the last ¼ mile. A bit tense since 1st gear is as low as we have and any hiccup in the engine would probably stop forward progress altogether. Oh, and I didn’t mention that the Jeep’s brakes are woefully inadequate when traveling backwards. Anyway, we have had to climb steep hills several times in the past and so far so good.
On September 4th we arrived at a “quaint” motel on the outskirts of Bar Harbor, ME adjacent to the east side of Acadia National Park. The motel provided a fitting setting for our NE Willys Trek, as I estimate it was built in the mid-20th century like our 1950 vehicle. We have really enjoyed our stay here. With its earlier, row-style layout and rooms opening out to a contiguous front porch overlooking one of the ocean bays, there is no need for formality in enjoying a morning cup of coffee out on the deck. The room was good-sized and well-kept considering its dated appointments. The view into the bay is accented by a giant “pine” tree whose form looked like the work of a giant bonsai artist owing to its huge size and ornate colors.
View from Lodging in Bar Harbor, ME
Southwest Harbor, ME Coast
Looking back on the past two days in the Acadia National Park region, I can see why so many people had told us that we would find the Park attractive and enjoyable. The rugged sea coast set against rolling mountains provides a wide variety of opportunities for exploration.
On Thursday, September 4th, Jean and I took a Whale Watching cruise out of Bar Harbor. Frankly, I was pretty skeptical (sure, whales, right), especially when I read the notice on the ticket that stated that “Whales are wild creatures, if no whales are sighted, we issue vouchers for another trip” – here we go. Well, was I wrong. Radio communications with a couple of tuna boats prompted our captain to abandon the routine whale search route and travel to an area where the fishermen had a recent whale sighting. Along the way to the location we encountered two large pods of dolphins (perhaps 100 each), some with young trailing alongside as they bobbed for fish. Then we came upon a small remnant of a deceased whale where several blue sharks were actively feeding. One could see the place where a shark had taken a large bite – the serrations left by its teeth we clearly evident – so much for a quick dip.
We also passed three or four mola molas; a kind of sunfish, about 4 feet in diameter, just going with the flow, laying on their side munching on jelly fish – quite a contrast to the sharks that we observed earlier. Ultimately, we came upon several right whales (as opposed to wrong whales??) blowing 20 foot streams of water vapor into the air as they took two or three breaths before to diving to the depths of the bay in search of a dinner of small fish. We learned that the combination of great tidal changes and mixing of ocean currents in that region stirs up nutrients that feed the microscopic creatures that feed the small fish that draw an abundance of larger water creatures. It was literally “teeming” with aquatic life. So, I guess I don’t need my voucher. Great day!
Jean at Our Lady of the Seas Catholic Church, Little Cranberry Island
On Friday, September 5th we headed over to the west side of Acadia National Park to take a ferry tour of the Northwest Harbor area accompanied by an informative National Park Service guide. The trip was a study in contrast of a different sort. The mainland shore was studded with opulent mansions, some built in the eighteen hundreds as summer cottages by folks like the Vanderbilt’s; and others going up even as we speak. In contrast, we put ashore on Little Cranberry Island, home to less than one hundred year-round residence who subsists on lobster fishing. After talking to a few of the island’s residents, I wondered if, on average, theymight be as content as the owners of the huge homes along the mainland shores. We visited a tiny, but well maintained Catholic Church on the island.
Mushroom in Acadia National Park
Having traveled 1,500 miles since we last lubed the Jeep just before leaving on the Trek, it was time for a grease job. Those of you that followed our Park-to-Park Trek out west last year may recall some of the antics that we experienced finding someone willing (and able) to grease the old Jeep. Well, after a few phone calls to auto service stations in the Arcadia area, we found one young garage owner who was totally obliging; permitting me to get under the car with him to point out some of the less than obvious grease fittings.
We capped off the day with a trip to the local Laundromat to, well, do our laundry before heading toward Portsmouth, NH to join 99 other older cars on a weeklong tour of southern Maine and northern New Hampshire.
