Originally, I wanted to document the trip in smaller chunks (I had a whole post written for just day 0-1), but I’ve already been at it for three weeks now and I need to play catchup.
If you know me (which you probably do), then you already know what I’m doing. But to recap, I decided to quit my job, give up all my furniture (and most personal belongings), move into my Honda Element, and depart from Kansas City. My end goal is to reach the western coast of Canada and immerse myself in the world class mountain bike trails surrounding Squamish, Whistler, and Vancouver.
Along the way, I’ll stop to ride, hike, and enjoy the sights. That brings us to my first interesting stop:
Badlands National Park
I spent “day 0” of the trip driving from KC to Sioux City, IA. This was only a four hour drive that served to cut the 9 hour drive to Badlands in half. It’s still far too hot to car camp in the midwest, so I grabbed a cheap hotel off I90 for the night.
The next day, I cruised on I90 all the way to the Badlands, arriving around 4PM.
After driving through the park and stopping at most of the overlooks, I decided to hike the Notch trail – one of the most popular in the park. It was a good hike up to another overlook – maybe a 90 minute round trip. There was a sketchy ladder/staircase thing that was a little awkward to traverse with my waterbottle sling.
Hiking this trail reminded me of Bryce Canyon, with all the rocky spires and narrow corridors.
After the hike, I decided to stay the night boondocking on a cliff right outside the park. The view was beautiful, but unfortunately South Dakota was still too hot to get a good night’s rest.
I did use the evening to film a short tour of my Element camper. I spent several months designing and building custom furniture for it! You can see the tour here.
Custer State Park
The next morning, I stocked up on water and groceries in Wall, SD and headed over to Custer State Park (still in South Dakota). First, I drove along the wildlife loop. From the car, I didn’t see any wildlife. But at the southern tip of the loop, I decided to stop for a hike based on reports from the morning that there was a herd of bison in the area.
There sure was! I’ve seen bison before, but this was certainly the closest I’ve been to such a large herd. And I had the entire trail to myself, because I was the only one stupid enough to hike in 90F heat in the middle of the day.
After the hike, I decided to drive the Pinnacles Scenic Highway. This was a super cool drive twisting through the Black Hills mountain range. Amazing views and several tunnels to drive through.
Devil’s Tower
After the scenic Pinnacles drive at Custer, I pressed on to remote northeastern Wyoming to see Devil’s Tower. This day was packed!
The tower is WAY out there in the middle of nowhere. When you’re approaching it from a distance, it doesn’t look that impressive. Only when you actually get close do you realize how tall it is.
I decided to take a short hike away from the crowds to stretch the legs and get more views of the tower. In the distance, thunder was rumbling which was a very fitting background for this ominous tower.
It started sprinkling rain right when I hopped back in the Element, so this hike was well timed.
I still had several hours of driving ahead of me. I pushed for Sheridan, Wyoming. I had to navigate the first of many mountain passes on I90 to get there. Going over the pass, there was some extremely heavy rain. This would be a theme of every mountain pass going forward.
I stayed at a Best Western in Sheridan. After such a long day with a poor night’s sleep, I don’t even know how I had the energy for all that. I wasn’t about to risk another night camping with so much more driving ahead of me. I took a hot shower and collapsed in my hotel room.
Montana
The next target was Bozeman, MT. This would be my first good chance to get some mountain biking in on the trip!
It was also my first chance to get some quality camping in. I was finally high enough in elevation that nighttime temperatures get down to the 50s – essentially the perfect temperature for sleeping.
After a four hour I90 drive, across another mountain pass (inlcuding more torrential rain and hail), I stopped at Owenhouse Cycling to for trail recommendations and an important accessory.
I decided I would go for a ride tomorrow morning, and instead focus on finding a nice spot to camp for the night in Hyalite Canyon. And wow, did I get lucky with this spot!
It rained lightly overnight. This made for an extremely cozy night of camping, and the morning was extra crisp and beautiful with the fog rising from the valley.
After the night’s rain, the road to leave camp was a little wet, but nothing the Element couldn’t handle.
Based on recommendations from the bike shop and other locals, I decided to get my first proper mountain bike ride at the Crosscut trail system north of Bozeman.
Ironically, in the months leading up to this mountain biking trip, I had done almost zero mountain biking. I was so busy preparing, packing, and planning this trip, that I neglected my hobbies and my health, both physical and mental.
It was a great ride in spite of my fitness level.
I drove back into town and got a shower at the public pool. I planned my next move while eating lunch in the parking lot.
The next destination was Missoula, MT – another three hour drive. I found a forest road off the interstate that would do the trick for the night.
Unfortunately, the morning would not be so peaceful. While laying in bed half awake, I witnessed a field mouse climb into the car through the vented moonroof.
That woke me up. I started tearing apart the driver’s side of the car, searching for the mouse but didn’t see him. I was looking in the wrong place. He pretty quickly made his way into my kitchen drawer.
After evicting the field mouse, I spent the rest of the morning at camp cleaning the car. I drove into Missoula and picked up some more cleaning supplies, mouse repellant, and a mouse trap.
That’s the last time I sleep in the woods with that moonroof vented.
After hitting up a laundromat, I continued my drive all the way to West Glacier National Park. Mildly traumatized from my field mouse encounter, I considered getting a motel here, but they didn’t have vacancy anyway. I found a forest road outside the park and ended up staying the night there. That ended up being a good thing! $200 saved.
The road was pretty packed, and all the designated tent-friendly spots were taken, but the Element is so small I’m able to just pull over at a wide spot in the road and make it camp.
And with that, I’ve officially made it from Kansas City all the way to Glacier National Park! That’s all for this post. I spent three full days in Glacier, which deserves its own write-up. Stay tuned.
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