Okay, it's now about two weeks later, but I want to finish writing the rest of this down before I forget most of it! After that bakery I left for Big Sky Brewing. It was closed, so I decided to find a quick bike ride nearby. The quick bike ride I decided on ended up being a 3000 foot climb up a mountain. I rode until I started running into snow and excessive downed trees, but I was 90% of the way there. If I had thought to bring my hiking shoes I would have continued to climb to the top.
Big Sky Brewing is fantastic, they actually give out their samplers, which is the correct way to get as many people trying your beer as possible. After getting a sticker and some coffee for Malcolm I traveled onward.
I found a great road in Idaho, ended up following a river in places, through deep canyons in others, and ended in an enormous mountain valley just before the desert started. Most of the roads in Canada I ended up on were very open, and even with lax speed limit enforcement there weren't a lot of entertaining drives. This road was entertaining.
I was so distracted by the drive that I ended up traveling far later in the day than I'm usually comfortable with. I found some potential campsites but they were all sketchy in one way or the other, or more likely were private property and completely fenced off. Eventually I found a place close to my goal for the next morning, Craters of the Moon National Park, and set up camp.
The stars ended up being particularly good that night, I've been captured by high humidity the entire trip so to finally have a clearer sky.
The next morning I did some speed-tourism on the park, which was a really neat geologically. I basically ran up the main trail to see the crater, and did my best to remember a few geology terms that at this point I've totally forgotten. Still it was a neat place to check out.
On the way out of there I found that if I drove quickly and efficiently I would be able to make it back to Colorado that night to see my sisters before their trip to California, and my Mom for Mother's Day. I decided to go for it. The next 9 hours were a combination of strategic speeding and efficient pit stops through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and finally Colorado. I made it back for a nice Italian dinner with the family, and slept in a real bed. The trip was done, but hopefully I'll be able to look back on this blog and remember how fun/painful/educational it was.
Big Sky Brewing is fantastic, they actually give out their samplers, which is the correct way to get as many people trying your beer as possible. After getting a sticker and some coffee for Malcolm I traveled onward.
I found a great road in Idaho, ended up following a river in places, through deep canyons in others, and ended in an enormous mountain valley just before the desert started. Most of the roads in Canada I ended up on were very open, and even with lax speed limit enforcement there weren't a lot of entertaining drives. This road was entertaining.
I was so distracted by the drive that I ended up traveling far later in the day than I'm usually comfortable with. I found some potential campsites but they were all sketchy in one way or the other, or more likely were private property and completely fenced off. Eventually I found a place close to my goal for the next morning, Craters of the Moon National Park, and set up camp.
The stars ended up being particularly good that night, I've been captured by high humidity the entire trip so to finally have a clearer sky.
The next morning I did some speed-tourism on the park, which was a really neat geologically. I basically ran up the main trail to see the crater, and did my best to remember a few geology terms that at this point I've totally forgotten. Still it was a neat place to check out.
On the way out of there I found that if I drove quickly and efficiently I would be able to make it back to Colorado that night to see my sisters before their trip to California, and my Mom for Mother's Day. I decided to go for it. The next 9 hours were a combination of strategic speeding and efficient pit stops through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and finally Colorado. I made it back for a nice Italian dinner with the family, and slept in a real bed. The trip was done, but hopefully I'll be able to look back on this blog and remember how fun/painful/educational it was.
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