Roadtripping with Maggie - California and Oregon

It has taken me a long time to create the video, and subsequently, this blog post. This trip was back in early to mid July. The accompanying video can be found here.

Early on I had told my friends, Julie and her husband, Bob, that I wanted to meet them along their months-long thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. I figured I could meet them anywhere along the trail which runs from the Mexican board in California to the Canadian border in Washington state.

The window that opened was July 3 to July 16. As it turned out, Julie was in need of a rest and recuperation period so it was decided I would meet her in Mammoth Lakes, CA and the two of us would drive to Kennedy Meadows North to meet up with Bob who was continuing the trek.

I delayed the start of my trip to July 4 to time out better with Julie. I had wanted to see the fireworks at Mount Rushmore so this actually would help make that work out but, as it turned out, this year there were no fireworks at Mount Rushmore! They are saving them for a big event next year for the United States' 250th anniversary celebration. I didn't find this out until I had driven 574.5 miles to Rapid City, South Dakota. ☹️

But, as it turned out, the Rapid City fireworks were right outside our hotel window! Fun to watch but not fun for Maggie.

Day 2. We drove through the Black Hills of South Dakota to catch views of Mount Rushmore. I'd been to the monument years ago and figured it hadn't changed so took Monument Road and stopped to take photos now and again. We paid the park fee to drive through Custer State Park hoping to see bison or burros but didn't see either. ☹️

On into Wyoming...endless. Passed an enormous coal mining operation and some oil fields. Nearly ran out of gas 'cause they don't tell you that there is NOTHING along the way. Spent the night in Rock Springs, WY.

Day 3. Drove on into Utah, passsed Salt Lake City, and onto the salt flats (Bonneville Salt Flats) beyond the Great Salt Lake which I only caught glimpses of.

Kept going into Nevada and the Great Basin Desert. At least in Nevada, they warn you that that there isn't gas for...oh, 124 miles, then 167 miles! Our goal destination was McGill, NV but it turned out there wasn't much of anything there anymore, so we drove on to Ely, NV and the Four 7s Motel.

Day 4. Continued on through Nevada. Jill looked up some sites to see. We stopped at Lunar Crater on Bureau of Land Management land. We passed what I'm pretty sure was a missile site. Three police cars made sure we pulled off the highway to allow on oncoming wide load to pass.

The highways in Nevada are amazingly straight...like for a hundred miles. You will notice in the video that there are photos taken from inside the truck. Some are while it is moving thanks to lane keeping and adaptive cruise control. I never put Maggie in danger.

Still in Nevada, we passed a freaky solar energy site with a glowing tower. Into California and a fruit and plant check site. I hadn't had to stop for California's checks since I drove across the country in the 1980's. We drove into the Sierra Mountains to Mammoth Lakes. So very beautiful.

We met Julie at her hotel and got Maggie situated in the room. We went for a late lunch. Julie was getting as much rest as possible so while she napped with Maggie, I took a walk around the town of Mammoth Lakes. The elevation was very noticeable.

Day 5. Got some supplies before heading to Kennedy Meadows North to meet up with Bob. It is a short 110 miles mostly on California Highway 108. Incredible views going up to Sonora Pass, which is where the Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, crosses the highway. We happened to hit the summit when 3 PCT hikers landed at the crossroad/trail. We picked them up and Julie knew 2 of them! They were going to Kennedy Meadows North, too. I got to be a Trail Angel!

We were expecting Bob to arrive the next day. I took Maggie on a hike along a beautiful trout river while Julie rested. Bob had texted Julie while Maggie and I were out and said he would be arriving later that evening. We forgot Maggie's litter box at the hotel in Mammoth Lakes so the manager at Kennedy Meadows helped me figure out a substitute.... though Maggie never used it.

We drove back to the Sonora Pass summit to pick up Bob. We took another hiker who was looking to hitch a ride into another town up to the pass. More Trail Angel action! Bob hiked in just after sunset. He was with another hiker, Bespoke (trail name). We all drove back to the campgrounds and arrived just before the kitchen closed so Bob and Bespoke got a hardy meal before going to bed.

Day 6. Bob decided he didn't need to take a day of rest, so he and Julie went back on the PCT this day. I was already planning on driving to Ashland, Oregon to see Jill and her granddaughter, Ellie. It was a longer drive than I had originally thought but northeastern California is beautiful. I actually had to go back into Nevada for a bit. This is where California makes that angle jog because of Nevada. I picked up a new litter box and litter 😊

I saw two different pairs of sandhill cranes, the tall ones, and drove around Mt. Shasta. As I approached Ashland, there was a wildfire right next to I-5. I was shocked that the interstate was not closed as there were at least two large trees adjacent to the road that were completely engulfed in flames.

Days 7-10. I spent 3 days in glorious Ashland, Oregon, visiting my friend Jill and her grand-daughter. I got to see James Williams in August Wilson's Jitney at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. That was definitely a treat and highlight.

Maggie did pretty good as a house guest...at least better than last time we visited.

I knew it would be a stretch to get home in 3 days and wondered if it was really possible, but it was mostly a route Maggie and I had done before, so we went for it.

Day 11. Left Ashland and made it to Mountain Home, ID... a town we had stayed in before. Driving through eastern Oregon you realize you better have a full tank of gas. There is NO WHERE to get fuel for miles. We had to slow down twice for deer and fawns.

Day 12. We drove over 500 miles to Billings, Montana. We were on sections of I-15 and I-90 that we had previously avoided. There really was no stopping for sightseeing, however, this route goes along the Yellowstone River for tons of miles making for some lovely vistas.

Day 13. Had to decide if we were really going to get all the way home in one more day. We did! Over 830 miles and 10 1/2 hours of pretty much straight driving. There was light rain much of the way. The light rain wasn't difficult to drive in, but it meant we could only stop in specific places for Maggie to stretch her legs. This day was the most difficult for her and there were a few fits of "can we please get out of the truck!!"

But after all the miles, we made it home in advance of an event I had promised to attend. If you made it this far, congratulations and the accompanying video can be found here.

Home at last!