I'm taking a trip...

limamike

limamike

New member
**UPDATED BELOW**

Hi guys - I'm taking a trip via the route below. First really "long" trip in the new truck! I was wondering if anyone had suggestions of some trails or slight detours that would be interesting to hit along the way or on the way back. The area we (myself and my gf) intend to hit are Badlands, Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, and I think that's it... The route highlighted below isn't really optimized at this point, so it's really just for timeline planning at this point.

I've done an "around the country" trip before, so don't spend too much worrying about my survival. Suggestions on places to eat, campsites, and points of interest are greatly appreciated!

 
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awesome! I wish I had more useful information to give, but I am seriously jelous of the trip and can't wait to do a similar one next summer.

make sure to post pictures!
 
If you do go through Spearfish, SD check out Spearfish Canyon and Roughlock Falls. Beautiful drive that all the locals love. Looks like a great road trip!
 
I unfortunatley don't have suggestions but...have fun man! That'll be a great trip. Hope the duratracs are treating you well.
 
That is going to be one awesome road trip!! How long are you going to make the trip last? Like mtbnole said make sure you post some pictures. Enjoy your trip and be safe!
 
Are you staying in Glacier NP? We liked the Holiday Inn Express in Kalispell, MT just a few miles from the West Glacier entrance. I also recommend a trip along the North Fork (dirt) road to Polebridge and the Polebridge Mercantile. If you follow the Polebridge Loop north, you'll find another Ranger Station and entrance to the park and the road to the Fishcreek Campground. It's an all-day roundtrip drive, but the scenery is amazing and Kintla Lake is pure heaven.
 
SeattleMike said:
Are you staying in Glacier NP? We liked the Holiday Inn Express in Kalispell, MT just a few miles from the West Glacier entrance. I also recommend a trip along the North Fork (dirt) road to Polebridge and the Polebridge Mercantile. If you follow the Polebridge Loop north, you'll find another Ranger Station and entrance to the park and the road to the Fishcreek Campground. It's an all-day roundtrip drive, but the scenery is amazing and Kintla Lake is pure heaven.
Click to expand...

We plan to stay in Glacier, but I realize most of the campsites are first-come-first-serve. However, I'll be camping either way. The girlfriend has never done any real camping and I intend to get her to enjoy it -- even if I have to force her! I will definitely check-out the road you're talking about. The Fishcreek Campground I *think* is one I was doing a map recon of, so I'll look into it further.
 
Thanks all for the kind words! It's going to be an 11-ish day trip, so not too much time to spend in one place. I'm not one for sitting around anyway.

Joneseyyy - tires are working great! I definitely got a deal from you. They're a bit heavier than the stock ones, but they only cut my MPG by about 1 full MPG. I used to run the MTRs on my old truck and I loved them, never had any issues. So, hopefully these hold-up the same. I can't wait to get them in the real dirt!
 
Update! #1



I just returned from the trip yesterday. All-in-all it went really well (better than expected) with both the girlfriend who has never been "camping" before and the truck. I've got some pictures and a (long) summary below. Keep in mind that I had to stick to "established" camp sites to not freak-out the girlfriend too much. I would have been happy sleeping in the back of the truck at a hospital parking lot or rest area, but that would have been a big no-go for the other participants of the trip (gf + dog). If you've got some recommendations you'd like to add please do. At the end of the post is most of the truck observations/recommendations. I figured I'd keep everything in this forum because all of the context below relates directly to my comments on the 5th Generation 4Runner.

We left early the morning of 1 JUL and headed-off to Chicago to meet-up with a friend of my girlfriend who lives there. Let me preface the next few sentences with the following: I live in the greater DC metro area and I am well aware of and accustomed to crime and traffic. The only traffic we hit in the entire trip was in Chicago. People in Chicago drive like morons; very aggressive drivers overall. And though I didn't enter the "downtown" area of Chicago, from what I saw it seemed to be a very dirty city. I've flown and driven through Chicago a couple of times before but I've never gotten off 94/90. Our friend lives in Oak Park, and the way the GPS routed us was through some of the dirtiest and roughest looking neighborhoods I've ever seen in the United States. At one point there was literally about six blocks straight worth of homeless people and trash all over the place. I won't rant about it too much longer, but I've been in some very ****ty places in this world, and the areas of Chicago I saw on this trip would rank right up there with any one of them.


Distance: DC to Chicago, 702 mi
Recommendation: Avoid Chicago.

[Click on photos for the full-size. Please excuse any artifacts in the photos. The sensor on this camera is royally screwed and I need to get a new one.]

Here's the truck packed and ready to go (this was re-packed a few times, but I neglected to take a picture of the final configuration):








The first sight we saw after Chicago (I don't have any pictures of Chicago) was at STOP C in Darwin, MN to see the "WORLD'S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE by 1 man". I wanted to see this on my first trip around the US, but I never got into it. How did I find it? From "Eccentric America, 2nd: The Bradt Travel Guide to All That's Weird and Wacky in the USA" (Amazon.com: Eccentric America, 2nd: The Bradt Travel Guide to All That's Weird and Wacky in the USA (9781841620909): Jan Friedman: Books I highly recommend this book for a couple of reasons: 1. It's less than $10. 2. It has information on weird things to see (from the Largest Ball of Twine to bathroom murals at gas stations) and festivals to attend (Burning Man, Testicle Festivals, etc).

Distance: Chicago to Darwin, MN, 469 mi
Recommendation: Was the "WORLDS LARGEST BALL OF TWINE by 1 man" worth going out of my way to see? Yes, simply because I have a picture of it and I can say that I've seen it. The population of Darwin is 350 people or so, and I don't think there's a stoplight. But, it's nice farm country to drive through and worth stopping by if you're ever in the area.

The truck with the ball in the background:



The top of the ball:



After stopping in Darwin, we wanted to get at least to Fargo, ND before we stopped. Fargo didn't seem too interesting, so we kept driving until we hit STOP D which is Valley City, ND. Valley City is another small, but clean town that sits in a valley (who would have figured) with a population of about 6,200 people. We stopped in Valley City because they had a city-sponsored camp site that was just off the highway (Welcome to the Valley City Parks & Rec Website!) for about $10/night. We got to Valley City on 3 JULY which meant lots of fireworks going off. Lucky for us there were two houses directly across the street from our camp site shooting fireworks off until around 2:00 am. What's better is that one of the families of one of the houses was so enthralled with the fireworks and they weren't paying attention to one of their dogs. The dog wandered into the road and was struck by an early model Ford Taurus. I think the dog made it because he was able to walk away, but he was howling like you wouldn't believe. There was a rush at their house for about ten minutes before they took the dog off to some place (I assume the vet), and they continued with the fireworks.

Distance: Darwin, MN to Valley City, ND, 247 mi
Recommendation: The Valley City Park that we camped at is cheap, the people there are nice, and there are stores which stay open past 8:00 pm to pick-up essentials. I'd recommend staying there if you have an RV because it runs about $15/night with water and electric hook-up. I don't recommend tent camping there simply because it's right near the road and fairly busy. But, it's the only "established" campsite within a few dozen miles of the greater Fargo area. Gas is surprisingly difficult to find in North Dakota, so fill-up as often as possible because we went a good 200+ miles without seeing a gas station at one point.

The camp site:

 
Update! #2

After leaving Valley City we made a run for Saint Mary, MT - the east entrance to Glacier National Park. On our way to Glacier we found the Enchanted Highway via the Eccentric America book mentioned before. We traveled the Enchanted Highway (STOP E) for about 6 miles then got back on 94. We also found a real-life place called "Home on the Range", but we didn't stop. The original intent was to enter through the East Entrance and drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road to West Glacier then up to Kintla Lake via Inside North Fork Road. We got a last-minute room at the St. Mary Lodge and Resort (STOP F) (Glacier National Park, St Mary Lodge & Resort) just off Going-to-the-Sun Road and stayed there for the evening. I believe the cost was around $168/night (pet friendly room). When we entered the East Entrance early on the morning of 4 JULY we noticed that Going-to-the-Sun Road was closed about a dozen miles in due to weather (we later found out it was 6-8 foot snow banks that still had to be cleared). We drove as far as we could on the east side of the road, and then we had to go about 100 miles out of the way and around the park to enter on the West (STOP G) to get to Kintla Lake (STOP H).

SeattleMike gave me the *excellent* recommendation of going to Kintla Lake via North Fork Road. There are actually two North Fork roads - one on the Inside and one on the Outside (and named as such - Inside North Fork and Outside North Fork), but both are dirt roads which lead to Polebridge - a semi-homestead/mercantile where a few people live inside Glacier National Park. Inside North Fork was closed about a quarter of the way through (it's roughly 40 miles total), so we took Outside North Fork Road up to Polebridge then got back on Inside North Fork up to Kintla Lake. On Outside Northfork one can drive about 45 MPH safely and without issue because it's a very well-maintained dirt road. Inside North Fork is much more narrow and not nearly as well maintained, so I ended-up doing no more than 20 MPH the entire drive. We saw more wildlife (I was driving and my gf was a bit slow with the camera sometimes…) on that road than anywhere else in the park, and the views along the way are amazing.

We arrived at Kintla Lake at around noon and setup camp. The campsite resides at the base of the lake and next to Kintla Creek which is fed by the lake. I noticed on the NPS website that the Kintla Lake campground actually filled-up the two nights before, but there were at least three spots open the night we were there. In all I think there are 6-8 sites for camping at Kintla Lake.

Distance: Valley City, ND to Enchanted Highway, ND, 247 mi; Enchanted Highway, ND to Saint Mary, MT, 643 mi; Saint Mary, MT to Kintla Lake, Glacier National Park, 129 mi.
Recommendation: If you're ever in Glacier National Park you *must* go to Kintla Lake. It's a way to experience the park without everyone else. If you hate people like I do, then it's well worth the drive. Any stock 4Runner and any level of driver can make the drive along the dirt road as there is nothing technical to deal with; it's just a long, rutted, potted, washboarded dirt road that's pleasant to drive. I also suggest you bring a canoe/kayak if you have one - everyone that was staying there or making day trips to Kintla seemed to have one (except us). Leave your dog at home or travel with a group large enough that people can take turns watching the dogs. Dogs can't be taken on any of the trails and they don't even want them on the lake shore or in the lake water. We got a short lecture from one of the Rangers after my dog went diving for rocks right along the lake shore about how the lake was "clean" and they didn't want dogs in it. I don't know what the logic is behind that since humans and every other wild animal in the area use the lake. I definitely wouldn't want to listen to kids or a dog trouncing around in the water all day, so I understand the underlying agenda, but the reasoning is a bit weak. But, I think if we do it again I'm leaving the dog behind so we can enjoy the area more.

Enchanted Highway sculptures:






Home on the Range:



The dog being bored:




Filling-up in Circle, MT (population 526):



The room at St. Mary's Lodge:



Heading east on Going-to-the-Sun Road:



Saint Mary Lake and Wild Goose Island, Glacier National Park:



Going-to-the-Sun Road heading east:



Horses on the road headed to West Glacier (on the outside of the Park):



A deer on Inside North Fork Road:



Kintla Creek:



Some rocks at the bottom of Kinta Lake near the shore (no filter on this shot - notice how clear the water is):



My dog loves rocks:



Kintla Lake:





Walking the dog:



The campsite:



 
Update! #3

We spent one night at Kintla (the gf did not like the mosquito situation at all) and headed down to Jackson, WY (STOP I) through Clearwater National Forest and the Idaho Falls area. It was a really nice drive and we ended-up staying at a great KOA Kampground with a really friendly staff just south of Jackson. That night we got a "Kabin" right on the bank of the Snake River and cooked some steaks we bought at a nearby provisions store. We spent the night there and headed-up through Grand Teton National Park up to Yellowstone National Park. What's interesting (and maybe a sign) is that we got to Montana the day Exxon spilled a bunch of oil into the Yellowstone River (UPDATE 1-ExxonMobil steps up Yellowstone River cleanup | Reuters) and we got to Yellowstone National Park the day that Brian Matayoshi was killed by a grizzly in Yellowstone (Ranger urges common sense after bear death - UPI.com). We saw no evidence of the oil spill in any part of the Yellowstone River and we were poking around Yellowstone National Park during/after the bear attack and didn't even know it happened until the next day when we heard it on the radio. I think the latter is a testament to the professionalism of the National Park Service.

After doing the lower loop of Yellowstone we began heading back east and spent the night in Cody, Wyoming (STOP K) at a KOA Kamground just outside the city. Lucky for us we arrived just in time for a violent thunderstorm which rained hail the size of marbles down on my truck. The storm cleared in about 35 minutes, and that is literally the only bad weather we had throughout the trip.

Distance: Kintla Lake, Glacier National Park to Jackson, WY, 560 mi; Jackson, WY to/through Yellowstone National Park, 137 mi; Yellowstone National Park to Cody, WY, 109 mi.
Recommendation: Go see Yellowstone National Park, and head-in from the south as we did if you get a chance. The Tetons are pretty cool. I don't recommend staying in Yellowstone as it is packed with people. It seems more like an amusement park that has a drive-through safari than a real National Park that you can get-out and do stuff in. However, it's filled with beautiful scenery and interesting things, so it's worth seeing if you get a chance.

Cooking the steaks:



The fire with the Snake River in the background:



The truck (holding-up well!):



The Tetons:



A thermal feature at Yellowstone:



Me complaining about how many people were there (notice the truck in the background :driving:):



Another thermal feature (I think Fire Lake?):



Bison on the Yellowstone River:



Dragon's Mouth (smelled like ass):



Girlfriend's new shirt:



This thing reminded me of The Neverending Story:

 
Update! #4

Coming out of Cody we drove through Bighorn National Forest which is at a much higher elevation than I thought it would be with lots of snow still on the ground. The west side is a big climb and the east side is a big descent (or reverse that if you're heading west). The scenery is beautiful, and I've put it on my list of "Things to Explore" for the future. We made a break for Badlands National Park with a stop at Devil's Tower National Monument. Both of us had seen Devil's Tower before, so we didn't stay too long - we just signed the guest book and picked-up some chachkies. Moving easy through Black Hills National Forest, we arrived at Badlands in the early evening around 7 pm, and we were lucky that the internal campsite still had plots available (quite a few, actually). We had both been to Badlands before, so we just hung out a bit, took some pictures, and used it as a stop-over before heading back east.

Distance: Cody, WY to Devil's Tower, WY 311 mi; Devil's Tower, WY to Badlands National Park, SD, 189 mi.
Recommendation: Definitely explore Bighorn if you have a chance as it looks much less "busy" than Yellowstone and has some beautiful scenery. Devil's Tower is neat to see and I put it in the same category of the World's Largest Ball of Twine - nice to say you're been there. Camping in Badlands was nicer than I expected. It seemed uncomfortably hot compared to the high elevations of Glacier and other places in Wyoming, but it was only in the 80s when we arrived. Sleeping was a perfect temperature of mid-60's and it was a quiet spot.

Big Horn National Forest:



Devil's Tower:



Badlands National Park:















Looking for animals:



We woke-up to the sun beating-down on our tent in the Badlands and started our 24-hour trek back to DC from South Dakota. Not much happened on the way back except for some tired eyes and a restless dog. We completely missed the bad weather on the east coast and literally had perfect weather with nary a cloud in the sky for 99.9986% of the trip. If we had more time I would like to have spent more time in Glacier and taken a further southern route back. My next trip is from DC to Dead Horse, Alaska, but I suspect I'll be making that one alone…

Distance: Badlands, SD to DC, 1,544 mi. TOTAL MILEAGE: 5,286 mi


Now for the truck stuff.

In no particular order...

1. The truck handled both dirt and pavement equally well. I exercised the 4WD just to get the parts moving for a while on Inside North Fork Road and the handling was great.
2. Like most Toyotas the cruise control is crap and only good for flat roads. When I hit mountain roads it always wanted to drop gear and increase throttle as I was in the middle of a turn or about every 500 ft up a mountain. I don't know why Toyota designs the cruise control to rocket up to the set speed as fast as possible, but it isn't necessary (at least for me). I'd rather have it slowly get up to speed and only drop gear if it's really having a problem. I'd also like to see a company implement a "smart" cruise control that doesn't accelerate in the middle of a turn and actually shuts-off the acceleration *as soon as* I de-activate the cruise control from the switch (vs the brake method).
3. I filled-up a total of 20 times (partial and full fills) on the trip, and averaged 17.2 MPG for the entire trip with the best being 20.05 (coasting down to Wyoming) and the worst being 13.69 (climbing up to Glacier). I expected much worse with the Duratrac tires and an additional 1,100 lbs payload (~300 of which was on the roof).
4. The low-profile BajaRack I purchased did a great job. I kept about 300lbs worth of gear on the roof plus my 190lbs standing up there to get to stuff. At highway speeds of up to 85 MPH there was very minimal wind noise, and nothing came loose. I had two Storm Cases up there which I secured with ratchet straps; a SealLine dry bag filled with sleeping bags; an Osprey pack; an Arc'Teryx bag; an Army-issue dry bag filled with an air mattress and blankets. All of the loose bags I secured with a Yakima Loadwarrior Basket Net. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it held everything in place just fine even without the basket "sides" being present on the low-profile BajaRack.
5. This may be common knowledge, but I found out that the DC outlet in back puts out different voltage depending on what state the ignition is in. My EdgeStar fridge had a difficult time keeping temperature if the truck wasn't actually running or in Accessory (ACC) mode. I haven't taken any readings, but the fridge would go into "Low Voltage Mode" when the ignition was in the "On" position vice the "ACC" position. The only reason I found this out is because I didn't have time to do a dual-battery install or constant on 12 V setup prior to the trip, so I had to keep one key in the ignition and lock the truck with another to keep the fridge running. On the plus side, the EdgeStar fridge did great - no problems whatsoever (other than what I just mentioned).
6. The Kappa speakers I installed (thanks to this forum!) right before I left held-up great. I had a small issue with one of the leads coming out of the crossover because I kept the harness intact instead of cutting the stock adapter. I was able to fix that on the road with the tools I had in my truck in about 10 minutes. I also had to cut a washer fluid jug to fit between the speakers and the dash/firewall because the speakers got knocked around in Glacier and they were creating artifacts in the sound from hitting the metal firewall (thanks again to this forum for that fix).

What I identified that I need:

1. These for the Storm cases on the rack: Pelican Based Adventure Touring Motorcycle Luggage - BMW GS, Kawasaki KLR, Suzuki V-Strom, Triumph, KTM -- it will make for a much more simple and clean installation instead of the ratchet straps. I'll also be able to lock these down, so I don't have to worry about the case being outright stolen.
2. A Gobi ladder. I wish I had one to access the stuff in the larger Storm case and to get on the roof without climbing up the door or tires.
3. I need to figure-out a good way to attach my Go-Light on the BajaRack. I suspect that I'll just need to fasten a plate for it to attach to, but I need to look at it a bit more.
4. To put a damn blanket down in the cargo area to catch all the dog hair. It's going to be a pain in the ass cleaning that out of the carpet!

I'm sure I'll think of more stuff, and I'll edit/add as necessary. Thanks for reading if you made it through!
 
TOYSTRY said:
How's the flat cargo rack treating you? Do you wish it had sides after making a road trip?
Click to expand...

I was a bit worried at first, but it's worked-out just fine. Very little wind noise and every holds-down just fine with an elastic net (Yakima Loadwarrior Net). I think the flat configuration gives me a greater level of flexibility as well, so overall I'm pleased!
 
limamike said:
I was a bit worried at first, but it's worked-out just fine. Very little wind noise and every holds-down just fine with an elastic net (Yakima Loadwarrior Net). I think the flat configuration gives me a greater level of flexibility as well, so overall I'm pleased!
Click to expand...

Surprised. I expected you to say items shifted a lot.
 
yo limamike did we pass each other today over in ballston? I remember seeing a blizzard pearl truck with a baja rack....i was in a black t4r coming from golds gym ballston on my way to Robek's down in courthouse
 
LIMAMIKE:

Thanks for posting all the pics and details on this trip. I took a similar one a couple of years ago with my Tacoma prior to purchasing the Runner. We neglected to get up to Glacier, and I regret not taking a couple of extra days vacation to do it. Especially now that I have seen your pics... Wow! You take great photos. I may still end up getting up there on a trip to Washington State and down the west coast to Yosemite.

Thanks again, great job!
 
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