Montana Snowboard Road Trip / Backcountry Hike up Hyalite Canyon / Bridger Bowl Ski Area

On da road, drive till 1:00am, duck into a rest stop along highway. Turn on the furnace in da Four Wheel Camper, nice and cozy inside 65 degrees, outside at 6 degrees. Fold out the couch and there is no need to pop up the top on camper. Plenty of room. 

350 miles first night of driving, 650 miles next day. 1000 miles to Bozeman, Montana. Arrived after 650 mile day in Bozeman at 4:30pm. Plenty of time to wander around Bozeman & pick up supper for back at hotel. 

At Bridger Bowl, 16 miles up the road from Bozeman. There is no lodging at Bridger, so there is a daily pilgrimage up the mountain road each day. That part of the beauty of Bridger, people aren’t just hanging out, they are there to snowboard or ski.

It cool that I can just pop up my FWC in the lot and have a place to get dressed or organize for the day on da mountain.

Sundown after a good day on the snowboard.

I saw many Four Wheel Campers in Montana, I actually bought my FWC in Bozeman in 2020. My FWC and F350 Ford next to a FWC mounted in a Ford Ranger.

Beautiful waterfalls we reached on a hike up into Hyalite Canyon. I was able to witness some ice climbers along hike. This is some true backcountry surrounding the Hyalite Canyon area.

Classic Ford 4x4. 

Livin’

A bit more snowboarding at Bridger Bowl. A great trip with good variety and meeting many likeminded adventurers. I learn things on every adventure.

1008 miles back to Minnesota. Exited Bozeman at 7:00pm, drove till 1:30am. Same plan as on trip out. Stopped for the night at a highway rest stop. Got a solid 5 1/2 hour sleep and finished road trip next day.

Ride on!

 

Montana Backcountry with Four Wheel Camper and Kawasaki KLX 300

Open sky Montana ranch land.

It was a bit of a last minute decision to travel to Bozeman, Montana. Bozeman is where I purchased the FWC back in March of 2020. I contacted the FWC dealer and he told me that if I could get out to Bozeman the next day that he could get the wiring connection done. So I pulled an overnight drive of 1100 miles/14 hours.

I needed to have my Four Wheel Camper wired to my new pickup, my 2021 F-350. I have the 160 watts of solar on the roof to charge my duel batteries in the camper. With the wiring connected to the truck, now I have the running lights on the camper plus the batteries are being charged as I drive, which keeps them fully charged. So that was the start of my 11 day Montana adventure.

Good exploring the Bridger Mountains on the KLX.

Put in a good 101 mile day on the Moto towards the Crazy Mountains, Met Thunder Jack, a mountain man from many decades ago.

Plenty of range cattle wondering the mountains.

Pure black cow moose crossing a field after emerging from a creek bottom.

Eyeing me up as I travel the ranch road on the Moto.

The only vehicle on the remote ranch road...

A fellow in the campground told me about this single track that climbed through the forest and dropped into a high plateau.

Met up with ole Smoky the Bear outside the Bridger Range.

Tools of the backcountry, The Kawasaki is the perfect vehicle for exploring the upper mountain trails. 

This was a good 11 day trip to Montana with good weather, some good trail information from some local folks. The Kawasaki KLX 300 is the goat for the mountain roads & trails.

Ride on!
 

Four Wheel Camper / Brand New Adventures

Traveled to Bozeman, Montana to pick up my new camper. Drove up into the Bridger Mountain Range to explore some backroads.

Bozeman, Montana / Snowboarding & Cooke City, Montana / Snowmobiling

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We got a couple hikes up at Bridger Bowl. Nice to take a break and soak in the views and snowboard back into the resort.

 Had to make a quick repair, zip ties are the solution.

 Riding hard from the top to the base on the last run of the day. The shadows are covering the mountain, a good day at Bridger. Two hikes up to the ridge and a full day.

Day 2 on the Montana Snowboard and Snowmobile Adventure

 Entrance to Yellowstone Park.

 Rush hour on a narrow stretch on road, the Buffalo are taking up all the lanes.

 This is where the Buffalo should roam...

 Rented 2 sleds in Cooke City. Climbed up to a good vantage point with the 800 Polaris Pro RMK's

 Weez showing me the way to climb the mountain...

 A good adventure with the drive into Cooke City and riding the sleds into the mountains.

Brappp On!!

Day 1 of Bozeman, Montana Snowboard / Snowmobile Trip --> Load Em Up...

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Sled in the box with the snowboard rack mounted.

 Looking at the top rack.

2 snowboard carrier rack. Rocket Box filled with 2 snowboards, 2 sets of snowshoes and Black Diamond ski poles. On the far right is the snowmobile ramp to load the snowmobile into the box of the truck.

It was a tight fit for everything up top, now I have it set up for future trips. The rack was put to the test with 1000 miles overnight in a snow storm with 30-40 mph headwinds and speeds up to 85 mph. Set it up right and you eliminate problems on the road.

 8:00 pm, everything loaded as the snow fell and and ready to take-off on a 1000 mile overnight trip to Bozeman, Montana.

 This is a shot of the truck at a wayside rest stop in the middle of North Dakota. Temp was -10 degrees. Caught a 2 hour nap at 5:00 am in the truck and then continued on. Snow and sub-zero temps with 30-40 mph winds made the travel challenging.

 Shortly after daylight in North Dakota with cold temps snow and wind.

 More Snow and wind.

Then the temps started to rise and the roads really started to ice up and became totally snow and ice covered. Shortly after we traveled through North Dakota, the Highway Patrol closed part of I-94. The highways became solid ice and numerous cars in the ditch.

We were able to keep moving and arrived in Bozeman, Montana in the afternoon. Snowboarding tomorrow at Bridger Bowl. Snow conditions should be very good with over 3 feet of new snow last week.