August 22, 2016

2.19.16 ::: Rusty Does Arches. (Alternate Title: Christian Impersonates Arches.)

August 22, 2016/ Chelsea Tuttle

(Side note before you proceed… our week has been incredibly packed with work and hasn't afforded us the time to do much in the way of making progress on anything having to do with Little Foot. So, just to keep up with our promise of weekly blog posts on Monday, I bring you a photo-heavy post from our travels this winter.)

:::

Back in February (man that feels like so long ago), we were still hastily making our way across the country in Stubbs The Bus, towing Rusty. Pounding the pavement in Stubbs is never the most enjoyable thing because we just don't feel like we have time to stop and enjoy the scenery. Since we were both getting a little road weary and ready for a day off of driving, we decided to stop and camp in Moab for two nights and spend a layover day hiking in Arches National Park.

The first arch we visited was on our way up to Moab. It was called Wilson's Arch and lent us a great photo op for Stubbs and Rusty.

Even driving up into Moab from the south felt a little bit like a sigh of relief. We didn't worry about finding a campsite because it was off season and we were just so excited about taking a day off that all of the other problems and anxieties of having been on the road started to melt away.

We knew of quite a few handfuls of campground along the Colorado River, so we headed down a side road and sought out a quiet spot for the evening as the sky darkened and a storm rolled in.

The night was fairly uneventful, despite gale-force winds blowing in from the west. Never do we appreciate sleeping in a hard-sided vehicle more than during storms.

The next day, we started Rusty up and headed into Arches National Park.

Almost as soon as we saw a feature that was supposed to resemble a woman, Christian suggested we pose like it too. Thus began his new favorite activity of the day…posing like the features in Arches National Park.

I should take this moment to tell you just how much we love Rusty. Prior to finding and purchasing Little Foot the Pinzgauer, we were solidly set on the idea of taking Rusty south for our winter travels. It's about as much fun as you can get in a little tin can of a rollerskate-sized vehicle and we adore how small and plucky it is. However, remember that whole part about enjoying sleeping in hard-sided vehicles? Yeah, Little Foot is the perfect upgrade…

This is my, "How on earth do you expect me to impersonate this hillside?" look.

This is Christian impersonating the hillside.

As we continued deeper into the park, with a hike at the end as our destination for the day, Christian continued to enthusiastically pose as the different features.

The trail we opted to hike for the day was called Devil's Garden, a relatively easy trail if you stick to the main loop. However, there is a "more strenuous" primitive loop trail that you can follow to add on some mileage and more beautiful views. Luckily, we were in the park on a weekday in February, so we mostly had the place to ourselves.

We found a buddy in the park…his eyes and buttons were made of rabbit poop…just in case you were wondering.

The views were just spectacular as we wound our way up through the rock formations.

This is what happens when you ask a stranger to take a photo of you and an arch. I promise, there's an arch above us…

We couldn't have been more grateful for a day of hiking instead of driving. Our legs and souls definitely benefitted from our layover day.

We went back to the bus that evening, satisfied with our choice. The clear chilly evening gave us the perfect excuse to fire up the wood stove and cozy up for one more night of camping along the Colorado River before we hit the road again the next morning.

August 15, 2016

You meet the nicest people on Craigslist.

August 15, 2016/ Christian Tuttle

Last week we left you on a bit of a cliff-hanger; lets pick up where we left off. We rolled into Portland's Union station about 15 minutes early, which was good because we figured we needed every second to secure funds to make our next greatest-ever purchase.

We were busy, but we had time to snap some quick shots. Union station is beautiful.

Chelsea looked remarkably good for spending a night in a train seat. I didn't.

We played physical sudoku on a board Chels picked up at a curiosities store down the block from the bank. Only in Portland?

We hailed a cab real fast and drove a few miles away to a Wells Fargo bank. The daily manager, Mr. Trevor, was BEYOND helpful. We were there from just after open until just after closing (on a Saturday!) trying to manage access to some of our funds at a different state in a different bank, but alas, it didn't work out. We knew we would be heading to meet a gentleman by the name of Toby to discuss our purchase of a Swiss Army Pinzgauer truck at 2 o'clock when the bank closed, but we also knew we wouldn't have the cash in hand to buy it. The bank could process our request first thing on Monday, but that was two days away. We shrugged, phoned Toby, and (unbeknownst to us) started a GREAT weekend away.

Toby and I (and one of Toby's neighbors who is looking under the truck) checking out the Pinzguaer.

So much shop talk. SO much learning. I was/am in heaven.

It drives like a completely mechanical Austrian army truck. OHMYGOSHSOMUCHFUN.

Toby picked us up from the bank after waiting for ages. We were very afraid we were shooting his weekend in the foot, and man we felt bad, but he was cool as a cucumber. Over the course of the afternoon (and then the weekend!) Toby told us all about his Pinzgauer.

A Pinzgauer is a breed of Swiss cow, but more importantly, its a highly capable off-road vehicle built by the Steyr-Puch company for the Swiss and Austrian Militaries. They are commonly 4x4s and more rarely 6x6s, and originally powered by air-cooled gas engines, but more recently by turbo-diesels. We found a 1982 6x6 with a rare "workshop" fiberglass box attached to the back listed for sale a few weeks ago. After doing some research and realizing what a find it was, we spent every subsequent day thereafter talking ourselves into and out of buying it. Long story short, it's got low miles, great tires, and a fiberglass house/box on the back. Its drivetrain is designed to be both sturdy and serviceable, it has reasonable gas milage, terrific clearance, and incredible traction. It's well designed, over built, and underused, and that's why we're planning on taking it overland from here as far south as we can go. Mexico? Central America? Tierra Del Fuego? Who knows.

We were sold, and Toby liked the number Chelsea and I offered him (third offer; we totally lowballed the poor guy at first and he took it in stride). The only problem was, we didn't have the cash to back up our talk. All three of us were sitting on the curb thinking when Toby's wonderful wife Nicole walked up (after chasing their dog around the block, whom we had let out of the house by accident). Toby glanced at her sideways, saying something about us finding a hostel, and she cut him off saying:

"Of course they can stay with us."

That's me on the left, Maya the pate queen in the center, and Nicole in the striped pullover on the right.

The symphony plays in the distance as Toby and I talk shop about Swiss/Austrian trucks.

The rose garden went nearly completely unappreciated that night. Portland's parks (or at least this one) are beautiful.

What unfolded over the following two days was the most wonderful weekend away that we didn't know we desperately needed. Nicole and Toby kicked off our weekend with a free symphony concert at a nearby park. We had a charcuterie plate that rivaled the offerings of a fine restaurant, homemade pâté, fresh fruit, fresh bread, and fresh beverages. It was freshly excellent. We met some more new friends, and learned that the next day (Sunday) would feature a full-on brunch, and eventually went back to Toby and Nicole's house, fat and happy.

It has levers! And Rifle holders! (We actually removed the rifle racks and donated them back to Toby, who will be able to use in another vehicle of his.)

This is about as "American Beauty" as I get.

Here I am checking one of the ELEVEN fluid levels in the drive train. ELEVEN. That's one more than 10.

The next morning we got acquainted with our new vehicle; Chels started taking measurements of the box and organizing a small portion of its orignial interior outfitting, and I started checking and filling its 11 chambers of gear oil in the drive train (six portal axles, three differentials, a transfer case and a transmission). Toby and Nichole's neighbors are awesome, and we eventually had an audience of onlookers. Apparently Toby's eccentric vehicles are no new thing to his neighbors. We worked for hours, but in the early afternoon we were pulled from our pursuits to have the most outstanding brunch ever.

You're looking at Halibut Cheeks, eggs, fried zucCHinis, fresh fruit, and a newborn dutch baby. Don't worry, the Bubbly is on the Table.

I am a huge fan of strangers. (sorry for the mishapen heads…panos don't always play well with moving objects) — I am a *huge* fan of strangers. (sorry for the mishapen heads…panos don't always play well with moving objects)

Straight up: brunch was nearly as excellent as the Pinzgauer parked out front. The whole conversation, hours of it, was spent on talking about traveling. From Asia to South America to Europe, it turns out we had found some new, very well-traveled friends. I left knowing two things: Halibut cheeks are superb, and there is a beat-up motorcycle named "The Chupacabra" that I need to rescue in Panama. Hopefully both topics will feature in further posts.

We acted like good gelato wasn't a big thing for us. Its a big thing for us.

Later that evening Toby and Nicole took us on a tour of downtown Portland. We hit up Powell's used book store (you gotta go) and then Pinolo Gelato, and man they both were amazing. Check 'em out. We bought a book on camping, seeing as we'll be doing only that once we move into the Pinzgauer full time and start traveling.

Amazing food. New Friends. Austrian/Swiss vehicles. Really well designed furniture. God, is this heaven?

Dinner was as good as brunch. more Halibut (yessssss!) more fresh bread, more delicious salads, all set before a fantastic backdrop of European design, retro American art, and Austrian vehicles. I want to take this moment to well and truly thank Toby and Nicole. You two are unparalleled in the world of my travels. I sincerely hope we can stay friends, if only for more of Nicole's cooking.

The next (Monday) morning, Chels and I ran to the bank and waited eagerly for them to unlock the door. We secured some funds, took some selfies, packed the Pinz and headed off for 600+ miles of straight driving back to the headquarters of Montana Raft Company. We both had work the next day, and couldn't dilly-dally. We would have loved to stop along the shores and vineyards of the Columbia river valley, or explore some of the side towns and rivers, but alas, those weren't on the docket for today. We had to boogie.

If you don't need hearing protection when you drive, you're driving the wrong vehicle.

Toby was with us every step of the way. (That's him on the phone with me as I attempt to mess with the timing.)

We drove and drove and drove, until I heard a rattle that I couldn't ignore. Something didn't sound right about the Pinz, but it may have been the hours and hours of driving ringing in my ears. I phoned Toby to rule out the possibility of pre-ignition (pinging can damage an engine fast), and we decided everything was probably OK. With a little confidence, we drove on into the night.

11 is a lucky number. Always stop/pump at lucky number gas pumps. Its doesn't cost extra.

We drove further until the rattle darn near drove me nuts. I couldn't imagine that the sound I was hearing wasn't causing trouble, so Chels and I took the seats out (so easy) and removed the doghouse covering the engine (also easy) to make a diagnosis. It's real nice having the engine in the cab because it's totally covered and you can work on it from a standing position. We figured out that the only belt on the engine was vibrating laterally under a specific RPM, and probably needs replaced, but luckily it could wait until West Glacier.

As we were waiting, a gentleman by the name of Steve Hannah walked up to us, blown away by the coolness of the Pinzgauer. I was tired, beat up, and a little scared that the truck I had just spent a lot of money buying was already rattling itself apart. That attitude didn't last for long, as Steve bombarded us with compliments and positivity. In a kinda dark moment, Steve was the kick in the pants we needed. He told us that we gave him his biggest smile in five years, and kept exclaiming, 'Who does that?," but not in a condescending, parental, critical kind of way. His cries were those of someone who understood what we were doing, and loved it, but loved it in a way of just now realizing that a dream could come true.

And so that's that. Our dream is to drive all over the place. We want to travel overland, for a long time, cheaply. We don't need a $350,000 EarthRoamer or custom Unimog. We need a sturdy truck and pocketful of dreams, and now we have both.

Give it all up and adventure all over the world. Who does that? We do, and so can you.

August 08, 2016

8.06.16 ::: A Midnight Train to Portland

August 08, 2016/ Christian Tuttle

The Amtrak Empire Builder, originally operated by the Great Northern Railway, runs just a mile from our summer camp spot at Montana Raft Company in West Glacier. It connects Chicago to Seattle and offers a spur line to Portland, OR. We had a thing we wanted to see in Portland, so we packed our bags, grabbed some to-go Wandering Gringo burritos, and headed for the station.

Packing for adventures VERY MUCH unknown.

Put me down mom! Dad's gonna post a picture on your dumb blog and my friends are gonna see you hugging me and its gonna be embarassing.  - Loulou the cat — *Put me down mom! Dad's gonna post a picture on your dumb blog and my friends are gonna see you hugging me and its gonna be embarassing.* - Loulou the cat

The train picked us up at 8:30PM Friday night for an easy overnight to Portland. Just a heads up about trains: be aware that they are imprecise beasts. They may be late, or they may be early, but regardless you need to be early, because the train will only be at the station for as long as it needs to be. Our train was at the West Glacier stop for maybe 5 minutes. Chels says less.

Lots of freight moves along the lines now. We see many trains a day when rafting.

Our ride was about 14 hours long. The cars were comfortable, the leg room between seats enormous, and the staff friendly. Our sack dinner and beverages were perfect (Amtrak lets you bring food and beverages on the train to be enjoyed at your seat). The entire experience was a huge upgrade from the trains I rode extensively in China. I highly recommend Amtrak, and especially the Empire Builder, for a long distance trip across the US. It's a great way to see the US.

We opted for seats on the trip, rather than the more expensive beds. I brought a lightweight blanket for Chels and I to sleep under, and we tried to get as comfortable as possible in the seats. All-in-all, not a bad night. I did stay up a little later than her doodling.

We did our best to get comfortable. the seats were much better than plane seats, but they were still seats. (I don't approve of this photo. - Chelsea)

We're not going to tell you why we went to Portland. That's a reveal for next week, because as of yet we're not sure how this rail excursion will end. Suffice it to say, we bought one-way tickets.

Until next time…!

August 01, 2016

7.20.16 ::: Paddling the Wild Mile.

August 01, 2016/ Christian Tuttle

While our river is steadily evolving from the "Middle Fork of the Flathead" into its late summer form of the "Mellow Fork of the Flatwater", there are still white water thrills to be had just south of us. In the sleepy lakeside hamlet of Bigfork, Montana, lies a little stretch of the Swan River that is known as the Wild Mile. It starts just below the Bigfork Dam and runs for exactly a mile downstream before emptying out into the peaceful Bigfork Marina.

At high water, the section is considered a Class V according to American Whitewater (classes range from I-VI, V being pretty hairy and consequential, and VI being un-runnable). As the water gets lower, the section starts to run only on Wednesday evenings, when the dam has their scheduled release from 5 to 9 PM (a group of local whitewater enthusiasts actually lobbied for this release day and time to be able to kayak it!)

A week and a half ago, we got word that the water had dipped so low that the next release would likely be the last of the season. So, being the adventure-seekers we are, we grabbed our paddles, spread the word to anyone else that might be interested, packed Babou the boat into our Samurai, and high-tailed it down to Bigfork after work on a beautiful Wednesday evening.

Nothing gets the heart rate going like an official warning sign!

Babou is a great boat. She's a Hyside Mini-Max, measuring roughly 10'6" by 5' and weighing only 67 pounds of high strength, totally bomber Hypalon rubber. She'll fire up nearly anything, and is a breeze to inflate, carry, and paddle. You should buy one.

The one-person-carry is an enormous bonus to this boat. Its especially fun at park-and-play spots like play waves or solitary waterfalls.

We had some coworkers along in a larger (and eventually overladen) boat. It was nice to have another boat there in case something went wrong. We also saw a solid amount of kayak traffic, and got some good beta (local info) about a dangerous tree on the lower half of the run. Thanks, locals!

Chels was blindly shooting from chest mounted GoPro, but the results aren't bad. There's a handful of continuous sections of pour-overs and holes that make for good fun at this level.

The water being so low (944 cfs), we can't responsibly say that it was Class V when we ran it. I would classify it as bouncy class III with a few very forgiving class IV- drops peppered in between. However, it was a lot of intense and non-stop fun in warmer water than we're used to (the section we raft on the Middle Fork of the Flathead is snow and glacier melt…so it's quite chilly!).

Half of the fun of hiking and re-running a drop is overanalyzing the line!

On our second of three runs we invited our friend Amber into the boat. Towards the end of the run we hiked back up the river to run a ledge drop that was blocked off by the aforementioned tree that the locals warned us about. Made for good fun, and we got a decent little surf out of it as well.

Surfing is good for the soul, even if the surf is small and uneventful. the ledge behind me was more fun to drop than it looked like. I wish I had the wherewithal earlier this season to boat this section at ~1500 cfs.

No rafting adventure is complete without a dirtbag shuttle - we must have crammed 10+ people into this poor little Tacoma. All in all, a great day on the river. Stay tuned for more blog posts, we're aiming for an update every Monday. Thanks for reading, now go have your own adventure!

July 25, 2016

7.25.16 ::: Hiking Grinnell Glacier.

July 25, 2016/ Chelsea Tuttle

I know in my last post (in February…sorry!) I promised I'd be better about updating the blog. Well, we can all see how successful that followthrough was.

Suffice it to say, family tragedy and loss has a way of derailing even the most steadfast of plans. Shortly after my sister's passing in January, we knew we needed to get to Idaho to be with my father, who was slowly succumbing to the long-term effects of the same brain cancer my sister passed away from. We spent several months in Idaho being with him before he passed away at the end of April. In the midst of all of this, we secured jobs as raft guides in northern Montana and tentatively planned out our summer, not knowing what our timeline would ultimately end up being.

We moved up to West Glacier in April and have been slowly easing back into having a life that's our own and healing from the pain from the last six months.

Enter into the present and we've been raft-guiding on the river (Middle Fork of the Flathead) and on our rare days off together, exploring our new beautiful surroundings. (There is no better way to heal than to be out in nature every single day.)

Our most recent hike was by far the best one we've done, so I figured it was time to crawl out of our blogging hiatus and ease back into it with photos from said hike.

Despite having slept in, we jumped at the invite from our friend Kaden to hike to Grinnell Glacier. Getting a late start ended up being a blessing because we had the trail nearly to ourselves by the time we started hiking a little after 2pm.

The hike was just shy of 11 1/2 miles there and back and we finished around 9:15 pm, just before it started getting dark. The hike itself was just phenomenal and every turn stopped us in our tracks and left myself and Kaden reaching for our cameras.

Now, brace yourselves, because I'm about to inundate you with photos.