Boogielander Build

[boogielander]

You can place that blame squarely on the shoulders of supply chain considerations.

oh yeah. i knew i'd get F-ed there lol
i basically just ignored the price at that point.

 

[boogielander]

Day 40 - Welcome Home
Today I said goodbye to Canada and entered Montana.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Some random road side pullout shortly after Fairmont Hot Springs.
For some reason, it's always raining when I leave a country: when I left WA and entered Canada, woke up to pouring rain. When I left Whitehorse and entered Alaska, it rained shortly after I packed up the camper and kept raining until I got to Alaska. Then, when I left Tok, it rained shortly after I got through the border.
Today, it poured when I left Fairmont all the way to the border, then continued to rain until I got to Kalispell.

Found an old highway running parrel to the highway that I was on, so... turned around to take some photos.
Daily picture of the truck collected.

Nothing much happened between that and the border, other than a few times I stopped to stretch my legs and use the restrooms (washrooms... sorry eh)

Then... crossed the border.

Border crossing only took 3 minutes for me, while the Canadians in front of me took longer.
Border agent just asked the usual questions, but this time I decided to have some fun with it.
When asked where's home, I said California. Then, after a short pause, I added "unfortunately." He busted out laughing.
When asked if I have any raw food, fruit, meat, etc, I said nope, I ate them all before crossing and I gotta go refill my fridge. He looked at my back seat through the open window (that I opened before approaching the checkpoint), and said "you gotta go easy on those instant noodles man!"
I told him "yeah, that's why I gotta go refill my fridge after this."
He then asked me how long was I in Canada for, I said 2-2.5 weeks, I think. I've been on the road for so long I already lost count of days and dates. The concept of "time" doesn't really mean much at this point. Then he asked what was I doing in Canada, I told him I went to Arctic Ocean then made my way down.
Then, the "welcome home and have a great day" and sent me on my way.

It felt great to be on American soil again, even though I got used to Canada already at this point.
For some reason, I'm in love with Montana. Just ranches and farms everywhere. Hell, even the Indians (the India Indians) working the gas station were playing country and in cowboy outfits.
I stopped at Kalispell for some $2 McDonald soda and free large fries, then had some pho before making my way to Glacier National Park. With rain in the forecast, I wasn't about to deal with making dinner while rain falls.
Late afternoon snack and early dinner was good for me.

And before long, I arrived.

And as I was setting up, something caught my eyes.

And home for the night.

 

[boogielander]

Day 41 - Glacier Natl Park
Woke up to pouring rain and extremely humid tent. The condensation on the roof was so bad that it was dripping water.
I should've ran the diesel heater last night, but I thought with the winter sleeping bag I'd be fine.
I was right, it was fine. But not with the condensation.
It was over 90% humidity inside the tent, according to my probe.
I had no choice but pack way the tent wet.

Goal today was to drive the famous Going-To-The-Sun Road through Logan Pass and leave from St. Mary to get to Helena. I left campground early so I can have enough time to do the hikes and take my time with the scenery.
First stop: Lake McDonald.
It was quite windy, and the waves were moving fast. But, water was still clear. I sat there and had breakfast there while listening to the wave crashing.

As I drove along the road, my heart sank. It was pouring. Not a good sign, and definitely made photo sessions a lot more difficult with the rain going sideways.

There were plenty of scenery pull outs along the way before Logan Pass, but unfortunately I was in the cloud so... couldn't see anything.

Finally, got to Logan Pass and the wind blew away the cloud for a brief moment.
A brief moment as in... 3 minutes before more cloud moved in and started to pour and hail.
I hightailed out of there, as the weather forecast I got from my Garmin inReach showed rain the whole day at Logan Pass. There's no point sitting there and wait. I realized this Glacier trip was a bust and I have to redo it in the future.

I worked my way down to St. Mary, and the cloud followed me.

Looking at St. Mary direction, it's all nice and sunny.

As I drove through Blackfeet Reservation, the sky cleared up and I soaked in the view.
Now I want to move to Montana and be in these golden fields.

Even the shadow of the truck was beautiful.
Finally, I got to Helena right after sun went down.
I set up camp, had dinner, and finalized the route for the next few days.

*Wasn't able to snap a picture of camp after dark. The photo came out pretty noisy because of high ISO so I took one in the morning after packing up.*

 

[boogielander]

Day 42 - Yellowstone!
Today was a commuting day and a chill day. The destination today was only 2.5 hrs away from Helena, so... I got time to kill.
I stopped by Walmart to pick up some groceries and refill the drinks section in the truck, filled up gas, then called GFC to see if what time they close for the day.
I had ordered some replacement latches for the camper, but since the latches are a few weeks out, I didn't really have a reason to stop by GFC HQ. But, my friend asked me to pick up some merch for him, and I got time to kill and Belgrade's technically on the way, I stopped by GFC.

GFC is such a rad company. I parked, and the sales guy came out to greet me and see what I needed. I told him I just came back from Alaska and Arctic Ocean, and I was here to pick up some merch. Then, I told him about the hatch seal not working properly (due to previous owner's fitment), and he offered to replace it. Then, he told me the latches need some lube, so he did it for me too.
We then went inside to pick the merch that my friend wanted, but none of his sizes were in stock. In the end, I picked up a hat and a hoodie, and when I asked how much for everything, guy just said don't worry about it.
While I was there, a guy with 4th gen 2500 from Vermont just got his camper fitted and was heading up north to do the trip I just did. I ended up spending half an hour talking to him about what to look out for, where to stay, which route to take, etc. while enjoying free drinks and free pizza ( I didn't take the pizza. I had a big lunch in Helena)
Not really talking down on other camper manufacturers, but who else offers this kind of VIP treatment to non-VIP customers on a Saturday? Remember, I didn't buy my camper new, and I'm just a regular guy to them (as in, not their marketing partner or an influencer).
It was really just like friends hanging out.
I didn't want to leave, but it was time for me to head out to get to camp before sunset.

I went down 191, the route that I was supposed to take a year ago when I came to Belgrade to pick up my camper but chose not to because of snow forecast.
Redemption, I guess.
I have no idea who Tim Sheehy is and I don't care, but I'm loving 191.

Found a random dirt road for my daily truck pic.

Daily challenge accomplished!
FInally, got to the Yellowstone sign. I know this is probably not the official NPS sign, but this is the only one that I can put the truck next to.

And I got to West Yellowstone just before sunset.

Set up camp at KOA so I can shower and do laundry.

I really need a bigger lens...


Dinner for the night: steak and salmon.

 

[boogielander]

Day 43 - Yellowstone, Continental Divide, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, Grand Teton
Started the day by officially entering Yellowstone Natl Park, and went to see some ducks.

Then, visited Firehole Falls

Then, saw some bison.

Then just a bunch of pools, springs, geysers.




all these pools remind me of the hot springs in Japan... only difference is the sulfur smell isn't that strong here and the water are way too hot for a soak lol

Then, went through Continental Divide
Got on Rockefeller Memorial Parkway and collected the stamp on my NPS Passport book

And finally, got to Grand Teton.
I'm doing Grand Teton first because I couldn't secure campsite in Yellowstone until 9/18.

 

[boogielander]

Day 44 - Grand Teton
Grand Teton was magical and I had such a better experience there than Yellowstone.
More on that part later.

After leaving camp, I ran into another fellow GFC owner at the visitor center. We ended up chatting about the difference between the newest one and the one I got. Turned out, he just got it fitted a few days before I got to HQ.
Then, a few others came and inquire about the campers. I think the two of us got two more potential buyers!
That's important because... I ended up seeing the guy with the new camper and two other potential buyers at different spots in the park.

I got to the first spot I had planned, a bend at the river, and there were a few guys with big big lenses waiting at the beach.
They told me there's a bald eagle across the river, and it had been sitting there fore over an hour already. They were waiting for it to catch a fish.
Then, the eagle moved. Out of a 15 shot burst, this was the best shot I got.
I started the trip thinking the 70-200mm lens with a 1.4x biscuit should be plenty, but now I realize I needed more.
like a 200-400mm one. Goddamn photography is one expensive hobby.

Mount Teton. I've been seeing it from different angles the whole day.

Cunningham Cabin window view of Mt. Teton.
Boy oh boy I'd do anything to wake up to this every day.

And of course, gotta put the truck in.
Had to angle the shot a bit because there were people in the way.

The most photographed barn in the world.
Unfortunately lighting was not entirely on my side this time (storm was moving in) so couldn't recreate that world famous shot...

The blue bird did not give a F about me. I was about 3 steps away from it when I took this shot.

I was telling my friend in the morning that I haven't seen any moose this trip. Then the moose came to see me.

This little guy was peeing and pooping right upstream of where it was drinking water... then it kept staring at me. I was wearing a cream colored shirt, and I think that was why the little guy kept getting closer to me. I mean, there were over 20 people in the area but guy kept approaching me.

Also picked up a hitchhiker on the way to camp. I was going 50mph and this guy dug in.
I guess bees like Baja Designs too.

The reason I said Grand Teton was better than Yellowstone because I had good weather most of the day. So that made hiking, sight seeing, and picture taking possible.
The 2 days after that in Yellowstone was not good at all. Pouring rain all the time with occasional thunder. Couldn't see much and I had to pay extra attention to my camera to make sure water doesn't get inside the lens or the body. That also made swapping lenses impossible as well.

But today's a good day!

 

[boogielander]

Day 45 - Yellowstone
Not much today compared to the day I had in Grand Teton (I got to camp with 800 photos for Day 44) because of the rain.


Saw some geysers, pools hot springs, etc, but didn't take much photos because of the rain.

Found a few spots to take my daily truck pictures.

Saw some pelicans

Saw more pools

And ended the day with this view.
Got out to West Yellowstone because no campsites available inside the park.

Yellowstone is on my redemption list, along with Glacier.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Was there over the summer. Rented a house on the Utah side of the Tetons. This was our view from back yard. We were blessed with awesome weather the whole time we were there

 

[JamRam]

Day 44 - Grand Teton
Grand Teton was magical and I had such a better experience there than Yellowstone.
More on that part later.

After leaving camp, I ran into another fellow GFC owner at the visitor center. We ended up chatting about the difference between the newest one and the one I got. Turned out, he just got it fitted a few days before I got to HQ.
Then, a few others came and inquire about the campers. I think the two of us got two more potential buyers!
That's important because... I ended up seeing the guy with the new camper and two other potential buyers at different spots in the park.

View attachment 190023I got to the first spot I had planned, a bend at the river, and there were a few guys with big big lenses waiting at the beach.
They told me there's a bald eagle across the river, and it had been sitting there fore over an hour already. They were waiting for it to catch a fish.
Then, the eagle moved. Out of a 15 shot burst, this was the best shot I got.
I started the trip thinking the 70-200mm lens with a 1.4x biscuit should be plenty, but now I realize I needed more.
like a 200-400mm one. Goddamn photography is one expensive hobby.
View attachment 190024
Mount Teton. I've been seeing it from different angles the whole day.
View attachment 190025
Cunningham Cabin window view of Mt. Teton.
Boy oh boy I'd do anything to wake up to this every day.
View attachment 190026
And of course, gotta put the truck in.
View attachment 190027Had to angle the shot a bit because there were people in the way.
View attachment 190028
The most photographed barn in the world.
Unfortunately lighting was not entirely on my side this time (storm was moving in) so couldn't recreate that world famous shot...
View attachment 190029
The blue bird did not give a F about me. I was about 3 steps away from it when I took this shot.
View attachment 190033
I was telling my friend in the morning that I haven't seen any moose this trip. Then the moose came to see me.
View attachment 190034
This little guy was peeing and pooping right upstream of where it was drinking water... then it kept staring at me. I was wearing a cream colored shirt, and I think that was why the little guy kept getting closer to me. I mean, there were over 20 people in the area but guy kept approaching me.
View attachment 190030
Also picked up a hitchhiker on the way to camp. I was going 50mph and this guy dug in.
I guess bees like Baja Designs too.

The reason I said Grand Teton was better than Yellowstone because I had good weather most of the day. So that made hiking, sight seeing, and picture taking possible.
The 2 days after that in Yellowstone was not good at all. Pouring rain all the time with occasional thunder. Couldn't see much and I had to pay extra attention to my camera to make sure water doesn't get inside the lens or the body. That also made swapping lenses impossible as well.

But today's a good day!

I want that bluebird for my office wall.

Care to share a digital copy?

 

[firecadet613]

Was there over the summer. Rented a house on the Utah side of the Tetons. This was our view from back yard. We were blessed with awesome weather the whole time we were there View attachment 190046

I had similar great weather in early June, the Tetons look very different without snow on them...

 

[boogielander]

I want that bluebird for my office wall.

Care to share a digital copy?

sure thing.
sending you a PM for the original files.

 

[boogielander]

I had similar great weather in early June, the Tetons look very different without snow on them...

View attachment 190082View attachment 190083

beautiful as always.

 

[boogielander]

Was there over the summer. Rented a house on the Utah side of the Tetons. This was our view from back yard. We were blessed with awesome weather the whole time we were there View attachment 190046

can't beat sunny days!

 

[boogielander]

Day 46 - Whole Bunch of Nothing
Knowing that the day ahead would be filled with fog and rain, I was in no hurry to leave camp in the morning. I mean, what's the point to hurry and hit all the planned spots knowing I wouldn't be able to see much anyways?
So, I took my time in West Yellowstone and went to explore some dirt roads instead.

And found plenty of spots to take pictures of the truck.

Played around with different settings.


overall, I was quite happy with how this set turned out.

Then, I headed back in Yellowstone to get to the destination for the night: Yellowstone Hot Springs. I needed a good relaxing soak after dealing with rain and coldness.

Park rangers were directing traffic around this guy and its family. So I found a pullout and walked back for photograph.

And this guy just casually strolled along the road, causing traffic jams.

Got to Yellowstone Hot Springs way early in the afternoon, so I went in for a good long nice relaxing soak.
It was so relaxing that I almost fell asleep in the pool lol

I was kind of bummed about not being able to do the hikes that I had planned, but I already decided that Yellowstone, along with Glacier, is on my redemption list so that took away some sadness. The hot spring further helped with brightening my day a bit more!
well, at least I know what stops I need to do next time!

 

[1BADRAMLIMITED]

Great pics my man! I have an idea, hear me out. Some people have suggested you write a book but what if you made a calendar!? I think that would be pretty cool!

 

[JamRam]

Great pics my man! I have an idea, hear me out. Some people have suggested you write a book but what if you made a calendar!? I think that would be pretty cool!

What if he did both?

He could even do a few calendars and theme them...

Landscapes
Animals
North American parks
Night time
Daytime
Alaskan scenery....

Shall I continue?

 

[1BADRAMLIMITED]

What if he did both?

He could even do a few calendars and theme them...

Landscapes
Animals
North American parks
Night time
Daytime
Alaskan scenery....

Shall I continue?

For real good ideas here boogie!!

 

[boogielander]

Great pics my man! I have an idea, hear me out. Some people have suggested you write a book but what if you made a calendar!? I think that would be pretty cool!

i used to make calendars at the end of the year from various trip pictures I took but paused it in 2022 because i was busy putting together the truck and last year I got lazy.

i can start taking orders again for next year LOL

 

[boogielander]

What if he did both?

He could even do a few calendars and theme them...

Landscapes
Animals
North American parks
Night time
Daytime
Alaskan scenery....

Shall I continue?

For real good ideas here boogie!!

yeee
let me get home first. i need to use my desktop to start the process. my "borrowed" laptop i'm using on this trip is actually my friend's company's retired property from like 2019 or something. i'm using it instead of my own from 2017 with dedicated graphic card only because it supports USB-C charging (my 2017 doesn't have that) so I can plug it in to my 100AH LiFEPO4 without needing an inverter.
that's why i was lagging on posting on some days. sometimes it's too much data for the laptop to handle so I couldn't finish it, other times it's starlink getting partial obstruction and takes forever to upload.

 

[boogielander]

Day 47 - Back to Bozeman
Today was another chill day. Yellowstone Hot Springs and Bozeman are only ~2 hours apart, so I had plenty of time to kill.
Since I missed the Albright Visitor Center hour by 5 minutes, I drove back into the park just to collect the stamp.
I thought about doing the loop back to West Yellowstone then head north to Bozeman, but decided that since I'm going to redo Yellowstone next year, I might as well just head back to go hang out at GFC and get oil change done as well, since this current batch of oil has about 6k miles on it.

I left campsite and instead of taking the highway back to Yellowstone, I took the dirt road on the other side of the river that runs parallel to the highway.
And that paid off. While passing by someone's farm, I saw these just chilling in the field. Those antlers are majestic!
Then, as I crossed into Yellowstone boundary, scenery changed. NPS has been trying to restore these ex-ranchland back to what they were before the ranchers came. Looks natural to me.

I passed by some NPS employee with binoculars looking at something. Not entirely sure what he was looking at I slowed down, but he waved me through. I guess he didn't want to talk to me so I moved on.
But I'd be happy to go to work in this "office."

I passed by Roosevelt Arch without stopping the day before, because it was pouring and lighting was bad.
Well, time to make up for the shot. I did the best I could with the sun at the wrong side, and was prepared to have this picture unusable due to lighting. I also tried to wait for all the people and vehicles to leave, but they all just kept coming. Thank goodness for AI!

I went back to Albright Visitor Center to collect the stamp, and looked at the exhibitions. I also walked around Fort Yellowstone and got jealous of the NPS employees working there because of their living quarters. And elks. This guy and its family were just casually dining right outside of one of the dorms by the parking lot, and they gave no F about the tourists.
I even witnessed one Chinese girl got way close to the elk and had her boyfriend take a bunch of influencer pictures. I was waiting for that "tourist vs wild animal" or that "Chinese tourist vs bear in Yellowstone (the show)" moment, but to my disappointment, none of that happened.

The baby was in the shrub on the other side and whining about something, but the parents didn't care.

The mama kept looking up at the tourists, while the papa just kept eating. I found that quite funny lol.

Man, I loved this view.

I also did my daily homework on the way to Bozeman.

I guess this view summarized Montana really well for me.
Oh, down in the valley somewhere is a 45th Parallel sign. But I didn't go down because the road to the bottom was open to those with camping reservations only.

I had my oil changed at a local oil shop in Bozeman. I didn't want to wait till I get home because I had a pretty big stick lodged between my skid plate and front diff that I possibly picked up in Canada, and I couldn't get it out without dropping skid. I wasn't about to deal with going down to the ground while on vacation, and I also needed to grease my upper arms after that beating on Dempster. I'll have to drain and fill the oil again when I get home this weekend, because the shop policy was to follow the book and they put 0-20 in. I can live with 0-20 for about 1000 miles, but I'm swapping to 0-40 or 5-40 or 5-30 (depending on what we have at the shop that's thicker) when I get back.