Road Trip Complete! 7000+ Miles over 2 Months and 3 Countries and we’re back in Mexico!

Although leaving Chilko was difficult, we made plans to visit a number of awesome places on the way back to Mexico. We bid farewell to the fam and set our course south toward the Rocky Mountains of Montana. 

Our first destination would be the shores of Lake Koocanusa. Situated in the northwestern corner of Montana, it’s beautiful turquoise waters and towering mountains gave our little camp the perfect background. We enjoyed spending a few days relaxing, sailing Dulcinea and conversing by our campfire in the evenings.

After leaving Koocanusa, we headed over to Glacier National Park to drive the “Going to the Sun Road”. Pictures just can’t capture the scale of this place. The glacially carved peaks and valleys were the definition of enormous. We took turns driving so we each got a chance to look from the passenger seat, craning our necks to see the sights. That night we made camp on the North Fork of the Flathead River right next to a picturesque tributary creek. We enjoyed a very quick and brisk bath followed by the warmth of the fire and fell asleep to the peaceful sounds of the creek. 

The next day we took a short drive to Polebridge, a tiny outpost known locally for their delicious baked goods and creative use of locally found ingredients. We stocked up on goodies and headed south into Idaho. We slow poked down one of Lauren’s favorite roads over Lolo Pass and finally paralleling the Lochsa River, looking forward to our hike into a small hot springs known just by the locals. We backpacked in and found the most ideal location for the night, a tiny island only big enough for our tent and right next to the springs. We enjoyed an evening soak and slept well with the sounds of the stream literally inches from our heads. In the morning we took another soak, broke camp, and hiked back to the car to make tracks for Missoula. Lauren had made contact with some of her university friends, and we felt extremely lucky to be able to catch up with some of them. We perused Lauren’s favorite spots around town, and we both agreed we’d be spending more time there in the future. 

We resupplied the coolers of cold drinks, veggies, and ice, and headed out to camp on Rock Creek for a few days. Summertime is hopper time, and the fly fishing for fat westslope cutthroat and brown trout was really fun. Lauren knocked out an epic book in the shade while Brian checked off some new fish species caught. We thoroughly enjoyed camping near the water and tromping around the creek. We even saw a moose!

Once we left Rock Creek, we drove down the beautiful Bitterroot Valley and into Idaho once again. This time following the Salmon River to another hike-in hot springs adventure. After a 3-mile climb, we found ourselves perched in the side of the valley with yet another stunning view. We assembled camp, popped the champagne, and enjoyed a soak under an epic sunset. As had become tradition, we woke the next morning and enjoyed the sunrise soak, packed up camp, and hit the trail.

From there we dropped SE making our way into Wyoming, past the Wind River Range and down to Flaming Gorge Reservoir. We had read that the fishing was good there and were eager to get more sailing in. We made camp on a tiny peninsula and enjoyed the waterfront property, even catching a few nice rainbow trout to extend the food supply. The evenings were calm with excellent sunsets and we fell asleep to the sounds of fish jumping. During the day we sailed Dulcinea and relaxed in the shade, often spotting numerous massive carp swimming through the camp water while we talked and planned our return to the boat.

We camped at a variety of cool places on our trip, exploring into Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, and always by water. The diversity of landscapes and ecosystems we passed through excited us both. For Brian this was a real treat as he was able to see so many different rivers and lakes. He had no idea when we left 2 months ago he would be fishing for rainbow, bull, cutthroat and brown trout, carp, and even tiger muskies. Meanwhile only having his 2 & 4 weight fly fishing rods! 

Originally due back in early August, we were having such a blast, we ended up extending the trip by nearly a month. Blinded by the wonderful temperatures in the mountains, we started feeling the heat again by Wyoming and Utah. However, once we passed into Arizona, we could feel the full force of the summer heat still cooking away. As we crossed the border the humidity ramped up, and we instantly longed for the crisp mountain air. We learned a lot this summer about ourselves and what we want to do with our lives. We’re excited to start a bit of an annual tradition, traveling with the seasons and visiting places we’ve dreamed of going. 

We’ve been back in Mexico for 3 weeks now. We’re beyond excited to splash Echo, she’s been out of the water longer than either of us could have possibly imagined. The intense heat inevitably makes everything take longer. It’s also hurricane season and it’s usually later in the season that hurricanes have a better chance of coming up the Sea of Cortez. Hurricane Lorena, just last weekend, changed course numerous times but in the end went right over us. Thankfully by the time she arrived, she had diminished significantly, but one never knows, so we had to prepare our boat as best we could and hunker down (in our nearby hotel room, thankfully!) and hope for the best. 

Speaking of storms, we recently sent back our EPIRB and had it checked and new batteries installed. We ordered a complete new flare gun kit  for our boat and for our ditch bag. We also programmed the SOS function into our satellite service, Iridium Go/Predictwind, and we even set up a —>tracker page<—. We’ve done so much over the last 10 months it’s nearly impossible to remember everything (which is why we keep a maintenance log, money log, daily log, aka everything log). Right now we’re feverishly working to finish the last few projects in the sweltering heat, standing by for potential hurricanes and keeping our eyes set on the forecast’s horizon. We can’t wait to reap the benefits of our hard work, sweat and tears. Sailing away for the next seven months sounds absolutely perfect!

Next update…..coming from the water!