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Great Western Trail

Discussion in 'Off-Roading & Trails' started by RedRunner87, Aug 7, 2021.

  1. Aug 7, 2021 at 7:50 AM
    #1
    RedRunner87

    #1
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    Great Western Trail: Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana

    Night 1/Day1/Night 2

    The Great Western Trail goes from the border of Mexico in Arizona to the border of Canada in Montana. We decided to meet just East of Salina, UT and head North from there. Our overall goal was to hit the Canadian border and hit Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.

    All packed up and ready to head our first camping spot. No off-roading today. Just meeting my friend in outside of Salina.

    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr
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    Camp Night 1
    [​IMG]IMG_9409 by Red Runner, on Flickr

    The Official Start of the Trail: Day 1/Night 2

    [​IMG]IMG_9410 by Red Runner, on Flickr
    [​IMG]IMG_9411 by Red Runner, on Flickr

    Officially hit the Great Western Trail
    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr
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    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr
     
    RedRunner87, Aug 7, 2021
    #1
    Spydr5, Henry J, Spare Parts and 1 other person like this.
  2. Aug 7, 2021 at 7:53 AM
    #2
    RedRunner87

    #2
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    RedRunner87, Aug 7, 2021
    #2
    BionicRandy, Spydr5, Spare Parts and 3 others like this.
  3. Aug 7, 2021 at 7:54 AM
    #3
    Ironguy

    #3
    Ironguy New Member

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    Great trip!! I have the book next to my chair in the living room. Looking forward to your posts.
     
    Ironguy, Aug 7, 2021
    #3
  4. Aug 7, 2021 at 8:03 AM
    #4
    RedRunner87

    #4
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    Great Western Trail Day 2/Night 3

    Still in Utah! We definitely are not progressing as fast as we want to. We covering approximately 200 miles a day at this point, but we didn't expect to spend two days in Utah.

    The Start!

    [​IMG]IMG_9429 by Red Runner, on Flickr
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    Well that's not good!
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    ...another locked gate!
    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr

    Camp!

    [​IMG]IMG_9432 by Red Runner, on Flickr
     
    RedRunner87, Aug 7, 2021
    #4
    Curt56 likes this.
  5. Aug 7, 2021 at 8:03 AM
    #5
    RedRunner87

    #5
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    It was such a pretty and amazing trail!
     
    RedRunner87, Aug 7, 2021
    #5
  6. Aug 7, 2021 at 9:16 AM
    #6
    RedRunner87

    #6
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    Great Western Trail Day 3/Night 4

    Finally we get out of Utah and into Idaho! We ventured out a little longer than we anticipated because of some mechanical issues. But we made it to camp in the forest of Idaho

    ...and we are off!

    [​IMG]IMG_9433 by Red Runner, on Flickr
    [​IMG]IMG_9434 by Red Runner, on Flickr

    Ruby lurking in the brush!
    [​IMG]IMG_9435 by Red Runner, on Flickr

    [​IMG]IMG_9436 by Red Runner, on Flickr
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    At some point my buddies Tacoma picked up a wood screw in his Passenger Rear tire. We were debating swapping it or patching it. We learned real quick on the trail on how to patch a tire. Took us two attempts on the trail to get it to hold, then we patched it a third time at camp and finally held air without leaking.

    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr
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    Made it to camp in Idaho!

    [​IMG]IMG_9438 by Red Runner, on Flickr
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    [​IMG]IMG_9440 by Red Runner, on Flickr
     
    RedRunner87, Aug 7, 2021
    #6
    Curt56 likes this.
  7. Aug 7, 2021 at 10:42 AM
    #7
    RedRunner87

    #7
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    Great Western Trail Day 4/Night 5

    We get to our first National Park! The Great Western Trail skirts around Yellowstone but does require you to go through Grand Teton NP. We decided to go through the park, then back track a little bit and camp in the forest outside of the park.

    Time to hit the road again!

    [​IMG]IMG_9441 by Red Runner, on Flickr
    [​IMG]IMG_9442 by Red Runner, on Flickr

    Well this is a random traffic jam!

    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr
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    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr

    Made it to Grand Teton. The views were terrible because of the smoke in the air sadly
    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr
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    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr

    Camp!
     
    RedRunner87, Aug 7, 2021
    #7
    The Knitted Brow and Curt56 like this.
  8. Aug 7, 2021 at 10:42 AM
    #8
    RedRunner87

    #8
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    Great Western Trail Day 5/Night 6

    Glad we got some rain overnight, it cleared up the skies a little bit. We were able to get some good views of the Grand Teton. We had to go back through Grand Teton and began our trek towards West Yellowstone.

    Grand Views...of the Grand Teton

    [​IMG]IMG_9444 by Red Runner, on Flickr
    [​IMG]IMG_9445 by Red Runner, on Flickr
    [​IMG]IMG_9446 by Red Runner, on Flickr
    [​IMG]IMG_9447 by Red Runner, on Flickr
    [​IMG]IMG_9448 by Red Runner, on Flickr
    [​IMG]IMG_9449 by Red Runner, on Flickr

    ...ok we are finally off

    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr
    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr
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    Since we had to had back to Colorado on Friday, we decided to backtrack to West Yellowstone and then explore Yellowstone NP on Thursday. It was already a 12 hour drive from Yellowstone so we didn't want to venture any further.

    [​IMG]IMG_9450 by Red Runner, on Flickr
     
    RedRunner87, Aug 7, 2021
    #8
    The Knitted Brow and 4R777 like this.
  9. Aug 7, 2021 at 10:45 AM
    #9
    Ironguy

    #9
    Ironguy New Member

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    The dreaded self starter screw. How many plugs did you stuff in?
     
    Ironguy, Aug 7, 2021
    #9
  10. Aug 7, 2021 at 10:53 AM
    #10
    RedRunner87

    #10
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    We used one plug. Our theory on why the second didn't take is because his tire was aired down flexing and all that. So when we got to camp we cleaned out the hole, replugged it with one plug and aired it up to 30+psi and let is sit over night. We had no leaks after that.
     
    RedRunner87, Aug 7, 2021
    #10
    interceptor likes this.
  11. Aug 7, 2021 at 11:53 AM
    #11
    Ironguy

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    Ironguy New Member

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    :yes::hattip:
     
    Ironguy, Aug 7, 2021
    #11
    interceptor and RedRunner87[QUOTED][OP] like this.
  12. Aug 7, 2021 at 12:02 PM
    #12
    RedRunner87

    #12
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    Great Western Trail Day 6/Night 7

    We decided to not continue on with the Great Western Trail because of the drive back to Colorado the following day. We spend the day exploring Yellowstone NP instead.

    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr
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    RedRunner87, Aug 7, 2021
    #12
    JET4 and Curt56 like this.
  13. Aug 14, 2021 at 8:31 AM
    #13
    RedRunner87

    #13
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    Great Western Trail Day 7

    This was our go-home-day. We left West Yellowstone at 2am and had a 12 hour drive back to Colorado Springs. It rained all night and was pretty mucky in the morning packing up. We got some cool sites while driving through the mountains to Eastern Wyoming

    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr

    Ruby got a little dirty on this trip

    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr
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    [​IMG]Untitled by Red Runner, on Flickr
     
    RedRunner87, Aug 14, 2021
    #13
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  14. Aug 14, 2021 at 10:21 AM
    #14
    nonuniform

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    nonuniform New Member

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    Wow, what a great trip! Definitely inspires me to get off my butt and plan something like that. Thanks for sharing, loved the photos.
     
    nonuniform, Aug 14, 2021
    #14
  15. Aug 14, 2021 at 10:40 AM
    #15
    JET4

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    JET4 New Member

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    great pictures, thanks for sharing
     
    JET4, Aug 14, 2021
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  16. Aug 14, 2021 at 2:47 PM
    #16
    RedRunner87

    #16
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    Thanks guys! @nonuniform I try to do 1-2 big trips a year. Trying to figure in a couple smaller ones as well, hopefully next year I can get some small ones in for around Colorado. Next step is throwing together some videos.
     
    RedRunner87, Aug 14, 2021
    #16
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  17. Jan 14, 2022 at 4:54 PM
    #17
    RedRunner87

    #17
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    RedRunner87, Jan 14, 2022
    #17
  18. Jan 14, 2022 at 4:59 PM
    #18
    RedRunner87

    #18
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    RedRunner87, Jan 14, 2022
    #18
  19. Jan 14, 2022 at 5:00 PM
    #19
    RedRunner87

    #19
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    RedRunner87, Jan 14, 2022
    #19
  20. Jan 14, 2022 at 5:01 PM
    #20
    RedRunner87

    #20
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    RedRunner87, Jan 14, 2022
    #20
  21. Jan 14, 2022 at 5:08 PM
    #21
    RedRunner87

    #21
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    RedRunner87, Jan 14, 2022
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  22. Jan 14, 2022 at 5:11 PM
    #22
    RedRunner87

    #22
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    RedRunner87, Jan 14, 2022
    #22
  23. Jan 14, 2022 at 5:16 PM
    #23
    RedRunner87

    #23
    RedRunner87 [OP] Mall Crawler LVL Expert

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    RedRunner87, Jan 14, 2022
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