Heading out Monday for Fire Season 2026 in the Pacific Northwest .. a 2400 mile, 6-day drive

[Bo Zarts]

I’m 98% packed and ready for a Monday morning departure from my Upstate South Carolina home for fire lookout duty in the Bitterroot Mountains of the Idaho Panhandle. My preferred driving route, while not the shortest, misses all major metropolitan areas.

This year I have pretty much containerized my packing to facilitate transfer to USFS vehicles at the remote ranger station for the drive up to, and move into, the fire lookout tower.

The big additions to my storage space situation in my 4-Runner are two large Pelican cases (the black boxes) and two big YOOSHURE waterproof bags (yellow). The Pelican cases are locked and chained to multiple points in the vehicle (no more carrying camera gear into hotel rooms for nightly stops!). The waterproof bags can be shifted to the roof rack for the trip home in September/October, if necessary.

No trailer-hitch basket this year either, and nothing on the roof rack. I hate parasitic drag!

I have done this so many times now that the packing and loading process should be easy. Right? Wrong .. it gets harder every year.

Bo Zarts
Saturday 6/20/2026

[LoisB]

1. Have a safe drive. I look forward to photographs from there.

[gademocrat7]

2. Safe travels, Bo Zarts

Take care.

[ornotna]

3. Good luck

Hope to see some new photos from this year.
Safe travels.

[SheltieLover]

4. Be safe out there, Bo

[Emile]

5. Have a safe trip. If your eyes get tired,

pull over onto the get on ramp, and close your eyes for 15 to 20 minutes. Old truck driver trick. You'll feel refreshed, and wide awake.

[Jilly_in_VA]

6. Say hi to my brother as you pass!

He lives in the Bitterroot Valley in Montana. My grandson was asking me about doing this recently. He's 23 and still hasn't decided on a career path but knows he doesn't want to be indoors all day. He's pretty cool with his own company but I'm not sure he'd like this sort of thing. We've talked to him about becoming a park ranger or the like and I think he'd be happy doing that.

[WhiteTara]

7. Stay safe and bring back lots of new pictures!

[mike_c]

8. safe travels and sublime light!

[alwaysinasnit]

9. Happy trails to you and may you have a safe journey.

[MiHale]

10. Happy travel trails to you...stay safe...

Looking forward to your photos.

[Kid Berwyn]

11. Don't forget yer camera.

I know it’s Navy livery…



Happy landings, DT!

[BumRushDaShow]

12. Happy driving

and YOU KNOW we can't wait to see your amazing pics!!!!!

[Pucks mom]

13. Safe Travels!

Looking forward to this season's images!

[2naSalit]

14. Have a safe and pleasant jouney!

Looking forward to beautiful views with your check-ins!

[popsdenver]

15. Question

Who pays your salary? Feds or State.......

[CaliforniaPeggy]

16. Safe and happy travels, my dear Bo! We all look forward to hearing your stories . . .

and of course, seeing your photos!

[blogslug]

17. Safe travels to you!

May your time there be uneventful and good.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

18. Safe travels Bo!

Can't wait to see the pics!

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Good Luck!

And, have a safe trip.

[surfered]

20. My father's dream job.

[SergeStorms]

21. Enjoy the ride.

Be careful out there.

[orleans]

22. wishing you much love and luck in your travels. stay safe in your journey

and your job.
we all look forward to your wonderful photographs and hearing your updates.

[FakeNoose]

23. Stay safe! And thank you for your service

[judesedit]

24. Good Luck, Bo Zarts. Enjoy.

Send us lots of good pics and thanks for looking out for the Idaho Panhandle forests.

[Botany]

25. Your friend in Idaho can't wait to see you.

Btw from Kearney, Nebraska you can follow the rise in the land to the Yellowstone/Grand Teton region.

[Bo Zarts]

26. Well, I know that they are there!

This one came up for a visit in August 2024:

[Botany]

46. Years ago I was camping in Kentucky and a bear came into the camp site and my friend woke me

…. as we were in our tent and he asked me what we should do and I said we should do nothing and
Mr or Ms Bear can do whatever he/she wants to do. It hung around for 20 to 30 minutes and then
moved on.

Did you take that picture through your window? Great image. You can see how smart they are
from that picture.

[Joinfortmill]

27. Stay safe and thank you!

[Maru Kitteh]

28. It's been a cool/wet year up in NW Montana

Hopefully you will have a quiet year. ☺️

[ultralite001]

29. Safe travels...

Looking forward to hearing from you, BZ...

[PittBlue]

30. May the Force be with you.

Thank you for the work that you do.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

31. Thank you for your service.

I hope the gas prices dont bite to hard. Be safe and take pics.

[greatauntoftriplets]

32. Have a safe trip!

Looking forward to your great photos.

[blm]

33. Happy Trails to you, old buddy.

[canetoad]

34. Stay safe

And I hope you're not troubled by many fires.

[Tree Lady]

35. Are you able to drive there

Or do they helicopter you in? Not sure how remote you are.

How far from Sandpoint? I have family in Coeur d Alene and we lived in mountains in WA for 10 yrs so traveled that area a bit.

Have a safe summer, we didn’t get hardly any snow on west coast so predicting bad fire year.

Looking forward to your pics. Enjoy the views!

[Bo Zarts]

36. Yes, I can drive right up to the lookout steps.

I'm south-southeast of Coeur d'Alene, on the south side of the St. Joe River. Sandpoint is farther up towards Canada. But we do have a staffed fire lookout near Sand Point.

In this photo you can see how close I can drive my rig to the lookout. It's not the best road in the world, but at my age it beats hiking in.

[niyad]

37. Safe travels, my friend. Please take good care of yourself.

Last edited Sun Jun 21, 2026, 01:08 PM - Edit history (1)

[c-rational]

38. Safe travels.

[zanana1]

39. Thank you for doing this.

[kentuck]

40. You can take some more great photos...

...when you get there.

[democrank]

41. Take good care, Bo Zarts

I’m looking forward to your beautiful photos.

[Maj. Dude]

42. Safe travels Sir.

My Wife and I were in Coeur d'Lane a few days ago. And took the road less traveled on our way back home in Western MT.
A whole lotta bugs at night and went through half of our 4Runners windshields washer bottle.

[HeartsCanHope]

43. Safe travels!

Looking forward to your photos!

[erronis]

44. Glad you left room to see your rear view. I don't trust cameras. Have you tried any of the "Blue Highways"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Highways

[JMCKUSICK]

45. Thanks for the update, your posts are a long my favorites.