AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Oregon-bound Chapter 1: Acquisition and Installation of the CVT
May 8, 2017.

The day is here, and it's a big one. It was over half a year ago that I decided I wanted a CVT, and in that time I'd purchased one and fabricated a bed rack that I hoped would work to hold it behind the cab of the truck.

Naturally I'd gotten a good deal on the CVT, and had spent 10x more fabricating the rack (buying tools, etc.) than if I'd just purchased a pre-fabricated one.

This day was also a big day because it was the start of a week-long camping trip where we'd meet up with Dad and Uncle J for a few days of camping in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and then split up - each camping our way back home… us to the north, and they to the south.

So we really hoped that everything went smoothly with the tent - because we needed it to.

We got packed up and ready to go on Sunday night, and we left at 2am Monday morning, so we could arrive at @Cascadia Tents by opening (9am). Turned out that we got there around 9:45 after stopping for gas and breakfast and of course snapped a couple photos to memorialize the trip.

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After playing tourist outside, we headed in and were greeted by Megan, who I'd traded several emails with as she'd generously held my tent in the warehouse for the last six months until we could make it down to Bend. Turns out it was a super busy morning for them (it was just her and Ty working the front of the house), but within half an hour or so, they got us setup around back so we had room to do the install, and gave us a few tips about how to open the tent and be as efficient as possible.

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So we emptied all of our gear out of the back of the truck, and then, we were off to the races.

Literally. Without knowing it.

You see, it turns out that a couple other folks had also arranged to pick up their tents the same morning, and CVT was doing an install on a T4R and trailer in the back of the shop. Curious about how we'd fare, they kept coming out to check on us, discretely.

In fact, I never noticed that they came out to check several times, but when we were done and were driving away, @mrs.turbodb said, "Did you see that they kept coming to check on us? I heard them talking and they were surprised that we finished so quickly - faster than them!" LOL

But, we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Tent install started by cutting open the box and laying it on the ground - a work surface.

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We unfolded the tent and pulled out all the bits, which included the installation hardware, all tools needed for the installation (wow, this was amazing, even though we didn't need them), the cover, the annex, the mattress, and of course, the installation instructions.

We immediately set the annex aside - we aren't ever planning to use it, and then installed the mounting rails along the bottom. That was pretty much all that was needed to get the tent ready for mounting, so 15 minutes later we were lifting the tent onto the bed rack.

It was the moment of truth. Would it fit? Would we have somewhere to sleep for the rest of the week?

Yes! We would.

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Tent on, we used the supplied brackets to secure it to the bed rack - inserting some rubber between the tent hardware and the bed rack in order to reduce vibration as well as rubbing/paint removal, and then, we installed the cover by inserting it into the aluminum channel on the driver side of the tent. It was a tight fit, but I considered that good!

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Cover installed, it was the (next) moment of truth. Time to open the tent and get it setup for the first time. Of course, unfolding it for the first time was super exciting (isn't that what we all love about our RTTs?) and as I inserted the polls that hold up the various awnings, I just kept thinking - this is going to be awesome.

This was also the point at which we drilled a couple holes in the ladder to lock it into place when extended, thereby supporting the overhanging side of the tent. Again - we were well prepared (I'd brought a drill and set of bits) and everything went off without a hitch.

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At this point, we knew we were home free - everything was going to work out - and so I went inside to find Ty. He'd mentioned wanting to give us a few tips once we got setup, and when he saw me walk in to say we were ready for the tips, he mentioned that our hour-long install was one of the quickest he'd seen. Cool.

As he wrapped up with a couple customers, he came out and showed us a few tricks with the tent. I'm sure I don't remember all of them, but the ones I do remember are:

• Don’t use the plastic clips to "cinch down" the tent as you're closing it. Doing so can pull out the rivets. Instead, compress the tent manually, then connect the clips.
• When keeping sleeping stuff bags, pillows, etc. in the tent, move them towards the middle of the tent (in all directions) before you fold it up. It'll close up easiest that way.
• Store the "awning poles" in the fold of the tent, just before you put the cover on. They wont interfere with any of the tent material, and they are easily accessible whenever you remove the cover and before you unfold the tent.
• When zipping the cover, "fold the corners up" to expose the zipper on the top part of the cover. It's easier to zip that way.

And then, we were done. The tent was put away, and we packed our stuff back into the bed. It was noon, and we were ready to head out on our first RTT adventure - a week in the back country of Oregon.

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Oh, and it looks pretty cool too. That shouldn't really count, but c'mon, everyone loves for their truck to look cool.

... Chapter 2 coming soon ...​

 

Beautiful, love it!

Any reason for going CVT over Tepui?

 

Thanks! Glad you like it, lots of fun to do it, and to get it written down!

I think both CVT and Tepui are probably pretty great brands. CVT is (relatively) local to me in the Seattle area, and I liked the idea of supporting a PNW business. I also got a pretty great deal on the tent (in their 20% moving sale), which pushed it over the top for me. At any rate, I couldn't be happier.

 

Great build! I'm going to be taking a close look at your rack design. It sure is fun making stuff for your truck even if it does take 3x time and cost. Subd

 

Serious envy over your collection of toys, and a wife cool enough to go along with it.

Side note: I actually bought my truck in Bend, OR. Being my first truck, I had no idea about RTTs and the like. I could have avoided shipping costs (living in HI now, and being from the east coast). Looks like I'll have to figure out a way to make a fun road trip when I get back on the mainland.

Fantastic build thread! Look forward to your next update.

 

Thanks! Totally agree on making stuff yourself. So rewarding.

hahaha, I hear you on the wife cool enough to go along with it - I'm super lucky that @mrs.turbodb likes to get outdoors - there's been much more camping since she entered the picture (compared to my first attempt). A nice benefit that I didn't realize when we got together.

Bummer on the Bend thing. Now three weeks after getting the tent, I'm wishing I got the anti-condensation mat. So I've got to figure out if I want to pay outrageous shipping or get it on my next trip south.

 

Oregon-bound Chapter 2: Exploring Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
May 8-10, 2017.

(read Chapter 1: Acquisition and Installation of the CVT)

Day 1: Monday, May 8.

Acquisition and installation of the CVT successful, we were off for a week of desert and back country exploration - so awesome. The first few days would be exploring the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge area with Dad and uncle, followed by four days on the Oregon and Washington Backcountry Discovery Route (OBDR and WABDR) to get from central Oregon back to I-90 around Cle Elum and then ultimately back to the Seattle area.

A couple hours driving from Bend to Hines/Burns and we met up with the rest of the gang. My uncle’s got a Sportsmobile that's pretty nicely appropriated - high clearance 4WD, custom bumpers, a kitchen and fridge inside, and with the roof popped up, two sleeping levels. At 8000 lbs loaded up, it's a beast. Perfect for two guys who are retired and like to explore the outback. In style.

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The shenanigans started as soon as we showed up.

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Being close to 3pm when we met up, the first order of business was to eat lunch. See, my Dad and Uncle go a little slower now that they aren't in any rush to get back to work - I mean, for them it's basically living "vacation to vacation" as I like to call it. So, it's breakfast at 10:00am, break camp around noon, and of course that means lunch around 3:00pm.

And lunch was good. Fresh sandwiches with all the fixings. All pulled out of the Sportsmobile fridge. We were jealous!

After lunch we did a bit of looking over of the truck - talked through a few of the mods since I'd last seen Pops, and then talked about our plan of attack for the rest of the day. Our ultimate destination was Crystal Crane hot springs, where we'd spend our only night with anyone in eyesight for the next week.

It was probably one night too many, but the hot springs were calling.

So we were off. My Dad and Uncle are both big birders, so we set out from Hines for something like 1000 ft. - at which point they pulled over. Next to a sewage treatment pond, where we stumbled upon a dead (bloated) skunk. Which we were sure was a skunk, even though it looked like a beaver.

Here, we birded; Hines still in the near background.

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The way this works, apparently, is that you get in your vehicle and drive - for no more than a few hundred feet - before hopping out with all sorts of binoculars, scopes, and apps that track the plethora of bird species you're hoping to see.

And we saw lots. It was a way of experiencing nature that @mrs.turbodb and I aren't generally accustomed to, and I think we both generally enjoyed it. We definitely saw lots of birds we'd never seen before, and we got some amazing views through the scope and with my new Canon 80D - like this soldier looking red-winged blackbird.

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Eventually, by 5:00pm, we'd made it about a mile down the road. Maybe. I could tell that my Dad and Uncle felt rushed.

But, they were ready for some soaking in the hot springs, and having been up since 2:00am, we were ready for some sleep, so we high-tailed it out of the sewage treatment plant area, and the 40 or so miles to Crystal Crane hot springs, where we got a camp site, and proceeded to setup the CVT for actual sleeping for the very first time.

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Happy with the setup, and ready for a soak, we headed to the well maintained hot spring where we soaked and chatted in the 104 - 107 degree water for about an hour, until the sun was setting and we were ready for dinner.

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Dinner was simple on this first night. Knowing how tired we'd be, we'd stopped at Jimmy John's and picked up some sandwiches - we chowed them down and hit the sack after a bit more catching up - before our travelling companions even had time to make their own gourmet dinner.

Of course, there was time enough to snap a photo of the truck and CVT just before we headed in to try it out!

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Day 2: Tuesday, May 9.

We awoke to a beautiful morning the next day. The CVT worked splendidly - the foam mattress was comfortable, and we stayed plenty warm in our sleeping bag (and extra comforter). The only issue we ran into was a bit of condensation between the mattress and floor of the tent - something we’re used to in any camping situation - so we’re likely to pick up an anti-condensation mat in the future.

We got up, took a walk around the “camp area” and of course, contemplated the birding situation. There were tons of more common birds around, so Pops wandered off for a while to find something a bit different. I don’t know if he did, and that’s fine with me.

Then, it was time for breakfast. Normally, it’s cereal for us when we head out camping - easy and tasty. But we knew the bar would be raised on this trip (what with the full kitchen in the Sportsmobile), so we’d planned eggs, chorizo, toast, and strawberries for our first three days. We fired up the stove and got to eating. We’d even brought butter for our toast.

The chorizo was a disaster. This stuff was like some sort of pulverized paste, and it never really formed a patty in the pan. We had the great idea to mix it with our scrambled eggs, and of course ruined our eggs as well.

My guess is that you’re actually supposed to mix it with some other type of ground meat, that provides structure and binding. In the end, we threw away the rest of what we’d bought.

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After breakfast, and coming up on noon, we packed up and headed out with two destinations in mind: Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters (for lunch and some birding) and a “remote hot spring” where we’d stay the night (hopefully with no other people). Our only stop was for gas, where after pumping my own fuel (in Oregon) the store joked "You're hired!"

Malheur was interesting because of the plethora of birds, and due to the stand-off that happened in 2016 (and we happened by on the day they re-opened). From Wikipedia:

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located roughly 30 miles (48 km) south of the city of Burns in Oregon's Harney Basin. Administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the refuge area is roughly T-shaped with the southernmost base at Frenchglen, the northeast section at Malheur Lake and the northwest section at Harney Lake.

The refuge was created in 1908 by order of President Theodore Roosevelt to protect habitat for diverse waterfowl and migratory birds, and grew to encompass 187,757 acres (760 km2; 293 sq mi) of public lands. A popular site for birding, fishing, hunting and hiking, the refuge gained widespread attention in early 2016 after its headquarters complex was occupied by armed anti-government protesters.

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From January 2 to February 11, 2016, the refuge's headquarters was seized by armed protesters related to the 2014 Bundy standoff. For most of the occupation, law enforcement allowed the occupiers to come and go at will. At the conclusion, most of the leaders were arrested, and one was killed while traveling away from the refuge when the group he was leading attempting to evade a police road block. The remaining occupiers either departed or surrendered peacefully.​

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On our way to Malheur Headquarters, where my Dad and Uncle were planning to do a bunch of birding, we stopped several times… to do some birding. As if there was some risk of not getting enough.

We naturally humored them over the radio with all the birds we were looking at. They included a Flyus Byus, a Flewus Pastus, and of course the extremely rare Flapus Aroundus. Other small wildlife was around as well.

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Mere hours later, we wrapped up lunch and headed out to find the hot springs - which led us onto our first real backroads of the trip.

Conveniently for the birders, it also took us by a large Golden Eagle nest. But what caught my eye on that stop was an old rusty truck, with the most amazing leaf springs you’ve ever seen.

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After checking out the truck and the Golden Eagle nest for a bit, we headed off again in search of our camp site for the evening, driving on and passing by what appeared at the time to be amazing amounts of salt from the years of evaporation in the desert landscape.

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We reached the hot spring and camp around 5pm - and spent the next hour or so looking for a good place to take a soak. Unfortunately, the pools previously excavated by soakers had long since filled in with mud and been abandoned, so while my Uncle tried to shore a promising one up, @mrs.turbodb and I hiked up a hill just to the east that overlooked our campsite and Harney Lake. By the time we got to the top, it was clear that Pops and my Uncle were back to relaxing in the shade, and looking for - you guessed it - more birds (or something) with their binos.

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We made our way back down as Pops prepped dinner (for us!) He’d pre-prepared one of our favorites - chicken marsala - and by the time we’d returned and relaxed with our books for a few minutes, the sun was setting, and he’d gotten everything ready to go.

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Naturally, it was terrible - so I volunteered to eat everything so no one else had to suffer.

Unfortunately for me, everyone decided to suffer. As we ate dinner, we watched the sun set and talked about the highlights of the day and the plan for the next one. And of course, it being day two of the CVT, I took a few pictures.

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That left only one question - who wanted to soak in the hot spring?

Three of us were sure of our answer: “No way!” Eight inches of water and 18 inches of mud wasn’t our cup of tea.

In the end, after telling us that “People pay good money for mud baths,” my Uncle refrained as well - it was a bummer that the spring didn’t work out, but we’d had fun finding it nonetheless.

Day 3: Wednesday, May 10.

We awoke, once again, after we'd normally arrive at work and to and amazing view of the steaming hot spring. Naturally, that played into our decision to hang out in the tent reading for another hour.

Of course, this was all well before Dad and my Uncle awoke.

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By noon, we were on our way to our next adventure - the plan for the day was to (once again) check out the local bird population on the way to our next waypoint - Diamond Craters - where we'd do some exploring of the volcanic remains, and then find a place to hang out for the night.

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We travelled the first several miles together, and then my Dad and Uncle headed off to Malheur HQ while we headed south on once the most well maintained gravel roads we'd driven. Twenty miles in, we passed a bridge over the Donner and Blitzen River where we decided to stop for a quick snack and some pictures.

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On exiting the truck, I heard it immediately. Hissssssssssss, coming from the rear driver tire.

Seriously? On this nicely maintained, washboard-free gravel road?

It turned out, yes. Seriously.

The puncture had happened relatively recently, as the tire was still nearly at full pressure, so we took a look at the GPS and determined that we were another fifteen miles or so from our rendezvous point on the way to Diamond Craters. So, we made the decision to get to the junction where we were going to meet up, and then fix the flat there (or swap in the spare). Half an hour later we arrived, and pulled off onto a shoulder where Dad and my Uncle would see when they passed by.

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Happy that I'd recently installed the ARB compressor so I'd be able to refill the tire after the repair, I first re-inflated the tire to help lift the back of the truck a bit (with all the extra weight back there) and then used the OEM bottlejack on some rocks, to (just barely) lift the back tire off the ground.

It was about this time that I was cursing myself for leaving the hi-lift at home. Way to go bud.

But that wasn't all. I had a tire plug repair tool and kit, but I'd forgotten to grab the rubber cement. It's optional, but I always like to use it, since it "melts" the plug and tire together, making for a better repair.

So, with the truck jacked up, and the wheel removed, I was just about to push in the plug when Pops and my Uncle rolled up in the Sportsmobile. To say they were surprised would be an understatement - surprised that I got a flat on such a nice road; surprised that it was nearly taken care of before they even showed up.

And, my Uncle rustled around in his toolbox and found a tube of rubber cement. Nice!

A few minutes later, the repair was complete and I was reinstalling and re-inflating the tire. And everyone else was sitting down for lunch. Right on time, it was 3pm!

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After wrapping up lunch and downing a bit of chocolate, we mounted up and continued on to Diamond Craters, where our next adventure and some great camping awaited. Near the entrance, we pulled over near the info station to learn a bit about the history of Diamond Craters. It turns out this is one of the younger volcanic fields, at only ~7000 years old, and there are places in the 27-square-mile area where there are still no plants growing, due to the lack of any nutrients, and the quick-draining nature of the volcanic landscape.

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We explored around the entrance (called Big Bomb Crater) for a while, looking for some of the "bombs" - rocks that ranged from the size of marbles to softballs that when broken open were glassy inside - pretty cool.

Then, it was off to Red Bomb Crater, a dome that pushed up and then ultimately collapsed, leaving an enormous hole (similar to Coffee Pot crater we saw last year in Oregon's Owyhee Canyonlands).

Standing on the edge of the crater, the crew did what any good set of goofballs would do - they posed for the camera.

And then, so did a lizard.

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Back in the vehicles, we continued on. But not for long - as we rounded the corner, we saw a van on a ridge in the distance.

"That van sure looks like it's in trouble," I mentioned to @mrs.turbodb. "Maybe we'll have to rescue it."

Within a minute, as we pulled up to the next vista, we were flagged down by a group of about 20 college-aged students who asked if we were in a position to help them recover one of their vans.

We said we'd be happy to take a look, and headed out to assess the situation.

Turns out, the driver was a geology professor out with a group of Oregon State kids, checking out the volcanic geology of the area. He'd already called some contacts he had in Burns to help him get back on the road, so we decided to hang out with him while he waited, chatting about the landscape.

It was a highlight of the day all around, I think. We loved the knowledge, and he loved the fact that we could so quickly apply the info he shared about the geology of the area - comparing to other places we've explored across the western states.

Of course with my Uncle there, there was the token "uncomfortable" conversation as well - about how the prof got into the precarious situation he was in.

"Next time you feel your traction going, you want to stop about here," my Uncle said, pointing about 30% along the way of the 10' long tire skid marks.

"I stopped pretty quickly," said the professor. "There was momentum involved, but I got on the brakes quickly."

"Not that quickly," said my Uncle. "As soon as you notice something going wrong, stop. Evaluate. Then you'll usually be able to get yourself out."

That was some good advice of course, but awkward advice to give on the spot, when the vehicle is perched precariously on a ridge.

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After a while, help showed up and we moved on - all happy for the 45 minute conversation we had, and glad that everything was going to end up OK for an obviously nice guy. We checked out a few other craters, including one with a natural spring, which keeps 6' of water in the crater at all times - the Malheur Maar.

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Of course at each of them we took a little break. We didn't want to move too fast with the old guys tagging along.

They took the opportunity to bird.

I took the opportunity to scout out a promising looking camp site on the map. Somewhere isolated. With a view.

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Moving on from the Maar we headed off on a two-track that was obviously less travelled than anything we’d been on so far. And that of course was great from our perspective.

This time, instead of my Dad and Uncle leading, we took the lead in the Tacoma. Almost immediately, we spotted a group of four antelope and radioed back that we were stopping to take some pics.

“Always stopping,” we heard over the radio, from the guys who travelled at essentially feet-per-hour birding.

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Of course, as soon as the antelope saw us, they took off bouncing. I chased for a bit over the nearest rise.

Apparently though, I’m slower than an antelope. (Even though my daughter thinks I’m faster than a Cheetah.)

So, it was back in the vehicles an on our way. The track was relatively nice except for the fact that about one million ground squirrels had burrowed tunnels on alternating sides of the track seemingly every 30 feet or so. The dirt from these tunnels created mounds in the tracks about 8 inches high and a foot or so wide. Even aired down, this really meant that speeds over about 10 mph were uncomfortable, so we puttered along rather slowly.

Or like race car drivers if you ask Dad and my Uncle. They averaged about three miles an hour.

Which for them is race-car-driver speed (if you ask me, after following them the last couple days birding).

Regardless, after some time we found ourselves leaving the moonscape of the lava beds and entering a bluff-like area that overlooked a small Juniper forest and a sprawling valley.

This was our next night’s camp spot.

We radioed back to tell the guys, and then started setting up camp. Right in the middle of the road. It was clear that no one had driven the road in months, so we weren’t worried in the least.

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We were all setup when my Dad and Uncle pulled up and I guided them to a spot alongside the Tacoma.

“Do you always drive that fast?” said my Uncle.

“Umm, you consider that fast?” I thought (but instead I just smiled).

From there, we prepped and consumed a delicious dinner of skirt steak, mashed potatoes, and asparagus while we enjoyed an amazing show of "cloud fireworks" in the sky - both before and as the sun set.

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It was during this time that we started discussing the next day. Of course, there would be no huge rush to get up - that was abundantly clear, but it was also becoming clear that it was getting time for us to part ways - so we could start heading back to the Puget Sound, and so the old fogies could try to remember their way back to California and the Bay Area.

In the end, we decided to make no decisions and delay them till morning. We headed out of the Sportsmobile and used the spotting scope to peer at the moon and more amazingly Jupiter - where we could see the red spot and four of its moons. Wow.

And with that, we climbed into our sleeping bags and fell asleep.

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Day 4: Thursday, May 11.

We awoke early (er than normal) the next morning. Or at least, I did. On our way to our resting spot for the night, we'd passed a couple more volcanic areas, and I was anxious to do some exploring.

About a quarter mile from camp, @mrs.turbodb realized I wasn't just going to the bathroom and coming back to bed, and so she jumped up and hustled her way down the road.

I started running. And looking back over my shoulder. And running.

She wasn't amused.

I stopped.

We spent a couple hours exploring the volcanic activity near the North Crater of Diamond Craters. As with the other locations, these were interesting to say the least, and given their remote location were significantly less disturbed than those we'd seen the day before.

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Some of the domes were especially amazing. You could see where lava had literally pushed up through the earth and cracked on the top, like a nice loaf of bread baking in the oven.

Except, not as tasty.

And, probably more deadly.

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After a couple hours, we headed back and ate breakfast - steak, eggs, toast and strawberries. We were living the tough life. Looking back, I still don't understand how we weren't all just itching to get back to civilization.

Around 9:30 we started packing up camp. Over breakfast we'd decided it was actually time to part ways. We'd go north and east, and we reminded Pops and my Uncle that California was south and west.

It was hugs and "great time, let's do it again" all around, and then into the vehicles to make the trek back the way we'd come.

Within minutes of starting back we lost sight of each other. Cruising at no more than 10 mph, we knew - they were cruising at "birder speed."

As we passed through the fields, we took one last look at Steens Mountain. It'd become a fixture for us over the last few days, always to our south west. @mrs.turbodb had identified it for us at least 20 times over the radio, and we probably only had her spell it half that many.

We'd be sad to see it go, but we knew that adventure awaited on the OBDR. We just didn't know the extent of the adventure…

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... stay tuned for chapter 3 ...

 

Great travel journal

 

Oregon-bound Chapter 3: Mission Impossible: Oregon's Backcountry Discovery Route
May 11-15, 2017.

(read Chapter 1: Acquisition and Installation of the CVT, Chapter 2: Exploring Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge)

Day 1: Thursday, May 11.

Parting ways with Pops and my Uncle, our plan was to run the OBDR from Seneca, OR to Walla Walla, WA, and then the WABDR from the border up to Cle Elum - approximately 1000 miles of remote back roads in four days.

We knew it'd be a lot of driving, but we've driven a lot for other trips. We were sure we could do it - it's not like we'd be going 10 mph the whole time.

At least we were right about one thing. We definitely weren't going 10 mph the whole time. But now we're getting ahead of ourselves.

From Diamond Craters, we headed back to Burns where we stocked up on food and ice for the rest of the trip. We also stopped in at the ranger station to ask about snow pack and overall road conditions through the Malheur and Umatilla National Forests - where we'd be traveling on Forest Service roads for much of the trip. The rangers weren't sure, but they called a station to the north and the consensus was that we might encounter a snow drift or two at some of the higher elevations.

"Sounds like a fun trip," they said.

Boy, were they right. For all the wrong reasons.

We headed up to Seneca, and joined the OBDR on FS-16 - ready for an adventure. The GPS was on, maps ready.

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We cruised along for 18 minutes, getting a feel for the GPS track and enjoying the back roads.

And then… our first tree. And it was a big one. Too big for my 10" Japanese pull saw.

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We stopped and got out to evaluate.

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The main trunk was probably 12 to 14 inches in diameter, and there was a bunch of other debris on the road as well. The debris we could move, but without a chainsaw, were we going to be stuck looking for an alternate route, just 18 minutes into our trip?

No. No we weren’t. I had an idea.

Now, before I share the idea, I will warn you - it's not some groundbreaking idea. But I'd never had to do it before. Which looking back now is sort of shocking…

…so the idea: grab a tow strap, tree saver, and shackles, and pull the tree out of the way - at least enough to get by and keep going - we wanted to make it 60 or so miles to Unity (at least) before setting up camp for the night.

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With the largest section of the tree moved, and @mrs.turbodb having taken out some of her frustration on the debris (you can see her kicking it out of the way above), we continued on, proud of ourselves for overcoming such an obstacle.

The thought never crossed our mind that we'd run into another downed tree.

I mean, it's not like we were doing this early in the season. Or that it had been the snowiest, rainiest winter and spring on record.

Of course, it should have dawned us when we hit that first tree - we were the first this year. And there had been lots of water. Both are facts that would become patently obvious to us in the coming days.

After another 15 minutes of driving, we decided it was time to air down. We should have done this first thing, but we were anxious to make good time. No one else around except the four elk that ran across the road in front of us, we stopped on the edge of their beautiful green meadow to let the air out of the tires.

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Down to 18 psi, and man did the ride get better. It's like the best suspension upgrade you could ask for. We were immediately thankful for the new ARB compressor, again.

We continued on, making good time until we got to a fork in the GPS tracks. To the right, the OBDR continued. To the left, an offshoot to Frazier Point Fire Lookout.

We initially continued on the OBDR, but then decided that a fire lookout was probably worth it, so we backed up and headed to the left.

Where we nearly immediately ran into another downed tree. Hot off our last success, we hooked up the straps again and pulled it out of the way.

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We continued on. Gaining elevation. Then, the snow started to appear. Not in the air, but on the ground. Small patches on the side of the road. Then, drifts on the road.

The first few drifts were easy to drive around, and then we got to one that covered most of the road. There was enough room to fit the driver side tires to be "mostly on road," but that was it - the passenger side would be in a foot of slushy, wet snow.

So I put it in low 4WD and locked the rear differential to try to maintain as much traction as possible.

It wasn't enough. We started sliding off the road. Down the side of the mountain.

I immediately got off the gas and exited the truck to evaluate the situation.

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I'd gotten off the gas quickly enough that we hadn't slipped far. The small tree we were passing was inches from the slider. But there was no way forward, and no way backward, without making the situation worse.

At least, not using engine power.

So we broke out the tree saver again and unspooled the winch. We figured that we could slowly pull ourselves back up onto the road, and then re-evaluate the situation.

The self-recovery successful, we looked up the road to see larger and deeper drifts, and decided that Frazier Point Lookout wasn't in our future - it was back to the OBDR for us!

​

We continued on for another 45 minutes until we came upon the only other vehicle we'd see all trip - of course, another Tacoma (a 3rd Gen, Quicksand). They were stopped (to camp) on the bank of the Malheur River.

And it turned out that the OBDR continued on - through the river. A ford as it were. From "100 Hikes / Travel Guide: Eastern Oregon":

Malheur Ford really does have a ford - a frightening 50-foot crossing where high-clearance rigs sometimes plow across the river to continue on Road 1651. Fortunately, there's no need to try it because the trail starts on the near side.

The problem was, we needed to continue on. We were one afternoon, and less than 20 miles into our 1000-mile journey.

We exited the truck to evaluate the situation. And the mosquitoes attacked. We got back in the truck.

I decided that I'd wade across the river (which looked too deep and too fast for us to make it) to see if there was any chance that we could continue on. I strapped on the tree saver and hooked on the winch line - I'd hook those to a boulder on the other side "just in case" we started getting swept down the river.

As I waded across in just by boxer briefs, the water was "balls deep." It was cold. And it was fast.

@mrs.turbodb was visibly concerned.

I reached the other side just as the winch line ran out. I hooked the strap around the boulder and waded back. We jumped in the truck to discuss the situation. There were three problems as I saw it:

1. The water was deep - about 36 inches. That's right about at the top of the wheel well of the truck, pretty close to the air intake.

2. The water was moving fast - really fast. I'd had to use a pole (dead tree) to keep my balance as I'd waded across.

3. The winch was at its max extension and would be under water the entire crossing.

The decision was simple, but we didn't make it immediately. We discussed. And then @mrs.turbodb asked, "What's the worst that could happen."

"We could lose the truck," I said.

And with that, the decision was made. I would be wading across the river two more times to retrieve the winch line, but we'd be finding a way around the Malheur Ford - and that would ultimately mean going "back out" to a short strip of pavement.

But only after we tried another backroad around the ford, which resulted in yet another ford through Lake Creek, which was only 15 feet across, but waist+ deep - a non-starter.

And through all of this - no pictures. Such is the reality of high adrenaline situations. I can tell you one thing though - Malheur Ford did not look like this, though we wish that it did.

​

So we spooled the rope back onto the winch, and headed around. Back on the OBDR after about an hour, we considered driving to the other side of the Malheur Ford to wave to the guys in the other Tacoma, but decided to keep moving, except for a few photos as we re-entered and of sunset - it was nearly 8:00pm.

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(above: note the interesting "change in exposure" in the middle of the panorama taken by my phone)

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With the sun set and light quickly fading, we looked for a spot to camp as we drove up National Forest Development Road 1450.

Instead, we found trees over the road.

No stranger to trees at this point (we'd cleared six so far), we cleared two more to get to a nice little flat spot between the road and a creek.

There, we levelled the truck, setup camp, and @mrs.turbodb got started on dinner (steak tacos) and I built a fire in the road - using limbs from the next downed tree that we camped next to, and hadn't cleared yet.

The tacos hit the spot; we warmed ourselves by the fire; and then we climbed into bed, exhausted.

We'd made it 17 miles. Not quite the 60+ miles we'd planned or the 250 we needed if we were to make it home in four days. Hopefully we'd be able to make it up tomorrow.

- - -
stats for day 1
- - -

Trees cleared: 8
Elk seen: 8
Rivers not forded: 2
Antelope: 1
Deer: 12
Moles: 1​

Day 2: Friday, May 12.

I woke up early the next morning to see that we couldn't have done much better with camp. Having stopped just after clearing two trees, and before a third, I figured that any trees I could clear before @mrs.turbodb got up would get us going that much quicker and we'd make it that much farther - right?

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​

By 7:15am, I'd cleared six trees on the next mile of road; I didn't see any more as I looked up around the next two bends, so headed back to camp for breakfast, just as @mrs.turbodb was getting up.

With six trees in the first mile, I should have realized that we were in for a long day. Instead, we enjoyed our breakfast and started packing up camp - ready to make great time!

Just as we finished zipping up the tent and putting the cooler back in the bed, it started to snow. No problem for us - we were off, and ready to travel a couple hundred miles - maybe even into Washington today!

After about a mile and a quarter, we hit tree number seven. It was reasonably sized, so I cut off a few branches, the top (it was a 4-way split top in this case) and then dragged it out of the way with the truck (now, a completely natural thing to do).

​

We continued on. For several hundred feet. And then, we ran into a tree that was going to be a problem. It was 2 feet in diameter at the base, and was wedged between two trunks on one side of the road, and several trees and rocks on the other. Since it hadn’t split when it fell, that mean that I couldn't drag it with the truck.

We discussed.

​

We decided that the best bet was to walk a bit further up the road to further assess the situation. If this was the last tree for a while, it'd be worth figuring out a way to move it.

Around the next bend…

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​

We discussed some more. We looked at the GPS. We found an alternate route.

@mrs.turbodb figured that clearing the trees would take about three hours - getting us another mile (for a total of three) by lunch time. So, we decided to try the alternate route.

Soon, we wondered if we'd made the right decision.

​

​

We cleared tree after tree. They were all smaller and movable (either by hand or truck) except for one. But it was laying on the ground, so we cleared branches and built a makeshift ramp (rocks and fence posts) up and over.

​

Finally, around noon, we completed the 3-mile long alternate route back to the main road. That's right - exactly where @mrs.turbodb had predicted we'd be (at noon) if we'd cleared the trees on the main route.

We were so winning. If by winning, one means going even slower than the previous day.

And it was getting on lunch time - so after clearing one more tree (by climbing it to cut the top off and make enough room on one side of the road), we found a little spot to pull over and enjoy some sandwiches and chips!

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​

It was during lunch that our goals for the trip changed.

The new goal: Cut the trip short by 940 miles and try to get to Unity by Saturday.

Boy, were we still setting our sights high.

The day had been a mix of sun breaks and snow/hail, and we finished up lunch (in the sun) just as it started hailing hard enough that the hail stuck on the ground. We travelled another hour or so (on three roads) - passing a beautiful little spring named "Alder Spring" - before hitting the next downed tree.

It was at this point that I could tell @mrs.turbodb was kind of done. We'd cleared 24 trees since waking up, and that wasn't really her idea of a great time. I didn't mind so much - I mean, you're either driving or you're clearing trees - and either way, you're out in the wild - but I was starting to get worried about fuel. I knew that we had plenty to get back to civilization now, but if we got nearly to Unity and then hit an impass, I wasn't sure if we'd have enough to back-track the entire way (even with four extra gallons in the RotoPax).

Without clearing the tree, we decided to drive out and head in to Prairie City, 35 miles away - just to the north of a spring-green Prairie and Strawberry Mountain.

​

In Prairie City we filled up with gas, and decided that we'd give it one more shot - afterall, even though we were making slow progress, we didn't really have anywhere to be, and we were definitely making the route better for those who followed.

"I've got an idea," said @mrs.turbodb. "Let's head back a different way. We can take FS-13 (we took FS-16 into town) and join back up with FS-16 just before we hit the OBDR turn off."

So we did.

FS-13 was a hill climb. On the way up, we passed a National Forest sign proclaiming the awesomeness of the thinning operation that had taken place a few years earlier - from 5000 trees per acre to 180. Wow, that's a lot of thinning. When we got to the pass, we saw two things:

1. A huge pile of trees on a "logging platform" - which we assumed were from all of the thinning.

2. The end of the road. At least, the end of the plowing of the road. The pass down to FS-16 was snow covered and impassable.

Yep, that's how our luck was panning out on this trip.

We headed back down the way we came and finally - three hours after we'd tracked out - we were back at our 25th tree of the day. We cleared it easily and continued on.

Little did we know, it was to be our last tree. But, that didn't mean that we were home free. Far from it.

As the miles ticked away, we were increasingly excited. "Can you believe it?" I said, "30 minutes without a tree." As we traversed hillside after hillside, we finally came around to the east side of the range, and the blue sky opened up in front of us - clouds and snow captured to the west.

In the distance, Ironside Mountain, just south of Unity. We weren't likely to make it today, but maybe we'd still make it!

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​

And then, we started heading down. We hit a couple of rocky patches in the road and bumped the skids a couple times as we dropped down off of some of the larger rocks. Boy, was I glad to have those. And, we hit a couple of muddy patches, where it was nice to be aired down and in 4-low.

All the time, no trees!

And then I saw it, around the next corner. A river. A big river. The North Fork of the Malheur River.

We'd arrived here almost exactly 24 hours after I'd waded across our first river the day before. And it was immediately clear that there was no need to wade across this one. It was deeper, the water was faster.

We were stuck.

​

We looked at the map and GPS for a go-around.

Nothing.

And so, we decided to set up camp on the east side of the North Fork of the Malheur River (Crane Creek Camp?) and call it a night. We were pooped.

We setup the tent and got ready for dinner. Out of our gourmet meals for the trip, dinner was grilled hot dogs and corn - and to us, that was great. Gourmet even.

A huge camp fire rounded out the evening and we hit the sack as darkness fell, unsure of our plans for the next day, but definitely not expecting what was to come.

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- - -
stats for day 2
- - -

Trees cleared: 25
Trees cleared before 7am: 6
Elk seen: 4
Rivers not forded: 1​

Day 3: Saturday, May 13.


When we woke at 7:10am, it was cold. The clear blue skies of the day before had given way to clouds. Before getting up to eat our cereal, we decided that today we'd make our way out of the forest. With no good go-arounds to Unity, we were done with the OBDR - for this trip.

We'd head back out and then up to the Columbia River Gorge, where we planned to camp for the evening. But of course, we're getting ahead of ourselves again.

As we ate breakfast, it started snowing. That, along with the cold temps meant that the snow was sticking, and we started high-tailing the packing. By the time we were hopping in the truck, there was a good inch on the ground and heavy snowfall.

No wonder we didn't notice that @mrs.turbodb hadn't fully closed the tailgate.

​

As we drove up and out, snow depth increased - it'd been snowing here longer than at the river ford. We stopped to take pictures, we climbed up through the muddy sections, and we made it through the rocky areas without an issue.

And then, I noticed the tow strap hanging out the back.

"Is the tailgate open?" I asked.

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​

Later, when telling the story to co-workers, one of them would ask @mrs.turbodb, "Oh no, did he swear?" (because usually I'm pretty chill)

Oh yes, I swore.

You see, we'd driven a hairy couple of miles even without snow and ice. Fresh snow makes that a bit worse, and compacted snow turns the situation into an icy one.

We'd lost a lot of stuff out the back - a RotoPax, three buckets (firewood), a 5gal propane tank, our Weber grill, and the box we keep our shoes in at night. It was time to go back. Back to the very beginning, where 100 feet from camp, as we started the climb out, the first item had dropped off the back of the truck.

So yep, there was some swearing. And not a whole lot of talking for the next hour as we drove through the snow on our way back to Prairie City, where we'd bee-line it to Washington.

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As time passed though, the conversation started back up again and we started making plans for lunch and for camp that night. We decided to do lunch on the road - we had a bit of lunch meat, some grilled chicken, and our last avocado to eat, and so between snow and hail showers, we pulled over at an empty (except for the camp host) campground.

Since we'd put the tent away wet (in the snow) I decided that this break in the weather was a great time to dry it off, so I opened it up and got it airing out.

It dried in the sun for a good 7 or 8 minutes before it started to hail. Hard.

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@mrs.turbodb suggested that I sweep off the top of the tent once the hail stopped and the sun came back out, which I did. We let it dry for 15 minutes or so this time, when we saw another snow flurry coming. We packed it up again, still quite wet and decided that we'd just dry it out when we got to the Columbia River Gorge (now our next destination) since it was supposed to be 70 and sunny) and setup camp for the night.

The remaining drive out of Oregon was beautiful.

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The whole time we drove in and out of sun, snow, hail, and rain, until we hit The Dalles, where we crossed into Washington and started looking for a place to camp. Spotting a FS road into the mountains we headed up, where within a few miles we came across a herd of 50 Elk grazing in a clearcut.

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We continued on (up) as the sky darkened. Though the road we were on was paved, it was clear that it was lightly travelled. Lucky for us, the trees down on the road had been cleared just enough (by someone like us) to drive around them.

We hoped that would hold to our destination - Summit Camp - just 2½ miles further up the road at this point.

It held for one mile. Then a mile and a half.

It held till mile two, where the road was completely covered in snow about 18 inches deep.

It was at this point that we finally realized that we should just head home. It'd be another four hours of driving, and we'd have to air out the tent the next day, but at least we'd get to sleep in our cozy bed and take a shower (it'd been a full week at this point since our last shower) when we got up in the morning. And we'd get to go to Whidbey for Mother's Day.

So that's what we did.

We got home at 1am. It'd been a long day of driving, and a trip (really three - [chapter one][chapter two]) to remember. And we'd be back.

- - -
stats for day 3
- - -

Trees cleared: 0
Elk seen: 50
Attempts to dry tent: 3
Hours driving: 16-ish


​

 

Really enjoy your writings and the trip reports/photos! Just read through everything, subbed and looking forward to what's next!

 

How come I can't see any of your pictures? I am at work so maybe they are from Facebook???

 

Thanks, glad you're enjoying them - I've definitely enjoyed the adventures they came from, and can't wait for the next ones. Alas, this weekend is all rain in WA as far as I can tell.

Not sure. One other person mentioned that as well. They are stored in OneDrive.com, so maybe that is blocked for you? I'd love to know if you can access them on a phone (some non-firewalled device, just to get a sense of where the issue might be...

here's one of the URLs of one of the images - you could also try pasting this right into your browser to see what you get (for me, in Chrome, it tries to download the image):

https://o4ccfq.dm2301.livefilestore...-KNKAMe6w?width=1650&height=928&cropmode=none

 

Nope, just checked with my phone and I can not see anything on your thread. Link to that page doesn't work at my work at all and it want's me to download something (which I don't do) on my phone

 

I see what you're saying now on some of the "early" pages/posts in the thread - the images aren't loading for me either. Let me look into it a bit. Do the pics on this page load for you (page 4)? They are still loading for me...

 

Oh yes, I just checked and page 4 works on my phone but only on my phone not my work computer (I should be working anyways. Lol ). All other pages do not work at all

 

OK, went through and updated all the images on all the other pages.

Should be working now. Thanks for letting me know.

 

Awesome!

I love your write ups! Your very truthful about them. I had this problem or this set back. Not like a lot of others; I just installed this part - done.

Way to go sir! Nice build and very nice pictures

 

ARB Tire Inflator Gauge Old-Guy Mod
May 25, 2017.

I’m not getting any younger, that’s for sure.

It used to be that I could do all kinds of manual labor for 20 hours/day, wake up the next day, and do it all again. I’d hurt myself in some semi-major way and my body would heal itself quickly.

Now, I get a little cut somewhere and it takes a week to heal.

And if I work for 20 hours one day, I want to sleep for 20 hours the next.

With all that in mind, I quickly realized that I needed a better way to fill my tires with air than bending down (or kneeling) and holding an air chuck on each tire for 3 minutes while they air back up. And then testing with a tire gauge, and then filling up again…etc.

Don’t get me wrong - my ARB CKMA12 is one of the best things that’s ever happened from an “enjoyable off-road adventures” perspective - SO NICE to have those tires aired down.

So, I invested in an ARB tire inflator + gauge - you know, the one everyone has:

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I used it for one trip and it was OK. It solved one of my problems - I no longer needed to switch between my air chuck and tire gauge. But it didn’t solve my problem of having to bend/kneel and fill up each tire.

But, with a few parts and a simple mod, I was able to solve that problem too. Oh, and so have others. I think this was a guy named @Crom 's idea originally and not mine.

Essentially what you’re doing in this mod is you’re elongating the flexible hose from the gauge to the chuck, so you can attach the chuck to the tire and then stand up while it fills with air. To do that, you have to replace the hose, and put a connector on each end - one to connect it to the gauge, and one to connect it to the valve on the tire.

The parts you need are:

• The connector between the gauge and hose - Brass 1/8BSP Male Thread to 8mm Hose Barb, and a stainless steel hose clamp
• Some ¼” hose (I cut off 4 feet of my 25' ¼" flexzilla) and a ¼" MPT fitting for one end.
• Coilhose Pneumatics CH15A Open Lock-On Chuck, 1/4-Inch FPT

With all that in hand, the steps are simple:

1. Using a small crescent wrench, unscrew and then remove the stainless steel hose from the gauge (being careful to keep the rubber eye in tact.
2. Insert the 8mm OD Hose Barb 1/8BSP Brass fitting into the end of your ¼" hose (do NOT install the stainless steel hose clamp yet.
3. Thread the fitting through the rubber eye, wrap it with some Teflon tape and screw it into the gauge.
4. Attach the stainless steel hose clamp over the hose barb now.
5. On the other end of the ¼" hose, install MPT fitting and the lock-on chuck

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Now, air-ups are jelly. Pop the air chuck on, lean against the side of the truck, and know this - you might be old, but you're definitely more comfortable!

 

Dude your bed rack jig is goal status

 

Thanks! I was super glad that I built that - made it way easier to do everything off the truck. Plus, now I can build more racks more easily when I get requests!