Tundy, house and beetle build thread...and exploring.

Strawberry Hill, south of Thor's Well.

 

Ok, I knew it was either Washington or Oregon. The PNW is such an awesome place.

 

I've been meaning to post about this for others... and it was asked about on Expo. About how I have dealt with the daily stuff when traveling.

Hygiene:
For water, I started off with the 12 gallon water tank in the bed that has a pump to a faucet in the back. I also had a propane heater so I could heat the water for a shower head. So at the beginning, I would use the water heater with the shower or swim in any of the vast fresh clean water options (typically very cold, I think the coldest that I checked with a thermometer was 43 degrees). But I learned that campgrounds/rv sites often sell showers for a few dollars which makes it so easy. And whats better after a long day of outdoor activity? Hot springs or hot tubs. Both come with shower facilities. And aquatic centers offer showers, a swimming pool and hot tubs for a minimal fee ($4-6 for a day pass). I got rid of the propane heater on the truck since it was more hassle than it was worth although it worked great. I also added another 7 gallons of water capacity with a 6" PVC tube on top of the truck. The shower can tap from either tank and during the summer, the PVC would get warm enough on a warm day. And for daily cleanliness, wet wipes work great.

There are plenty of restrooms everywhere you go, so that makes it easy sometimes instead of digging holes.

Places that may have showers: Gym, Climbing Gym, Aquatic Center, Campgrounds, Public Parks, Hot Springs, Trucker gas stations (last resort as they are typically expensive, I've seen $8-14 which is just silly).

Water:
Filling up the water has been pretty easy. Most gas stations that cater to truckers or RV's will have potable water. and some parks as well. I've also used this site to find them.http://www.sanidumps.com/sanidumps_usa.php?id=64 I don't have a gauge on the 12 gallon tank, but I know when its starting to get low, and I always have the extra stuff on the roof if that gets low. The filler tube is smaller than it could be so you have to turn the water down when filling. That'll be addressed on the next rig.

Gas:
I still have not had to change out my full grill size propane tank! Its used daily for food prep and still going strong. I have a small backpacking stove for when it runs out, I just want to see how long it'll last. I went with a full size so it'd be easy for swapping out at any store along the way vs finding a place that recharges them but I've seen a lot of gas stations and stores that do fill tanks. I shut it off as I am finished cooking so it clears the line until I need to use it the next time.

Campfires:
They are fun to sit around and BS, but when you're alone... its just a hassle unless you are using it for cooking. I have only had two campfires this whole trip, both were with other people. I did bring a cast iron pan for cooking on the fire but I just use it on the stove.

Laundry:
I originally did most laundry with the Scrubba: http://amzn.to/2ligjMK but I also had fresh glacier water and no humidity for hanging stuff to dry. It works well and is easy, but I ended up being close to cities or driving through so it just ends up being easier to do it at a laundromat. And then I can also do everything at once along with bedding. Now that I'm in the PNW, dry stuff gets slightly wet from the humidity in the air, so it would not work well at all.

Food:
Breakfast is usually oatmeal or eggs. I have a good sized rubbermaid bin that holds all dry goods and is overstocked for how often I swing by the store. I have a fridge and freezer which makes food storage much easier, but I have gravitated away from most meat just because it still takes time to cook it, store it so it doesn't leak when thawing, and clean everything properly during and after. I will have it occasionally (currently have some ground kangaroo since it was interesting and cheaper than beef). But tuna, canned chicken, fried chicken from the store, veggies coupled with pasta, rice, quinoa are the usual. I dont like fish (other than canned tuna that I can mask the taste with condiments) so I wasn't able to catch my own food.

Restocking:
Gas is always what I run out of first, so when I'm there, I'll get basic food while I'm there and do laundry or shower.

Garbage: I just keep a grocery bag and throw it out when I get gas. Canada was EPIC since they have pull outs all over the highways that have garbage cans, and you can sleep there if you want to. Some had bathrooms. Similar to scenic pullouts but just for trash, and there was a very noticeable lack of trash along the rest of the roadways.

It has been much easier than I expected. I am actually trying to avoid buying some stuff from the store so I am forced to clean out the bin of dry food since I have stuff that I bought long ago.

And as far as camp sites, I've yet to pay for a site. Sometimes that does mean driving further to get to a legit campsite, or... sleeping in a Walmart parking lot. During the summer, when I would've liked to get a camp site, it was at popular national parks where they were already full and were charging $25+ per night for a camp spot. But there is usually something near. Thats also part of the reason I was going to avoid most of the California coast... it is not friendly for camping; or traffic, or being relaxed.


What I'll do differently next time:
Second water tank will have a 12v heater element for easy and reliable heating.
Aux battery for charging stuff other than using the 12v from main and only battery
More lighting for general camp lighting and better cooking light
If the next rig is a pickup, ideally it would have a tray and canopy but if a regular bed and cap, the cap will have a high top.

RTT's are cool, but being able to sleep in the vehicle without setting anything up and just looking like a parked car is very nice... its not as practical with multiple people, but certainly doable if you can use the entire width of the vehicle.

 

So I've been looking into water tanks and heating elements. The main problem I'm finding is the amount of power a heating element wound draw to keep water at a cold shower temp. The heat loss is what's killing that idea. Unless you can insulate the tank. To keep the tank warm during the day I've thought about a dual element heater where one element is switched on the truck and the other is connected to a solar panel

 

I found some 12v ones on Amazon that didnt seem bad for power usage vs time to heat. At least judging by my non electrical ideas according to what people say in the reviews.

It would only be powered on when i wanted to heat the water, ideally when truck is running. But i didn't see the need to mess with it so i never continued with the research.

 

What ya think of the size of your water tank? I've been eyeing a 10 gallon on Amazon but using it for shower/drinking for 2 people might be too small.

 

12 gallon is good, then 7 extra up top.

I don't conserve as much as I could and it lasts a couple weeks at least. So it'll really depend on your personal usage. But I usually fill up when I see water, don't wait until it's empty.

 

Any reason you chose the tank you did vs something cheeper like?

$68 Class A Customs | T-1000 | One (1) RV Fresh Water 10 Gallon Tank, Grey Water

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007MSDYFQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_QJ-8zbNTFMV7R

 

Snow Bashing

After getting a good night sleep after helping with the recovery, it was time to head down the mountain. The easy way or the unknown way was the question. From where I was at I could go back up the route that I came in on. It was likely iced over from last night and I would need to wait a little while for it to melt. Or I could head down a trail that looked to be somewhat easy, and I had a snowmobiler who rode past and said it was not too snowy and I would make it fine. What the heck, lets give it a shot! I walked down about a mile the night before and it did not look too difficult.

Until about 500 feet past where I walked to. There was a north facing completely exposed shelf road that was under deep snow. It was close to level, I could tell where the edge was in some places by small trees poking through. Tires were still aired up, I debated on airing down but thought the extra height would help since it was so deep on the uphill side. If not, I’d need to back up the whole way to the spot where I camped. I walked ahead and it looked to get better, and if not, on the other side of the shelf road was a large turnaround area.

I began to cross, knowing that if I started to slide AT ALL, I would have to stop and completely dig it out since there was not any trees above or below for an anchor. The tires dug in and kept trucking along. It was the second time in offroading that I had butterflies in my stomach since a small slip and I would likely be going over the edge which meant an estimated five rolls before trees would stop the truck.

21015171111 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

But I made it across! At no point did I find dirt, I was completely on snow, which was the case for the majority of the trail. Smooth sailing from there on out. Not. I made it a good distance, in snow that remained about a foot deep on top of packed snow. I still had not aired down, probably should have and it may have helped in a few spots that I got stuck in.

The next challenge I knew as soon as it came into sight. It was an uphill section that had a deep rut that weaved its way back and forth from left to right across the trail. I tried to keep momentum up but it still grabbed the truck and I slid sideways into the rut. This was one of the times I got to “Dukes of Hazzard” it out of the truck since the doors on the drivers side were buried. Winch time.

21015171125_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

I got through there to get into another similarly rutted section. It was too narrow to drive alongside the rut and I slipped in killing momentum.

21015171148 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

I know it seems like I should be able to follow those tracks that are in front of me and stay out of the rut… well yes, if I was a snowmobile like what made them.

I continued pushing my way through the deep snow. The deep snow turned to heavy, deep and wet snow as I made my way. There were sections where it took a bit of backing up and bashing through.

21015171246_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

A few sections were insanely deep but I still managed to push through. Not many pictures though since I started to get annoyed that I was now so close from the end… but so far. I also lost snowmobile tracks which got me thinking “what if there is a gate or a large tree ahead that they couldnt pass”.

There were nice views along the way and the weather was nice. This may be Mt Jefferson.
2DSC06701 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

Then I got to one section where the wet snow was well over a foot deep with no solid ground to be found underneath. The trail was also off camber to the drivers side. The front end dug in and the rear followed the slope towards the edge. I pushed it a little further than I should have, but stopped before dropping the drivers rear all the way over the edge.

So I began a recovery… the same one I did on the Subaru the night before. Thankfully the trees were plentiful. I used the hi-lift to keep tension on the rear and not let it slide off the trail while I winched forward. I thought about using two snatch blocks and using the winch for this, but I figured I would use the fancy techniques for another time.

21015171332_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

Video!


I was able to continue until a long uphill section that was even deeper snow where I had to winch to the top of the hill. From there it was downhill, I was quite thrilled to be free!

I even took some pretty pictures on the way out.

Mt Hood
2DSC06716 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

21015171813c_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

After this I made my way towards the coast so I could begin heading south.

 

That looks like it would work, but I didn't see those when I was looking for mine.

 

Ah. I was looking closer and it says your is baffled to help stop sloshing. Might get in the way of a heating element.

Did you have to glue in the fitting you want? Did they really seal that good??

 

The one I have is 12 gallon (when I purchased there was no baffle until the 16 gallon and bigger).

I cut out and glued the fill port on the top, but there are four 1/4" female ports on each end of the tank (8 total). To use them you just drill out the plastic at the bottom of the threading to use them.

The baffling would be nice for when its inside an SUV or inside the cab so you don't hear it as much where mine originally was.

 

I love that shot of Mt Hood silhouetted against the light pollution! Looks like you had the perfect spot for that shot.

If only you had ST MAXXs you wouldn't be getting stuck in the snow!

Seriously though nice work being well prepared and being able to self recover.

 

Seriously. Nice job, Brandon. Sounds like it was a bit iffy there for a bit!

 

Thanks, yeah it was a bit much, wouldn't have done it if I knew any of that crazy stuff.

But, I also had cell service the whole time and most of the winching was sooo close to the end, as far as lines on a map.

 

Not sure where those top quotes came from.

 

Just awful having to be out there in all that splendor! I know you are ready to get back to work so you don't have to be out there!


Seriously though, awesome pics.... keep em coming!

 

How i feel when i see each 80mph speed limit sign.



When i remember I'm driving something that can't partake in such limits.

 

Well I mean you can. You’ll just get 2mpg