Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

Never read Desert Solitaire before, googled it, interesting synopsis, fits with my view of the Southwest. Top predator in the Southwest naturally was the wolf, eradicated. Arizona has reintroduced the wolf to Southeast AZ - https://www.azcentral.com/story/new...s-high-113-wilds-arizona-new-mexico/98057582/

Interesting the US Fish and Wildlife Service link is no longer working.

Rabbits are a problem that wolves would solve, but people really don't want wolves roaming, I'm scared of them myself, same with native grizzlies in the Rockies. If the rest of you want the top predators roaming I'm OK with it, otherwise I'm just gonna be sissy.

 

You rarely encounter the large predators in the wild anyway, even when you're intentionally hunting them. Plenty of them up here and they haven’t gotten me yet.

 

Reading that, struck me I should listen to this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2ssbgThljU Not trying to be a smart-aleck, just like the movie and the scene.

 

I haven't picked a battery try, mainly because I haven't finished the trailer I'm building yet, so I haven't needed. But I did pick up a 100 watt solar panel, and I plan to get at least a 100 AH battery. The problem us finding a sealed battery with that much reserve. I might have to go with a flooded battery that's cheap.

 

Nice, what do you run off it? Is it sealed it flooded?

 

My thinking is in my home state Colorado, if top predators wolf and grizzly were reintroduced there would be a lot of encounters. Colorado is pretty crowded. Wolverine is native to the state, gone also, supposedly one hadn't been sighted in CO since 1948. However, I swear by all that's holy me and three fishing buddies saw one in 1985 at the Divide fishing a cirque lake in late June. Difficult hike that early in the year, cirque lake over treeline about 12,000 ft. That's where the cutthroat are, they're the only fish that survive low-oxygen (brookies also), and that's why we go there.

Anyway, we're enjoying the unusual early summer weather fishing, buddy Dave whispers "That's a wolverine, look." Wolverine was at the lake edge eyeing something. We're very quiet when we fish, just cast and catch, not a lot of jawing, but four heads snapping around spooked it. Wolverine is a very distinctive animal, the yellow stripe along the side of the body, thick legs and paws, thick tail. It was a wolverine.

Nobody believes us to this day, but it was a wolverine. This lake is difficult to get to, we'd been trying for years, difficult rocky 4WD road to get within 8 miles of it to maybe 9000ft. Then the snow drifts and crossing streams. No trail, we're just heading west to the Divide. Tried a few times since then to get back up there, frankly figured we wouldn't try too hard, figured it was wolverine's territory, not ours.

 

Man that sucks. What mattress do you use while you are out? What's your bedding arrangement?

 

wolverines!

 

@monkeyface, what do you sleep on, in? What are your bedding arrangements in the Monkey Hilton?

 

So those of you running vhf for coms. Is there a specific frequency used by most wheelers or do you guys just pick a freq in the amateur band somewhere ?

 

146.460 is generally known as the offroading freq

 

It's been programmed in as 4x4-1 since the day I got my yaesu

 

Oh sweet it's the same here.. I kinda thought things might be different in the states. I can program on the fly it's just irritating cause it means I gotta dig out the laptop etc etc. My icom is awesome but not when it comes to adding to the channel list

 

They can always tell what helicopter I was in last cause I will have 146.460 in the COM3. I like to pester the lines of shiny jeeps going down dirt roads thinking they are "offroading"

 

lol
"You call that overlanding? This is real overlanding. Literally flying over - land"

 

One time while dropping wood chips I had a Westinghouse remote hook malfunction and I dropped the net and all near a trail. On my way back to the staging area to get another hook I saw a jeep with an antenna, I called him and went and got my hook and net for me!

 

Thanks for the correction. I missed the story at the time - https://www.denverpost.com/2016/05/...ent-missing-confirmed-killed-in-north-dakota/

 

Look into 1st gen applications, cause I need to do mine and really don't want 3" of lift in rear.

 

Backpacking I have a 1/2" dense foam ground pad and zero-degree bag, 2-person tent. Ancient messkit like this https://www.sportsmanswarehouse.com...MIjrvMvpH02QIVxFx-Ch1AFghnEAQYAiABEgLRuvD_BwE

Sterno backpack kit is handy. Places we go to annually we packed in and cached quite a few things like camp grill, griddle, pots, washpans, utensils, camp shovel, axe, etc. That stuff is cheap and durable, take it in once and cache.

Long time on the road it's a short offroadable travel trailer. There are plenty of them on Craigslist. As everybody knows the basics for offroading are ground clearance and stout tires. That's doable with many travel trailers. The big deal I've found is you need a short rear overhang to get through the gullies the 4WD tow vehicle can get through, clear the sewage pipe.

And make sure what you get into, you can back out of.

 

Nobody loves us 1st gens. I really don't want to drop a 1000 bucks on springs.