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

That's a clever little doohicky. I've gotten good with the prybar but I like this idea a lot

 

BTW, I used my RAM Mount with my 8.4" tab running Gaia maps on the trail this weekend. I'm never going back!

 

i used a ratchet strap and did the same thing

 

Wildfire in beetlekill pine forest. 9000-10,800ft elevation. This pic was maybe 20 miles north, I know the area well.

I've asked this question many times, I'll ask again - why not plant aspens as the best "recover" strategy for an alpine forest after a burn?

Read this - https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/aspen/ecology.shtml

Aspens are what would naturally be the recover, IF there were enough aspen groves still existing. Aspens cover a burn fast because they sucker, they don't have to seed to spread, and they halt fires.

What I've seen though is recover efforts tend to be planting pine seedlings in burn areas, thereby promoting another wildfire in the same area long before it should happen if aspens grew in said area.

 

I can't figure out how you guys snap axles. I thought I've been in some tough spots and never had one break. But I'm kinda sissy, back out, or walk to the destination.

 

Do you know if aspens will readily recolonize a burned area? Natural cycles rely on a succession of colonizers that eventually build up to trees. After a catastrophic burn the soil is exposed to full sun, and the soils in burned areas are hydrophobic. Trees likely wouldn't be able to survive until after some period of time has passed and the soil is shaded by smaller shrubs. Maybe pines a little more hardy?

The pine forests in the rocky mountains rely on periodic wildfires. However human intervention and Smokey the Bear have prevented those fires and allowed more fuel to accumulate. The fires now burn hotter and tend to burn down to the roots. Pine trees can survive fires, but not when the roots get cooked too.

I'm sure there is a less logical reason to why they don't plan aspens though. Probably more expensive?

 

Do you know if aspens will readily recolonize a burned area?
Yes, read the USFS article - https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/aspen/ecology.shtml

Natural cycles rely on a succession of colonizers that eventually build up to trees. After a catastrophic burn the soil is exposed to full sun, and the soils in burned areas are hydrophobic. Trees likely wouldn't be able to survive until after some period of time has passed and the soil is shaded by smaller shrubs.
Good description of aspens. Succession of colonizers that eventually build up to trees.

Maybe pines a little more hardy?
Yes. You can't make 2x4's out of aspen, and aspen isn't good firewood.


I won't go on and on about it, but I believe the correlation between wildfires in Colorado now and years ago is less Aspen groves.

 

Went out on a 2.5 week trip to Moab and back from the east coast with this setup. This was knowing I was going to be wheeling the piss out of my truck when I was out there though. Did great, and felt prepared, even though I luckily didn't break shit.

Same. Skids on first gen's don't get in the way all that much, can easily pop it with two pry bars. Still would be a nice alternative option to have though. Seen people make the same with steel braided wire and some clamps.

Easy when you have a front locker and get careless with it. Or if you are just bound up. Like here:

IMG_2290 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

But these are hardcore wheeling trails, not likely to see something like this in "overland" style trails.

IMG_1177 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Swapped it on the trail in less than an hour. (I'm slower than some)

 

A front locker is frequently a contributing factor to breaking a front axel on IFS.

 

We don't go deep in the paint enough to worry about this stuff.

 

It most definitely is, but don’t get the misconception that getting one means you will be snapping them left and right. A well planned, and cautiously used one can get you through some thick shit. I had and used one for a year before I snapped my first cv.

 

Went camping this past weekend with my <2yo son, buddy and his dog. On the way back we encountered an unmanned Jeep stuck in path. Fortunately, we were prepared.

 

Ballsy move recovering a vehicle without the owner present. I know you were just trying to help and be a Good Samaritan (which I commend), but I wouldn’t have touched that with a 10 foot pole if it was possible to get around without leaving the trail. Hard to tell from the pictures if that was the case or not. Too many litigious assholes out there unfortunately.

 

Ha, well it was either back up 1/2 a mile and turn around for twenty miles of unmaintained road or pull the guy out. Any judge who saw pics of this guy’s tires would have instantly sided with me. Hell, the judge would have probably awarded me $500 for services rendered! He actually showed up in an F150 right after we pulled it out. He was grateful. You bring up a good point, but I still have hope in humanity and live by the golden rule.

 

It was a moohad.

The current version dog has chased cattle off before, there was a bull got after her the last time so maybe that was why she wasn't interested this time.

They attacked in WAVES, slowly rolling by, moo by moo, pie by pie. I put up a strong defense, sans dog. Rocks, sticks, but they were unstoppable!!! You can see murder in the one's eyes.

 

That's hysterical, I love it.

 

You know the old saying about making lemons into lemonade? Well in this instance the proper end result would have been steak.

 

Flag pole knob, Va

 

Flagpole Knob. Yep, I was there too. Hauling the campers up Dunkle Hollow Road actually turned into a challenge that I didn't expect. Winching a tree off the road, bouncing the trailer over another tree, managing to tow said trailer through a big washout (complete with large boulder on the middle of the road) on a switchback corner made for quite an interesting trip. Thanks to @Casper66 for having the perseverance to follow along on this trip.