AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Just put 01-04 flares on it and live with it. It's a little mud. Get over it

 

Could be the answer for sure. I wish there were more flare options.

Yeah, I'll have to go look. They looked "OK" to me on the black truck. Look way too heavy on the green for my tastes.

Yep, part of my OSK.

Looked for some used 01-04, but haven't found a set yet. They are definitely not cheap, new.

And, just because you've been jaded by the dirty-five, long travel life doesn't mean I have! You'll understand as you get a little older and smarter. I know this because you were already laughing at my situation compared to yours on this last trip.

 

I bought the neoprene for my hilift and ran it on the side of my rack for trips. I didnt keep i on the truck all the time. It faded in no time and doesnt look very good to me anymore. It does keep the dirt off all the mechanical parts though which is probably good for the jack if I need to use it. Its since been moved to the swing out and its not as exposed as on the rack.

 

I want to know how many avacados you guys go through on your trips lol. Mike must make a hell of a guac! Sweet trip

 

What can I say it was fun to be on other end of the stick for that

That said. Could've been worse haha

I think with 01-04s and some cleaning very front mud flaps you'd be fine.

 

Lots. Every night if we can, really. We all bring avocados now in order to up the frequency. Then it's a race to eat as much as possible before Monte and I polish it off. Usually takes less than 5 minutes, and I always hope the guac comes out when Monte's making the fire.

Honestly, it's Mike's salsa that makes the difference - homemade, that stuff is great - we have that every night for sure.

 

No guac is safe when we are around

Trip wouldn't be the same without the salsa.

 

I think a GFC would fix the mud problem and the tent problem at the same time.

 

It’s looks like y’all all have CB and ham antennas on the rigs. Is there a reason y’all mostly use CB on the trail?

 

Sounds like a good deal to me

 

So true. @Digiratus for the win.

How many times can I like this?

We do have both, but not everyone does on all trips (but everyone has CBs). Also, we can be a lot more laid back on CB - we like to follow the rules on Ham and be more respectful of the waves. Plus, CB keeps us more local.

The best.

 

That's what I kept saying all trip it is inevitable.

Simple.

You can swear on cb haha

 

You could unlike it and like it again, but in the same amount of time, you could put a deposit down.


Or keep an eye in the GFC thread, there's been a few guys selling their spots in line.

 

Another great trip, that convinced my wife to do a 3 week. Oregon Nor Cal Az Utah Colorado.

I dont know how your tent cover works but could you stich some webbing and buckles on? When I leave my bags in my tent it puffs up a little. So the straps being adjustable is how I get away with it. It also has a lock you can use so the wind doesn't fold it up. Good to hear about all the work wise gear. Keep up the writing, I would by a book from you.

 

Winter Escape - Hot Springs and the Alvord Playa (Part 1)
October 26, 2018.

"Let's go somewhere." said @mrs.turbodb after I'd been home just a short time from my previous trip. That was of course fine with me, and so we set about finding a place to go. It was going to be cold and rainy on the Washington coast, so we set out looking for somewhere warm.

Now, we only had a few days, so that limited our options - essentially to adjacent states. Oregon was our best bet for warmth, so we started looking for options there - and it didn't take long to fill out the itinerary. Ever since visiting the Owyhee Canyonlands on one of our first adventures, and the Malheur area not long after, we both knew there were places in southeast Oregon that would be great to go see - in @mrs.turbodb's case, some hot springs; in mine, the Alvord Playa at the base of Steens Mountain.

To say we got an early start would be an understatement. We pulled out of the alley and got on I-5 south at just after 5:00am - a long day ahead. Even so, we weren't sure if we'd arrive before dark, the days getting shorter all the time.

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Our first stop was several hours south. I'd found a great deal on a set of sliders for our new family adventure vehicle - a new-to-us 1997 4Runner - and with Northwest Trail Innovations only an hour or so out of our way, this was a great time to pick it up. We arrived around 8:30am, and Corey was quick to get us taken care of, as we loaded the sliders from his shop into the back of the Tacoma.

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Turns out he's got a second business as well building out remote-controlled Toyota trucks and the jigs made to use them, and he had several on display. Mini AdventureTacos! And AdventureCruisers! Very cool.

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From there, it was a lot of driving. We stopped a few times on our way to Snively Hot Springs for food and fuel, but that was about it. Oh, and as we stopped for lunch, I remembered I hadn't cleaned my air filter from the recent trip to Arizona and Utah. So I took the opportunity to do so. Sorry Wendy's.

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When we arrived at Snively Hot Springs, it was dark. So, we headed across the creek - it was all BLM land around the springs - and found ourselves a nice perch on top of one of the nearby hills - our hope that the water crossing, gate, and darkness would deter any other campers from our spot.

Then, it was time to eat dinner - cheeseburgers and chips and do a little startgazing before hitting the sack, both of us tired from a long day...but looking forward to the next!

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October 27, 2018.

As you might imagine, it was a bit breezy at the top of the hill - the tundra offering what amounted to zero cover - but it wasn't bad and we both slept reasonably well. Knowing that we could have a gorgeous sunrise, I was up early - and that meant that @mrs.turbodb was too - trying to get just the right shot.

As it does, it started out as a deep orange along the horizon, the rest of the sky still mostly dark.

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Then, as more light creeps into the sky, clouds further from the horizon pick up some color.

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Eventually, the sky beings to brighten - the morning sun now coaxing the deep blue out for the day, the clouds struggling to maintain their pink hue before turning white.

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That's the point at which I went back to bed, which had been kept warm while I'd been out of the tent - now beckoning me back inside. We lazied around for a couple more hours - no huge rush to our day (though maybe there should have been). It was 8:15am when we finally both pulled ourselves out of the tent, the sun now warming the area around us, though there were now clouds blowing in.

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Even @mrs.turbodb got into the action. I think it was really for my benefit though.

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Breakfast eaten and the tent put away, we retraced our path down the hill towards Snively Hot Springs, the view we'd wondered about the night before, unfolding before us - typical southeast Oregon - golden hills, a bit of vegetation by the river flowing along their base.

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At the base, we discovered the Owyhee Siphon. A tunnel from the Owyhee River to a series of canals, this was part of the larger Owyhee Project that started in 1928 and was completed in 1935. Designed to supply water to eight towns in Oregon and Idaho via gravity flow and siphons from Owyhee Reservoir, the project was not totally successful, and today several pumping plants help move water across the project area.

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Also part of the same project, the Snively Siphon was less than a quarter mile away and consisted of entirely different construction - a huge pipeline that hugged the contours of the hillsides, literally sucking water up and down mountains without the need for pumps as it makes its way to lower elevations. This siphon must move a massive amount of water - the truck could have easily driven inside the pipe.

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Then, only the river crossing we'd done in the dark the night before stood in our way to Snively Hot Springs, and as it was the night before, the crossing was easy - the water less than a foot deep. Still, daylight made @mrs.turbodb more comfortable as we made our way across and the last quarter mile or so to the springs.

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As we arrived at the springs, we were a bit bummed to hear voices emanating from the pools as we walked down. Two locals were there - one soaking and the other doing pool maintenance/construction. Both nice enough guys, but it's always more relaxing to have a hot spring to yourself!

The water flowing into Snively is hot - over 137ºF at the source, and upwards of 120ºF when it enters the first soaking pool. Here, it mixes with cold Owyhee River water and mixes to a more comfortable 103-108ºF across two different pools before fully merging into the river. At least, that's how it was this year - the pool configuration being a constant battle against spring floods, changing dramatically from year-to-year.

Good enough for us, that's for sure!

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Our sort-of-soak complete, we were both ready to head out for the rest of our adventure. The plan was to drive through Succor Creek Canyon - previously our exit from exploring the Owyhee Canyonlands - to our next destination: a short hike at Juniper Gulch.

As we started into Succor Creek Canyon, we were both looking forward to the drive - this area was so beautiful the last time we were here - the hills covered in May's spring green grass, blowing in the wind. The hillsides were golden this trip, but striking nonetheless.

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We made our way up the canyon faster than I think either of us thought we would - and definitely faster than we made our way down two years earlier. Unsure at first why the canyon seemed so short, we ultimately decided that it seemed that way for two reasons: first, we've been on a lot of trips in the last two years, and we're much more comfortable driving fast on dirt. Second, our tires were aired down, making the route much more comfortable than it must have been before we had the ability to air down (and up with the ARB CKMA12 compressor) for these types of excursions.

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Anyway, before we knew it we were off the main gravel road and onto secondary dirt roads - blasting through pasture lands at speeds that had @mrs.turbodb yelping.

Hmm, perhaps I have been influenced by my adventuring partners who I've constantly reminded that I'm a slow driver, and who have constantly reminded me that it's just a matter of time. @Blackdawg @Digiratus @Speedytech7

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By lunch time - or what we called lunch time - we were pulling up to the head of our hike at Juniper Gulch - in the Leslie Gulch area of the Owyhee Canyonlands. The geography over the last couple miles was promising to say the least - huge rock formations looming above the road, hopefully just a taste of what was in store for our trek.

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Our PB&J sandwiches eaten, our potato chips consumed, and our apples devoured, it was time for us to go explore on foot.The hike itself was a little less than two miles roundtrip - not long - and the sunny day made it a pleasant break from the driving of the last 36 hours.

We saw a bunch of these guys - Bull Thistle - right at the trailhead. Definitely very cool looking, a little internet sleuthing uncovered the fact that they are unfortunately an invasive European species, here to conquer our lands.

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Our hike up Juniper Gulch was an easy, fun hike - the gulch not very steep at all, and the area mostly to ourselves. Rock tuff rose up along both sides of the gulch, much of it honeycombed from years of erosion. These formations are 15 million years old, the result of a volcano that blasted a 10-mile wide caldera that then filled with ash over 1000 feet deep. As the ash solidified, minerals colored it the orange, yellow, purple and red we were enjoying today.

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The formations got denser and denser the further up the gulch we got, eventually forming a 270º wall around us, the yellow and orange reflecting off the rock - it was like standing in a pot of gold! We were a pair of happy hikers.

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But we knew we had a ways to go before camp, so we made tracks back down the gulch - glad we'd visited and both in agreement that this 2-mile hike had way more bang-for-the-buck than the 16-mile Owyhee Honeycombs slog we'd done a couple years before. On our way out, we got one last shot - which turned out to be the same shot that the book we'd been using - 100 Hikes / Travel Guide: Eastern Oregon - used to illustrate the area!

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Our brief visit to Owyhee complete, we aired up when we hit pavement and headed west, then a bit north, then a long way south towards Steens Mountain and the Alvord Playa. @mrs.turbodb had planned our route (lucky me), and as we ticked away the highway miles, I was thrilled to hear her say that the next time she planned a route like this, she'd look for more dirt!

As it was, it was 45-minutes before sunset as we turned off of OR-78 (Steens Highway) onto Fields-Denio Rd. This road, while gravel, was so perfectly graded that we had no problem at all maintaining 60mph while fully aired up - Steen's mountain growing slowly in the distance, a trail of dust left in our wake.

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As we arrived at the Alvord Playa, the sun had set and the sky was ablaze. Much to @mrs.turbodb's chagrin, we blew past the Alvord Hot Springs - I wanted to get out on the Playa to capture the last of the light, and we still had almost three miles to go until we reached the playa access road.

We bombed down the access road - described as "high clearance" in our book - like we were being chased by something terrible, and I tore out into the flat for as long as I could bear it before stopping to try and capture the last of the color. It wasn't very far, let me tell you!

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In the end, we both agreed that it was a special sunset - the playa lending an certain eeriness to the experience, so uniform and flat into the distance.

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We'd cut it close again timing wise today - arriving slightly earlier than we had the night before, but wishing we had more time to explore. The last of the light left the sky as we made dinner - again, cheeseburgers and chips - and setup camp.

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We enjoyed our burgers as we looked out on the playa - nearly 6 miles of flat lake bed stretching out to our front and sides (the playa is 12-by-7 miles) - lights from the 9 other campers that night barely visible many miles away. It was warm here, and understandably a bit breezy - wind coming down off the mountain and whisking across the flat desert ground.

As we looked up, the stars came out - bright points of light unimpeded by noise pollution, so "nowhere" were we. Well, except for a small spot on the horizon to our east - Boise, ID. Moonless until a bit after midnight, the Milky Way meandered it's way across the sky, the perfect backdrop for several shooting stars.

Eventually - and not too late really, given that it gets dark by 7:00pm this time of year - we decided we'd call it a night. We had a long day of driving ahead of us the next day, and we weren't even sure what route we were taking home.

And as seems to always be the case, we were in for and adventure we never expected...

 

With the new suspension. You'll be a speed demon very soon haha and also have a truck in constant repair because of it!

 

WOW another trip I'm gonna say it again. You need to get this published.

 

Three weeks, wow that's a long trip! Bet you'll have a blast. .

The tent already has straps, so that's not the issue. It was really more the mud in the zipper itself come help cause the zipper to not close. I think waxing it and keeping it clean are going to need the keys to a long(er) life.

I really don't know whether to like or dislike this, hahaha!

 

Winter Escape - Hot Springs and the Alvord Playa (Part 2)
October 27, 2018.

Our night on the Alvord Playa was uneventful - the wind picked up a bit around midnight, easily remedied by closing the door on the windward side of the tent. And, one of the nice things about winter - at least when you're camping - is that sunrise is a bit later. For us, it was nearly 7:00am before the light started on the horizon.

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Clouds having blown in a bit overnight, we got quite the display as the long rays of morning sun played over their undulations, a rainbow of colors ranging from yellow to purple reflecting down onto the playa.

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The Alvord Playa is one of the largest playa lakes in Oregon. Formed as rainwater fills a a large shallow depression in the landscape, a salty crust is left behind as the water evaporates. In the rain shadow of Steens Mountain - which rises over a mile above the playa floor - the Alvord Playa currently receives only 5-7 inches of rain a year. But it wasn't always so - 3.5 million to 15,000 years ago, the lake covered all of what is now the Alvord Desert. At the end of the ice age (13,000-14,000 years ago) the lake flooded, sending nearly 40,000 cubic yards of water spilling into the Owyhee River every second, dramatically and permanently lowering the water level.

With lower water levels, the salty crust that forms as water evaporates each year consists mainly of borax. This attracted miners in the late 1800's - Charles L. Taylor and John M. Fulton - who purchased 3,000 acres of land around the lake and started the Twenty Mule Team Borax Company.

Today the land is public (BLM) land, for which we were grateful - able to enjoy it in all it's glory.

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As the sun rose higher in the sky, Steens Mountain was illuminated behind the playa, an amazing backdrop for our simple cereal breakfast.

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Having not had a chance to explore the evening before, we decided there was no better time to walk around a bit - the vast playa beckoning us onward. The problem, of course, is that one spot in the playa seemed just like another - the cracked surface so flat as to be disconcerting.

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It wasn't long before we realized that the only real way to explore was going to be in the truck - without it, there was no way we could cover the necessary ground. So we cleaned, packed, and loaded up - quickly accelerating to 60mph as we sped across the lake bed. In fact, we weren't really speeding - the women's world land speed record was set here in 1976 by Kitty O'Neil - at 512mph!

As we zoomed around, @mrs.turbodb spotted something in the distance. We turned toward it and realized - it was a plane. A plane that had apparently had a bit of a rough landing.

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As we got closer, it was clear that the plane hadn't been there very long - a week or less, I'd say. Two of the wheels had been torn off as it skidded across the playa, it's propeller mangled from digging into the surface as it came to a stop. Luckily, it looked like the occupant(s) had probably escaped relatively unharmed - the cockpit in good shape.

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Having explored only a small sliver of the playa, we knew this was a place we'd need to return in the future when we had more time. A couple days on the playa, and some time driving to the top of Steens Mountain (the highest road in Oregon) would make for an awesome adventure.

But as it was, we had to get going - we were headed home today and had a good 10 hours or so if we drove straight through.

Which of course, we weren't planning on. In fact, our next stop was only ~15 miles away and to the east - Mickey Hot Springs. These springs are way too hot to take a dip in, the temperatures averaging 170ºF, but they were super cool to explore nonetheless. Spread out over an area the size of a couple football fields, they consisted of bubbling mud caldrons, boiling pools, and of course larger springs.

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I found the larger springs the most interesting, as several of them were super-deep - more than 30 feet we'd later find out - with brightly colored algae growing in the hot water. It's times like this when I wish I had a polarizing filter for the camera.

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As we circled around the springs on our way back to the truck - the sound of pressurized steam vents and bubbling pools around us - we counted ourselves lucky. This was a place we'd not planned to visit, and yet it'd been quite the discovery. It's definitely a place that we'll want to visit again, as it's clearly an active site - some of the pools starting to fill in; others already dry - and so will likely be a whole new experience on each visit.

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Just as we were leaving, we noticed this guy - a killdeer I think - scurrying around the borax crust of a large pool that had been long dry. It appeared to be guarding a nest, but we took a careful look around and didn't see any eggs or an obvious nesting area, so it could have been that it was distracting us from the real prize!

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Back a the truck, it was time to head home and we had a decision to make. We could head back the way we came - the main route - and to the amazingly-well-graded gravel road which we'd traveled the day before, or we could continue north along the road we were currently on - meeting up with the well-graded road some 30 miles ahead.

We weren't sure the condition of the route we hadn't traveled, but we were keen for adventure and so we set out on the path yet-unexplored. And I should mention - we were still fully aired up, having expected to be on the well-graded road when we left the playa.

So it was that we bumped along - the road reasonable for 20 minutes or so. Then, in the distance we noticed what we thought was someone else is approaching from - or just just driving around and stirring dust up on - another large playa.

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However, as we got closer we realized it wasn't another vehicle at all. In fact, it was steam from the enormous Crippled Horse Spring in the middle of of the Mickey Basin. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to explore - Crippled Horse Spring would be another bullet on our "next time" list - for now, we needed to keep heading home.

We continued on, the road getting fainter and bumpier the further we went. Obviously not well traveled, any traffic on it was likely cattlemen on ATVs - the tracks narrow.

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And then, not yet a third of the way back to the main road, it petered out in the middle of a valley, just before what looked like a rocky pass. Could we have aired down and followed the GPS track I'd created at Mickey Hot Springs to the main road? Probably. Would it have taken us hours and meant an extra-late arrival home? Most definitely.

And so it was that we decided to head back the way we came - back to Mickey Basin and ultimately to the main road. We'd added an extra 45 minutes to our drive by that point, but I think we'd both say it was totally worth it - the discovery of Crippled Horse and the anticipation of following the faint road next time, great memories of our adventure.

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From there we pointed the truck north and did something I've never done before - we based our route on a combination of distance and wind direction. See, it seems that we're always driving into a headwind - and that's a killer for the MPG's on the truck - easily cutting mileage from 17-18mpg to 13-14mpg.

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With the help of Windfinder (which I unfortunately didn't screenshot at the time so the above shot is just a sample), we were able to scope out a route that was a mere 8 minutes longer time-wise, but would mean we'd have a tail-to-side wind up through most of Oregon, and also as we headed west in Washington. That, in contrast to a constant headwind if we took the "technically shortest" route west to the I-5 corridor and then north.Win win!

With our tailwind and a bit of luck, we got home a little after 9:00pm, now more excited than we'd been just a few days before to return again to explore more of the Owyhee and Alvord areas of southeast Oregon.