2019 NorCal Camping, Wheeling, Shenanigans and Don Conquered The Rubicon

Awesome!!! Nice sized striper too. Glad someone was able to hook into some fish this past weekend!

 

I should of just said f it and took the boat out. Need To get Ferny out there, but he wont.

 

let's go!

 

Lets go!!!! I will

 

@Speedo Get your yak ready and come down to La Jolla in May. You could be this guy lol. Picture of Ensei from Fresh N Salty kayak fishing with a 40lb white sea bass.

 

I'm getting ready for a small, non-constipated pic dump from the Death Valley run. Here's a teaser. @FirstTimeFirstGen

More to come...........................

 

Shit, I still need to do the same! Sorry @CalTacoma09, I'll get them to you soon!

 

This trip had it all. Super Co-Pilot action!

Even some Alien visitors. Death Valley is close to Area 51 (not really, but for this it might as well be.)

The first of many air-downs. See how clean the trucks are? We will fix that later in the trip.

We spent a lot of time following @CalTacoma09 and @Twizted, or more like looking for them in the distance. Damn those mofo's can drive.

We checked out the Balarat Ghost Town with its progressive jail/morgue/hotel/brothel. The use depends on the occupants and their fetishes. There were several other structures/towns? (maybe depending on your definition of is..) that we got to check out. This one reminded Melissa and I of an abandoned building we checked out in Santa Rosa, but instead of high heels hanging from the rafters, there were beer cans. Creepy AF! Beers are better.
There was some cool grafiti as well.

 

Saturday's full day of wheeling started off with a beautiful sunrise at the Echo Canyon trailhead.

This was where we figured out the the pop up privy is a great thing to have. There's nothing over 36" high out there.
The Echo Canyon/Inyo Mine trail was my biggest concern as I was in a stock truck with no armor other than sliders. There was an arch rock just past the entrance that proved to be a favorite for pictures.
We found another turtle rock at Gualala, this one looks to be from the Dark Crystal era. Yeah 80's. The whole trip was super surreal with a great mix of technical wheeling and bombing down washboard gravel roads. For sure I shook the isht out of my truck.

 

The skyline over the whole trip was amazing. It was cool how the clouds added shadows over the barren landscape.
My wife really enjoyed the trip, more than she though she would. We slept in the bed under the softopper without issue, except for some rain/cold af on the first night and we utilized some "creative" spooning to fit in the short bed with the tailgate closed. We had time to talk on the way home about what did and did not work with the camping gear, truck etc. It was cool to see her take an interest into the capabilities of the truck and where (or not) it can take us.

 

Sounds like she would be more open to some mods!

Me and the gf did not fit well in the back on my truck as well as i would have hoped. Im too tall and need to sleep at an angle. She needs to sleep spread fucking eagle. There just wasnt enough room, even in the longbed.

So im considering a sleeping platform build eventually.

 

I have evaluated your data and determined a Drifter is your best option moving forward.

 

Ive thought about that too. While its wayyy out of my budget right now, i do like the potential. Are they a PITA to take on and off? Ive yet to cross the bridge as im still in an apartment, but i plan to takeoff my camper shell to see whats invloved with resealing/using a reusable rubber seal/ect.

 

It takes a few dudes to muscle it on or off. Really, a forklift, gantry crane or block and tackle is best. I am fortunate to live very close to VOHQ(probably not so fortunate for them) and when I need to remove the shell, I utilize their services. I’ve had my shell off twice now. When I get new bedrail caps, we will need to pop it off again to do that dirty deed. I just wish my garage was tall enough to accommodate my truck. Then I could make my own block and tackle/sling setup for when I need to remove the shell.

 

Who needs LT when you've got a heavy foot and like drifting every corner?!?

 

I like your style sir

 

Drove the truck last night for the first time since the rear shock upgrade on the 30th.
Damn.

Those ProComp pieces of shit I had were...guess what...pieces.of.shit.

I'm just floating all over everything now!

oh, and this is from earlier this morning:

...time to lock things up!

 

Where'd you learn how to park?

 

Lol, if you'd seen the Jeep that was to my left when I parked, you'd understand.

 

Ok, I'm locked now!