The Adventures of Trusty Dusty | Camping Rig

Welcome to The Adventures of Trusty Dusty

The following is a compilation of stories, pictures and shenanigans detailing the new life of an old truck. The writings may contain explicit language, too many pictures of a truck and other stupid shit. If you want to follow the adventures of a young family and a truck *almost* as old as they are you are in the right place. If you don't, then give it a shot or get off TW!

Buckle up y'all it's time for cheap mods, a dusty truck and a whole bunch of good adventures.

Pre Dusty- Enjoy for the story, skip for the pictures.

Dusty entered my life as most good things do, like a Pheonix rising from the ashes. In this case, the ashes being a navy blue 2000 VW Golf dubbed Melinda, which began to be treated like a truck. I had been driving her since 2016, while in school in Bellingham, Washington. Mostly she was good for getting me around town to the grocery store, to lacrosse games around the Pacific Northwest and back down to Portland to see my family.

She did those things well and even learned how to haul all my shit around too. In VERY mini pickup mode with the back seats down a buddy and I could load her up and go from zippy and quick to sluggish and slow. While in college my vehicular needs altered as I started camping, backpacking, fly fishing, and mountain biking more and more. She adapted...meaning she got a roof rack and chugged along. She could make it to most front country trailheads just fine, maybe a little minor scrapping along the way. Eventually, I started to push it, and after a shattered Catalytic converter on a forest road, I started to realize a truck might be better down the road. She did sound pretty good with all that ceramic bouncing around that summer though...

After school, I got a job working at Mount St. Helens, where I dove even deeper into my outdoor adventures. I met the love of my life and she joined me too, but we still pushed on in Melinda or her equally as lame Ford Focus. She took me through a winter of working in Wisconsin in 2018, and back to MSH later that year. Moving plenty of stuff in her loaded hatchback and rear wheels stuffed up in there. In the Fall of 2018, I got my current job working at a Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group on the Hood Canal. I moved up to Shelton WA, at the feet of the Olympic peninsula. Toyota Tacoma Central. They started to catch my eye and a few specifically influenced my new found admiration.

My uncle has a 1999 4 cyl 4runner that he bought in the late 2000s with roughly 150,000 miles on it. His wife thought he was crazy when he bought it for around $2,000 from a used car lot on a trip to Bend. 10 years later it's rolling past 545,000 and he describes it as feeling "a bit loose". Sure he has had to maintain "a few" things but it's mostly stock and still gets where it needs to go. That thing lives on Forest Service roads too. His wife still thinks he's crazy, but it's usually for other reasons

Two others are owned by co-workers, one an 86 runner with high miles in that nice, baby shit brown color, although she affectionately calls it "creampuff". And another a 94 runner that had ~150,000 on the speedometer when bought, but a glovebox receipt for some work listed with 300,000+ miles on it. So pushing 400,000?? Who cares if it still goes!? His rig before was a 1st gen taco that someone wrecked from behind, and he smartly pushed me to go in the direction I did. (Thanks dude!)

As I started my search Melinda still chugged along, and I dreamed of building out a bed platform, drawer and sweet camping setup in the back of a tacoma. I knew I needed a long bed for 6'3" me, 5'5 AND A HALF" Lady and furrends. But would it be a first gen ext cab or a 2nd gen with the nice swing back doors. That's really what I wanted for the extra access, but alas, Melinda's last move was making that decision for me.

One day in April of 2019 on the way to work her oil pump erupted and I would never drive her again. My dad eventually fixed her up and sold her, so hopefully that high schooler in Portland is getting speeding tickets with her (She maxes out at 110 downhill buddy don't push it).

With that I had to find a new rig ASAP and although I had been researching and even looked at a few, now it was REAL. A day after she died on me, Dusty came across Craigslist, i made the moves and swooped him up the next day. Since I'm writing this a year+ later, I don't have the dealer pics, wish I did, but this is from the first day we really enjoyed the woods together. <3

Dusty has arrived- Screw the story, GIMME PICS



Here he is, a 2000 V6 Extra Cab SR5 4x4.
The Good:

• It's a TOYOTA TACOMA
• 182,513 Miles
• $9,000
• Good record, west coast CA life. (will trade loss of clear coat for rusty frame
• Snugtop canopy that I think was part of the stock package- More on that later.
• Rest was stock

The "bad":

• Ugly Faded hood paint
• Leaky radiator (from torqued tow hook)
• bed liner treasures
• All fixable!

The day I got it, a coworker and I left work early and drove to get it, I didn't tell the lady about any of it, she was stoked when I pulled up in Dusty that afternoon, she always hated Melinda, and thought I looked way better driving a truck


Her birthday was soon after, so that weekend we drove it up the Olympic peninsula, and camped at one of her favorite spots outside of Port Angeles. So of course we had to go up hurricane ridge.
The campsite had a decent view too...


After the initial shock, it was time to start dreaming, stay tuned for stories of adventures, wrenching, good times and more. I have a year of stuff to catch up on and plenty to share. Some is already on other threads, but it'll all be here eventually!

Later Skaters,






P.S. I never fully grieved the loss of Melinda, so in her memory, here she is, holding my favorite load. Almost twice and long as her, with only one strap, don't worry we went two miles going 20, and she rocked it...


R.I.S.E.D. (Rest in someone else's driveway)

 

May 2019

Soon After purchasing the truck, I noticed a sweet mess in the engine bay, and I'm not talkin' sweet as in cool, I'm talkin' sweet as in coolant. After a little research and investigation, I realized the radiator was messed up and leaking. Grabbed a newbie and set up to try and swap them out. I did all this at work one day after my shift, as our driveway is too slanty to do some things, and I have a bit more room at work. Except that means I had to do it all before going home... let's just say I got home late that night. Of course, I went for the harder bolts to remove first, after stripping bolts and swearing realized which ones would make it easier, classic.

Soon I got the original out and discovered the bigger issue was that the passenger side tow point in the front had been cranked so incredibly hard that it folded in the frame tubing. The bulge out pushed ever so slightly against the old radiator causing it to tweak out of wack enough to leak. To this day the frame still looks like that, and I'll grab a picture to share. I would like to straighten it out but smashing on it doesn't do shit and I have no clue how I would rig it to bend back. Ideas are welcome, it would be great to have that tow point back. I'm also worried if it will affect adding an ARB type bumper, maybe I'll find out one day.

Anyways I got the new radiator in, all hooked up and the sumbich hasn't leaked since. Woohoo!! That was a real confidence booster. I worked on cars with my dad when I was younger, and changed oil and all that but the truck has made me handier and handier, and I'm now realising that working on your own rig is more about balls than skill. No matter how late I got home that night, It felt good to finish the job I started.

Here's an old picture of the spitting radiator.

Not good! I did a half-assed job of cleaning it up, but some of it got into the tiny nooks and crannies, maybe I'll full ass clean the engine one day when I'm bored.

Up next a picture of the bent frame, maybe one of you smart guys can come up with a way to fix it.

 

Here are some pictures of the bend frame directly back from the front bumper. I don't think it'll interfere if I ever mount an aftermarket ARB type bumper, but I can't bolt the tow hook (which is also extremely torqued) and other tie point back on at the angle it's at without removing the skid and probably radiator again.

Thoughts on pulling it back to straight??

 

JULY 2019

My first truck summer! How exciting. Unfortunately, it was also my first summer running my organization's summer camp programs all by myself. Very tiring. My partner also spent the summer working as a guide on Mount St. Helens so that meant I spent a lot of weekends alone being tired from the week. After some adjustments though, I started to find time and energy to go on some solo adventures! So from our place in Shelton, I embarked on the MASSIVE 20 minute journey into the Olympic Peninsula. It's so close its stupid.

The south side of the Olympics, in Olympic National Forest, offers some awesome back roads leading to lakes and creeks and high points galore. Of course it includes breathtaking PNW rainforests too!

Check out this tree, it's as big as a first-gen! I bet that thing was pushing 300 years old, and the coolest part, in my opinion, is the amount of life fallen old-growth fir or cedar can sustain after its death. Often longer than the tree itself was alive, nurse logs are wicked cool. While exploring the backwoods I marked campsites and other cool spots on my map, this is dispersed camping galore. We've been back many times since, and most of the spots I scouted during this initial trip!

I ended up being beaten to alot of sites tho, as it was a packed saturday out by Wynoochee lake. So I settled for this lookout away from any water, marked as a Helicopter landing pad on the map, I knew it had to be cool. It didn't disappoint!


The kayak came with me that trip, but since I didn't camp near the lake, it stayed dry. This was the first night I slept in the truck. Sleeping pad on bed liner, diagonally around the wheel wells. I had started gathering ideas for a truck drawer and sleeping platform, but hadn't *yet* pulled the trigger on materials. Soon...

 

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

After a busy summer started to wind down, my weekend goals shifted from adventure to build a drawer and sleeping platform. Luckily for me, the mother in law setup we rent has a garage just downstairs, filled with tools used to build the whole house. My landlord says he "likes hearing his power tools go" while he sits in his half of the house, and that "they're tools, so they're useless when they aren't being used!" Perfect. I started by taking out the drop in bedliner, and giving it to a friend/coworker who lives across the lake. Her little red three-seater has 300,000 something on it and the bed is scratched to shit, she loved it! I found a some treasures under the liner, glad I got them out before their moisture bit me in the...bed.

At first it didn't look like much, but then I sweeped it all up...


Whew- glad to get that out, a lot of damp beauty bark and sand from the previous owner's projects. Not in my truck!

Then it was time for some designing. I knew I wanted to do one big drawer, with some compartments in front of the wheel wells, with a sleeping platform over top at roughly the same height as the well. This photo guided me, along with the write up from @boundfornowhere on youtube. They had two drawers but I mostly wanted to steel their skateboard bearing and steel tubing setup. Eventually I found the whole writeup that went along with this picture, Here-->https://imgur.com/gallery/sR3r9 although I found the whole set after being mostly done, at some point I may go back and improve with his ideas.


So I got to work, building a box, a drawer and a platform. In hindsight, I should have used the table saw to make my cuts, something I'm not the most comfortable with. I did it all with an old skilsaw and clamps, so perfectly straight lines aren't too common in the build, which lead to *some* small issues down the line.



Fitting box in truck, I have since taken out the front spacer in the middle.



Inspection crew. They approved, just barely.



Drawer fits in box. If I did it again, or when I redo it, I would probably just hang the drawer between two 8 or 10 inch wide boards that fit in the grooves of the truck bed, trying to keep it as low profile as possible- similar to the white truck in that link above. As my father advises me though, if it works it works, tinker with the design once it doesn't work. Who says it's going to get messed up?!

I used those three pine boards as supports for the sleeping platform and screwed it on top. Two compartments in the front work great, one in the back on the left, I just toss my toolbox in there and don't ever use the board, and back right is where our big jug of water sits.

There we go, then it was time for a test run. This all had to be ready to rock by the holidays when we would be doing a road trip from Washington down to Death Valley, where my partner's parents live and work.

 

NOVEMBER 2019

Test runs before our road trip- a night in Capitol State Forest next to Porter Creek. Not bad! This was the first time we tried the old awning I picked up for $60 bucks at a used gear store. If you are ever on the Olympic Peninsula, stop at the Discovery Bay Used Gear Shop. Awesome place. This awning is so old it doesn't have a logo on it. But I think it may be old ARB judging by its construction.



We decided to bring our adventurous little kitty, Hoot! He's gone hiking, backpacking, and camping with us many times, but was very chilly this night. This trip taught us to leave him a little litter box in the cab if he needs to go, because he was so cold he didn't want to go outside to pee, so he went at the foot of the mattress. On the mattress. Great. Those are the stories you don't see in people's (including mine) Instagram lives.



I found the curtains in the form of two ugly pillowcases at goodwill. Cut them up and sewed them into curtains. This is when I started to shoot for a cabin vibe. Will be much more apparent in the new canopy down the road. We alternate between sleeping bags and bringing the blankets off our bed. Eventually, I want to get the badass Kelty double sleeping bag, but they are so good they have been out of stock for like 6 months. Maybe one day.

The next day we went over to the beach for a clean up day and picked up trash. Then setup for a nice lunch on the beach. Hoot loved it, and even though it wasn't raining, or THAT sunny, the awning just gives a nice sheltery feeling to your spot. I'm a fan.



I guess this is the first shot of the drawer in action, look how good a job it does of holding cheez its, chips and other tasties. As well as our camp kitchen and all our clothes. Pretty nifty!

 

DECEMBER 2019

Time to road trip! My lady is originally from Maine, but a few years back her parents decided they didn't want to retire with their small electrician business, and would rather get some of that government $$$. So they hopped into the National Park system at the park nobody wants to work for. Death Valley. This was our third-holiday road trip down there, and easily our most comfortable setup. In 2017 we rolled down there in a week in a dying 2003 Ford focus packed to the sunroof, 2018 in the replacement 2015 Subaru Forester (better) and 2019 in Dusty the Tacoma. The setup worked great and showed us that yes we did need a taller canopy, and yes maybe it should be insulated if we want to sleep in it in the winter.

We drove south to my parent's place in Portland, dropped off our cats, and turned South East towards the Alvord Desert. We looked forward to driving on the lakebed, but it had just experienced a melt, then freeze situation that caused a thin layer of ice to form over deep ass mud. So a great way to get super-duper stuck. We camped at the hot springs and enjoyed a warm soak under the stars. Cheap for a site and a soak! Definitely check it out if you go that route.

The next day we forged onward, through the rest of the Steens and south into Nevada, through Winnemucca and downward.


Look at that saggy ass. Gotta work on that 20-year-old suspension.

It was so chilly that when we got to our planned spot to camp at 3 PM ish, about 5 hours away from Death Valley, we said F*ck it, let's just keep going, and surprise them a day early. They were surprised, and the truck got to meet their own dusty rig, a Jeep her dad bought when they learned they were moving down there. He wanted a Tacoma, but the Toyota dealership near them in Maine "was full of assholes" according to him. And he liked the salesmen at the Jeep dealership better. He still looks at them though and wanted to drive mine around. I told him he would need to let me drive the Jeep. Neither of us has caved.

We had an awesome time in Death Valley, and even though it was our third trip, got to some new spots. Augerberry Point is supposed to have an awesome view, but instead, we got a white Christmas. In the hottest place on Earth. Climate change is wild.

We also got a super special tour of Scotty's Castle, and crazy rich man's dream house built back in the early 1900s. We have been trying to go there for three years, and since it has been closed for renovations, and will probably never open back up for funding reasons, we had to get special permission. They finally pulled through on this trip, and a good thing too, because these were their last months in DV, now they work at the Grand Canyon!



Soon we said our farewells and headed back north, this time a little further west. We stopped by Yosemite to see a friend who works there and spend a day exploring the valley. That's about all I need of that, SO MANY PEOPLE. I would hike through the higher stuff, but staying away from the valley floor. But damn those are some big rocks!

We finished by ringing in the new year, 2020 (in hindsight, the day where everything hit the fan) in Big Basin State park South of the Bay area. Cool place with big trees. Met more friends there and had a great time sleeping in coastal not too cold of temps. Eventually, we hustled back up through Portland, then back to Shelton to get back to work, and messing around close to home. Time to start looking for a new canopy setup too!

 

FEBRUARY 2020

After our trip down south, and some time spent in the canopy, it was time to do some legwork. I cleaned up the canopy and started posting it on FB Marketplace and Craigslist. I Quickly found a buyer who would pay the whole sum I was asking...It was my initial high number, so i was surprised when she contact me so quickly. She had wanted a black canopy with a rack for years. So I guess I was lucky! I would have to part ways with my superstrut creation...but don't worry I eventually made a V2.0.

I had never seen my truck without the topper...that was weird. Also, Holy shit are those fiberglass things heavy!! it must have been north of 300lbs, me and two fit older ladies really struggled!

With about half of the new canopy cost in my pocket, I had a great drive home with unlimited rearview visibility. Now time to order the new topper from Canopy World.

 

MARCH 2020

Wow, in hindsight, shit was hitting the fan HARD right here. But that's not what this is about! This is about tinkering on old trucks. So one weekend I was bored and decided to make a little superstrut storage in the cab since I didn't have my canopy or drawer in. Who needs that little piece of molding plastic anyways? Now I keep a shovel, First aid, Ice scrapper and hatchet on there, and whatevrr else I feel like!
Well that fit surprisingly well!

It needs to be black of course.


Landlord shouldve taken down that wreath months ago...


Gotta love projects you start and finish in the same day...time for a beer to celbrate...THIS!

 

APRIL 2020

Exciting times, about 2 months earlier I ordered a custom Canopy for around $1700. It showed up and transformed how we use the truck. First off, the matte black is gorgeous. The double doors are super handy, and compared to the same thing from leer or ARE, it is about $1000 cheaper! Built by RoyEl, Canopy worlds in house brand up here in WA.

One last topless picture for you...


The beast itself, but not really because it weighs half as much as the old one


Some more pictures I took for a "Canopy setups" thread

This side door is super handy, especially when camping with the awning out.



The next weekend i was bored and Wanted a fairing... "I can make that" I thought to myself. I really want a toyota red, orange and yellow stripe one from colorado Fairing company, but maybe i can make one for $40 instead of $150. It's still on today...though it doesnt look as good.

Design phase:


Cut plexi


Strapped and painted!
Not super flat, but it does the job. Built not bought and all that right?

Speaking of built not bought, or more like built because they don't make 2020 seat delete technology for 20 year old trucks only 15 year old truck. Lame, here's the seat delete things I created with a lot of inspiration from @seen20 to better use the back "seat" in the extra cabs. Good for dogs AND cats. You'll see.

Look at that function! I can still access the little portholes and just pop those puppies out if needed. ALSO check out that sick superstrut rack! wow, that's so cool man, who inspired that one?? me thats who.

 

MAY 2020

Shit is hitting the fan so hard right now that the government is giving us money BACK?? That's pretty wild. Well to be slightly serious for a minute, the pandemic is a terrible tragedy, which in my opinion, could be over if the president and his government cared about the people of the US as much as the Economy of the US. So instead of forcing everyone to wear masks and stay inside for a month or two. They opted to pretend like nothing was happening, and paid us all $1,200 to "stimulate" the economy instead of managing our freedoms short term for long term benefit. That benefit being we aren't still dealing with a pandemic 6 months and 210,000 deaths later. What does this have to do with a dusty old truck you ask? Well since I'm lucky enough to live in a county of 50,000 people, where COVID was and is still very minimal , and also work on a farm where I am "essential" I continued to work on site and just didn't have to talk to as many people. This means instead of having to stimulate bills, rent or groceries, I stimulated my old, shot, 20 year old suspension. And some groceries too.

Old man Emu (because I like the yellow) 881s and Dakar leafs from Wheelers. A PNW local business, so that's some good stimulus I guess.



Did the Leafs one weekend, and the fronts a weekend or two after. Holy shit that's a big difference. Drives better all around!
Thank you to the politicians who made this possible, but not Donald. I won't ever thank him for anything. Wow this is becoming an angsty post. Sorry. Lets move on.



Later in May it was time to start using this bad boy! So Lady S, the dog Nootka and the adventurous cat, Hoot and I did a trip to a nearby refuge for a little hiking and exploring, then escaped up into the south side of Olympic Nat. Forest for some dispersed camping. This was our main goal with the build, to be as self sufficient as possible so we can camp anywhere we please! So far it has been a major success.

Hoot LOVES car rides


Not a bad setup!!


Vantage points from the side door are, just like Hoot, killer...


Evening crunchies are crucial for everybody, in this case, jiffy pop did the job. Yes, that sticker says "I love pooping in the woods" because it's true.

And don't forget, let's "Make America green again!"

The same day that we replaced the front shocks, we also insulated the "camper". This styrofoam insulation worked great to fit between all the aluminum supports. And although we did consider leaving the shiny side out for the disco effect it had with lighting, we opted to add some crappy fake wood for ambiance. all for like $30 if I remember right? The back is probably good for all of Washingtons 4 seasons now... well see this winter!!


Here it is with the "wood" finish. Was going for a mini-cabin type of feeling. Nootka likes it!

We did some more outtings in May with our new setup, which can be pretty tiring for some...


But I even let my daughter drive the truck...



With the weight from the drawer in the back, you can really see how much of a difference the Dakar leafs make. No more drooping here!

This is our setup, not a bad combo. If we need to sleep in a rig, we bring the truck. If it's to get to a trailhead, the forester eats it up. Now just trying to convince her she needs a lift on it and some ATs...were close.

 

Nice looking rig, it’s coming together nicely.

Really digging the shell, I have seen a few of those lately, definitely worth looking into.

Well I am not sure about DV being the park that no one wants to work at (I worked there for 3 years, it was awesome, really want to get back there and do some trips) but looks like the in laws are on the right track. Aguereberry point does have some great views and it is a great hike down to the valley floor from there, of course that is a drop off and pick up trip.
The parks are a great way to see the land and really see it .

Liking the low profile strut idea, has a lot of potential. Any idea of how much weight you can put on the roof rack? Mainly a curiosity for lumber hauling and such, although a solar panel and a basket might interesting, make for a great viewing platform

I think you will be very happy with the OME suspension, it is a good deal for the $$, although I went with Bilsteins instead of the OME shocks it is holding up great. Might have to upgrade if I get a Drifter, but the RoyEl looks like a good option, I guess I’ll stick with mine for a bit yet.

 

Arctic! Haha true, "maybe no one wanting to work there" is over-exaggeration, and perhaps Gateway Park into a NPS career is more fitting... They definitely used their three years wisely, and explored pretty much every corner of the valley!

AS my struts are set beneath the lumber rack putting anything like lumber up there would put weight on the aluminum portion which is pretty sturdy. I have set my canoe on there next to the Thule box for a short drive and it worked fine, but not sure how strong it would be on a longer haul. The struts though are more solid than the aluminum, so they hold the awning and gas can pretty well! After living with the aluminum rack for a while I'm definitely happy with it, though can tell why it is the cheapest level of roof rack they offer. Some welds are starting to show signs of wear, and one thing Ive noticed with the rack and rest of the canopy is most connections are welded on two of four edges...seems like It could be beefed up a bit in that regard, if only I had a welder and the skills required (one day!). Or maybe it would be smart to remove the aluminum completely and mount a big front runner rack up there...

Man what I would give for a drifter, or a gfc, or a superpacific......or a Syncro vanagon with a Subaru swap and a high top...shit wrong forum, I've exposed my true love!

 

Copy that. I have a friend that married a vanagon with a Westphalia top half and added a little VW diesel from a Jetta I think. That ours be the ticket for sure.

Yeah, the valley has a strong pull, lots to see and do, people are wheeling on roads that I rode the MTB on as I didn’t have an operational 4x4 back then. It’s part of the build plan for extended backcountry trips, not just ticking off miles but soaking it up.

I have also seen s few of the aluminum topper ‘ladder’ racks looking pretty worse for the wear after a short time, it’s a trade weight vs old school overbuilding. The 2 of 4 beads on the Al tubing is a standard I think, my diesel has an earlier ARE contractor cap, and it has the same type of joinery.
Hard to escape old school overuse....LOL
Should suffice for a few boards picked up on a town trip I suspect. Just don’t want to trash either item -still uncertain of which it will be, have to see how the pennies stack up next fall.

I have tried their website for build details and options but they didn’t seem to have anything on there yet, but perhaps it may have changed, every grows it seems.

 

On one of the trips down to my parent's place to work on the truck, we dug out a picture of my dad with his old toyota. Said he thought it was an 86? I was more worried about his legs though, I guess those shorts were also from 86!


I think my truck would look good with some three toned decals like that...

 

JUNE 2020

We started to venture outside more, after all the point of backpacking season is solitude, so we figure it was ok to sneak out into the woods, despite the governor's orders.

This is something I have been dealing with for a while, and from my research i know it's a tough one. But if you have a surefire way of diagnosing this, Let me know. I've since added an Ultra Guage which lets me shut off the CEL, but could also help me diagnose, i just have no idea how.

But while ignoring my Check engine, the truck still runs great, so we took it out to find some more cool spots in Olympic NF. This one was nice and cozy, hey a camp fire, how nice those used to be!




One of our favorite past times is driving the backwoods looking for future spots to camp, I liked this view of Dusty on one of those outtings.


This is has been like this since I bought the truck, but there was a suspicious amount of pulling on the tow hook at one point, it is pretty much straight, and something left the frame end in this shape. But I took this picture in June, so here it is. Thoughts?


The rest of June was spent Working, floating the John Day, Biking, backpacking and enjoying the warm weather. Ah the good old days before wet and chilly doom season took over.

 

JULY 2020

Well, no pictures of Dusty were taken. The build didn't change much and by the looks of my pictures, we didnt use him much either. July is backpacking season! So that's what we spent our weekends doing. If you're only here for pictures of Dusty, scroll on, if you're down for whatever, then here's some highlights of whatever.

For the 4th, we usually get out of dodge. Our neighborhood becomes a warzone, and we don't like living in a warzone, so we hiked up to an alpine lake and spent the night. There's a cool peak above from which you can see much of the puget sound, I thought hiking up there would be fun to try and see fireworks from afar, but we were in a cloud most of the time. Although the dog did a great time on her first backpacking trip! We learned she didn't like the rain fly, and would rather sleep outside the tent. But as you introduce animals to new things, they get used to them and slowly, she has come to like the tent.

For now, I'm gonna curl up like a creepy snow fox right here thanks,


Since we couldn't get views, I fished, which was just as good! I had been up to the same lake last summer with my brother, and gotten skunked, so it was fun to pull a few out, and catch my first brookies! Look at those spots...


When we got back to work, the dog got to meet her new BFF, a good lil boy now named Buck. He was abandoned at my work (end of a road nature area type place) and adopted by a coworker. They are besties, and 3 months later he's almost bigger than she is!


A trip to the beach, where we slept in the truck, but apparently didnt take any pictures of it. The furiends got to meet some surf perch though!


Fish are friends, NOT FOOD!


More backpacking, more good views.




The cherry on top of the summer, a backpacking trip with a packraft. Damn I want a packraft. This is what we ran class 3 water on the john day with. And paddled in for 5 days. It also happens to weigh 14 lbs including EVERYTHING. but can hold 1000lbs on the water. If you wanna talk about cool vehicles, let's talk Alpacka rafts. The possibilities are endless.



Three Humans and a dog. No problem. And a giant alpine lake all to ourselves.


These faces mean:This is heavenly, you should get us a packraft!

Not a bad July right??

 

AUGUST 2020

In Washington, we usually get 3 or 4 big Low tide events throughout the summer. Atleast once we try to get to Salt Creek and Tongue Point on the North side of the Peninsula. I'm not into spot spoiling. But this one isn't a secret, and it's too cool not to share. It's a county park with camping, with access to the best tidepool on the west coast. PERIOD. This is a fact, and my opinion. Here is proof.

"Does this smell funny, or is that just you?" Ton's of blood stars.


FREAKIN NUDIBRANCHS


AND MUTHA FREAKIN OCTOPI. You read that correctly. OCT O PI. You don't see this everyday that's for sure. But if you want a shot, Salt Creek is the spot.

Granted this guy wasn't doing so hot, trapped by the tide going out, but was going to be saved by the tide soon after we left it.

That campground is inhabited by some pretty ballsy raccoons though, so watch what you leave out, this picture was taken as the snuck up behind me, and the dog quivered with excitiment. If she wasn't tied in, we or the raccoons, would've had a situation on their hands.


The most truck work though was done late in August, when I noticed the CV boot was blown. Ouch


Bought two new and replaced myself. The one thing I may have messed up is reusing the small metal ring gasket on the inward side, so there is a slow slow slow leak of front diff fluid now. It would really make sense to include that part in with the new CVs wouldn't it? WOULDNT IT?!? Guess not, bummer. Don't want to take them out anytime soon sooo....

 

SEPTEMBER 2020

Don't have much work to do...or that I want to do, so here are some stories from September! This was our most adventurous month during the Covid Era, especially involving the truck. So it's gonna be more than just an old Tacoma in some Washington forests.

In mid September, the lady was to be a bridesmaid in a wedding....in California! It had already been postponed once and they decided to send it during the small window before Covid shut that shit down again. So we decided to make a big road trip out of it, and also see the lady's parents at their new place in Grand Canyon NP. So we started to route plan, we wanted to go south on 395 somewhere after Klamath...but it was all on fire! so to avoid smoke, we went through the SE corner of oregon, then down through Nevada, and jumped back into California later. 1st stop was the Alvord desert, and awesome place we had been the year before, but with more restriction. Last time we showed up on xmas break, and it had snowed, and melted then refroze the day before we got there. This meant the desert had a layer of ice over a ton of mud, and was pretty much a trap for anyone wanting to drive on it. Instead we stayed in the hot springs campground (Also very pleasant). In 2020 thought, the conditions were perfect!

Driving into the desert is always strange, but we arrived at night which made it much stranger. We found the little dirt road, bumped down it then hit the flats...with the weak headlights we couldn't see far, but it didnt really matter since there wasn't anything for miles. I floored it and we zoomed straight out, aiming between some of the other camping setups we could see. eventually we coasted to a stop and claimed our spot. Precisely the middle of nowhere. Perfect!


Tried to take night pictures with my new camera. Not bad...but not good either...

Waking up was weird. I thought the lights from other rigs we had seen were close. But upon morning inspection with binoculars...some were miles away! Since there was no cover, binoculars quickly became an invasion of privacy...put them away pretty fast. The truck was cozy, the gang didn't want to get up too early.



We made some breakfast with a view and let the sun warm us up. Did some stretching too.



Once we were nice and loosened up, it was time to get a nice rip in, after all, we would be driving the rest of the day.



Much Speed, many agilities. Eventually she noticed another dog that hopped out of the truck closest to us, and being the nutcase that she is, ran straight for them. Lucky for us it was roughly a half mile away which she soon realised. She stopped about the third of the way there and looked back at us sadly, then turned around and trotted back to hang out with us. I guess we'll do.



On our way out, we stopped by one of my favorite trees just outside of the middle of nowhere- aka Andrews OR.

Any difference between 2020


and 2019?

Lift kit, canopy, tires, snow...

On our way through Nevada, we spotted some antelope. Has your cat seen antelope?


Well, mine has, and guess what. He didn't give a Hoot. (His name is Hoot, I guess I should have explained that to make that joke funnier)
Nevada sure is prettier in september than it is in December the last two times we've been through!

Eventually we made it to California, after a night of camping in Death Valley NP at Wildrose Campground. In my opinion one of the best spots to camp in the park, it's free, has water, and you'll have burros for neighbors. What else could you want? No pictures, unfortunately, but trust me, we definitely partied with those donkeys.

The next day we pushed on to Idlewild mountain, nearby where we'd need to be for the wedding rehearsal. We camped the night before the rehearsal day, then had a sweet airbnb on Palomar mountain for the nights around the wedding. This cutie is a trooper and got dolled up for her rehearsal day in the campground bathroom. What a gem, she's a keeper for sure.



Have you ever had to pack a bridesmaid dress "without wrinkling it!!" on a 4 day roadtrip in a Dusty old truck? Well I have, and let me tell you, I crushed it. Not the dress, the goal...anyways, whatever.

Well we did the wedding we had tons of fun, then we got the hell out of the lit on fire region of southern California. We literally saw flames from the highway. Insane.

Pushed East and made it to the grand canyon the next day! Boy is that one fantastic ditch. The truck stayed parked for much of the few days there, their house is a 15 minute walk from the rim, so we only used it to go to some other hikes while we stayed there.



Had a few nice picnics and post hike brewskies with her parents and their Jeep...



Here in WA we usually use the awning for rain...not this time! The shade was welcomed.

Other highlights included making new friends...


Then leaving to the North on our way out. Stopped at Navajo bridge and saw "lifer" California condors. If you arent familiar with the term, in bird nerd speak this is the first time you see a certain species in your life. We had been looking in the canyon all week, little did we know this spot was a shoe-in to see some. Lifers also earn you ice cream, that's the most important rule.



We also stopped at a condor release site on the Vermillion cliffs. It's a must stop if in the North GC area. On the cliff is a release facility part of the greater condor rehab program. All the white stuff is condor poo from their nests. Watching these things fly around is otherworldly.



Vermillion cliffs is also known for its expansive of OHV trails, so we ventured up into those for the night. Didn't see anyone for miles, except another lone Tacoma of course!



The next morning we rolled out, and to our ever-increasing regret, drove ALL THE WAY THROUGH UTAH IN ONE DAY. Writing that out pains me. You have no idea how many times I almost pulled off, or turned on to a road that looked awesome. We were on a time crunch so we couldn't follow any brown signs to NPs or State parks or other cool things. I'll tell you what though, we cannot wait to return to southern Utah. Spent that next night dispersed in NF land on the edge of the sawtooths. Many of the good spots being taken up by hunting camps, so we cozied up in a clearing surrounded by cowpies. I always forget about grazing on NF land when all our NF we use out here is beautiful old growth. but then we also have the logging, so I guess that's the trade-off in use. We pushed form Idaho back through oregon and back home to WA.

Writing about it makes me want to set back out again...my commute to work is getting old! Next up...a boring October!

 

NOVEMBER 2020

Skipped October, we did a lot of mushroom hunting, hiking, and cooking, but not much adventuring in the rig. One of our favorite uses for the truck bed is to get an early start on a hike, by camping near the trailhead, or to camp after a long hike. After thanksgiving, we loaded up and hiking a loop near us off of Lake Cushman. Started the hike with snowshoes on our back but no white in sight. but we needed them eventually and didn't feel dumb about 3 miles later.


dog see snow. Dog must roll in snow. Happy dog

Looked better in real life...

My two cuties


Recently added a 4ft rear awning from Tuff stuff overland. Great product, sturdy and very waterproof. since we obviously do everything out of the back of the truck, it keeps the rain at bay. And with a tarp and some rigging, we can make a pretty nice room and kitchen back there. Perfect for warming up leftover mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy etc etc. Best post-hike meal ever? Plus first fire in a while...thanks climate change.

Cozy as can be over here!


Mornings in the mountains are why I do it... you just have to turn your head to understand. If only those clouds had moved away, Mt. Ellinor would've shined down on us.