The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

Terminus?

Are you going to trap everyone in a rail cart and soon start prepping the bodies for consumption?

 

Looks like a blast! Nice shots and incredible viewing opportunity of the bighorn sheep.

 

Font's Point - Anza-Borrego Desert State Park - Family Camp Trip Jan 16-18

Font's Point is probably the best location for viewing the Borrego Badlands. It's 4.0 miles of flat-soft-washboard trail to get there. I personally love this place, my wife does not. She thinks it's too dangerous. She is right because the man is always wrong.

We did this little adventure after having a fat lunch at Jilberto's Taco shop in Borrego Springs. Yum!



Once we arrived, we parked and began a small hill climb to a dramatic cliff. If you have small kids, keep a tight leash on them at this location. There is no guard rail to keep them from walking to their peril. Caution is required, I guess this goes for adults too.

Here is my 3-year old on her way to slay any potential frost giants that might be there. lol She is a fan of Thor.


While we were there this old dude and his son pulled up in their jeep, and walked to an edge providing a great photo opportunity showing scale.


That's them turning to leave.


Font's point looking West, and the cliff to the right where the subjects had just walked away.


Another view of the Badlands looking East.


Our campsite is far off in the distance.
Coyote Mountain on the left, Toro Peak on the right with snow on it, and Clark Dry Lake left of center.


After this little adventure, we went back to our campsite.

 

I hadn't known about the flood, looks like I was last up at First Grove in January of 2003! Boy time flies.

We did the Palm Canyon hike every Easter/Spring break when I was growing up. We would spend a week at the campground and one day was the big hike. I can't remember how old I was before I did the hike the whole way to First Grove - I think probably six but maybe five. Before that I would go a little ways with my mother and then turn around when tired while my dad and brother continued.

Also remember back then water flowed all the way through the campground at least in the spring months. Not sure that is the case anymore?

Do you have a guess as to how far you got mileage wise?

I've been doing very short little "hikes" with my daughter (3.5 yrs) on our past couple of trips. She is a really good walker in general. We tossed out the stroller around age two and so she is used to walking for hours around zoos and museums. Not sure how that would translate to trails though - would need to break it up with distractions along the way I think. Planning on doing a lot of the touristy spots on the valley floor in DVNP over President's Day weekend with her. Will see how that goes!

Glad you had a successful family hike! Thanks for bringing back some memories for me too!

 

Family Camp Site - Anza-Borrego Desert State Park - Jan 16-18, 2016

We primitive camped south west of Clark Dry Lake, and it was a great site.

The 3-year old was very happy here. I gave her a 12" metal tent stake and lantern and she was very creative drawing and tracing in the soft dirt. Later after seeing how much time she put into it, I complemented her on her work and she was very pleased.


Later I got the propane fire pit going and we all sat around and ate dinner and told stories.


We had some fantastic hot showers courtesy of this thing.


We had a great nights sleep. Woke up at night the first night around midnight with my 5-year old and went outside. Had a great view of the stars to the West. She was very impressed which made me happy. Also in the night we could hear a pack of coyotes yipping and howling.

Red sunrise on Monday morning, 1-18-2016. No post processing on this photo, straight outta the camera and framed in a border.


Here is our site Sunday morning.


The kids found some rope and other treasures. Happy as can be.


Our amazing view.


Camp kitchen on Monday morning before breaking camp.


TRIP REPORT CONTINUED Galleta Metal Sculptures

 

Thanks for the post, Ken.

That's awesome! I had a similar family experience. As I am told, I was about 1 year old when my parents first took me there to the Borrego Palm Canyon campground in 1979. There were other trips years later and my brother and I played in the campground as kids. Funny how some things come full circle.

I almost gave up during the first 1/4 mile of this hike because 3-year old didn't want to go on. But luckily, wife said no, we should continue on a bit further, so I decided to carry her. We almost missed it all! I think water will flow out to the campground if there is sufficient rain in the mountains. Despite the wet December we had, we didn't find any water this trip, but I'm sure if we continued on, we would have found some.

Yes. Thank you. I had forgotten to measure it out. It was 1.28 miles.

Later that same day, prior to dinner, we did a hike from our camp to Clark Dry lake and she walked the whole way back, which was about 1/2 mile.

My oldest kid inherited my agility, and she has no problem gliding over uneven terrain, climbing, etc. My youngest inherited my wife's, and she tends to take more time to traverse terrain. My wife tells me not to compare them, but how the hell do I not do that? lol

It's remarkable to me how much genetics plays into human development.

Thanks! Sounds like a great trip you have planned for you and yours. Sharing the great outdoors with my kids has been one of the greatest experiences. At certain times, it's almost like having a second childhood.

The best thing I've done for myself on these family trips is to try to not have any expectations for outcomes. Whatever happens, happens, and it's just part of the adventure. We'll adapt and go on. On this trip, I forgot the headlamps, so we used lanterns, and a small flashlight. Neither of us wanted to cook every meal, so we ate out in Borrego Springs.

 

The flood in 2004 was pretty amazing as it destroyed the campground near the mouth of the canyon.

Here is a picture, not mine of the violence that occurs due to extreme flash flooding.
That's a boulder on top of a palm tree!


And here is one that I took in 2010

The quote above was taken from this article here. Good read for anyone interested in hiking the Canyon.

 

I have a friend who said "having a second childhood" was the main reason she wanted kids. There are certainly plenty of fun things we do that we wouldn't have done without our daughter around. Of course there are also plenty of things we don't get to do since she is around!

Yep, that's how we've been doing it so far. I've got a Borrego trip report to do as well, we went to less than half the places I had planned but that was just fine. Daughter decides she wants to dig holes with my E-tool for half an hour before leaving camp? No worries - more rest for the parents. Watch the movie at the Visitor's Center twice? Sure thing! We leave camp when she's run out of things to do at camp. My first rule of parenting is never interrupt a child that is already entertaining herself!

Reminds me that I was super bummed they finally got rid of the amazing slide show they used to have at the Visitor's Center. The video they replaced it with is nice, and follows the same concept of a year in the desert, but the original slide show was a work of magic. I'm guessing it was just getting too hard to maintain (it was either six or nine slide projectors, super-pano aspect ratio with all sorts of nice fades and transitions).

 

We can definitely relate...our kids have always been hiking. My youngest did an 8 mile loop when he was 3. Now he's 10.5, a Boy Scout, and loves life. My oldest boy and I are heading to New Mexico (Philmont) this summer, and I'll probably do it every other year after with the other two.

Get them enjoying it early, and it will be a blessing. You're also creating memories (with documentation!!!) that will be priceless to them, whether they realize it or not

 

This is so beautiful! Great reports Nick.

 

Thank you for these videos. I watched them last night. I think it's great to see the people behind the scenes making things happen. Very good.

Thank you for explaining/confirming. Very much appreciated. I hope you succeed in your endeavors and I hope to be a customer in the future.

ROFL!!! Is this movie like "The Hills have eyes" (2006)? That scares me! lol





@samiam

Glad to hear all of this. So much win! I think on our last visit we watched the new film twice too. lol I don't remember seeing the old one though, there was a large hiatus on my part vising the center there, probably why.

Thank you Mike! An eight mile loop at 3! Wow! Very impressive! This is all great to hear. I will endeavor to enjoy each day as it happens with a hopeful eye towards the future. Thank you for taking the time to write.

Thank you! That sunrise was quite interesting, because of inclement weather, the sun only had a small window to illumiate before it was concealed by cloud cover. And as far as I can remember, I don't have any pics of a red sunrise. It was very neat indeed, especially sharing it with the whole family.

 

Getting back to the discussion of wheel vs spacer for solving the rubbing.

I counted eight (7) recommendations for wheels, and one (1) for possible spacer.

I've been looking into the 1st Gen TRD 5-star wheels as a possible solution.

It has the same width as the TRD OR wheel: 7", and is alloy, so roughly same weight.

The offset or the TRD OR wheel is.... 32mm
The offset of the 1st Gen 5 spoke is 15mm. The difference is 17mm (0.669").

The max backspacing I would accept for a different wheel would be 4.75", was shooting for 4.5"

Looking at the chart below (I'm trusting it's right), the backspacing for the 5-star wheel would be between 4.5" and 4.75"

I believe it would be just enough space.




Another option is 4Runner Limited wheels 16X7 4.5"BS ... I'm looking into that now...

 

[in a soft voice] Remove your coil overs and cycle your suspension and steering.

 

Will do! Anything in the way is gonna get beat, shaved, or cut back.

I'm getting pretty excited about the next big maintenance project on the truck.

I am getting things lined up to refurbish the front end. I was under the truck two nights ago and my LCA bushings are looking pretty bad. And and since DV I've noticed a sound I don't like up there.

Here is what I have planned so far:

• New LCA bushings, Mevotech or Whiteline, not sure yet.
  
• New lower ball joint, probably Moog, but maybe Mevotech
  
• New aftermarket UCA
• Spindle gussets.
• Different wheels with less backspacing.
  
• Undecided right now, but may swap out tie rod ends. Probably Moog

 

My $2:

Moog outers is what I roll - I like their outers. They sell inners for 6 lug trucks, they just don't make them. I trust them though.

I've had NAPA's box brand wear out in months. I used to be in this business (actually I was a VP of OE parts and my counter part sold Aftermarket) and when a company comes in for a 'change over,' many times it it with boxes and they just warranty others peoples junk. Boxes are a lot easier than hauling all new merchandise.

As far as spindle gussetts, I used some All Poo ones and they just focus the stress on another point. The only ones that the Seal Teams use, to my knowledge is the Total Chaos ones (that allow for the retention of the sway bar). That is what I have. Remember, when you burn them on, go slow and keep cool.

If you find a stack of cash, pick up the Total Chaos, racing series stock length lowers. I have the old style but the new ones are swanky.

... and I will only charge you $1.15 for this advice.

 

Why new LCAs?

 

Interesting to note that Moog doesn't actually manu. the inner tie rod part.

I wish I could afford some nice LCA's like the TC ones, but I don't see it in the cards for my truck.

I bought @zscott 's factory LCA take offs to refurbish so I won't have major downtime for the truck. I was hoping to postpone this project until later this year, but If I am going to continue to wheel the truck through winter and spring, I feel like it's gotta get done.

@glorifiedwelder operates a Spindle Exchange program. I'll be doing that. I think net cost is $160 plus return of core.

I like the TC spindle gussets (no sway bar), with tie rod gusseting.

I like this design, because I can always run factory wheel if I need to, and I don't see the sway bar going back on.

 

My original plan was to refurbish the front end after I inherited my wife's car for a daily driver in the summer time... However, after inspecting I've decided to speed things up. I've got trips planned and want the truck in tip top condition.

The LCA bushings and lower ball joint can be a royal pain in the ass to replace. I didn't want to get stuck with an inoperable vehicle if I ran into a problem. So I bought some used factory LCA's to refurbish at my leisure.

I'll be using the bottle jack and torch method on the bushings... BGR made a video... lemmie see if I can find it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ5BMfkuHlM

AND

@brutalguyracing

BRG showing how it's done.

http://youtu.be/xTT6uNEcoCc