Diet Taco... trying to keep things light

Yep that is The Promontory. I've rebuilt the fire ring there twice. Seems the tree huggers don't want people camping there. Looks like an REI Alcove in use. I've been using that for many years and it has always provided enough shade for at least 2 people. Mine has withstood rain and wind in and around Saline. It is hearty but a bit heavy, 17lbs. This is one reason I've gone to an improvised tarp system with my FWC. The new system comes in at around 5lbs. I'll be hopefully trying it out a second time this new years.

 

Yes, I made some minor alterations when I was last there too.

It is well designed and as you say stout. I really wanted to like it, and liked that it can accessorize with size panels to make more functional shade. Was able to get it together solo the first time with a moderate breeze without too much trouble. With practice I'm sure it would be a cinch to get standing in ten minutes or so. With good stakes I imagine it would hold up to pretty strong winds - sounds like you've proven that! Using the side panels in gives a good area of shade - plenty for two or three folks - all day moving the side panels with changing sun angle.

Problem was the quality of the shade. By "deep shade" I didn't mean enough area, I meant the shade wasn't dark enough. The material was just not opaque enough - at least the edition I had (I know REI often revamps their products under the same name every few seasons). It was like being in a thin white backpacking tent - way too much solar flux making it inside. First this makes it warmer than it really needs to be. I actually tried deploying my hiking umbrella (mylar coated so nearly perfectly opaque) while under the Alcove and I did feel a bit cooler. Second issue is that I am pasty white and practically sunburn under a full moon. The material did not adequately block UV and after spending one day under the Alcove in June DV sun I ended up with a mild sunburn. This problem isn't limited to the Alcove, lots of umbrellas similarly let way too much light through to be a good reliable source of shade out there. You either need to use a thicker material (like the Fiamma awnings) or use a thin material with a reflective coating. The Alcove I had just used bog standard lightweight rip stop.

Saw your photos of that, looks really functional and as you say quite lightweight. I went with the luxury Fiamma option because we use ours for quick lunch stops primarily and so rapid setup and take town was a big win. I've got plans to use it as a starting point for setting up a larger shade area when in one spot for a few days. Will see how that works out...

 

@ETAV8R forgot to say thanks for the kind words on the photos! You probably already know, but be sure to confirm ahead of time how your camera does with IR - some of them are nearly unusable depending on the strength of the IR cut-off filter in the camera. Also the lens matters too - some use anti-reflective coatings that prove to be very reflective in the IR causing a nasty "hot-spot" to appear in the center of the image when shot with IR.

 

Mojave National Preserve - Part 2
November 2016

Wednesday morning the world woke to a seemingly unthinkable political upset with much hand wringing. Nick and I on the other hand woke to a beautiful Mojave morning that promised a great day of hiking and exploring.

Morning in the Old Dad Mountains
​

We each had a quick cold breakfast though Nick managed to make himself a hot civilized cup of coffee. I checked out Nick's stylish and functional new swing out bumper in the light and took note of his weld on sliders I'm now considering for my build. As you'd expect from his build thread his truck is replete with well thought out modifications and additions.

We packed day packs for a few mile circuit we'd make of the many mines in the area. Roughly we would head up the canyon we were camped in to a ridge and then down the adjacent canyon. Both canyons and the high flat connecting them are covered in shafts and adits. The NPS has covered all of them with sometimes unsightly and impressively engineered covers. Digonnet's book was very helpful with his highly detailed map of the area showing every opening, structure and use trail. Attempting to date some of the equipment was entertaining and figuring out how some of the cleverly engineered structures worked was a blast.

I was having such a pleasant time exploring and chatting with Nick that I hardly took any photos but fortunately Nick did a better job and you should check out his report on the day. The one photo I did take was a bit screwed up as my camera switched into an unexpected focus mode leaving part of the image a bit soft. Still looks decent at web resolution though.

Old Dad Mountains Mining
​

We managed to tuck our nose in almost every opening on this part of the mountain and stopped for snacks a few times. We made it back to camp and had lunch in the shade of Diet Taco. We got to chatting in earnest and before we knew it the clock said 3 pm.

Nick wanted to run some more dirt to check out how his rig was doing after a lot of work in the past few weeks (check out his build thread for the period, an epic amount of progress that would take me a year to do). He wanted to run some more of the Mojave Rd. and there was a spot on the east side of Soda Lake that I had missed stopping at on my speed run earlier in the year.

We headed down the road at a high clip and Nick was kind enough to let me run in the lead. He hung back a bit to let the dust settle but of course his rig makes tracks and I didn't wait at all once I reached the ruins of two mills near the edge of the lake bed. Nick took some nice shots of our two rigs from the hill where the mills were situated. Soon the sun was getting low enough that we needed to part ways if there was going to be any light left for driving. We shook hands and Nick headed west and I doubled back east on the Mojave Road.

I am deeply appreciative that Nick drove more than eight hours round trip to spend a bit under 24 hours exploring the Mojave with me. The day was definitely the highlight of the trip and if you'd gathered from Nick's thread that he'd be a pretty amazing guy to shoot the breeze with then you'd be right!

I headed back east on the Mojave Road for a few miles and decided on an open desert camp at a cross road. I'm a sucker for Basin and Range country deep valleys in and around Death Valley but there is something special about the wide open expanses of the eastern Mojave dotted with hills and mountains. Just camping out in the creosote and wondering what is around that mountain over there or through the low pass over yonder and taking in 360 degrees of mystery filled horizon is a great way to end the day.

Somewhere Along the Mojave Road
​

Thursday I woke to my last full day in the Mojave. I decided to start the day at Zzyzx on the west side of Soda Lake which would also give me a chance to add some gas in Baker (you can't actually approach it from the south due to closures, you have to come from I-15). I drove back to Kelbaker Road and aired up again. This was my first field use of my now semi-permanent on board air and it worked like a charm! Way faster not having to take the compressor out and connect to the battery and with my make shift housing no need to wait for the compressor to cool before packing up.

Despite driving by the distinctively named road hundreds of times I had never actually been down to the old Zzyzx resort before. It is now operated by the state colleges but the grounds are open to exploration on foot during daylight hours. It is a surreal place and there is a nice little walk past the artificial lake and along the shore of dry Soda Lake. Definitely worth taking an hour or so sometime to visit when driving along the I-15 during the cooler months.

Zzyzx
​

From there I headed back through Baker and partially filled the tank. I try to optimize tank fills after the truck has been in storage to get rid of the old gas most efficiently. I drove down to the preserve visitor center at Kelso. This is in the restored Kelso station and is quite a treat. The exhibits of course cover the environment but there are also extensive exhibits on the mining, ranching and railroad history of the area. They have a nice reading room which includes books and magazines on all those subjects. I spent more time than I expected to it was so nice. I also saw another TRD OR with a Flip-Pac in the parking lot - this one a MGM pre-2012 access cab.

Next stop was the Death Valley Mine, which despite the name is nowhere near Death Valley. There is a whole story involving a mining scam behind the name, but the mine itself has some of the most extensive structures in the preserve. There is a prominent sign at the site stating it is under video surveillance which hopefully will protect it. This mine has a bona fide two story house at it with a pleasant north facing porch - it was considered practically a palace at the time it was built. I had a nice light lunch sitting on the porch.

Again the desert is slowly reclaiming the site. A wood tower that had formerly enclosed part of a mill has collapsed in the past few years. Still the site is a treasure trove of buildings, shafts and mechanical detritus. The major structures have been sealed with plywood covers to better preserve them. There are a lot of photogenic ruins here.

Bucket Conveyor


Shady Porch
​

I had to decide where to camp for the night so I spent a bit of time on the porch with Digonnet's book and a map of the area. For whatever reason I was getting into a slight funk and a bit fatigued. Finally Digonnet's description of New Trail Canyon won me over and it would put me closer to my exit towards Vegas in the morning.

I drove down to Cima, north along the east side of the Ivanpah mountains and eventually turned up a dirt road towards New Trail Canyon. It is in fact quite a pleasant little Mojave hideaway without even a hint of cell signal. Near where the road now ends there are a few structures and quite a few diggings with colorful tailings. I let an hour of the afternoon pass me by resting in the comfort of the Flip-Pac. Around sunset I took a leisurely walk around the nearest workings leaving an exploration up canyon for the morning.

Twilight in New Trail Canyon
​

Friday dawned and I was up before the sun very well rested and feeling energetic again. My flight was late in the day so there was plenty of time to explore the canyon a bit. I decided to go about half way up and along a side canyon to one of the more extensive up canyon mining sites. There are the remains of a cable tram to a shaft high up on a ridge in the side canyon. After a climb and a scrambling traverse I got to the top of the tram and discovered - amazingly - that the NPS had actually capped this shaft with another giant steel contraption despite the fact it is more than a mile from the road end and a steep scramble up hundreds of feet from the canyon bottom. Your tax dollars at work.

The view from the top of the tram was wonderful and I had a snack in the brisk morning air while taking it all in. This was a delightful last hike to cap off the week. The previous afternoon I was getting tired and grouchy, but this morning I was ready to tackle another week in the Mojave. Unfortunately it was time to fly home and so I'll have to come back some other time for that week more of exploring.

View down New Trail Canyon
​

I thought I might have time to explore another mining area on the way out but in the end decided to play it conservative on time. I'll definitely becoming back another day and that site would need at least a full day to do it any justice. The drive back to Las Vegas was uneventful and I had plenty of time to have a nice lunch, give the truck a wash down and get it tucked back into storage before heading to the airport.

I've been to Mojave National Preserve a handful of times now. Each time I go thinking of it as a second fiddle alternative to Death Valley. Each time after I've been there I'm charmed all over again and promise to come back soon. Rarely are those promises fulfilled and it can be many years between visits. Well I'm charmed again and making promises again. Time will tell if I act on them more quickly this time!

 

Yes the Alcove isn't a true sun shade. There were times we threw a Kelty tarp over it to at least have double the cloth/material above us. I'm quite susceptible to sunburn as well so it is usually on my mind how to stay protected. When I had my flippac I really wanted the same Fiamma you have. I even considered it for my FWC but when I figured out the cheap/light way to go about it that won me over. I will definitely do my homework when the time comes to make a filter purchase.

Great to read your recent recap of your trip. I've not explored enough of Mojave.

 

Fantastic report and pictures! Top notch, Ken! Thanks for taking the time. Very much appreciated. Thanks again for the invitation to join in and explore with you. I enjoyed all of it, especially figuring out how the mine equipment was laid out and operated in it's hey day.

I feel the same way about the Mojave Preserve. Each time I go, I am glad I was there, and I find new things that beg for future exploration. I'll have to do the same and "schedule: another trip there.

 

I'm sure you have a lengthy trip list but I'll throw this out there for a near future trip when your daughter is able to do about a 4 mile round trip hike. The hidden dunes in Eureka Valley are something special. Don't forget the camera!

Nick same goes for you.

 

Fingers crossed that on Monday I'll be here:

​

 

There is in my mind no doubt that you do the best photography on the forum.

 

Thanks Bruce! That honestly means a lot coming from a great photographer like yourself!

 

This a great post, great pictures, great build and great trips!
I should've seen this post before I started buying stuffs to build my truck and set my priorities. Good points on the size of tires. I will read and take notes again tonight as I still have my stock tires. I got a white DCSB too and,like you, I wanted my kids to experience the great outdoors using our truck.
Thanks for sharing your build and trips.

 

I love this thread! Seriously, it's my favorite on TW and really the main reason I come back to TW now that my truck is "done"

 

saw a photo of your rig in someone's blog

 

Cool. Remember whose or have a link?

I'm late doing my trip report, but the short summary is the weather was good (i.e. no wind), the springs were hot and the jets were very low.

 

Saline Valley
December 2016

I try to make it out to the hot springs once a year with few goals beyond relaxing for the better part of a week. I like early December as it has very low visitation even when the roads are in good condition as they are this year. Weather is usually rather cold but since they are hot springs that isn't a big issue. Wind, which made an appearance for all of last year's visit, is more annoying but forecasts for this year were for calm.

I left my bed in Maryland at about 4:15AM Monday hoping to make it to the springs by evening. Cheap direct flight from BWI to LAS on Southwest got in a bit after 9AM. Took Uber to the storage facility and truck started right up after reconnecting the battery. Provisioned at a grocery store, picked up a few new camping items, ate lunch at In and Out and was on the road towards Death Valley by 12:30PM.

Drive was the usual pleasant and uneventful journey along empty roads through beautiful desert valleys. Stopped briefly in Pahrump and Furnace Creek. Experienced typical "Expedition Vehicle Delay" in the visitor center parking lot as someone had a bunch of questions about the rig. Filled up from half a tank at Stovepipe (last non-insanely priced gas) and then added two more gallons to top off at Panamint Springs a bit before 4PM.

I usually like to stop to eat at Panamint Springs but I wasn't too hungry yet and it was getting close to sunset. The clouds were shaping up for a decent east facing shot. I've been meaning to do a composition at Father Crowley Point so I headed up the 190 to get in position. The viewpoint is amazing but it is difficult to capture the grandeur in a photo. I decided to include Diet Taco for scale and went with a panorama composed from wide angle shots. The white truck stands out nicely even when quite small in the composition which gives a sense of the gigantic scale of the scene. The road out to the point makes a nice leading line and the clouds and lighting cooperated nicely!

Father Crowley Point
​

Of course now I'd be driving the rest of the way in the dark but I've done Saline Valley Road in the dark more times than I can count. Aired down after turning off the 190. Made it to the springs after less than a two hour moonlit drive from the turn off. Truck ate up all that washboard like it was a tasty hors d'oeuvres.

At first I was a bit disappointed on my arrival as it seemed unusually crowded for this time of year. It turned out there was a 10 person tamarisk eradication crew staying at the springs while they cleared Hunter Canyon but this was their last night at the springs. A fair number of other folks around the fire were leaving the next day too. I cooked hot dogs over the fire and chatted with the other campers. Once most everyone had headed off to bed I had a nice soak in the Crystal Pool as my favored Sunrise Pool was already occupied. After getting nice and toasty I popped up the Flip Pac and climbed into bed a bit before midnight. Having been up for 22.5 hours I fell asleep right away.

The rest of the week was pleasantly uneventful. The weather was cold but no wind except for one night. Multiple people stopped by for a tour of the rig. One clever soul had actually stopped by the springs specifically to check out expedition rigs for ideas. Most nights there were just two or three vehicles at the lower springs where I was staying and it was pleasantly quiet. A few times during the day I was the only one there. I aired up one flat tire someone had while Lee was away for a day. Two private planes landed during the week, one for just a few hours and the other for a night.

Being mid-week there were plenty of fly overs. Mostly F-18s, a few F-15s and F-16s, and one pass from a F-35. The truck was parked on a ridge right above the lower springs and being very visible attracted a number of close but polite fly overs. Tuesday though we had an obvious regular visitor fly through in a F-18. I picked him up as he approached the upper springs already fairly low and hot, then noticed his exhaust plume change as he decided afterburner was just the thing the springs needed and watched as he picked a straight descending line aiming for a tree top pass between the two sets of palms at the lower springs. I paced this out after the pass just to be sure - he was 130 ft horizontal from the back of the truck and because I was on the ridge immediately above the springs he passed me at about 20-30 ft AGL though crossing the springs itself he was around 50-60. If you've ever seen the Blue Angels #6 low transition on take-off that is how high he was at the back of my truck (the low transition maneuver is done at 20 ft AGL). I mentioned afterburner? I was sitting on my plywood raised floor for the pass and it rattled and shook as he went by. My ears hurt for a good ten minutes after the pass. Since the afterburner was completely unnecessary for any aerodynamic purposes he turned it off shortly after passing the lower springs and banked south to continue on the low level training route. It was a little bit of awesome and a whole lot of obnoxious.

My only real outing for the week was to hike up the ridge to the northwest of the springs and then down the canyon and wash behind the ridge looping back around to the springs. The route up the ridge and down the backside has a well used trail and is worth a leisurely few hours effort if you are ever at the springs for more than a quick stop. I last hiked this in 2009 and it was just as enjoyable the second time around (some photos from 2009).

Upper and Lower Springs from the Ridge


Desert Holly (2009)


Dead Wood (2009)
​

During daylight I did some reading in the sun on the lawn at lower springs. I drained and cleaned the Sunrise Pool one morning after there had been an evening of moderate winds that blew sediment and leaves in. I finally seam sealed the fly for the Flip Pac. I took nearly everything out the truck and inventoried all of it. Threw some things away and made note of what I've missed packing in so far. I did some minor mods (to be documented later).

In the late afternoons I'd hang up by the truck and watch the long beautiful sunsets. Then I'd pack up a back pack for an evening by the camp fire and the pools as the cold began to settle in. Lows ranged from the high 20s to the high 30s while I was there. One evening nice cirrus clouds made an appearance so I set up a sunset panorama of my camp above the lower springs.

Saline Camp at Sunset​

Almost every night I'd roast hot dogs by the fire and then spend a long time just enjoying the warmth and the occasional company that would stroll by. Then I'd have a nice long soak usually in the Sunrise Pool where you have a beautiful view of the stars and the moon. Finally when it seemed like it must have been hours and I was already starting to doze off in the hot springs I'd climb out and head up to the truck for bed. Typically upon arriving back at the truck I'd discover it was about 8:20PM. There is a lot of dark to find something to do with in the winter.

Early bedtimes meant I could get up for a soak well before sunrise and enjoy some of the moon free hours of bright stars. I was often back in the Sunrise Pool by 4:30AM. For whatever reason rarely do people soak at this hour. They are missing the most magical time at the springs. Most mornings involve visits from the local wildlife getting a drink or a serenade of coyotes yipping all around the area with one or two usually visible just ten or fifteen feet away.

One morning I was treated to a coyote hunting down one of the local water fowl. I saw part of the pursuit and heard the kill along with some noisy bone crunching. The kill did not go unnoticed and soon another few coyotes were on the scene growling at each other. One trotted away with a wing in its mouth. The ravens perched in near by mesquite waiting for left overs. Eventually the original coyote I saw start the hunt trotted by the pool with a bloody muzzle and a feather still stuck to his chin.

Another morning the youngest burro in the area came up for a drink practically licking my toes in the process. The burro was perfectly framed between both groves of palms at the lower springs, the source off to his left, steam rising off the pool in the foreground and a brilliant pink and blue twilight sky behind. I formed a square with my fingers to frame the perfect picture and said "click" to myself. I didn't have a camera with me and anyway it was an impossible shot to take - it was 30F out and I know from experience a camera held over the pool in that air would have its optics fogged instantly.

Anyway I could go on and on. If you've never made it out to the springs part of me says you really should make the effort. The other part of me likes its solitude and would prefer no one else discover it.

Soon enough it was time to head home. The trip out was pretty much the same as the way in just in reverse order. I left around 8AM and made an evening flight out of Vegas getting back to my bed in Maryland around two in the morning. I was happy to get to drive Saline Valley Road out in the daylight. It is the archetypal long, lonely dirt byway and it snakes its way out of one of the most unique desert valleys in the nation. I'm already longing to get back next year!

Climbing out of Saline Valley
​

 

Wonderful report as usual. Looks like you were on south pass early in the day on the way out.

 

While talking with my friend who runs the same size tires as I do, and you do, he mentioned the following tires:
G933 RSD
https://www.goodyeartrucktires.com/pdf/resources/publications/armor_max_brochure.pdf

While these tires are more aggressive they lack weight carrying capability by 600lbs per tire. I've just ordered another set of the wranglers that I'm running currently.

 

Interesting, thanks! Hadn't considered commercial tires.

I see the G971 is meant for mining and logging which describes my roads pretty well but doesn't appear to have a M+S stamp like the G933 which I'd like for dealing with CHP snow restrictions occasionally. Heftier tire to be sure - 55 lbs vs 49 lbs for my load E KO2 in the same size. Tread design not as fancy and lower speed rating too (75 mph).

I wonder how much of the additional weight comes down to additional durability or not? They are designed for retreading - does that affect weight I wonder? My guess is they are somewhat mis-optimized for my uses - probably cost savings for very high mileage vehicles while my truck will have the tires rot out from under it before even half the tread is gone.

Found one thread on ExPo where someone had run commercial tires on their rig. Said they did "okay" off-road, lasted for ever and were "like driving in an empty cement mixer".

Anyway, very interesting. Something to research just for curiosity if nothing else some night when there is nothing else interesting on the internet...

 

Secondary Air Injection Pump Filter
December 2016

Do you have a 2012 Tacoma? Yes? I'm so sorry, you are going to eventually get eff'd by your secondary air injection pump and its valves resulting in your truck permanently stuck in limp mode with unclearable codes. Do yourself a favor and order and install a bypass kit now before it fails because once it fails it is too late to install the bypass kit. And if you think this is covered by your warranty or even your still effective extended warranty you are wrong. You will get screwed and you won't be the first or the last. It is only around $1500 to fix though...

Do you have a 2011 or earlier? Hurray for you! You'd don't have this crap in your truck!

Do you have a 2013 or later? Well you won't get as screwed as the poor 2012 sods but you aren't entirely out of the woods either. You'll want to do an easy preventative measure to lower the odds of total screwage.

So what is the secondary air injection pump? It is a crappy little plastic air pump that shoves fresh air into the catalytic converter on cold starts to get the converter to heat up to operating temperature faster. Basically expensive extra crap that breaks easily meant to save the world from five or six minutes of inefficient catalytic converter performance.

Why does it break? Well on the 2012 what fails typically are the valves that connect the pump to the exhaust system. They fail because of condensation forming after the engine shuts down. Who knew exhaust was both moist and corrosive? This same part fails in the Tundra exactly the same way and there is a TSB for it in the Tundra. Furthermore recognizing the poor engineering the 2013 and later Tacomas run the air pump for a little bit after the engine shuts off to purge it with fresh air to prevent condensation formation. If you have a 2013 or later you here a little buzzing after shutdown and that is this pump running.

For 2012 owners though there is no TSB and no ECU update to purge the pump at shutdown. Better still Toyota claims this is not part of the emissions system and will not repair under the long emissions system warranty present in some states. Did you pay for an extended warranty? Go check your documents - cleverly it does not list excluded parts rather it lists only parts included in the warranty and this isn't one of them. In typical Toyota fashion despite clear evidence they screwed up and know it they are presently just telling 2012 owners to bend over and grab their ankles while they work over their... um... exhaust.

You can remove the pump and valves entirely using a bypass kit. The kit includes a harness that fools the ECU into thinking the system is working. Unfortunately this trick only works if the ECU has not already thrown a failure code. So you need to install the bypass before the pump or valves break. I'd strongly recommend 2012 owners do this.

For 2013 and later owners the ECU change to run the pump at shutdown appears to prevent the problem. Or at least push it so far into the future no one has noticed it failing in that way yet. There is still one failure mode though...

Inside the crappy plastic pump resides an even crappier foam filter. Imagine the weakest, junkiest open cell foam you could source from China and then install it right before the cheap plastic vanes of a fast spinning pump. Be sure not to install a metal screen to catch any foam bits that fall off of the filter. Place filter inside a hot engine compartment and run it through the desert for years. What could possibly go wrong?

So anyway, a number of 2013 and later owners have also gotten screwed by having the foam filter disintegrate and break the vanes on the pump. If you are extra blessed the broken vanes will then break the downstream valves too.

Read more about this testament to modern Toyota engineering and excellent customer service here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/secondary-air-injection-switching-valve.381997/

Of course TW has already come up with a good preventative solution to this and so while out in Saline Valley I took a few minutes to apply the fix.

The offending pump with outer shroud already removed


Top removed showing crap foam filter


External filter to replace OEM inlet


All put back together (minus OEM internal filter of course)


Outer shroud put back on, looks almost stock.​