Tundy, house and beetle build thread...and exploring.

They laughed at my idea to make a bench....


... and then helped after realizing how awesome it would be.

 

And it was very comfortable. Not like oh.. it's comfortable for what it is, comfort that you would expect out of a ergonomic fancy furniture store.

 

I forgot the bench picture was posted in another thread.. so i uploaded one in here at the expense of 10 minutes of uploading. Damnit.. It didn't upload.

@CO MTN Steve I'll check out the video tomorrow if/when i have better service. I definitely need some pointers. We did try out the active track.. which is neat and creepy at the same time.

 

Oh and i forgot one very important detail.. we bashed snow to stay ON the trail instead of going around like all the other dimwits, young Brett has some tires that have no business in snow. Probably 100 feet, off camber, uphill. My 'baby' 31" tires that happen to be bomb ass duratracs made great progress (the only ones to make progress, sinking in after losing momentum AND being able to back out), i then turned it over to the larger Cooper's to complete the task since I didn't want my duratracs to blow a sidewall in the sharp snow... At least I've been told that's what would happen.

 

Punctured on the snow sounds right to me.

 

This must have been where you got the puncture. It just took a while to show itself.

How do you do laundry? An old washboard and Creek?

 

I may have to pick it up and save it for posterity.

 

Given what you guys saw and experienced maybe carving in "Stay the Trail" on the project might help for 30 secs or so.

 

That might actually accelerate its demise, given the caliber of people we're talking about here.

 

Chapter 1: The First Week


OK kids! Finally found some service. Here it goes. Have only had service to unreliably send a text here and there so far this trip. Currently stationed in Wyoming at a high end mexican joint since there is service here. You might've seen one of these places on the "best of" lists in your area... Taco Bell. Pictures are straight out of the camera/phone never had time to edit them at all.


Last week I spent a few days helping my cousin with some work before bouncing. I slept in my truck in the NF outside his back door so I could try and get the truck a little more organized and see if I needed to make any modifications before hitting the road. I realized I packed too much, and am still slowly thinning stuff out and trying to find thrift stores along the way to donate stuff at.

Saturday afternoon I headed north to find a camp spot on Rabbit Ears Pass before meeting a few hoonigans for a trail run on Sunday. Being the July 4th weekend, I figured it would be hard to find a spot, but it seemed that there were not many people camping. I found a few spots relatively quickly and settled down at one that had an awesome view.



As you can see, I already have the mosquito nets out. It was INSANELY buggy... I literally had mosquitoes following me even though it was windy which I was hoping would keep me safe. Not wanting to drench myself in bug spray, I gave up and headed to another spot on the west side of Rabbit Ears Pass. It was a night and day difference. It was still a great view.



I have yet to use my tent or hammock. I always end up sleeping in the truck since its easy, comfortable... and easy. I am debating on working an RTT into the equation just so I can use the back seat for storage and make it much easier to organize and access stuff. The bed of the truck is currently plenty full and its a pain taking everything out to get to stuff in the back.

Then I connected with @Squeaky Penguin @Reh5108 @Star-Lord @Night Eagle to run some trails from Steamboat area north into Wyoming. We knew we would be in for a lot of labor to get the trails open due to downed trees and possible snow. But that's half the fun... getting the trails properly open so the low-lifes quit driving around stuff and ruining the trails.



This trail was great, and I saw the benefits of having a suspension that was meant for these kinds of roads.

The first few trees that we had to remove were nice and easy, until we got to the big one we knew was coming.




With three saws running, we cleared the trail of this mess in what seemed to be 45 minutes or so. Dropped the large tree (that had a 25" diameter) and then winched it to the side of the trail with great precision.

The trails were pretty tight in spots, I managed to get the top of a tiny green tree wedged between my slider and rocker panel on the passenger side. I thought it was under the slider, kept rolling forward, and I now have a nice deep scratch front to rear on the rocker panel, it broke the mounting tab off the rear fender flare and managed to crease the bed at the front where it broke the fender. I still need to work on fixing that, I just washed the truck, so may be applying some gorilla tape just to keep it from snagging on something else and finishing the uninstallation of it.

We snow bashed our way to the top of the mountain. It was uphill, off camber, somewhat deep, but we made it.



We encountered some trailer trash who decided to drive over the alpine tundra even after we yelled at them for being off trail. Pictures of their registration stickers (2 out of 4 had them) will be forwarded to the forest service who will hopefully take care of it.


We hit the Ellis Trail which was newly re-routed by the forest service. Long story short, it was a large letdown, but the trail to begin the day was awesome, so it was a great day in the woods although VERY dusty. Basically the new trail is three or four old maintained mining roads that are connected by short narrow switchback sections and is rated as "most difficult". It would be tough for a full size to get through without damage, but... I would not recommend going out of your way to run it.


@Squeaky Penguin had the dream of building a bench from a log... we laughed it off. But then figured there was a lot of daylight to kill, lets do it! Armed with a couple saws...



Two chainsaws, a coping saw, and a drill with a 1/2" bit... and we were done. No scews, only wood. It was VERY comfortable. We are hoping it'll last until next year and eventually become a destination for campers in the area. While I was working on these pictures there was a deer that was not sneaky at all creeping through the woods. I hit it with a flashlight and it continued acting like we could not see it... creeping, loudly through the trees.


Out of picture space... to be continued.

 

I may have an RTT for sale very soon

You still planning to run the trail in WY?

 

Chapter 1 Continued: The First Week

On Monday I wasn't sure of my plans. The rest of the crew headed their ways, I organized the truck while making breakfast. I brought 303 Aerospace Protectant with me and detailed the interior because it was covered in dust. I then used the shower for the first time on the road. It worked fantastic and felt great getting that nasty sand out of my hair.

I decided to head towards Walden since I really wanted to see some moose to test out the new camera lens on and I hadn't been to Walden before. I swung by Hog Park Reservoir that was just north of our camping spot.


I had learned that the Never Summer Wilderness was actually a place... I thought it was just a brand! I ended up driving up to the trailhead, I think its Baker Pass (@Squeaky Penguin is that what it is?). I thought I could drive up all the way, but after 1.8 miles of the tight trail, I ended up at a cul de sac designed for golf carts. I parked off to the side to not obstruct the trail for other users and started hiking up the 4 mile hike. It started to get a little cloudy so I turned back after 1.5 miles. I saw no critters but plenty of crap all over the trail.



I found a creek crossing that helped me clean off the truck as there was a little spring shower.



Then I went and found a camp spot, and once again, the mosquitoes were crazy. There were multiple sites available in the area, crazy for July 3rd!




In the morning I decided it was time to get into Wyoming. I first went to the wildlife area near Walden... found a few critters there.



Then I headed up to Independence Mountain for lunch... seemed appropriate for July 4th. Again, on top of the mountain, I put out the awning and instantly got swarmed by some large fly/bee insect things. I put away the awning and they went away. I drove down another side of the trail, heard the tire hissing. I put a hole in the tread, center of tire. it looked like I was braking when it hit something sharp since the cut was at an angle. I stopped to patch it and got attacked by mosquitoes. I aired it up and found a place with less bugs. Got it repaired and headed into Wyoming. It was very hot in Wyoming. I hit the forest service roads in the Medicine Bow National Forest as soon as I could. I ended up finding an OK spot since I was sick of trying to find one. I had a tiny amount of service and saw that just up the road was State Highway 130, called the Snowy something or other. WOW.... it reminded me of the Alps or something. The roads were nice, pullouts and scenic areas everywhere, and nobody on the roads. It is beautiful up there... and this is what I could see from the main highway.



Then went a bit west of this to find a camp spot for the night. Bounced my way to a hidden gem of a site. As I pulled in, two deer ran across the road and two bald eagles flew over the lake. Wish I had my camera out for that!



I woke up this morning and took a bit of a hike further down the road. Passed a few more little lakes before finding a beautiful one called Dipper Lake. After hanging out here for a minute, I bushwacked back to the truck hoping to find some animals. I saw an elk across a meadow but it was well gone by the time I got there. I ended up climbing down the scree field in the distance in the above picture and walking around the backside of the lake. By the time I made it back to my truck, there was an older gentleman who looked like he was scouting a fishing spot. Turns out he and his wife used to come to this area all the time, and hes hiked up the mountain in the background 8 times (hiked down 7 since he was stuck with a friend in an August snowstorm for 24 hours and they had to be rescued). His wifes ashes were spread all over the areas that they liked to visit and this was one of those areas. We talked for a while until he continued back on his way. It was a really great start to the day, I look forward to meeting more people like him along the journey.

I drove the truck up to that Dipper Lake since it looked like the perfect place to learn how to paddleboard. I dropped her in and away I went. I never fell although I came close a few times. I found a nice powder white sandy beach to work on my skills! The sand was REAL cold... strange.


During this paddleboarding, I left the tailgate of my truck open since there was nobody for miles... and I wasn't planning on being gone for long. I return to a bees nest on my truck! WTF



They were all over the bed. This was after I removed one bin and jeans and a shirt with my paddle without being stung. The awesome part was that my windows were also cracked and my keys were inside the bed. After a while I managed to get the other bin off the tailgate, and got the keys with my paddle and took the bees for a quick ride down the trail. Most of them left but I had to shoo a few stragglers. They kept harassing me until I headed out. I was going to stay there, but I didn't feel like dealing with them. I headed into the town of Saratoga where I was going to hit up the free 24/7 hot springs later in the day. There wasn't much to do in the small town and at what felt like 100 degrees, I had no interest in a hot springs adventure. I headed north and am currently in Rawlins, WY since there was a car wash and cell service. I'm going to head west shortly to Wyomings Red Desert or the Great Basin Divide. Fun fact... none of the rain that falls there drains into any ocean directly or indirectly. Its going to be crazy hot... but there are lots of wild critters, the largest herds of wild horses in the world, elk, and everything else.

Well.. its about that time...

 

I have realized that the hardshell ones arent all as small as I thought (most are 11" tall!!!) There is one small soft RTT that without the ladder attached is under 8" tall and under 100 pounds (I'd be fine with putting the ladder in the bed to gain that few inches of clearance). Of course, its sold out everywhere.

https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/us/front-runner-roof-top-tent.html

Its some other brand, they are just reselling it.

 

Scrubba

Its nice and easy, add water, add detergent and squish it around with the washboard that's part of the bag. It worked really well and was fantastic that I was right next to the stream full of crystal clear snow melt.

 

@Squeaky Penguin et al

Email sent to the Forest Service about the off trail use... I had two full registration stickers/numbers so it'll be easy for them to do something about it... if they want. The ringleader on the bike has an expired 2016 sticker.

 

That creek crossing looks like you were on silver creek road, one road east of Baker Pass. Did you drive up some tight switchbacks on a road just barely wide enough for your truck? That would be Baker Pass.

 

Yeah, just looked at the pictures. South Fork Michigan Trailhead. Tight trail that is too tight for more than two vehicles to run at the same time. From that trailhead, it was a 4 mile hike to the Baker Pass, and then 8(i think) to a lake.

 

Yep. That's it. I love it back there, not accessed a lot, and those mountains come out of nowhere.

Been meaning to drive up there and make the hike to the pass, need to do that this summer.

 

Holy crap. My soft shell is 11" minus the ladder.