AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Thanks! We did see some burros outside the park (by Beatty, actually), but we wanted to see some inside. Technicality I guess. And yeah, we hit up the Arco in Beatty on the way in and out of the park. I'd gotten the low-down on the gas situation in California.

Thanks. Definitely more hiking for us next time - so much to explore!

 

Gorgeous pics of your most recent trip!!!!

 

Death Valley: Day 5 & 6 - Eventful Trip Home
January 21-22, 2018.

It was a clear, snowless night - a big chilly out, but cozy under the down comforters in the tent. Morning light gave us a chance to explore our site a bit more - a big cave carved into the sandstone that had clearly been used by previous campers as well.

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The sky was clear of all clouds, so there was no dramatic sunrise, but after a bit, the sun was still low enough to paint the far wall of the canyon a brilliant orange.

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We set about making breakfast, packing up camp, and exploring the cave and its surroundings a bit. We weren't in a rush, but we didn't linger either - we had a good 22 hours of driving in front of us to get out of the park and home in the next couple days. Just after 8:00am, we reached the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon where it opened up to Death Valley.

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From there, we retraced our steps over the worst washboard ever to Stovepipe wells where we aired up and saw our only in-park burros (on the side of an old fire truck), before heading back out past the dunes and Corkscrew Peak towards Beatty.

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Now, an astute reader may remember that on our way to Beatty from the northeast, we nearly ran out of gas. Not to be outdone coming from the southwest, the fuel light in the truck came on just as we pulled out of Stovepipe wells - some 32 miles from Beatty.

This time however, we had 6 gallons of spare fuel in the back of the truck, so I looked over at @mrs.turbodb and said, "Let's see how far we make it!"

Up and over the pass out of the park, and into a headwind (as usual) we once again got some pretty horrible gas mileage. But we got to the top and started coasting down to town. We were heading for the Arco on the west side of town, so we thought we were golden... until I put my foot on the clutch and came to a stop at the only stop sign in town, a block before the station.

The engine died.

I looked over and smiled. We'd gone 31.95 miles.

@mrs.turbodb looked at me and said, "No way, we're out of gas?" sure that it meant we'd either be pushing the truck or filling up from the spare fuel, just a block away from the station.

Instead, I turned the key, hoping there was just enough fuel left when the truck wasn't decelerating, to get us that last block. And there was! We filled up, and got 18.436 gallons. Pretty good, given the stated tank size of a 2000 4WD Tacoma of 18.1 gallons.

Did I fill up the neck, or does the Beatty Arco have a trick up their sleeve? We'll never know.

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With that, we said goodbye to Death Valley and headed north - back up US-95 and over to I-5 just before the CA-OR border. Along the way we passed an enormous solar farm, and a herd of bighorn sheep, both requisite stops, if only for a few minutes.

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And as we entered California, it started to get cold. And rainy. And then colder. The rain turned to snow. And then of course, as would be our luck, the snow started sticking. On CA-89, there were no plows, and the going was slow.

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A short jaunt out of our way to Castella for the night was just the ticket - it was 15 minutes in the wrong direction, but by the next morning as we headed out for the last push home the snow had stopped, allowing us to travel at normal freeway speeds the rest of the way home; a much better situation than pushing on through the night at 35mph!

We pulled into the garage at 2:00pm Monday, 127 hours and 2500 miles after we'd left, we were glad to be home, and already itching for the next adventure.

Hopefully somewhere a little warmer next time.

- - -
catch up if you missed: [Day 1] [Day 2] [Day 3] [Day 4]
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Very enjoyable storytelling. Makes me want to go see it for myself.

edit: And my '02 owners manual says the gas tank has an 18.5 gallon capacity. Seems like kind of a round number doesn't it.

 

Thanks Mike. I bet we could get Ben and Zane to head down as well - just need to figure out when .

And I just checked my FSM. 18.0 on a 2000. Which makes me wonder - did they really change the tank halfway through? Guess they could have. Wish I had your extra half gallon!


2018-02-07 - 00181 - Death Valley Day 5, 6, on Flickr

 

April's often a good compromise between pleasant temperatures and longer daylight.

 

I enjoyed your trip report. This makes me want to go back as we just breezed through DV when we did our West coast Trip 2 years ago.
By the way, what camera did you use? You have some nice pictures too. Good composition that paired up really well with your narration.

 

Thanks, it is a great place to explore for sure. I'm so use to National Parks that have essentially no off-road driving that it was very special to be able to head off and explore a less-traveled version of the park. I'm sure that DV is relatively unique in that way - what with the temps keeping the number of visitors down - but it was a nice change. Months and months of stuff to explore there.

Yeah, I hear you. I think I'm going to keep an eye out for a spring bloom, and maybe try to do a "no-notice" trip down there; 'cause that'd be amazing. And, hopefully, still not >100 temps.

At 3 gallons, my gauge still reads 1/8 tank. My light comes on at about 2 gallons to go, or so. When I'm not headed up over a pass and into a headwind, I think I can get about 35-40 miles once the light is on.

Thanks - and you should go back ! I'm shooting with a Canon 80D and the majority of the shots are with an 18-135 USM lens. Great combo IMO.

 

ha! Finally caved and got it huh? its one of the most useable lenses made i think.

 

need to replace mine. Focus is off a lot and upper right of the image is often not in focus. Dropped too many times..

 

Windows down, more speed.

Seems right up your alley.

 

Yeah, similar. Might have been a bit worse when we were there - probably just not graded between our trips (but also, probably not a lot of folks on the roads between us). I think also that the I'm not used to my new tires yet - with the (load C) Duratrac's I would air down to 15psi, and with these ST Maxx's (load E) I was at 18psi. Definitely a different experience. Probably should have gone to 15psi to get a better ride.

 

i bet you can still go to 15. I can't with mine but i have a bigger wheel. Got way too close to my wheels on rocky stuff to be comfortable. Part of why i don't wanna give up my 15s on Frank. Squishy

 

Finally caught up with the remaining installments of the trip report. Couldn't read them because... I was in Death Valley for a few days - hurray!

What an awesome first trip you had. That snow flurry in Butte Valley was definitely something special to remember!

Love the photos and the writing. Hope you make another trip in the future so we can all enjoy it too.

 

Nice, glad to hear you could make it out. Looking forward to your photos and story as well!

 

Garage Hoist - Winter Weight Loss for AdventureTaco
February 13, 2018.

Ever since installing the bed rack and CVT the truck has been in "adventure mode." I don't mind that so much when I'm just driving around (though - it'd be nice to not haul around the extra weight all the time), but it does make me nervous to park it unattended/unsecured overnight. As such, I've been trying to come up with a plan to remove the rack and RTT (ideally at the same time), and store them.

In our barely-1-car garage.

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At any rate, I knew the solution was going to involve either a winch or pullies (or both) and ultimately I considered three options:

1. Assemble some misc pullies and rope (from amazon or Lowe's Depot).
2. A cheap .
3. A pre-packaged hoist solution, like the Harken Hoister.

I was sure that option 1 would be the way to go from a cost perspective - but then I had a tough time finding pullies that were strong (and small) for a price that would make it competitive with option 3. I ruled out option 2 because I figured it was additive with either of the other two options.

And then, I found a 200 lb. Harken Hoister on eBay for a great deal - about 75% off - which I couldn't pass up!

As is always the case, the project started with a bit of demo to make room in the rafters - I removed a cross-brace that was blocking the area where I'd raise the tent and added another brace just out of the way. I also removed a ceiling fan that a previous owner had installed.

Strange, given that it's generally cold here.

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Demo done, it was time to take a look at the hoist system. Straight forward enough, there were

• Four eye bolts to lift the load, and a fifth for the anchor.
• Four pullies, as well as a fifth pully/cleat assembly that gives mechanical advantage and the ability to "lock" the load at a given height.
• A "rope organizer" - again, just two pullies that help to align the ropes.
• And finally, rope + straps to support the load as it's lifted/lowered.

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Installation was similarly straight forward. Because the rafters in the garage ran perpendicular to the truck, I was able to screw in the eye bolts directly, rather than using mounting boards. However, given the roof pitch, I did need to install a crossmember that the "rope organizer" was bolted to.

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And then, it was time to give it a try. I backed in the truck and aligned the rack under the hoist. I attached the straps and gave the hoist rope a tug. And then another tug.

And then I remembered that I needed to unbolt the rack from the bed. LOL.

Rack unbolted, a few more tugs (there's a lot of mechanical advantage), and the rack + tent rose off the bed rails and into the air! A few more and it was "up in the rafters."

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And now, for the first time in a long time, the truck looks like a pickup. And in pickup mode, the rearview mirror is amazing! You can actually see things behind the truck . And, while the truck probably won't be in this mode all that often, it's nice to know that if I need full bed access to haul something taller than the rack, it's now an option.

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copy cat

Looks good!

 

I get it! It's been years since I could see out the rear view.

Fantastic job with the hoist!

 

hahaha, I wish I had the room you have. I can still just barely pull the truck in. Good enough, I guess!

Thanks! I've gotten used to using the side mirrors, but man...so nice to use the rearview. Maybe I can have the RTT delivered via chopper to my next camp spot.

No idea yet . I drove about 300 feet to turn around, and that's it. I suspect it'll be a bit jumpier, but not much. The Alcan leafs are pretty nice that way.