AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Excellent Death Valley Expo back on pages 24 thru 26!
turbod you have quite the thread here.
Cheers!

 

Thanks man, it's been a blast doing the trips for sure, and fun writing it all down so I can share it with family and friends. Glad you're enjoying! More Death Valley on my second trip there - so much to explore, I'm sure I'll be back several more times.

April 2018 - Back to Death Valley [day 1,2] [day 3] [day 4,5]

 

Ive been reading those books on DV you mentioned, its a pretty impressive place. Going to do a trip out there for sure eithe november if I can squeeeeeze it in or in the springtime. Maybe Ill get lucky n try and score the bloom.

Great write ups! I stole your breakfast sando idea haha two maple breakfast sausages n some scrambled eggs, it treated me well on saturday

 

more of Back to Death Valley [day 1,2] [day 3] [day 4,5]

Thanks! I really enjoyed that section!
Excellent journalism

 

The De-Tour: Day 12 - Coincidences and Camp Fires
September 28, 2017.

During the night, the rain stopped, and by morning, though the ground was still wet, the sun was doing it's best to paint the landscape a brilliant orange. In combination with some straggling dark clouds, it made for cool light - perfect for adventure.

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Our camp site really was amazing - as was my view out my tent door. I'd won the tent-positioning jackpot!

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With motivation like that, I was out of the tent in a hurry. It's not often that you can climb up, directly above your rigs to get a view from above, which is what we had here.

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And the views away from our site were nothing to scoff at either - every direction was nature on display. Snow-covered La Sal Mountains in the distance, epic red cliffs bathed in morning sun, rock piles that looked perfectly stacked for a photo, and even a pool on the ridge top, full of water and its own little ecosystem.

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It turned out that in just the right spots, there was cell reception here too - so as I soaked up the sun and views, I also did a bit of surfin' on the intertubes. Email checked and campsite pic sent to a few folks wondering how the trip (in Montana/Wyoming) was going, and it was time to head back down for breakfast and tent-stowage.

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And then, as we were packing camp, we heard a thump-thump-thump as a helicopter came over the far ridge and started circling. Search-and-rescue we thought, given its behavior and red color. We wondered what kind of trouble someone had gotten into, and hoped it wasn't too bad.

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But then, this. As the helicopter got closer we realized it wasn't search-and-rescue at all. In fact, as we snapped pictures as quickly as possible, we noticed that yep - they were doing the same.

As it turned out, WE. WERE. THE. ENTERTAINMENT.

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Some parting shots and we were back at it - we had 70 miles of dirt to finish the Kokopelli, and then find our camp site for the night. A tall order if there ever was one.

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As we put the camp site in the rear-view mirror (well, side mirrors for us - our rears are useless with the tents back there), the trail unfolded before us. We hugged the canyon walls most of the morning - which especially with the morning sun, meant that we made slow progress as we were out of the trucks every few minutes for photos.

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We also passed over some of the most technical terrain we'd seen on the Kokopelli so far; nothing overly difficult - especially since we were going down, but on stock tires and no lift I had to be a bit careful with my line choice. This section of the trail would be harder for me coming back up - which we'd do, unbeknownst to us at the time!

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In the midst of this terrain, we continued to find places where our trucks stopped - almost involuntarily - to pause and take in the views.

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And then, abruptly, we were spit out onto the highway near Dewey Bridge, built in 1916 and the only crossing of the Colorado in the area until 1986. A human-caused wildfire burned the bridge in 2008, and it was ultimately never repaired (though an alternate was built), so it now serves as a reminder of the unintended outcomes of fire.

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The Dewey Bridge would end up becoming a central hub for the rest of our time - as the trails we'd chosen seemd to all pass by at one point or another. This time, the Kokopelli continued on the highway for a few miles before turning off on Onion Creek Road - an experience that Mike and Monte assured me was going to be awesome.

Of course it was, just like everything else.

So down the highway we headed, and even the highway was beautiful. Still aired down, we took this slow, which didn't bother us one bit.

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And then we hit Onion Creek road, with Fisher Towers and "The Titan" seemingly guarding the canyon. It was here Mike said, "get ready for some river crossings, I think there are twenty-six." I thought he was kidding; he wasn't.

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It was also here that, for the first time, Mike wasn't the last vehicle - I was. He didn't say anything when he pulled out in front, but to this point in the trip he'd always made sure that he was the last truck - there to make sure everything was OK, and that no one got in any trouble they couldn't handle.

I knew that this was a vote of confidence from him and I appreciated it. Thanks Mike.

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As we made our way up Onion Creek Road there were definitely a ton of water crossings, but there was plenty more to see as well. Deep red sandstone cliffs were all around us. "I'd love to bottle this and take some home," I mentioned on the CB. "Can't do that, so you'll have to come back," was Mike's response. "OK, sold" I said.

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And then, several miles up the road we came to an extramazing spot - a spot where it appeared that someone had painted the mountains in different colors - as if the red alone wasn't striking enough!

Having seen this before, Mike and Monte were already through, which gave me ample time to soak it in!

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And then, we were out of the canyon and into a valley below the Mt Peale - and as if on cue, it started to rain. And for the first time on the trip as we climbed the mountain - thunder and lightning.

Because where else do you want to be, other than the top of a mountain, when there's lightning?

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As we crested the top, we'd gotten ahead of the rain, and so decided it was a good time to eat lunch - a quick one since we knew the rain was coming. Chips, salsa and cookies were shared around as we all also ate our sandwiches - PB&J, egg salad, and tuna, depending on who the chef was.

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And then, we were back in the trucks and heading down the mountain. Or really, across it - to the Bull Canyon dinosaur tracks.

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When we arrived, the rain was really starting to come down, so we made a quick trip of seeing the tracks and then airing back up. It was the first air-up for Igor, and without the CO2 canister that's used on Frank, Monte's little compressor was a bit slow - so Mike and I aired up our tires, and then each took one of Igor's.

It worked great.

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Then it was down the hill and back into town, where Mike wanted to get a replacement AC idler pulley, because his had been making noise all trip.

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As we headed into town, we were stopped by some road construction on the highway, and I noticed a strange sound coming from my engine compartment as well - a whining, similar to that gearing sound that you hear in reverse. I wasn’t sure what it was, but Mike and Monte thought that perhaps I too needed the same AC idler pulley as Mike.

Could it be? Two first gens, on the same trip, and at the same time, both need the same part? It was 5:30pm and we headed to Napa.

"Sorry, don't have any of those in stock, but could get them by 8:00am tomorrow morning," the guy said. Unsure that would work, Mike asked if there was anywhere else in town that might have one - err two - of the pulleys.

"You could try O'Rielly's or AutoZone down the street, they're next to each other," he said. So off we went.

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O'Rielly's did in fact have an idler pully, but only one. Mike picked it up for $34, as I headed over to AutoZone hoping that they'd have one as well.

Of course, I didn't really have any idea what I was buying, but I could parrot what I'd hear from Mike and Monte as well as the next guy and pretty soon it seemed like I knew more than the employee! Fake it till you make it . At any rate, he came out with mine for $26, which Mike was none too happy about (though, in all honesty, I think his is higher quality - made in Canada rather than Taiwan.

With that, we headed to the back of the parking lot to do a bit of surgery on the trucks.

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Of course, I had no idea what I was doing, but eager to learn, I watched Monte help Mike, and then proceeded to replace the AC idler pulley on my truck.

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The new one definitely looked better than the old ones.

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Both of the repairs a success, neither Mike nor I had noise coming from our engine bays any more - we were happy campers. Monte too was excited because it wasn't his truck that had broken this time. An anomaly - at least on this trip.

With light fading, we knew it was time to find camp, and with our plan the next day being Gemini Bridges and then the Dolores Triangle, we wanted to get a place that was convenient to those.

We ended up at perhaps our worst site of the trip - not from a view perspective, we'd discover that was spectacular as always in the morning - but because it was close to (above) the highway. That meant traffic all night, which really wasn't our thing.

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Still, even with the traffic, we had a great night. There was no rain, which meant that we were able to be a bit more relaxed around the camp fire - still tucked in close for heat in the nippy night air, but dry!

Second, dinner was terrific. As usual, I'd pre-prepped mine, and tonight was marinated skirt steak, mashed potatoes, and salad. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, Devin made some fabulous corn soup from scratch, which she shared with anyone who wanted some. Thank you Devin!

And last, but most certainly not least, we didn't talk about trucks at all around the camp fire. Instead, we talked about things that interest us besides trucks, which probably shocked us just as much as it's shocking you now as you read this. Those aren’t things to go into detail about here, but it was really great because it meant that both Devin and I could understand most of the conversation, as opposed to just faking it. Hahahaha.

Of course, as we learned at AutoZone - fake it till you make it!

At any rate, it was one of the most pleasant evenings of the entire trip, and we really had to tear ourselves away at the end - well after the flames had left the last log.

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- - - - -

Enjoying the De-Tour story?
There's more - @Blackdawg also wrote up a version. Check out his version of this chapter here: [Chapter 11]

or, check out the full story with these links:

As told by @turbodb: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]
[Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13a] [Chapter 13b]

As told by @Blackdawg: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]
[Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13]​

 

The difference was the canadian markup. All of those originate in china.

 

Absolutely amazing shot of the La Sals. Excited to dig deeper into this thread.

 

The De-Tour: Day 13 - Best. Campsite. Ever.
September 29, 2017.

Parked at the head of Gemini Bridges, we expected to be woken early by Jeepers, but we weren't. The first set headed up around 9:00am, moving slowly.

For good reason too - they were Jeeps, and so a bit fragile.

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As usual, we'd ended up in a beautiful spot. Out on a ledge, it was hard to spot even from the trail, but was flat with great views and morning sun.

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Having gotten in late the night before, we hadn't aired down yet, so in addition to putting away the tents, we took a few minutes to complete a task that would save both our suspensions and our bones.

Well, at least mine and Mikes. Monte and Devin are still young guns.

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We also watched as two more Jeeps headed up the road - both carrying two passengers in the ~75-year old age range. Just past our site, the trailing Jeep stopped and the passenger hopped out. As the Jeep started turning around, she "hustled" up the road and started waving her hands at the first Jeep. "Bob!" she yelled, "We're turning around!"

By now, her Jeep had completed its 8-point turn, and was already headed back down the road without her. Bob apparently didn't hear her, because he kept on going.

Interesting we thought. And we chalked it up to Jeeps.

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And then we were off - up to Gemini Bridges, this time with Devin leading the way.

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As we turned away from the highway and into the canyon, the views became even greater. Once again we were surrounded by red and capped with a deep blue - perhaps the best weather we'd had all trip.

We made frequent stops for photos.

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The Gemini Bridges trail is a relatively short one - perhaps 4-6 miles to the viewpoint, so it wasn't long before we lined up and got out of the trucks. As usual, the rigs attracted the attention of a few UTVers who were there ("assholes" was I think our designation for them), who wanted to know a bit about them, as well as the tents on top.

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We also spotted this guy, who clearly took the "trail ready" moniker to heart. With a 6-inch ground clearance and a roof-rack-mounted tire, he was clearly ready for anything!

He pulled out shortly after we arrived, and as we drove back down and hour later, we passed him about a mile down the road. Jeep speed?

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We headed down to the Gemini Bridges - a short walk down what used to be a road. When we got there, we each took this same look at the bridges as Devin - it was a great view of the bridges on the other side of the hole.

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Only later did we all realize that we'd been standing on 4-inches of rock. From that point on, we were a bit more hesitant as we crept out for pictures.

Of course, it turns out that if we'd read the sign at the trailhead (which I read as I was editing the photo of it), it warned us of just this situation!

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We walked around and over the bridges for half an hour taking it all in, and trying to get just the right angle. I don't know that we ever did, but it doesn't matter - if you're reading this, you should really go see it for yourself.

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Even the views around the bridges were spectacular - though we probably could have predicted that from the views we'd seen leading to the bridges and from the bridges themselves.

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As we explored, we also ran across a plaque - likely left from the days when a road came right down to the bridges. Even today, there were several repelling anchors around the openings - probably not the safest thing to have disintegrating sandstone as your anchor, but they sure looked fun!

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As we headed back out the way we came, we found ourselves stopping at the same places to take some of the same pictures we'd taken just an hour earlier. "The light is a little different," we told ourselves!

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In the middle of it all, we passed Bob! (you know, the Jeep that didn't stop earlier in the morning when his buddy turned around). He was going slowly, so I pulled over to make sure he knew that his buddy had turned around - you know, in case he hadn't figured it out in the last couple hours.

Turns out he knew, and was totally fine with it. "We just got these Jeeps. He's just a wuss and didn't want to use them the way you're supposed to! Why would you even get a Jeep if you're not going to drive it on a road like this?" Bob said.

Well, that got a laugh and I told him to have fun. A thumbs up as he drove off with a big smile on his face was pretty cool to see.

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We wrapped up the trail and headed into Moab where Mike had decided to treat us to lunch at the Blue Pig BBQ. As we walked in, our waitress was nice enough to ignore the week-without-showers aura that surrounded us, and instead greated us with a "You doing some offroading?"

"A little bit, for the last two weeks!" we said as we took a look at the menus.

Lunch was delicious - pulled pork sandwiches for a couple of us, burnt ends for the other two. And of course fries and onion rings. Not too shabby when you'd been "suffering" as we had.

Hahaha.

During lunch, we talked about our next steps, and we decided that a new GPS track Monte had downloaded the previous night was what we should do next. Near Dewey Bridge, it would re-trace a short, technical segment of the Kokopelli that we'd done a few days earlier and then head over to Dome Plateau where we would camp for the night.

Then, in the morning, we'd head out on what would be our last adventure of the trip - the Dolores Triangle.

So, it was back up the highway to what was becoming a familiar rally point - Dewey Bridge - but not without once again trying to capture the beauty of the valley.

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And then, it was back up the technical section of the Kokopelli - once again, Monte and Mike leading the way. We all made it through with no problem once we'd found our respective lines, and we were soon passing our campsite from a couple nights before and turning off to the Dome Plateau Overlook.

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We weren't on the Dome Plateau trail long when we came to a steep section that bottomed out in a wash. With what had clearly been almost no traffic in the recent past, even Monte got out to check out the lines and figure out if it was passable or too washed out.

It was at this point when I realized that several times throughout the trip, there were spots in the trail where - had I been alone - I would have just said to myself, "Welp, guess this is where we turn around!" But not so with Mike and Monte - they took a look, and experience told them we'd be fine.

Or at least they would be - I mean, they weren't running stock tires and no lift.

It was Monte's turn first. Also unsure, Devin decided she'd let him do this one alone, and got out to take pictures. Not a bad idea if you ask me, though in the end, Monte made it look easy.

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Then it was Mike's turn. I'm pretty sure that all Mike did was put it in 4Lo and point the wheels straight down. His truck crawled slowly down the ledges, and with a bit of braking in key spots, Mike too made it look easy.

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My turn. As I looked over the dash, my brain told me that everything would be fine - I'd just seen Mike and Monte make it with no problem, but my eyes told me a different story altogether - one that started with "But you can't even see anything over the hood!" My brain won out and I headed down.

Of course, I too made it through - and easily at that. No skids or sliders were harmed in this part of the trail (though I was close to a slider on one of the ledges), and I must have had a big grin on my face at the bottom, 'cause Monte said, "Fun huh?"

Yep. Lots.

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From there we continued to wind our way through the canyons and up onto the Dome Plateau. A couple more obstacles on the way made for fun driving - once where Monte and I used our "rear armor" (aka. Tow hitches), and once where Monte mashed his OEM transfer case "skid" and then Mike chose a better line and got through unscathed.

…which of course Monte chalked up to luck, and Mike made sure he knew was skill.

I followed Mike's line.

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Of course, there were other regular stops as well - you know, for science. And photos. Because you just can't have enough photos on a trip like this. A couple thousand each, is where I think we all ended up.

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As it was getting later in the afternoon, Mike came on over the CB to see how we were doing on getting to camp. "Pretty good," said Monte, it should be about 10 minutes up ahead.

Which it was, if we'd wanted to camp at the second best camp site in the world. The view was near spectacular (there was some natural "cropping" from the cliffs surrounding the site), and there was a huge fire ring, but there wasn't a ton of flat space for us. So Mike and I waited while Monte went to scout the second possible site.

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"You guys need to get over here right now!" we heard over the CB a few minutes later. Of course, unsure that it'd be better than this, we asked a few questions, all of which went unanswered until a good 3 minutes later when Monte came back on and said, "If you said something, I didn't hear you - I've been out taking pictures in this amazing light."

That was enough for us to head over. And, as I crested the hill leading down to the site, "Oh shit." was all I could say.

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It was even better. It was uncropped, big and flat, and there was a spot to back out onto the cliff - giving perhaps the most amazing view out of a tent possible. We immediately got setup, essentially staging a CVT photoshoot and got started with the cameras.

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As the sun went down and the shadows got longer, we continued to shoot - the canyon walls, the towers, and the clouds were all popping.

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It was then time for dinner and a of course a fire. And tonight was the night that Monte was going to get his night shot, so he did that while Devin, Mike, and I chatted around the fire. None of us wanted to acknowledge that tomorrow would be our last full day, instead chatting about all that had happened to us on the trip so far.

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It was another night with minimal truck talk - unlikely to become the norm, but maybe a tradition every now and then - and we once again found ourselves only able to head to bed after the fire had been out for a while.

From the best campsite ever, we knew that the views the next morning would be amazing, and as we climbed into our tents we were all anxious to see what the day would bring. Little did we know that it was not what we were expecting!

- - - - -

Enjoying the De-Tour story?
There's more - @Blackdawg also wrote up a version. Check out his version of this chapter here: [Chapter 12]

or, check out the full story with these links:

As told by @turbodb: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]
[Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13a] [Chapter 13b]

As told by @Blackdawg: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]
[Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13]​

 

Nice to be reading this trip report again. Looks like you got the best camp spot, since the stars revolved above your tent.

 

Hahaha, thanks man! It's been a while to get this one finished up, but there are several in the queue right behind it! Has been a busy end-to-summer-and-beginning-of-fall for sure.

And yeah, definitely an awesome spot. Not sure there really was a "best" between Monte and I. But we definitely won over Mike IMO.

 

Nice rig Dan, glad to see it utilized throughout the West. There are some nice routes on the north and east side of DV, you might look into- Chloride cliff/city south from the Beatty cutoff - a loop.
Check into Phinney, (out and back)on the north side of the cutoff. Of course any of the canyons off of the west side road are interesting, Johnson canyon is pretty cool, go the right time of the year and you might find the fig trees producing. Hike up and over into Panamint City- the road has been washed out for about 40 yrs, but you can access it from the Panamint Valley side, steep hike in but the mine camp might be in good shape yet.
It’s been about 30 yrs since I worked there and wandered the valley, but hopefully the massive influx of traffic since then hasn’t had a major impact on some of the more remote areas.
Keep it rolling....

 

Always like reading your posts, your trip reports are great ,and your photo's really tell the story.

 

Thanks! And thanks too for the recommendations on places to explore - definitely a lot in the area down there, and hope to get back at least a couple more times in the next several months.

Awesome, glad you're enjoying!

 

The De-Tour: Day 14 - It's not over till it's over
September 30, 2017.

We slept soundly through the night, but when I woke up in the morning, I was immediately out of bed to take advantage of what I knew would be some very cool light before the sun got too high in the sky.

As it turned out, I'd be extra glad to have gotten up, because the early morning light was soon going to be a torrential lightning storm.

But, for now, it was purples. And oranges. I don't know what we did to deserve this, but whatever it was, I'm sure we'd all sign up again.

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And then, as the sun crested the horizon, I felt like I wanted to be in a dozen places at the same time to get all the different angles. I probably should have woken up the rest of the crew, now that I think about it, but I guess I didn't know how fleeting the moment would be.

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As I and the sun climbed higher, more sun spilled into the valley. The rest of the world was waking up - witnessed by the contrails above us, and the noises rising from the valley below.

Between pictures, I had a great time throwing a few rocks off the cliff. A 7-8 second flight time meant (I think) that we were about a thousand feet up - at least, as far out/away from the cliff as I could throw a rock!

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Warmed by the sun, I could see storm clouds to the distant west. And unfortunately, they were getting closer as the rest of the gang climbed down their ladders to greet the day. Still, Monte and Mike both had their cameras out, capturing what they could while the getting was good!

As I headed back down to camp, I couldn't help but take some of the same photos I'd taken on the way up. "The light is different." I told myself.

Whether it was or wasn't, it didn't matter, and you shouldn't care either. Because this place was amazing - worth looking at over and over.

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Knowing that it was our last real morning in camp, Monte and Devin volunteered to make everyone breakfast - all the bacon, eggs, and potatoes we could find in our fridges. Not needing to be asked twice, Mike and I both brought over all our supplies, along with truckloads of thanks.

Devin cut potatoes. Monte cooked (the first time I'd seen it the entire trip!) and not too long after, we were all enjoying our last camp breakfast in one of the most beautiful places we could imagine.

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We finished quickly though, because those storm clouds were getting closer, and we could see that they were full of lightning. As adventurers, we thought that was pretty cool. As humans, we wondered, "Is the top of a plateau a good place to be in a lightning storm?"

It wouldn't be the last time we had that thought today. And it's not often you can say that twice in a day. In two different states.

As the rain started falling (hard), we hopped in our trucks and pulled out. It was torrential, immediately turning the roads to mud, and collecting in the washes.

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By now we were used to mud, so we pushed through it, and to our next destination - the La Boca arch. Created over the years mostly by wind, we were able to climb up and around the arch to get all sorts of angles.

The sun was shining again (over us), but the storm was far from over, as it passed to our east, the direction we were headed.

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The trail out of La Boca arches presented another of the obstacles that - before this trip - I'd have considered a turn-around point. "Glad I'm with you guys," I said. "It's nice to learn what these trucks can do."

We climbed right up. Well, I think there was a point where I stalled once, but then it was all good!

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As we started to make our way back out to Dewey bridge, we drove back into the path of the storm which made things a bit wetter, but no less fun. Some caves and old mining cabins made out of railroad ties were required stops.

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Then we found ourselves crisscrossing a wash that would have been dry the previous day. We knew that because we eventually got ahead of the water, and got to hang out further down the wash until it caught up with us!

These are the things of flash floods.

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And then, shortly, we found ourselves in the final run to Dewey Bridge, albeit through a bit of multi-colored mud.

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Done with Dome Plateau, it was time for our last trail - Dolores Triangle. This road is only passable in late summer and fall due to the Dolores River crossing, and even we were a bit uncertain as we rounded the corner.

Lucky for us, Monte decided to go for it - "what's the worst that could happen?" - and made his way across.

Easy Peasy.

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I followed, a little lower. And by a little, when I got to the other side, Monte said, "Wow, I guess it is a bit deep for a stock height Tacoma." Thanks Monte!

It was no problem for the Red Head.

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An hour later, we pulled over on a spur road and headed up an overlook for our final lunch of the trip. The view was great as usual; as we ate our sandwiches and chips, we took in the convergence of the Dolores and Colorado rivers, and Mike pointed out Top of the World, which we could see in the distance.

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The rest of the Dolores Triangle trail was essentially a well-maintained-but-muddy-as-hell road, and we made good time, enjoying the slippery-ness of the mud, drifting our Tacoma's around the corners.

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And then, we reached pavement, 30 miles before we expected to hit pavement. All a bit dejected, we had to admit that we were coming to the end of this epic two-week adventure. Monte came over the CB and said, "Guess we might as well air up."

We looked quite the crew as we pulled over covered in mud. Our own little antenna farm.

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Eventually, we'd find ourselves making our way towards Grand Junction by way of Colorado National Monument. As we drove through on Rimrock Drive, the views of the canyon reminded us of our adventures over the last several days. "This is how everyone else experiences what we've been driving through for days." I said over the CB.

"Too bad for them, I wouldn't trade." Was Mike's reply. And there was agreement all around.

It was early evening, and time to find a camp site. Ultimately, we headed up into the mountains and found a large site on a ridge east of the canyon. It wasn't the prettiest site, but there was some amazing light shining through a storm miles away, and we were close enough to Grand Junction that we didn't really have a choice - so we called it home for the evening.

But we didn't unpack our tents. Rain looked imminent, and we hoped it would pass before we opened them up, since we'd put them away wet enough times in the last two weeks!

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Of course, we did start a fire and enjoyed the fire in the sky. As it got closer, we realized that it wasn't just a rainstorm; once again, there was thunder and lightning, and we were pretty exposed on the top of the ridge.

In the end though, while we did get some rain, it wasn't enough to send us packing or even put out the fire on this last evening. And, the thunder and lightning passed north and south of us - a little nerve racking, but also fun to watch (and feel)!

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Dinner was our last hurrah, and it was a group effort. Pooling resources, we had beef and cheese quesadillas with guacamole made using Mike's salsa. And of course, cookies for dessert.

Dinner done, and the worst of the rain past us, we setup our tents (in the dark) one last time, and then gathered around the fire until we ran out of firewood. Conversation this night was mostly about our plan for tomorrow - we all had a long drive in front of us that was top of mind.

Eventually, we headed to bed - with one final word of assurance from Monte - "Don't worry guys, if there's more lightning, our tents are basically faraday cages!"

- - - - -

Enjoying the De-Tour story?
There's more - @Blackdawg also wrote up a version. Check out his version of this chapter here: [Chapter 13]

or, check out the full story with these links:

As told by @turbodb: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]
[Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13a] [Chapter 13b]

As told by @Blackdawg: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]
[Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13]​

 

The De-Tour: Day 15 - Then there were two. And then, one.
October 1, 2017.

With a long trip ahead of us, we were up early - everyone climbing down ladders around 8:00am, and ready to head down the mountain by 8:30am. We'd survived the night without getting hit by lightning, and even the rain had stopped sometime in the wee hours of the morning, making it easier to put everything away (still wet, but at least not in the rain).

As we headed down Rimrock Road towards Fruita where we'd refuel and part ways, there was only one more obstacle for us to maneuver - the ticket station at the entrance to Colorado National Monument.

When we'd come in the day before, we'd come in the "back way" - basically from a dirt road that started in Utah. Our hope was that going out today, we'd just drive by the still-closed ticket station, but as we neared it, there was a sign - "Stop and show pass. 8AM - 6PM" - uh oh.

Since I'd suggested this route out, I let everyone know that I'd pay the fee for all three of us as Monte (in the lead) pulled up to the window. He waited for a few minutes for the ranger to free up from people coming into the monument and then had a great conversation with her:

Monte: Good morning, do we need to pay?

Ranger: I don't know, where are you coming from?

Monte: We came in from the Dolores Triangle Trail, from Utah.

Ranger: What's that?

Monte: It's a road that starts in Utah.

Ranger: Never heard of it, just go on through.

And with that, we were once again on our way. Eventually, we'd enter the outskirts of Fruita, and the Shell station where we'd part ways. Mike and I heading toward Seattle (via Boise), and Monte and Devin headed back to Wyoming (via McDonalds across the street).

Laughs, handshakes and hugs all around, "Welcome to the crew.", and "Thanks for an awesome time." were our parting words as we went our separate ways.

And then, there were two.

Mike and I had a long drive in front of us. Mike was planning to stop at Ben's for the night (a little over half way) but I was going to try to make it all the way, stopping to have dinner with Ben and Kirsten before continuing on, hoping to get home by 2:00am or so - after a 17 hour drive.

We made good time, maintaining the magic 72mph for much of the trip, stopping only for gas and a quick lunch at Wendy's on our way to meet Ben and Kirsten.

Out of Colorado and into Utah. Through heavy rain and strong headwinds. Through Salt Lake City and ultimately into Idaho.

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We kept going - driving, listening to our radios, chatting on the CBs. Not quite as lighthearted as a few days earlier when we knew there was more "out there" in front of us. We kept going, into the evening - the Tacoma's that had so reliably crawled us over ledges at 1mph now taking us home as if it was all in a normal day's work.

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Just as the sun was setting we pulled into the parking lot where we were meeting Ben and Kirsten for dinner. We immediately spotted Dante (Ben's new Inferno Orange Tacoma) and surrounded it. Afterall, given the owner, I think it's safe to say it's still family, even if it is a third gen!

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As we ate dinner Mike and I got to share a few key stories of the remainder of the trip that Ben and Kirsten hadn't been around for - good for both sides, since it allowed us to extend our trip just that much longer.

And then I was off. With another 8+ hours of driving, I had to leave before everyone else, but I was glad to have stopped - these were great people.

And then there was one.

Traffic was light as I travelled through the night. A notification at midnight that Monte and Devin were home safe was welcome news. And then, at 3:02am, I finally pulled into the garage and let everyone know that I too had made it home without incident.

The next day, I'd get a text from Mike that he too made it home safely.

And so, we were done. An epic, 15 day, 4031 mile adventure was complete. It was nothing we'd expected and yet more than we'd hoped. New places, new experiences, and best of all - new friends who share the same love for the outdoors!

Get out there and adventure. You're ready now. Don't wait.

- - - - -

Enjoying the De-Tour story?
There's more - @Blackdawg also wrote up a version. Check out his version of this chapter here: [Chapter 13]

or, check out the full story with these links:

As told by @turbodb: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]
[Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13a] [Chapter 13b]

As told by @Blackdawg: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]
[Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13]​

 

Epic.

 

Shop Day: Installing new Lower Ball Joints (LBJ's)
August 11, 2018.

If there's one thing I've learned when it comes to first gen Toyota Tacoma's, it's that the weak point of the design (well, excluding rusty frames) is the lower ball joint (LBJ) on the front suspension. The design of the joint makes it susceptible to failure, and that failure is often catastrophic if you're traveling at any kind of speed.

And sometimes, even if you're not.

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So, over the last year as I've been pushing the truck harder, I've been keeping an eye on my LBJ's - they're the originals after all, nearly 20 years old, and with 95,000 miles on them. I even went so far as to purchase some OEM replacements (P/N's - L: 43340-39585; R: 43330-39815 - and it's important to go OEM with these ball joints, the after market ones aren't up to snuff) about six months ago, which I've been toting around with me as trail spares in case mine gave out while on an adventure.

Then, a week or so ago, I noticed that the lower control arm (LCA) - just where the ball joint connects - had a wee bit of "wetness" to it, as though a bit of grease had leaked down out of the LBJ. Knowing that there are surely lots of big trips on the horizon, I figured it was safer to change them out now, even if there wasn't any play in them.

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And, with a shop day coming up at Mike's @Digiratus, there was no better time to do it.

Step one of course was obtaining the parts and tools. The parts were easy, since I had them on hand already. From a tools perspective, I ended up using several sockets, and a ball joint separator:

• 22mm socket to remove the castle nut on the outer tie rod
• 24mm socket to remove the castle nut on the LBJ
• 14mm socket to remove the four bolts holding the LBJ to the spindle
  
• OTC 6295 Front End Service Set
  
• pliers for the various cotter pins

The next step of course was to pull into the shop (vs. outside) and jack up the truck; this being the first rainy day we've had here in the Pacific Northwest in quite a while!

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Then, with the wheels removed, I set about removing the outer tie rod ends. The 22mm castle nuts came off easily using the new Milwaukee mid-torque impact wrench (which by the way also worked great on Mike's axle nuts) and then I set about pulling apart the joint using a pitman arm puller. When it released, it let out quite the bang; I was glad to be wearing my ear plugs for sure!

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Then, it was onto the 24mm castle nut and pressing out of the LBJ from the LCA. Knowing more what to expect this time, I wasn't in need of a change of underwear when this one released.

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Last but not least, I used the impact wrench once again to zip out the four, 14mm bolts holding the LBJ to the LCA. I'd used some blue Loctite (242) to hold these in, which I'm sure I could have broken free by hand...but that's definitely less fun.

With the old LBJ removed, it was easy to see where the grease had been leaking out - probably "sort of normal," since there's no tight seal around the bottom of the joint so grease can seep out; but definitely better safe than sorry.

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And then, I could compare the new and old!

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Installation of the new LBJ was straight-forward and essentially the reverse of removal. In fact, it all went so quickly (to my delight, this being my first time with LBJ's and a bit intimidated) that I forgot to take any photos. However, the steps were:

1. Position the new LBJ between the spindle and LCA, careful to use the side-appropriate part.
   
2. Install the new 24mm castle nut that secures the LBJ to the LCA and hand tighten. Don't torque it yet.
   
3. Install the old 22mm castle nut that secures the outer tie rod end to the LBJ and hand tighten.
   
4. Install four new 14mm bolts through the LBJ and into the spindle. Tighten them reasonably tight to ensure everything is aligned correctly; then back out one at a time to apply some blue Loctite and torque to 59 ft-lbs.
   
5. Torque the 24mm castle nut that secures the LBJ to the LCA to 103 ft-lbs (plus any additional necessary to allow installation of the cotter pin).
   
6. Torque the 24mm castle nut that secures the tie rod end to the LBJ to 67 ft-lbs (plus any additional necessary to allow installation of the cotter pin).

And then it's done!

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how did the old ones feel in comparison to the new ones? Mine have 80k on them, also orginal, and have some of the "wetness" on them. Not sure if they need to be changed those as a lot of people push them a lot more than 80K. But if i swap them out I guess I could lug the old one around in case of trail failure.

 

I'd swap them out same as a timing belt with light use. 50k with heavy use or sooner. 60-70k with mixed use.

 

Honestly, the feel between the old ones and the new ones was unnoticeable to me. Both joints moved smoothly, though not super easily.

in the end, I decided it was better to preemptively replace these, as opposed to having one go on the trail or even worse, on the freeway. At the time, I had 2, two-week long trips coming up with lots of freeway and trail driving.

Well hey, look at that! We'll just say that I was light use then, since I did them at essentially the same time as the timing belt. hahahahaha.