AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

This is true. And as I recall, you only ate one each night which surprised the crap out of me - I can never eat fewer than six or so marshmallows.

 

Trust me, I wanted to. But I figure spacing it over a longer trip is wiser. Especially when nobody else will join you

Don't worry, I think @BossFoss is the only one who actually said to me how impressed he was. And you know @Blackdawg would never utter those words.

 

Oh, and I found more "trail damage" today after finally washing the truck. One of the holes for trailer chains on the hitch is bent in. At least the rear bumper isn't as bad anymore now that the dirt has been washed out of the scrapes.

 

Was quite amazing. Just goes to show how much we all over-build. And how sad it is for folks who feel like they have to build build build before they can even get out at all.

Don't get me wrong - there are still drawbacks to the 3rd gen, and we saw some of those too. But overall it was quite impressive.

Dude, you had a whole bag of marshmallows. 6-10 a night would have been "spacing them out" enough to only polish off half of them.

The bumper sticking back is one of the drawbacks. And the front sticking forward. It's like they decided that approach/departure angles don't matter anymore. I guess it's safety first and .

 

Yeah, I got my off roading fears out of the way with my 1st gen so now I feel like I actually know how far a decent 4x4 will get you. My front suspension is absolutely horrible now though

Running with all 1st gens definitely had me missing mine in a few spots. I will say however that I feel like I hit the stock front end of my 1st gen more than my 3rd gen. The rear departure angle however is definitely not great.

The whole bag was for sharing though, and none of you helped me in that department except for Devin and her 1 marshmallow. I don't see how you can have a campfire and not have a marshmallow or smores. It's basically a requirement.

 

I mean..all Tacoma's are very capable stock.

Still wouldn't get a 3rd gen though. Not ever. 2nd gen..yes. not a 3rd gen. Too much electronic stuff to interfere or go wrong or that just makes them over priced.

Just me though.

 

Hey I ate the chocolate haha

 

I would agree with you but when it comes to off roading electronics 2nd and 3rd gen electronics are pretty much the same.

However I understand being concerned with the other electronic stuff messing up while off roading. Luckily they've made it to where anything can be disabled. Plus the extras makes it so much nice for long highway trips.

Ah, true. But now I have extra graham cracker!

 

Famous last words. You're young enough that at some point you're going to be saying, "I'd never drive one of those 8th gen's. I mean a 3rd gen is fine, but how are you supposed to enjoy a trail when you're hovering?"

 

Being able to disable it is great. But I'd rather not pay for it up front is my point. Lot of cost is for that stuff. Which I guess you could make the argument to just buy a base model I think.

We needed a chump to eat only graham cracker...hmmm..

LOL

Something tells me the 8th gen tacoma won't be powered by gas either. If I can make it in a 1st gen that long(doubtful) it would be cool though.

Yeah well a 3rd gen is like 40k. Seems over priced for a mid size truck to me. New cars in general are overpriced I think considering fullsize trucks are up at 60k now. Again though, I don't get the whole "American dream" I don't own anything just live in mountains of debt outlook much either. So that doesn't help.

I can spend 10k on a 1st gen. Dump 20k into it in parts over time and still be better off. Debt free too. Seems like a win win to me

Not worried about safety features. Where I live, the biggest threat is my own driving(ending up in a ditch due to road conditions) or Deer. Traffic isn't really a thing here so yeah. Not that bad stuff doesn't happen out here because it does a lot on the interstate.

 

One could argue they're all overpriced

 

haha I'd agree to that.

 

But, I'm a firm believer in "You get what you pay for".

 

Just so we're all "on the same page here," a new Tacoma today is not really any more expensive than it was in 1999. I bought mine new for ~$23,500. In today's dollars, that's $36K. Surely for the feature set you get (much more now), the value is there.

Now, that's not to say that new cars are a good deal or investment - they are terrible from that perspective. Buying a used vehicle is perhaps one of the smartest financial decisions you can make. But that'll never change, it'll be just as true of the 8th gen as it is of the 3rd or 1st gen.

 

One thing we can all agree on is that from an outside prespective we're all wasting money on this when instead we could just buy a cheap commuter that gets us from point A to point B. But that's boring

 

Ruining Around Utah 5 - Canyoneering Natural Bridges National Monument
March 28, 2019.

It was a chilly night - at least compared to the last - our tents covered in a layer of frozen dew when I awoke in the morning. A quick glance out the window was enough for me to realize that no spectacular sunrise would be visible from our location, so I pulled out my Kindle and finished reading whatever action-thriller I'd been in the middle of at the time.

That didn't take long - there hadn't been much left, so I pulled on a couple layers of clothes and climbed into the truck to finish writing the last chapter of the recent Anza-Borrego trip. As usual, it was a fun experience but one that took longer than I'd anticipated, and I wasn't completely done before I heard the zipper of Brett (@BossFoss) and Heather's (@MrsFoss) tent - the morning sun having warmed them sufficiently to get up and started on breakfast.

​

At any rate, that was my cue to wrap things up - my own Cheerios and blueberries waiting to be eaten in the sun. And of course, our ruckus was enough to wake up the rest of the crew, all them them pouring out of their tents in the next 20 minutes or so and pulling up their chairs to enjoy the warmth of the sun's rays.

Which meant it - as was normal by now - it was 10:15am before we got out of camp and on our way to Natural Bridges National Monument. That was fine today - our agenda clear except for a hike through this special place - something Monte (@Blackdawg) and I had added to our bucket list last fall when we'd visited as part of the F.U.Rain trip.

​

​

The plan was to hike the full loop - some 9.8 miles - through three natural bridges: Owachomo, Kachina, and Sipapu. It would be a trek for Brett, who's knee was giving him a bit of grief after our earlier hike to Druid Arch, but he was a trooper and plowed ahead with the help of a bit of Advil and Tylenol.

Plus we thought - this hike would be easier, right? I mean we were just walking along the bottom of a wash the entire way.

Mmm, nope. By the time we were done, we'd covered some 14 miles according to our GPSs, and the elevation change was nearly twice what we'd hiked through a couple days before.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We dropped down into the canyon on the south end of the loop, near Owachomo bridge. I don't know if this was the most spectacular bridge of the three for everyone, but it was for me. Towering above us as we made our way down, the angles of it's arch, and the views it framed were breath taking.

​

​

​

So distracted were we by the bridge itself that we lost the trail for a short period of time, having entirely missed a reasonably obvious sign that should have kept us on track. Not a problem for us though - that meant another view before heading the right direction down the canyon.

​

​

Before we'd set off on the hike, we'd stopped in at the visitor center to make sure we were squared away with our fees, and to inquire about the conditions of the trail. We'd been told that there was more water this year that normal, and that the trail had been quite muddy just four days before. With warmer weather this week, we hoped that we'd have no trouble - and for the most part that turned out to be exactly what we got.

In fact, I think we hit the hike at exactly the right time of year - water flowing along the wash next to us, cascading over rocky areas, it's sound rhythmic and peaceful - but the trail dry and the day warm. We couldn't have asked for more, really.

​

​

And then, as we were making our way around a bend in the wash - looking for a way to cross without getting wet, Brett turned around and pointed up on the side of a cliff. "Are those petroglyphs?" he asked, catching us all off-guard.

As it turns out, Monte had marked some ruins on his original route, but of course none of the rest of us had looked at that before setting out - so we had no idea that we might continue our record ruin run. And, even better - these petroglyphs weren't ones that Monte had marked. Without Brett's keen eye, we'd have walked right by, like so many other hikers must every day.

​

​

Keen to get a closer look, we found our way up (these side trips are what would turn our 9.8 mile hike into some 14 miles) and were greeted with some of the best petroglyphs we'd seen yet, and a ruin to boot.

​

​

​

​

We also found an ammo box - something we initially thought must be a geocache, but instead turned out to be a congratulatory note from the National Park Service, letting us know that we'd found a secret ruin - one of many throughout the monument.

One of many you say? Challenge accepted.

​

​

We continued on, meandering along with the wash, eventually making our way north, but not without a lot of east and west thrown in the mix. Having gotten a bit of a late start, we were all starting to get a bit hungry, and we looked for a nice place to stop for lunch - our criteria as simple as a nice view, a bit of shade, and a bit of sun.

​

​

It didn't take long to meet those criteria - essentially the entire hike described in those simple terms - and so we plopped down to each sandwiches, chips, fruit, and more - all while taking in the sun and watching the local wildlife soar above.

​

​

It was nearly 2:00pm by the time we decided we needed to press on - more than half of the hike still in front of us, our pace slow as we soaked everything in. And as we did, we rounded a bend where the wash plummeted down into what looked like one of the most refreshing swimming holes we could have possibly found. Alas, today we could only admire from above.

​

​

Then, further down the wash - in fact, at a spot where two washes came together - we rounded another bend to find Kachina Bridge. Though hard to tell in person, it is larger than Owachomo but significantly smaller than the third bridge we'd see this day - Sipapu. And, as recently as 1992, approximately 4,000 tons of sandstone fell from the inside of the bridge, enlarging it as it has no doubt been enlarged time and time again over the millennia.

​

For a while, we hung out in it's shadow - taking in the grandeur, listening to the creek echoing around the arch in the stone. Each of us capturing the memory the best we could, and in our own way.

​

And then, a nice surprise. Brent (@PcBuilder14) looked at the map Monte had put together and suggested that there might be some ruins nearby the bridge. So we ventured that direction, hoping that we'd find something cool. Which of course, we did - it was another "secret" site!

​

Like the last, this one had a small set of ruins, and also several petroglyphs and pictographs. And, relatively new for us at this site - red hand prints on the sandstone - perhaps a family recording their presence here hundreds of years before.

​

​

​

​

​

As we admired the find, we heard another hiking group show up back at the bridge. Unsure if they'd find these ruins, we kept quiet and did our best to wait them out before heading back to the trail and continuing on our way. Unfortunately, having thought that they'd continued on, we made our way out in full view of their group - a bit worried that we'd exposed a lesser known ruin.

But, we needn't have worried - I don't know if the group just wasn't thinking about ruins, or didn't even know they existed, but they greeted us as though we'd been hiking the "normal" trail, and we watched them as they continued along their way, never the wiser to the secrets the canyon held!

A bit relieved, we pressed on - the views continuing to unfold in front of us. Even the manzanita in bloom as we walked by.

​

​

Along the way, we spotted more ruins of various sizes - most of them unmarked - some of them worth exploring. And by some, I mean every single one that we could access. :biggrin:

​

​

​

And then, in the distance - and requiring a bit of a scramble - we saw the Horse Collar Ruins. Unlike other ruins in the monument, this is one that is well-known enough to have it's own overlook - though most view it from several thousand feet away as opposed to in-person.

Even so, Horse Collar Ruin - like the other sites in Natural Bridges - is one of the best-preserved Puebloan sites in the area. Named after two structures with doorways that resemble horse collars, it's believed that Native American Indians last left the area over 700 years ago - the site's remarkable state of preservation due to the isolation of the Natural Bridges area. With only a few visitors, Horse Collar Ruin's kiva still has it's original roof and the interior hasn't been disturbed.

​

​

​

We hung out for a while - enjoying the times when we'd see other visitors on the trail below - completely oblivious of our position and discovery above them. And enjoying even more the times when we'd see visitors at the overlook above - gazing down on the ruin, surprised by our presence - so out of place we must have looked as we relaxed in the shade before continuing along the trail.

Wishing we could stay longer, we eventually left the Horse Collar Ruins - guarded by our friend, the blue-bellied lizard - on our way to the final bridge - Sipapu.

​

​

Before we got there though, we spotted - on an overhang - a series of hand prints. And not just any series of hand prints - there were literally hundreds of them. In awe, we ventured over and it took us a good several minutes to realized that something was wrong.

And then, I figured it out - nearly all of the hand prints were fakes - added to the wall by hikers who'd used the red mud from a the nearby wash to add their own print next to the few original prints that had been painted with boiled agave juice.

Not cool folks.

​

Real pictographs, unraised, and made with boiled agave juice.​

​

Fakes (or at least, present day) hand prints, made with red mud.​

As we discussed how these fakes could be dealt with by the park service (and frankly, whether they even cared), we rounded another bend and in front of us was the largest bridge of the bunch - Sipapu Bridge. At 220 feet high and 268 feet wide, it's nearly twice as big as the other bridges. Formed over thousands of years, and subjected to countless floods bearing scouring rocks and sand, it will someday collapse and erode as part of the endless cycles of time and change.

We were lucky to be able to see it before that happens.

​

​

And then, it was time to start heading up. 13.5 miles behind us at this point, we had some 700 vertical feet to climb, and we were all tired. We pushed on, up ladders and stairs - grateful for those who'd come before us to make the climb easier than it would have otherwise been.

​

​

​

Finally back at the trucks, we were ready for a nap - not that naps were an option. Instead, we piled into the two trucks we'd left at the end of the trail and caravaned back to the trailhead, where we'd parked the other two trucks. This was especially fun for me - Devin riding in my passenger seat, with Monte on the slider for the short trip to their truck. Her comment out the window, "Monte, look how clean it is in here!"

All back in our own trucks, we started looking for a camp site along the highway between Natural Bridges and Hite. Aired up at this point, we wondered if we'd made a mistake - the county road we'd thought would be graded and well maintained, a bit rougher for the wear after a winter of snow and rain.

But the views were nothing to complain about - Bears Ears once again in the distance.

​

In reasonably short order, we got ourselves to camp. It wasn't without a bit of searching, and some new pinstrips for the extra-wide 3rd gen in our group - but the site we found seemed well sheltered and had a nice view, so we weren't complaining!

​

​

Our last night camping together, Monte built us a great fire out on the cliff's edge and we enjoyed the fire as the sun set to our backs - yellows, oranges, and blues on one horizon, pinks and purples over Bears Ears on the other.

​

​

​

​

Our fire lasted longer on this final night of the trip. We'd decided that the next day - a Friday - was the day we'd all head for home, Monte hoping to install some new lower control arms in Powell, Brett and Heather, and Brent getting home in time to rest up a bit before work on Monday, and me making the long trip back at a bit slower pace - perhaps stopping somewhere fun for a final night of camp along the way.

Even so, we'd gotten use to our early nights, and it was 11:30pm when we doused the flames and said our good-nights. The next morning we'd pool our remaining resources for a big breakfast - bacon, eggs, and more - before heading north towards Hanksville where we'd finally part ways.

At least, that was the plan when we went to bed. But you know how it is when you make plans without knowing what mother nature has in store!

 

I can put down some graham crackers, as long as I am not considered the graham cracker chump lol though I am also partial to chocolate, so I may screw up the ratio lol just sayin if you need a black truck in your gang hahah

Great reports as always @turbodb and glad you made it to anza as well. Its a cool place, yet a bit of a zoo during flower season.

 

Great report, again!

Cool to see more hiking and less driving.

 

Ruining Around Utah 6 - Hite to Home
March 29, 2019.

I was sure to get up early for our last morning in Utah - our location on the top of a plateau ideal for capturing the sunrise over Bears Ears.

​

As it does, the light started subtly, working it's way to brilliant oranges and pinks above the horizon - one of the best sunrises we'd had all trip.

​

​

​

But, that was seriously misleading. Behind me to the south west, a south westerly breeze was pushing clouds on the horizon closer. They were far enough away that I didn't even take notice as I climbed back into my tent to enjoy a couple more hours of still-warm comforters, before getting up for our always-delicious shared breakfast.

Having dozed off to sleep, I was awoken by an unusual sound about an hour later. It sounded like small grains of sand landing on the tent and rolling down the rain fly. Rain? No - it definitely didn't sound like rain, which lands with a single drop. A squirrel in a tree above, dropping pieces of pine cone on the tent? I didn't think I'd parked under a tree...

I decided it was worth opening my eyes to check it out - and I couldn't believe it - snow! Rather, a sort of snow-hail hybrid, pinhead sized balls of snow falling on the rain fly and rolling down the fly onto the ground. That sure didn't bode well for breakfast!

These flurries lasted for an hour or so - a break allowing us to climb out of our tents and get everything mostly dried off and put away - the temperature and breeze helping to keep the snow mostly frozen until it sublimated back into the air.

A quick pow-wow, and we confirmed that breakfast was off - we had no idea how much snow was in the forecast, and we preferred to not find out. Instead, we headed out - our usual breakfasts consumed quickly so we could get down off the hill.

​

Back on the highway, we headed north towards Hite and back into sunny weather - the Henry Mountains that we'd seen all trip now much closer and warranting a bit of admiration at a road-side pullout. That also gave Monte (@Backdawg) the opportunity to mess around with his CB antenna a bit - it's incessant screeching when he keyed down, more than any of us could bear.

​

Having found the issue - a frayed coax cable to the antenna - and jiggled things a bit, he was good to go for the time being, and we got back on the highway, passing over the bridge between Hite and the Hite Overlook. The bridge - the only automobile passage over the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Bridge (185 miles downstream) and US 191 near Moab (110 miles upstream) and was built in 1962. It marks the upstream limit of Lake Powell and the end of the Cataract Canyon of the Colorado River.

Oh, and it looks pretty cool, especially with a couple Tacomas about to cross.

​

We made a quick stop at the Hite Overlook as we passed by. I was glad I'd seen it not too long before - the clouds covering the sky in front of us today, and the sun to the south making for a harsh view of the vast landscape. Of course, it was still a beautiful view - so here's what it looked like the last time we visited.

​

From there, we continued north - one more stop before we'd planned to part ways - to Hog Canyon. There was one last set of pictographs we wanted to visit, a fitting end to an amazing trip. As we explored along the canyon walls, we finally spotted what we were looking for - so close to everything, and yet so obviously rarely visited!

And it was amazing. The largest drawing we'd seen, the level of detail was much more intricate than the other art we'd seen - different color pigments and carving all used together to create a clearly royal work.

​

​

​

And with that, we were mostly done - there was gas to get in Hanksville, and we didn't actually part ways with Brett and Heather (the @BossFoss's) and Brent (@PcBuilder14) until Green River - but our off-pavement adventures were behind us.

​

Smiles and see-you-laters all around, I, Monte, and Devin headed north towards Salt Lake City, where they'd head eastward toward home at that point as I continued north and west.

Having gotten a late start, it was dinner time when we parted ways - on the one hand, wishing we could camp one more night; on the other, knowing there'd be another trip to come.

​

Through Idaho as the sun set, I had another 9 hours or so to go. It'd be 4:00am when I finally pulled into the garage, my third 20-hour drive in two weeks complete - and totally worth it!

Get out there and explore - it's more fun than you can imagine.

 

To your comments about the capability of these vehicles. My wife was adamant that I not lift her 4Runner because of all the vibes that I caused by lifting my Tacoma. Hers being the "reliable" of our two vehicles. Worth note: my Tacoma has yet to leave us stranded and never received anything more than standard maintenance. I really hope I don't regret saying that.

But since hers was the more comfortable to ride in, we always took it on family road trips. Those often included getting out and seeing what nature has to offer in the various locations. Many FS roads and other loosely maintained gravel county roads. She did allow me to put sliders on, which was really the only exterior modification. I was amazed at how many places we went (and without damage) in a stock height 5th gen 4Runner. We even completed Engineer Pass, which is not nearly as daunting as many of the others, but was a highlight for both of us. There was one time on a trail that I thought we would use the sliders, but that never happened.

I only say that to reinforce your comment of how capable these vehicles are without being "built."