The Adventures of L.O.R.A.

Hello TW Folks!

I am starting this thread to capture and catalog the trips taken in L.O.R.A. Honestly, it seems fitting that we start with some brief introductions for both myself and the rig and what the "adventures" will be all about.

I go by Rafe as it's my handle of sorts. I've been going by that name since before the days of dial-up internet and it's just kinda stuck. I love to tinker, modify and learn about electronics, machinery and SOME technology. I like to do all the work I possibly can on my own rig so I know it's done right and so I can repair it when out on the trail or in the bush.

Now the part you're all really here for, L.O.R.A!

Well to start with let's get the name out of the way. It is an acronym with a little initialism splashed around. It stands for "Long-Range Off Road Automobile", I know a real innovation in naming schemes right? But more than just a cool name, it would be my guiding star in the months/years to come as I continue to build/outfit her.

See L.O.R.A was always conceptualized and designed as an Exploration, Camping, Photography and general outdoor adventure vehicle. It would be as reliable and bush proof as my budget and knowledge would allow and hopefully allow me to travel long distances off-road in somewhat harsh conditions while being mostly self sufficient.

I don't currently have the luxury of extended trips due to life/work obligations, outside of the few vacations I take each year. So these adventures will typically be of the 2-4 day variety with a couple 7-12 day trips scattered here and there.

Here is a picture of her as of 7/2020: (All details in Build Thread)


The build out still has a long road ahead, but it's a labor of love and trips along the way will help to test and improve my setup as time goes on. But this thread isn't about that, it's about the adventures we get up to!

So thanks for joining me in the Adventures of L.O.R.A!

 

Table of Contents:

Here is a quick list and links to the beginning of each trip report for ease of reference.

Trips:

• Not Your Typical Test Drive (Vermilion Cliffs, BLM)

 

Not Your Typical Test Drive:

As the name suggests, this one comes with a bit of a backstory. See, I'd had L.O.R.A in the garage for over a month swapping from an automatic transmission to a manual and converting from a Pre-Runner to Four Wheel Drive along with a host of other maintenance and upgrades. You can read all the details about those projects in my 4x4 & Manual Hub Swap & DC Manual Trans Swap threads. This information is important because this was the first trip after all those major changes and the only driving she had done was around the block & to the alignment shop!

So this brings us squarely to the beginning of this adventure, Friday morning on the 3rd of July. That's right, on top of everything else this was 4th of July weekend, L.O.R.A was just pulled onto the alignment rack and it was 9 AM.

To make matters more interesting, I had gotten done with the repairs the previous night at 10PM and had just taken it for a quick trip around the block to make sure it literally just worked. I had made this appointment the previous Monday, just hoping all would go according to plan we could take her out for the maiden voyage on 4th of July weekend

So not knowing if it would even get done in time, let alone work without any show stopping issues we hadn't packed or made any specific plans... which left us with a lot to accomplish before even heading out of town. So with the alignment underway and knowing the truck seemed to run and operate as it should, we starting making plans while the alignment was being done.

Our plans only included the following: Leave ASAP, head north and find somewhere to camp Friday night. Saturday we would get up, break camp and continue north to explore and see if we could make it to some BLM land (Vermilion Cliffs in this case) because it being a holiday weekend and getting a late start, who knew what spots would be available.

So "plan" in hand and alignment taken care of (boy did it drive better), we rushed home and packed up all the various gear, tools and other junk one usually needs on these types of adventures and prepared to head out. It was about 1 pm when we finally hit the I-17 North headed for Flagstaff, AZ or somewhere close anyway.

Man did the truck drive differently with a manual transmission now. No more nearly overheating going up the hills, constantly shifting down to a really high RPM and then back up to only be too low RPM... it was great. I was in complete control and the engine temps stayed below 196 and the transmission never missed a lick. Seemed to climb the hills a bit better, though the 2" larger tires were really noticeable in this regard and I will be happy to re-gear in the fall hopefully.

The trip up to Flagstaff was mostly uneventful save for the couple stops at rest areas, where both times someone mentioned the truck and that it looked "Awesome" or "Sick". While I get the wide appeal of the look of the vehicle I doubt either of these parties knew what they were really looking at. I chose to leave my Pre-Runner designation on the tailgate for reasons such as this. It would be awesome to someday run into a stranger who actually knows you couldn't get a double cab with a 5-speed or manual hubs, especially so in a Pre-Runner model.

We ended up heading out west on I-40 for 15-20 miles until we saw some dispersed camping spots back in the trees along the freeway. Found a keen looking exit and bailed off the interstate. Topped off the fuel as we didn't know how far off the beaten path we might be going and starting looking for a place to call home for the night. It was early evening but the weather was starting to turn on us. Rain clouds were looming overhead and we wanted to hopefully setup camp before the storm hit so prioritized finding a spot and getting hunkered down. Besides, we had both been up since six that morning and were pretty wiped.

We jumped a couple forest roads and before long found a site that would suit us for the evening. This was one of those times a 1st Gen Tacoma pays off as the site we picked the truck barely fit between two different sets of trees on the way in. No way a full size truck or SUV would have made it. Hell, even a 2nd gen probably wouldn't have made it.

Looking around for a spot to make camp Friday night:


It had just started to sprinkle as we rolled in to what would be our home for the night. Because of this and due to the fact we were only staying the one night, we setup only what was required.

Picture from the inside the tent the next morning looking out at L.O.R.A:


It rained off and on all night and got pretty wet at one or two points. But being summer and all it made for a glorious night of sleep and the most wonderful smells in the morning. We made breakfast and hung out for a couple hours, then broke down camp and loaded up to top off once more and head north almost to Utah

All loaded up and parked next to the gas station once back to the freeway:

Next we would head back into Flagstaff, and then north on 89A to Vermilion cliffs. It was quite warm down in the low parts of the valley as we crossed the Indian reservation. There are a lot of interesting things to see up around that area but I would recommend a cooler time of the year if possible. Either way it didn't stop us from enjoying some of the cool offerings:

Lunch next to the cliff side:

Sketchy Rock:

Then it was time to get back on the road and headed in the Vermilion Cliffs BLM site proper...

But as it turns out, the road in was shut down and no, not due to Covid-19... but a landslide due to the crazy heavy rains the night before taking out the road, or so the service agent said. So as always with these trips, now is where the adventure really starts. We didn't really have a plan "A" as you'll recall so we for sure didn't have a plan "B" lol...

We had seen some signs for Jacobs Lake or something of that ilk up the road a bit further so figured we'd go investigate in that direction. Started climbing this winding, really steep mountain in search of said lake and hopefully someplace to call home for the night. Before we had ever even found the lake, we found a road heading off to left that said "Steep, Narrow, Unmaintained Road Next 24 Miles" or something like that (I will be seriously working on my documenting skills) and so we slammed the brakes and decided to give it a go.

Threw the truck in 2nd gear, low range and just cruised along as it was pretty rocky, narrow and steep. We went 6-8 miles along this road and had seen a couple places we could camp but nothing that was anything special. Kept driving though it was starting to get late in the day at this point and we still didn't have a for sure place to camp for the evening. Luckily only five or so more miles in and we would find our home for the night.

This night was a 98% full moon so we wanted to make sure we had a good view of the show. I found a camp on top of a plateau @6800ft that would give us an insane view of the moon that night. I had just purchased a Go Pro at Costco a couple days prior and this was our first attempt at trying it out. Really big bummer that the second half of the time lapse moon rise was lost, because it was one the most amazing things I've ever seen.

But here is a video of right after we arrived at camp that night while still getting stuff out / setup.

Link to Video (Google Drive - Adjust to 1080p)

We had an awesome night, though it was a bit windy for obvious reasons. Great food, company and insane views. The sunset followed by the moon rise was nothing short of spectacular! I cannot wait to capture more with my new Go Pro next time and share with you all. This trip was really quite hectic for many reasons... but hey, they aren't all this way don't worry!

Packed up the next morning after some bacon and eggs and a bit of a lay in to enjoy the peace and quiet for as long as possible before heading back to the valley full of people. Stopped for a quick goodbye shot by the leaving NF sign


We stopped off at the Volcano outside of Flagstaff on the way back to check it out and have a quick lunch:


That's all for this quick little "Test Drive"... L.O.R.A performed flawlessly, which was a huge relief. We put on ~700 or so miles round trip so it was a pretty fair shake down. Lots of mountains, few hundred pounds of gear and a little bit of off-road action. Didn't put the skids back on her at this stage so wanted to keep things pretty mild.

Catch you on the next adventure, it won't be long!

 

Looking forward to hearing about more adventures! How hot was it for you guys during the day?