AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Well that's super cool to know, thanks Ken. The more exploring I've done, the more I'm interested in these historical facts. Initially it was all about just seeing "someting," but I've found it more and more enjoyable to learn a little about it. One of the things I really like about your trip reports, so I can't wait for you to be able to get back out here!

I am asked this not uncommonly. I wrote up this post, which has gotten a bit of a controversial reception from the interwebs (as you can imagine, what with the keyboard commandos who roam freely there)! hahahahaha

the post ---> Show Me Your Guns

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That is the part number I used, and is the part number in the parts list for both '95-00 and '01-04. I'd ignore the metadata on the 'zon, I find that only semi-useful 64% of the time.

 

I had to look them up.

 

Tasty, like popcorn shrimp.

But don't eat 'em.

 

Pahrump to Oatman - Petroglyphs and Our First Ever 4-Stamp Mill - NVBDR 6

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Stage 1 - Pahrump to Oatman​

Like many of the medium-sized towns along the NVBDR, Pahrump has - I assume - grown since the route was created. As such, some of the roads that were once dirt have been paved, and we found ourselves on pavement for longer than we expected as we made our way south out of town, passing cross streets and developments that weren't even on our map. Eventually though we reached dirt, and thus began one of the least enjoyable segments of the entire BDR.

(How's that for a glowing endorsement for the area south of Pahrump! )

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To call the BLM land south of Pahrump "ugly" would be giving it too much credit.​

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Trashy.​

It wasn't so much the land that was the problem of course, it was the way it'd been treated that really turned us off. There was trash everywhere, and all of that trash was full of bullet holes. The roads had been completely destroyed by UTVs, and it seemed that any bit of terrain we could see had been driven on by some bozo trying to make fresh tracks. Needless to say, we were glad when we finally started climbing into the State Line Hills and left this wasteland behind!

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Now that's some folding!​

But then, as we descended the east side of the hills towards Primm, the same thing happened again. At this point we were following a power line road - already notorious for their crappiness - that had once again been destroyed by UTV riders with little respect for the land. We got through as quickly as we could, actually wishing we could have taken the highway - I-15 was separated from us by a fence just to our east - for this section of the route.

After 90 minutes of this, we finally arrived in the border town of Primm. Essentially, the Reno of Los Angeles.

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In Primm around 1:00pm, we took full advantage of one of the casino parking garages to eat lunch. Out here in the desert there was no shade - so getting out of the sun was a nice respite while we ate!

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Happy to be lunching in luxory.​

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Primo parking is the only parking for us.​

Our bellies full, and our bodies ready - even after eating in the shade - to get back to the A/C in the truck, we headed out of Primm and toward the quaint little town of Nipton.

Yes, Nipton. In California. But, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

South out of Primm, the road paralleled the train tracks, and in many cases, there were three options - one immediately next to the tracks, and then two just down the berm. We split our time between all three, looking for the one that allowed the fastest progress - there wasn't much to see out here except for the Ivanpah Power Station that we'd first seen on our trip to the Mojave National Preserve at the end of 2019.

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Fifteen miles and 45 minutes later, we pulled into Nipton.

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Only a few houses and a general store/bar/trading post on the side of the road, one of the town residents was clearly an artist - because sprinkled all throughout town were various colorful sculptures. Unfortunately for us, everything in town was closed due to COVID-19, so we admired what we could from the main road and then continued on our way - back into Nevada!

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Now, as we've run BDRs in the past, one of the things we've always sort of joked about is that it seems the BDR planners always seem to get a little lazy - or ready to be done - near the end. The roads become less interesting, more pavement is involved, that kind of thing.

The fact that we were on pavement now - almost the entire way from Nipton to Searchlight - got us joking once again. Probably not warranted in this case, since we were running the BDR "backwards," but wasn't it just our luck that we'd have a similar experience?!

Not to say the highway - NV-164 wasn't beautiful here. It passed immediately south of the Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness, one of the densest groves of Joshua Tree's we'd ever seen!

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As we pulled over to take a look, we happened to notice the remnants of a less-prepared explorer before us; the heat obviously getting to them. Hopefully, everyone was OK.

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Anyway, we made it to Searchlight in record time - the pavement affording the maximum 45mph that I wanted to go with the tires aired down to 15psi - where we fueled up and got right back on the route - my hope that we'd be able to finish fading with each passing hour.

And then, @mrs.turbodb looked at the GPS and exclaimed, "Oh hey, you had something marked outside of Searchlight, do you want to go take a look?"

In fact, I did have something marked - a mine I'd found called the Oakland Mine, which was reasonably close to town and seemed to have some old mine equipment still present as looked down on it using Google Earth.

This was not going to be good for our chances to finish, but we were here, and I have to keep reminding myself that it's always more important to enjoy times like this than be in a rush. So, rather than head south, we headed east, up into the hills behind town.

We were immediately rewarded with a beautiful landscape - yuccas, chollas, and Joshua Trees covering the land... and Lake Mojave in the distance.

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Yep, worth slowing down for!​

The Oakland Mine (or Berkeley claim, I've heard it called both), was amazing! When we pulled up, I couldn't believe it - while we often see abandoned headframes, or old mill foundations or skeletons, we've never actually seen an actual mill before. And here, right before us was a four-stamp mill, still in reasonably good shape. A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

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We poked around for a while - checking out the old structure and the holding tanks below it - before continuing on our way towards the Newberry mountains, via long powerline road.

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The Newberry's - which contain the Spirit Mountain Wilderness and are part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area - were the second-to-last set of mountains we'd navigate, and they'd turn out to be some of the most interesting of the trip!

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We didn't know much about the Newberry Mountains as we entered the range, but driving along, @mrs.turbodb was the first to noticed a "decorated" juniper tree. Thinking it might be the only one, we backed up to take a look, and she started reading through the various books she'd brought along on the trip.

It turns out, we need not have backed up! We were in fact driving through Christmas Tree Pass - a fun little segment of road where many of the trees have been decorated, many with different themes.

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As if we didn't already have a hankering for a cold soda in the blistering heat.​

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Love ya, Lance! ​

Immediately after Christmas Tree Pass, we entered the Spirit Mountain Wilderness and Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and the landscape changed reasonably dramatically. Really, it was like entering a candy store of rocky mountains, reminiscent of those we'd seen at Indian Hills in Anza-Borrego on our visit there.

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This particular formation reminded us of the Breadloaf in Idaho's City of Rocks.​

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With several roads and many more hikes around, I can see this as a place that we could come back and visit in the future - the majesty of the mountains was just that breathtaking.

As we slowly-but-still-too-quickly made our way through the mountains, @mrs.turbodb discovered that not far from the route, a hike - to ********* Canyon, apparently allowed those who put in a little effort to enjoy a series of petroglyph panels, and we knew that despite it already being after 5:00pm, we had to make the trek.

So we deviated once again - for the last time actually - from our planned route - and made for the mouth of the canyon, the sun reminding us why we visit places in the desert during the winter and early spring, rather than in the middle of summer!

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The hike into the ********* Canyon wasn't a long one - maybe a mile or so roundtrip - and boy, was it worth it! At the mouth of the canyon, there were petroglyphs everywhere!

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Level upon level of rock art.​

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Many Native American's must have passed through this place hundreds of years ago!​

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A newspaper rock overlooking the canyon below.​

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Wait, Batman?!​

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A couple of sun petroglyphs.​

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Bighorn sheep, a common glyph.​

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A person, holding up another person - the first we've seen this depiction.​

Our hike had taken another hour of time, but it was an hour that I'd happily spend any time something so amazing presents itself. Back in the truck, I pushed the skinny pedal a little harder on our way into Bullhead City, the checkerboard ownership of the land (BLM and Reservation) apparent out our windows.

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We had one planned stop to make here - at the Davis Dam - which we'd heard was quite the structure. Perhaps more interesting than the structure itself though, was the distribution of people. On the Nevada side of the Colorado River - where we were - the banks were deserted. On the Arizona side however, they were packed with folks enjoying the cool water and having a blast on their jet skis! Whether it was differing state rules around social distancing, or simply a reflection on the mindset of the local towns, it was quite the contrast in our eyes.

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We made a quick stop at Safeway in Bullhead City - technically already out of Nevada, and into Arizona - to pick up milk, before making our final push into the Ute Mountains towards Oatman.

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With it getting late, we weren't sure where we were going to camp, so as we pushed onwards, we kept our eye out for side roads that looked promising in case there was nothing immediately outside of Oatman - since at this point we were GOING TO MAKE IT!

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And then, at 7:35pm, just as the town was shrouded in shade, we pulled into our final stop on the NVBDR. We'd made it.

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A cute little town, it's clearly been rejuvenated for tourists, but with the state of the world as it is, there were few people, and we were able to enjoy it for what it used to be - back when eeking out life here was harder than it must be even today.

Ultimately - rather than return to the Ute Mountains to camp - we decided to start heading west towards California, our destination for the evening the little town of Essex on Route 66, south of the Mojave National Preserve.

So, we aired up the tires for the first time in six days and as the moon rose in the rear view mirror, we began our next adventure!

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Thanks for reading, and get out there to run a BDR!

 

If you two haven't traveled to Seven Troughs ghost town yet, please put it on your list. There are a bunch of ghost towns up there that are fun to visit. I travel out west each year for 35 days or so (since I retired) to hike up in Glacier National Park then head to Nevada, Utah and New Mexico to visit petroglyph sites and ghost towns. I reckon I have over 5000 glyph photos and love just sitting there taking them all in. PM me if you would like some great glyph sites in Utah and New Mexico. I can see that you two are young and there is so much to see out there. The Seven Trougsh photo shows the town, mine structures and my taco. Lots of wild burros and horses to see on the way...good luck!

 

...thats a good tip!...also a map to a speakeasy that's on the way

 

New signage in Ash Meadows, nice. I toured that area back in 83 with the Chief of the Resources division of DV NM, lots of neat springs in the Amargosa Valley. I wandered through the Rhyolite town site before the new Bullfrog mine started operations and restricted access during their tenure. The train station was a bar and restaurant back then, we even rented it out for a Super Bowl party one year. Nice to see some artistic interest and influence in the area. Nice trip for you guys. There are quite a few old radar sites atop some of the smaller mountains in the Beatty area not much left except the cement foundations, likely Cold War era stuff.
Beatty, swells and contracts to feed the mining, likely quite reduced in operation nowadays.
Then there is Pahrump...

Great trip report Turbo!

 

well, that doesn’t look like enough aluminum for either an F150 or a class C motor home- we averaged about 1 a month that would burn down to the asphalt on Hwy 190-Townes pass back in the mid 80s during the summers. I think the longest piece of melted aluminum we recovered was about 6’ long, had a place of honor on the mechanic shop wall. So I’m guessing a mini motor home Sunrader or something like that. Either way someone’s day got ruined as well as the vacation.. They would char the asphalt fairly severely..
Again, great write up!

 

Did anyone find out Lexus part # for Tacoma/4Runner front diff Fill plug (10mm)?


Posted this q's here for future reference:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/need-help-with-front-diff-drain-plug.451081/page-2#post-24055878

I thought the Lexus part # 90341-24014 is for the front diff drain plug 12mm?
https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/lexus-plug-for-front-differential-drain~90341-24016.html

part # you listed: 90341-24014
https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/lexus-plug-front-differential-drain~90341-24014.html


and 90341-18032 is for the front diff Fill plug 10mm?
https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/lexus-plug-straight-screw~90341-18032.html

 

Thanks! Was a fun one and just reinforces for me that even places you think might be dreary and boring (NV), aren't. I can't wait to get back to the state, I already have several trips worth of things I want to see there!

They were open when we were there, but I can only imagine that attendance is way down.

Looked like a passenger car to me. Some brake components, and a few other misc items were laying around. Pretty well cleaned up though. Hopefully all the occupants got out safely (likely they did, since it was over on the shoulder).

I've not heard of a fill plug that replaces the allen key head with a hex bolt-style head. If you find one, I'd love to know the part#.

 

Adding a Viofo Dashcam to the Tacoma

With the interior removed for my sound deadening project, it was the perfect time to install a dashcam that I've had sitting around for - I don't know - call it four months or so.

I've wanted a dashcam for quite some time - not so much for the safety aspects that some feel it provides - but to capture video, and possibly even stills - of various things we see out the windshield but are unable to grab the DSLR to photograph.

So, when I saw a good deal and great reviews for the Viofo A119 v3, I picked one up along with a free-due-to-promotion hard wire kit that would allow me to run it without having a USB cable dangling down to the cigarette lighter. Plus, hard wiring it would allow me - if I so desired - to have the camera on when the Tacoma was off and no power was available at the 12v accessory receptacles.

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The key - of course - for the entire installation - was having the headliner removed so that I could run the wiring across the roof, down the B-pillar, and to the secondary battery that I have installed in the cab.

Removing the Headliner to Run the Wires

I got started by getting the headliner out of the way. This is something I've done before, so I approached it with more confidence than I had in the past.

Since this time, removal was part of the sound deadening project, take a quick read of that post or my original Removing the Headliner post for most of the details.

With most of the space above the headliner accessible, the only extra bit I needed to do this time was to remove the map lights so that I could run the dashcam wiring out the headliner at that location.

Map light removal is straight forward and starts with hinging the cover down from the front edge, towards the rear of the cab. This was scary for me the first time I did it, but now that I know it won't break, it's a simple operation.

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Next, remove the four Philips screws that secure the map lights to the roof and allow the entire unit to hang down.

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At this point, the headliner can be pushed down slightly to allow enough access to push the dashcam wires through - and then routed above the headliner to the rear of the cab.

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Once routed down the B-pillar, I was essentially done with the dashcam supplied wiring, since my house battery and power center sit in a cabinet behind the passenger seat. However, if you're planning to get power from somewhere else, now is a good time to run the wires up to the front of the cab - since you have the door threshold out, and that allows you to easily run wires up to the dashboard.

And then of course, I got to re-install everything I'd removed to pull the headliner. Oh, the joy.

Adding an Accessory Power Wire
The wiring kit with the Viofo A119 v3 dashcam comes supplied with three wires: +12v battery power, ground, and a +12v accessory line. This last line is used by the dashcam to sense when the vehicle is ON, thus enabling continuous recording on the dashcam. Likewise, the same line allows the dashcam to enter parking mode the vehicle is off.

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To connect this last wire, I needed to run an additional +12v ignition line from the dash to my power center. This was easy enough - I inserted an add-a-fuse into an ignition only circuit in the fuse box and ran a 12 gauge wire to the power center - under the door threshold and through the rear cubbies.

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There, I installed a Blue Sea 5-stud Bus Bar, that I can use to attach any accessories I install that require ignition-only awareness.

Now it was a simple process of connecting the three wires from the harness - the positive and ground to the Blue Sea fuse box, and the ignition power to the new bus bar I'd installed. Note: the wiring harness doesn't come - as far as I can tell - with any fusing, so I installed a 5A fuse for this circuit; more than enough given that the cam can run off of USB power.

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Plugging in the Dashcam
With that, all that was left to do was install the dashcam itself. Rather than try to place the sticky pad on the windshield and hope it was positioned correctly, I attached one of the pads to the dashcam and then held the entire unit in place as I pushed the sticky pad onto the windshield. Makes for a perfect placement, every time!

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With an SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC 128GB SD card inserted, the Viofo A119 v3 was ready to go. I have to say - video quality and stills both seem good and I'm quite happy that I can barely see the dashcam behind the rear view mirror when it's in operation.

So, while a super-clean installation isn't the easiest thing in the world, I recommend it, especially if you're already doing work on your interior. Because it's always better to do quality work.

Samples from the Viofo A119 v3
So far, I'm reasonably happy. Picture quality - as seen below - is good, though I clearly have some work to do on the reflections front. This likely has to do with the angle of my windshield and may not be an issue for others; in my case, the tablet I've mounted on the dash and use for navigation is what's reflecting in the video. A simple shield under the camera lens should be all I need to take care of the issue.

Sample 1440p video, obviously downsampled by YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/VwTbvKazx7k

Sample still taken from 1440p video.

The clarity of the still image is remarkable in my mind. The truck was moving at about 55mph in this case, and the deer was probably moving at somewhere around 35mph as it galloped across the road. Even with no editing, it is a great photo once the glare issue is addressed.

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A Woman and Her Truck - Dead Ends #1

It's been a busy month. I'd been home for less than 48 hours in the last 3 weeks, our trips to the Nevada BDR, a special place in California, and a family vacation to an amazing little place on the Sacramento River in Castella, CA. keeping me on the move. But, when Mike @Digiratus reached out to see if I wanted to go camping for a week - along with Dan @drr and Zane @Speedytech7 - I found it impossible to say no. So, less than 24 hours after returning home, I was linked up with Dan and the road again - headed east towards Idaho's panhandle.

Oh, and my A/C wasn't working, so lucky me got to drive with the windows down the entire way, the heat still sweltering as we crossed the desert.

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We met up with Mike and Zane in Metaline, WA sometime around 5:00pm - they'd already been on the road for a night, and had a little bit of excitement as they relayed to us when we got out to say hello.

Apparently, Mike's (new) alternator had acted up - and failed - and he and Zane had replaced it with his spare in 90+ºF heat - not a fun prospect by any stretch, and I know Mike was happy to have had Zane around for the help! With that drama - plus the fact that Dan and I had driven all day - we were all ready to find camp, so as soon as we hit dirt on NF-22, we started looking for offshoots.

To shorten the search, we split up - Mike and Zane taking one prospect and Dan and I taking the other. This is a really nice side effect of Mike and I having Ham radios - we can communicate over longer distances than the CBs that we usually use on the trail would otherwise allow. I must say, the Kenwood D710G radio has never let me down in this regard, and with it I made quick work of alerting Mike to the site Dan and I had found - complete with a pile of firewood and lots of new smells for Dan's dog Echo to explore!

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Did you hear that? Over there. Smells! I heard smells!​

Not only that, but with my APRS beaconing, Mike was able to hone in on our location and reasonably quickly he and Zane pulled into camp.

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Camp was quickly deployed once everyone was there.​

It couldn't have been much after 6:30pm when everyone was setup and we were all seated around the fire ring. Dan got a fire going, and Mike broke out his famous salsa - perhaps the best ever - as we shared stories and discussed any number of topics as the sun went down. At some point, dinner was made - everyone cooking over the fire - without losing a beat.

With plenty of wood, we sat around the fire for five hours before calling it a night - actually, I think I called it a night and the rest of the guys stayed up even longer. It was a nice end to a long day.

The Following Day

Our morning routine wasn't rushed - though Mike was up earlier than I've ever seen him - and we pulled out of camp somewhere around 9:00am. Our goal for the day was "simple" - head east into Idaho, and then follow the northern-most road along the Canadian border until it dove back down to somewhere near Bonners Ferry, ID. Then, we'd shoot north again, crossing over into Montana near Canuck Peak - which you can imagine is somewhere towards our friendly neighbors to the north.

But, plans are made to be changed, as we'd soon discover!

For the time being, we were cruising along enjoying ourselves - even if tree tunnels meant that the views were a little rarer than we'd have liked.

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My A/C situation meant that I assumed the role of tail-gunner (the last truck) for nearly the entire trip, that position - and my Ham radio - allowing me to hang back to avoid the majority of the dust. And - a nice side effect - stop whenever I wanted to take photos. Aww, shucks.

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We got our first little sense of foreboding when we turned onto NF-1013 - a road sign alerting us that the road was closed some 24 miles ahead, and only local traffic was allowed. Now, the sign looked quite old and worn, so we crossed our fingers that it simply hadn't been removed and the road was open. Plus, I noted over the CB that, "I am currently local to the area, and four of us make traffic, so I think we're good." We had about 60 miles of road mapped out.

Well, about 12 of the 24 miles behind us, we passed a USFS employee travelling the opposite direction and a quick conversation confirmed for us that the road was in fact closed. And it had been for 30 years - that's why the signage looked so old. But, "You can get to the top, and there's a nice little waterfall," the woman told us, so we continued on - enjoying the views as they presented themselves, along with the spring wildflowers.

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The Tiger Lilies were out in force.​

Soon enough though, Mike called out over the CB that we'd reached our first dead end, and when I showed up a few minutes later, he was already pouring over a Benchmark Atlas of Idaho, trying to figure out a new route.

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While he did that, the rest of us poked around - Dan letting Echo run, Zane wandering off somewhere with a bucket, and I tried to find a bit of shade. It didn't take long to realize that we had to backtrack the entire way we'd come and then some, a risk with any trip, and just part of the adventure. First though, we all wanted to check out the waterfall, so we headed along the old road bed a few hundred more feet where we could hear it cascading down the hillside.

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At the same time, we also found the official, "You aren't going past this point no matter what." end of the road.

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Dead End.​

It was cool here, and spring was still evident all around us - the greens and purples shining bright in the morning sun.

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Now - something I've failed to mention up to this point is that - when we arrived at the dead end in the road, there was already a black 1st gen Tacoma parked in the turnaround area. It's owner was nowhere to be found - likely out hiking the wilderness and having a great time - but as one does when coming on another 1st gen, we all spent a few minutes looking things over.

This one was just fine with us!

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Is there a truer statement than this? Unlikely.​

Our curiosity satisfied and piqued at the same time, we climbed up into our own Tacomas and pointed them back the way we'd come - our route now taking us far to the south instead of way to the north.

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Again, I took advantage of my position at the back of the pack to soak in the views a bit more than the other guys had a chance to do.

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Our route ended up taking us down and along the east side of Priest Lake where we stopped in the little bit of shade we could find in order to have a bite to eat. The road here was paved, and of course - we all know that no true overlander takes photos on paved roads - our trucks only see dirt. Actually, I think I was just distracted by my stomach and forgot to grab the camera. You'll have to take my word for it - and this photo from Wikipedia - it was beautiful, as was some of the farmland around it.

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Rather than stay entirely on pavement to Sandpoint, Dan found us a nice little shortcut with a bit of dirt. The only issue was that he was already running low on fuel, so a few minutes with a siphon and he solved that problem.

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And - I don't have any idea how - but at that same time, it became Mike's "birthday." Mike, unfortunately, never noticed. Probably because we didn't get him a cake.

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He did keep a close eye on us though, his Spidey sense knew that something was going on.

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All fueled up, we were back on the road and headed east on Baldy Mountain Road, temps now in the 90°F's again, the back of my arms glistening with sweat as I held back to stay out of the dust.

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None of the roads on this trip would be anything approaching technical, but what they lacked in difficulty, a few of them made up for in beauty. This road was one of them, and I took full advantage.

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Surely a scar on the land, but also offers an interesting perspective and a nice contrast.​

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I'd never seen these orange flowers before, but they were everywhere on this trip. And striking!​

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Lake Pend Oreille.​

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Oncoming Tundra. Quick, roll up the windows!​

We arrived in the outskirts of Sandpoint a little few minutes before 4:00pm. As the guys had rolled along, I heard chatter of an advertisement along the side of the road. Something along the lines of, "I wish I'd gotten a picture of that to put on Mike's lawn." Begin a few minutes behind everyone else, it was no problem for me to stop and snap a quick shot.

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Strange Priorities. God and Guns before Family.​

Now, as ridiculous as this sign was - and as much as it would irk a reasonable man like Mike to find it in his front yard - the more I looked at it, the funnier it was. I mean, how can you not smile when you realize that the person who created this sign was the parent of a high schooler in town, and just couldn't resist adding a "Go Badgers" clipart to such a goofy sign? Priceless.

We all filled up with fuel in Sandpoint before turning our trucks north again and making our way to the highway for another long trek on pavement to Bonners Ferry, US-2 and US-95 following the same route through this stretch of Idaho.

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Though @mrs.turbodb and I had visited Bonners Ferry as part of the Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route the previous summer, I didn't remember it at all, a clear sign that I'm getting too old for my own good. We passed through town quickly and soon we were winding our way along the last of the pavement before we'd hit dirt again to finish off the day.

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We'd covered a lot of ground - more than 180 miles - by the time we found camp along Deer Creek - at 5:45pm. We were all ready to be done, the entire day having essentially been a re-route - and primarily on pavement, no less.

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And this is the point in the story where I feel like it's important to make sure that the following is clear:

Re-routes are part of the adventure.​

Figuring out cool places to see, off of the beaten path is hard. Sometimes it's impossible. People ask me all the time how I avoid running into locked gates and roads that "no longer exist." The simple answer is that I don't. Even the best route planners, with all the power of the internet at their finger tips - can't know that a road is gated, or that a washout has occurred since the last imagery update. Being OK with the fact that things won't go to plan and knowing how to recover - these are some of the most important attributes of any explorer.

So, as we sat in camp, I'm sure we mentioned how the day didn't go as planned - but it wasn't in a "the world is ending" sort of way. In fact, I'm sure we mentioned it only in passing, all of us happy to be outdoors and enjoying a little down time, out from behind the steering wheel.

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Mike's happy place, looking up at the Redhead and seeing that everything is in order.​

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Yep, not a bad way to spend an evening.​

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Mike's real happy place.​

Dinners were again all cooked on the fire - and we stayed up even later than we had the night before. It was tomorrow before we finally called it a night and made our way to our circle of tents. As we went to sleep, I'm sure we were all looking forward to the rest of the route - whether or not it was filled with Dead Ends and Road Closed signs.

After all, we'd find out one way or the other in a few short hours...

 

I know you get asked about camera equipment quite often. I went to your website and looked at your post regarding it and saw that you use the

MeFOTO Roadtrip S Lightweight 59.4" Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod/Monopod w/Case, Twist Locks, Dual-Action Ballhead w/Arca Swiss Plate for Mirrorless/DSLR Sony Nikon Canon Fuji - Black (RTSCBLK)

https://www.amazon.com/MeFOTO-Roadt...1002&s=electronics&sr=1-3&language=en_US&th=1 but that it is unavailable. Curious if you have a runner-up that you'd recommend or what you would get if you had to buy one again.

 

Check B&H Photo for this or either Induro or Benro tripod.

 

I really like the Roadtrip S. Looks like most of the colors are out, but the "Aluminum" color is still in stock. That's what I'd, or I'd check out another online retailer as @ian408 mentioned, if you really want a different color. I actually think a lighter color like Aluminum might be nice, because it's sometimes hard to find/see my black on in the dark when I'm doing star photos

 

I'm not overly concerned about color. I want something that is reliable and reasonably heavy duty that doesn't break the bank. It seems like, at least in the tripod world, there isn't a good option for under $100....which just seems expensive for what it is; but I guess it is what it is.

 

Photography gear is one where you very much get what you pay for. If you are taking seriously just spend the money now or you'll be dissapointed. Also, why put a camera and lense on top of a cheap tripod. You spent 10-20 times as much on the camera and lense it would be a shame if it just fell over.

 

When I actually bring my camera I occasionally set it down on the truck, that's the most expensive tripod I own. Okay I've also set it down on a beer, and maybe once on a tire..... You know, maybe don't listen to me, my camera is cheaper than most good tripods anyway.

 

There's a sort of price/quality barrier at or below $100. In the camera world, "buy once; cry once" applies. A budget tripod will work but may not be as stable as you would like and the leg locks may loosen over time.

I've owned a carbon Gitz for about ten or twelve years now. High end tripods typically don't come with heads and I run an equally old Really Right Stuff BH-55. I've been really happy with this set up. Especially with heavy lenses.

Any of the three tripods will make a great tripod.