AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

I've been looking at doing a week-long rv trip to the Olympic peninsula. We tow my Tacoma so we have wheels when we get there. We know nothing of the area. This gives a little glimpse. We almost did it this year but only had 6-days off instead of a full 9-day week so we went to Crater Lake. That was good too.

 

Dan, it is always a pleasure catching up on your adventures.

Regarding the question of which photograph is most appealing... well, I'm a total novice, and I don't even own a proper digital camera. So I'm probably full of it.

But if I were tasked with with the decision, I'd try converting each photo to grayscale, directly from raw, manipulating the weight and curves for each color channel to produce the most appealing grayscale result. Whichever photo looks best in optimized grayscale, is probably the best original shot. Even if you go back and reprocess it in color.

The important thing is to apply additional meme filters, so that your photos might also appeal to the millennials.


So glad I could help.

 

Finally someone who thinks much the same as myself...

Years ago I tried to convince them all the same thing when Mike lost his UCA nut, but no one listened.

 

It's a neat place for sure. I don't know much as far as trails go over there - I'm not sure there are a ton actually - but there are lots of nice hikes and views and it's just a pleasant place to hang out when the weather is nice.

Interesting way to look at it. I'm going to give it a try.

OK, I need to amend my "I'm going to give it a try, " for @mk5. - I'm going to give the grayscale a try.

 

It was a trick question.

All the edits sucked

 

Challenging to keep up with all your trips. Great photos as usual. I didn't realize you also have a T4R. Seeing the pics reminded me to go shop for an extra set of those wonderful T4R rims. Well my second set arrived this morning less than $400. Keep up all the great trip reports and photography!

 

I should have posted the "Monte" edit as well. Here it is:

Those are great wheels. I just got a new set of tires on mine and of course had to have them rebalanced in the process - so now I have some touch-up of the paint to do, since I painted them with the wheel weights on last time. No biggie of course, since I have some rash touchup to do anyway.

Bummer to hear about your "all packed and nowhere to go," time right now. I'm hoping it's cleared up in about 4 weeks down there so I can make my first trip of the 20-21 season. So many ideas of places to explore.

 

Hey I'll have you know they are on my hard drive doing just fine.


Lol

 

Manastash Ridge - Roaming Around Rainier #1

When he texted me a few days before our departure, Joe had no idea that we already had upcoming trip planned to the Mt. Rainier area - a four-day jaunt, all built around the Naches Trail!

How could it be that we hadn’t explored this area? I have no idea, really. Most likely, it's simply a side effect of the total lack of exploration we've done in our home state of Washington - opting instead to explore areas in other surrounding states, where weather is consistently warmer, or at least drier.

But, what could be viewed as an oversight, we viewed as opportunity. With dirt roads less than three hours from home, we didn't have to rush out in the dark of early morning - instead, we got a leisurely start around 9:30am, and made it to Ellensburg for an early lunch before heading away from town and into the country. With several beautiful days in the forecast - and with the PNW being ideal when it's sunny and warm - the day was off to a great start!

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Within mere minutes, we'd aired down for comfort and the landscape started to change dramatically. Gone were the wide-open plains and fields of hay; an evergreen forest, and volcanic foothills leading us on our way.

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With a couple dozen miles of well-graded Forest Service road before we'd get to the Manastash Ridge trail, we'd made it three-quarters of the way when we stumbled upon a narrow trail heading uphill to our northeast - a small sign indicating that it was the Frost Mountain Trail. With seemingly plenty of time, we made our first detour of the trip - clearly, off to a good start!

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Gaining elevation much more quickly than photos can convey, we climbed a thousand feet or so in less than a mile, the trail a little tight in spots - or so we felt at the time! Eventually we popped out to an easterly overlook, the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility near Ellensburg churning away in the distance.

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Down across a saddle and up a narrow, steep, off-camber section of trail (that gave us a bit of an adrenaline rush) on the other side, we found ourselves at the top of Frost Mountain - along with several concrete footings, all that remain of a lookout built in 1954. An R-6 style, it had a flat roof on a 10 foot treated wood tower. But more importantly, it had a splendid - if a bit distant - view of Mt. Rainier.

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The view north from atop a concrete piling.​

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Met its demise sometime before 1988.​

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A reasonable view west.​

Our appetite whetted for views of Mt. Rainier - or what we locals call "The Mountain" - my downhill speed off of Frost Mountain was likely a little faster than it should have been - at least in the location where I kissed the skid plate dropping off a large root!

However, that same speed did get us back to - and then to the end of - the Forest Service road we'd been following previously, and before heading off down Manastash Ridge, we noted a fire burning in the distance. This was the reasonably small but still inconvenient to us - for reasons I will explain later - Jungle Creek fire. Luckily for us at this point, we'd be right on the closure boundary as we drove the first section of Manastash Ridge, and so able to proceed, for now...

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From the viewpoint at the end of the graded road, the Manastash Ridge trail heads southeast and quite immediately becomes a very narrow Jeep trail.

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Weaving our way through tight turns around trees that had quite clearly met their share of sliders, bumpers, and body panels, our pace slowed dramatically. Portions of the trail were rutted - tire spin from previous visitors flinging away dirt around the roots of surrounding firs. With some of these root ledges and holes approaching 2 feet, and what dirt there was being loose and silty, we even ran into a spot where it was nice to engage the locker rather than exacerbating the problem by just powering through it.

And along the way, we'd pop out of the trees along the ridge, a view of The Mountain in the distance.

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Our 4Lo pace continued for a couple hours. Initially it was fun, technical driving, but after a while we were both ready for more views and fewer tight squeezes. Mental breaks and variety were really what we were after - something I think we get spoiled with in places like Death Valley and other desert adventures, where there are more artifacts to investigate along a route.

Still, there were parts of this trail that were beautiful, and we never failed to enjoy them as they presented themselves. Tight turns into the sun, the trail falling away invisibly below the horizon of the hood line, volcanic ruble fields that spread out before us like mountain meadows where nothing could grow, and areas of old burns, where the silver trunks stood like soldiers guarding the road.

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I can only imagine the work that goes into maintaining a road like this each spring. While we had our chainsaw for the few random trees we might find over the road, winter must really tear up a place like this - the moisture turning the road to muck, and the snow and wind causing numerous dead trees to fall over the road. Kudos to the 4x4 clubs - and other conscientious explorers - who make even slower progress, chainsaws at the ready, to keep the roads open.

It was just before 4:00pm when we had a decision to make: where we were going to camp for the night. Our path the next day would take us past Shoestring Lake and on to Tripod Flats, but I'd also marked a spot further down Manastash Ridge that appeared to tick a lot of boxes - on the ridge, a view of Mt. Rainier, and good positioning for sunset and sunrise.

And so, even though it was still early, we decided to continue along the ridge - after all, we weren't in any real rush and enjoying a view of The Mountain as the sun set seemed to be exactly the kind of thing we might council someone else to do if they were in the same situation! It was 4:15pm when we arrived.

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It was windy! I guess not as windy as some other places we've been, but out there on the ridge it was breezier - and thus cooler - than would have been comfortable to sit in our camp chairs. And, while there was already a burn ban - and smoke from the Jungle Creek fire in the distance - with conditions like this, there's no way we'd have lit a fire anyway.

The truck however was nice and cozy. Probably unnecessary, I laid the solar panels out on the windshield - which was conveniently pointed directly at the sun - and they served double duty, keeping the batteries topped off and keeping the sun out of our eyes as we read our Kindles and @mrs.turbodb worked on her current knitting project.

For the next hour-and-a-half or so we enjoyed ourselves, and I may have even snuck in an old-guy nap for a few minutes. Having had a reasonably early lunch, we were both hungry at that point, and figured it's always easier to eat dinner - and clean up - when it's still light out, so while I dorked around - likely doing something of questionable value (stowing the solar panel or some such) - @mrs.turbodb whipped up a salad with grilled-at-home-chicken and grown-at-home sungold tomatoes.

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We finished dinner just before the sun started its final drop out of the sky. I still hadn't deployed the tent, counting on the fact that the wind would die down a bit once the fiery ball was out of the sky - so @mrs.turbodb continued to hang out in the cab while I scurried around for various photos.

Over the next 32 minutes, we got quite the show. It started off with just a little bit of color along the horizon, the sun still in the clouds.

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Then, the sun broke below the clouds, long orange light spilling out across the land. Still too high to really light the clouds though.

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As it reached the horizon, a bit more color across the sky.

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And then - as it fell below the horizon - the show really started. First orange.

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Then, moving into the pink spectrum.

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And in the distance, rain falling over Mt. Rainier.

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And finally, the lower the sun got, the more purple the sky became.

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Well, that was spectacular to say the least. It really is amazing what a few clouds and a bit of pollution can do for a sunset!

And, looking back on the day, it had been a great one. Not only had we left home less than 10 hours earlier, we'd gotten to dirt and had a day of exploring to boot - unheard of for nearly all our adventures, where the first day (at least) is spent pounding pavement to the destination.

And so, an hour or so after the sun left the sky, I had the tent deployed and oriented optimally for the little bit of breeze that remained, and we climbed into bed. I was tired from an afternoon of technical driving, and @mrs.turbodb was tired from the slow bumpy slog down the ridge. Soon, we were both asleep, with no idea that what we'd experienced this afternoon was only a small indicator of what was to come over the next several days.

It was - to be certain - a trip that would prove to be different - and in ways, more difficult - than the rest!

 

Wow, those sunset photos are absolutely stunning.

 

Tripod Flats and Funny Rocks - Roaming Around Rainer #2

There's nothing like waking up in the morning when you hit the sack on the top of the ridge with a view of one of the largest mountains on the west coast.

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I hung out under the warm covers for as long as I could stand it - really only a few minutes in earth time - before climbing down the ladder to take a few shots as the sun came up over the horizon. Unlike the previous evening, the sky was cloudless, so there was no amazing overhead display - but that didn't mean the experience lacked in the drama department.

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It was still a bit chilly as I snapped a few photos, and given that nothing about this trip was rushed, I headed back into the tent to enjoy my book and view for another hour or so before @mrs.turbodb got up to make breakfast - cereal with fresh fruit. Once again, as she was productive in the food department, I wasted time taking photos and starting to get the tent put away. Really, I just couldn't stop looking at Mt. Rainier.

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Uh oh, the stitching seems to have ripped out of the heavy duty CVT straps!​

Half an hour later, and just before 9:00am, we were back on the trail - only a short section of Manastash Ridge between us and the road down to Shoestring Lake, and then ultimately Tripod Flats.

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A benefit of the burn: there's always a view of Mt. Rainier.​

That road - it turned out - had been adopted by the and would prove to be just as tight and technical as Manastash Ridge the day before... if not a little tighter and more technical. But now I'm getting a little ahead of myself, as usual - at this point we were simply turning east towards Shoestring Lake.

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We had quite a bit of elevation to shed on our way from the ridge to the lake, and several times through the morning, we'd nearly double back on ourselves - without even realizing it until we looked out and recognized a place we'd recently been - as we meandered our way from plateau to plateau. To our delight, the first plateau offered a few top-of-the-world style overlooks, and we took full advantage.

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@mrs.turbodb wasn't happy about taking this photo.​

Shortly after reaching that exciting overlook, we wound our way down into the lava-rock field below. Well, we didn't so much wind our way, as point the truck downhill and let the engine do the majority of the braking. As usual, things look flatter in photos than in real life, but the truck flexed here and there in just the right ways as we stepped down through loose rocks and ledges that ranged up to a couple of feet tall.

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At some point, we also passed this sign - conveniently letting us know that we were on a rehabilitated trail to "oestring lake," and that we were in some location that had been shot up. At least, that's how we read it.

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More narrow trails and 5-point turns ensued - the 1st gen Tacoma just barely squeaking through several spots on the trail, and even then, I was hyper-vigilant as the sliders would contact standing dead trees, since I knew from experience that those could find their way into body panels if pushed just a little too much.

Oh, and we kissed the rear diff drain plug on a root. Fun times.

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Eventually, we made it down several steep sections, and wound our way over towards the lake. We still hadn't spotted it by this point, but crossing a bridge and travelling on excavator tracks embedded in the trail was a good indicator that - at least in some season - there was water nearby.

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And then, finally - as we were essentially "next to" Shoestring Lake on the topo map we were using in Backcountry Navigator XE - we got the fullest view we would of the lake itself. A little anti-climactic to say the least!

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From the lake, the trail never got good, but it did get a little better - or at least wider - as we continued on towards Tripod Flats. @mrs.turbodb and I wondered about this at the time - initially chalking it up to proximity to the trailhead, before stumbling upon a nicely appointed hunting lean-to - which was of course and indicator of increased traffic and accessibility.

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Fifteen minutes after stopping at the first lean-to, we'd arrived at Tripod Flats. This reasonably large clearing in the woods is home to what was clearly - at one time - a nice cabin, as well as a splendid summer camp fire area with views of the meadow.

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Now a couple hours into our day, we used Tripod Flats as a bit of a break from the constant bumpiness of the roads and mental workout I'd been getting as I tried to keep the sides of the truck out of the trees around some of the tight turns. We explored the cabin, a couple of poo palaces out back, and I couldn't help but notice the happy-looking, patriotic-lei-draped bear, that'd been impaled on a nearby a tree.

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Even though we were both hungry, it wasn't quite lunch time and we had quite a few miles remaining on the day, so we piled back into the truck and continued our journey south - our westerly views momentarily blocked by the surrounding forest, but views to the east splendid, still.

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It wasn't long however, before we broke out of the woods and had a decision to make: head southwest towards the highway (WA-410), or continue southeast a few more miles to a place I was pretty sure we would be visitors of the "look but don't touch" variety - Funny Rocks and Moon Rocks.

Oh, and we got to make our decision with another nice view as the backdrop.

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This view really never gets old.​

In the end, we made the decision the same way we seem to make all these types of decisions - we were here (and who knows when we'd be back) so why leave anything out? We figured that at the very least, Funny Rocks and Moon Rocks might give us a nice place to eat lunch, so we pushed forward, finding ourselves at the final approach to Funny Rocks some 12 minutes later.

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Surprisingly, Funny Rocks - which I'd found a video for on YouTube that made me think it was craziness for buggies - had a line that seemed "Tacoma Friendly." Of course, I did find a u-joint cap at the base of the line, so not everyone escaped unscathed.

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A few minutes at Funny Rocks, and we agreed that our next stop at Moon Rocks would be the perfect time for lunch. It was half-past twelve and a shady spot overlooking the moonscape made for the perfect place to assemble tuna sandwiches and break open a bag of jalapeño kettle chips. Yum!

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Moon rocks - at least as we experienced it - was significantly less interesting that Funny Rocks, and so after lunch we sort of just drove back the way we'd come, and then out the route we'd passed earlier - Milk Lake Jeep Trail - to WA-410 - several more views of The Mountain experienced along the way.

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When we popped out at the bottom, it was somewhere around 2:30pm, and a glance at our fuel gauge indicated that the last couple of days in 4Lo had taken their toll - even though we'd filled up less than 100 miles earlier, our tank was less than half full and we were going to need gas to complete the rest of the trip. Cliffdell - though the opposite direction from where we were headed - wasn't far to our south, and we hoped they'd have fuel available. As we drove through town, we saw nothing and eventually pulled to the side of the road to consult our Washington state map for the next nearest town. That turned out to be Naches - about 20 miles away - a bummer, but the smart move given our single-truck status. We pulled back into traffic, and about 300 feet up the road, just around a little bend, there was a gas station!

At a place like this, the prices weren't the lowest - but they saved us 45 minutes of driving, and for that, we were thankful!

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A chopper attending to the Jungle Creek fire flew low overhead as we filled up with fuel.​

The truck replenished, we headed north on WA-410 for 10 miles or so until we reached the turn off to FS-19. We'd originally planned to take this route to explore FS-1902 up to Ravens Roost, and then as our access to the Naches Trail, but the Jungle Creek fire changed all that, closing access to FS-19 right at the beginning of the road.

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We had a quick chat with the USFS Ranger who was stationed at the road closure, confirming that we'd still be able to run the Naches Trail from the west side, and then hit the highway for a good 50 miles - on our way to a couple roads that we hoped would have the perfect camp spot for us to enjoy the mountain from only a few miles away and be a good jumping off point for Naches the following morning.

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Up and over Chinook Pass.​

We eventually found ourselves on dirt again, winding our way through a myriad of clear cuts, mature forest, and shelf roads to investigate three possible sites where we might spend the night.

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In the end, all three sites would have been completely suitable, but with no one else around on this beautiful Tuesday evening, we - responsibly - opted for the one with the best view. Nestled in the trees and so sheltered from any significant wind, we really couldn't have asked for more, and we settled down to foot-long hotdogs and some more of those sungold tomatoes for dessert!

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Dinner done, we followed a familiar routine as the sun set to the west. With fewer clouds than we'd had the night before, the colors weren't as dramatic - but the proximity of a towering mountain more than made up for that as far as we were concerned.

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By the time the sun was all the way down, nearly all of the clouds in Mt. Rainier's self-generated weather system had dissipated, a half-moon lighting the sky as we nodded off in the tent. It'd been another full day of technical trails, and both of us were ready for a bit more in terms of "things to investigate along the way."

Little did we know that we hadn't really experienced anything in the way of "technical" yet; that would come tomorrow as we finally embarked on the impetuous for the entire trip: The Naches Trail.

 

Your thread is the only one I follow here religiously. I really enjoy and admire your ability to take the trips you do.

My sister moved out to Seattle about 10 years ago now, and I try to visit here for a week every year. Without fail, every year I spend the majority of the week (while she's working) driving through the mountains and around Rainier. Every time I come around a bend and Rainier falls into view I'm so completely awestruck at it's expansiveness. It really makes me feel small, and I love it. PNW will become my home in the next few years, there is no doubt in my mind.

Keep the adventure stories coming, we all appreciate it.

 

Thanks! There's only so much of that, that's me. When a big mountain looms in the background, so many "sometimes normal" shots turn really spectacular.

So glad you're enjoying. I'd love to live here during the summer and head somewhere else the other 9 months of the year - it's hard to argue that most of the time, summers here are just about perfect. If only the location was more central to all the other exploration . Hope you keep enjoying the stories, they're fun to put together.

 

Man that cabin has gotten progressively worse and worse over the years lol. I slept in it twice, but this summer it was pretty filthy. That plastic bucket right next to the cabin in your picture was used a mouse/chipmunk trap and was filled with decaying bodies floating in the water.

 

Good luck, it's becoming awfully expensive...and crowded.

Next time you're up get lost in the Cascades off highway 2 or 20. Equally gorgeous.

 

Great trip report Dan & Mrs. you guys are a great team! It looks like you need to add a speedy stitcher to the tool kit, as usual the photos are awesome and you guys have found some great local to you places to check out once again. Keep it rolling.
Cheers

 

OK, that thing is rad. I definitely need that - for many sewing projects, not just for trail repairs. I can't tell you the number of times I've struggled to push a needle through heavy duty materials. THANK YOU for letting me know about it!

 

@turbodb I would have told you about the speedy stitcher but I thought everyone over the age of 30 already knew. I've had 1 or 2 for probably more years than you've been alive. Two things you need to know about their use; the needles are REALLY sharp. and brittle. So if you are sewing 2 pieces of hard material, pushing as hard as you can to pierce it and you succeed it's very hard to stop pushing and the needle is hard to stop. If your thumb, finger, palm is in the path of the needle you it will certainly pierce flesh and if the needle happens to hit a bone there is a good chance that the eye of the needle will break off... good luck with your surgery.

I've found that a piece cork 3/4 - 1 in thick is a good base for support for whatever you are sewing. McMaster Carr might be a good place to find the cork. There are probably other places too.

 

Solid copy on that one, I can’t remember how many time I have leak tested my finger or broken the needles off using a plywood backer. I must have 4-6 of them scattered about, at any given time, they are a mandatory addition to your gear bag for mushing and snowshoeing, lots of climbing gear repairs, as well as nail bags, and moccasins, it does take a finely tuned touch, I like to use a scrap of cedar or some other soft wood myself , cork is a good call, or make a punch board with a few-if you can find them- real wine corks glued to a 1x4, kinda like the crafty bulletin board project.

Where in Wyoming? I grew up in Dubois...

 

@Artic Taco SE WY - Cheyenne/Laramie area