d.shaw 2012 DCSB build

Got another over nighter in, was headed to Big Bear but SoCal Friday afternoon traffic got the better of us so we diverted, then tried to camp in a couple spots we haven't been to for ages....taken. So ran to 'the old faithful'
This year has been tricky for us time wise, lots of work travel so we take what we can get to be honest. We did make a ton of changes to our set up, including some Front Runner Flatpack for the seat delete to help get some order, a 63 Industries 5lb propane mount in the back, also picked up an 11lb propane bottle to use with a LavaBox Hekla with Trident burner to be in line with fire restrictions as well as reduce the amount of stuff in the truck....and converted one of my Scepter water cans to a battery operated shower based off the SandyCats Trailwash - I actually used 3 different YouTube channels to figure it out (including the Sandy Cats channel)

 

Looks like another great spot!
Wish I had waited for that version of the Lavabox. I bet it gives off more heat than the standard closed one with no side holes.

 

Cheers mate, I actually looked at your build thread to see which brand you had, I liked their story the most as well. I did think about buying the cheaper version and then using a step bit to make holes, which id imagine could be an idea for you - make a few see if it changes the way it works? I ordered the Hekla (stainless one) with out the 'trident burner' and had to wait a bit as they were at Expo, then they sent out an email that the carry bags were out of stock, and with all that after speaking to them they upgraded me to the Hekla with Trident burner. Haven't used it to cook with yet, but on paper seems it will be ok

That spot in Big Bear has just enough trees around it to be nice with a good old view...!!

 

My mate Damien has been building or trying to get built a cabin on his land in Montana for a while now, having to get rid of his contractor for various reasons, he asked if I had time to come up to help him for a few days to get some siding done, mostly a spot he couldn't do by himself. He offered to fly me up but seeing as I had time and the truck has been a driveway queen this past year, I set off on an adventure. It was 1236 miles to his place, which is basically the same as driving the entire length of New Zealand - from Cape Reinga in the north to Invercargill in the south (1269 miles).
Day 1 had me departing San Diego @ 4am to beat traffic through Riverside, I made it a 17.5hr day 815 miles into Idaho cruising at 65mph and taking time to stop and eat etc etc. I ended up camping at a paid campground in the Caribou National Forest, first time I've paid for camping for quite a few years, it was by a stream and I was tired so I was stoked.
Day 2 I departed headed to a town called "Wisdom" to meet Damien and go camp somewhere. After meeting him around lunchtime we drove towards Anaconda picked up some supplies and headed to a spot to camp. Not remote, but picturesque we ended up by a lake in the trees, actually a reservoir. It's been many years since we camped together, so it was cool to hang out for sure.



Took the fairly long dirt road to Damiens property, it being single lane with a fairly steep drop for a decent amount of miles, my fear off heights had me a bit white knuckled for a while.
His property is up a dirt road, 20 acres with State Land basically all around, completely off grid, 30 minutes from a town, is pretty surreal. We got into fixing a few things, first was his well. The pump was no longer working (he uses rain water collection - well is a back up) but 268ft deep, we used his Tacoma to assist in getting it up, or at least until it was able to be pulled up by hand. Whilst working there a quick wind storm blew through, knocking down a couple trees at his place (loads in the valley) swag loads of branches and sparked up a wild fire on the other side of the Valley.




We got into the siding, a very slow process, much slower than I thought it would be, but I guess for a couple dudes with no clue, (well he has some I guess) we made progress. Using the trucks for safety lines (recovery gear isn't the best as its a bit heavy...) for the ladder, things were happening. I took any down time to delete all the thistles that had started to take over an area of his place, accumulating a fairly large 'burn pile' by the end. It was a great few days, relaxing albeit working, it was nice to be in the quiet.




We decided to go camp before I headed home, but through a few small obstacles - again ended up at a paid Forest Campsite. It was late and we decided to stop and relax rather than search in the dark, but got to check out a herd of Elk grazing not too far away. As morning broke after some much needed coffee, we parted ways, me headed to a dirt road to get into Idaho and a beautiful start to the drive home.



I found a small offshoot - and decided to go explore - leading me to this fabulous old forest fire lookout. The outhouse was pretty amazing although I thought the door should have been on the opposite side (for the view...)



I drove 15.5 hrs before stopping at this camp spot in southern Utah - nothing like pulling into an unknown not remote area at 11.30 at night, alone....a decent sleep, woke up - coffee and a quick 8ish hr drive to get home. 2453 miles total, cheapest gas $3.149 in Utah (Costco), total gallons 164.208

 

What an Awesome Adventure!
I bet you were tired when you got home after all that. Haha

 

Def a fun trip - more time to explore would have been good but I needed to be home - I have been struggling with some lower back issues for the last couple months and this didn’t help that at all, but did make me schedule a doctors appt and start some treatment

 

Sorry to hear about the back issues. Hopefully you can get it sorted without too much fuss.

 

Cheers mate. To be honest it is some sciatica type pain or something like that - likely my own fault as I was hiking a ton (and doing 35lb weight rucks half the time) and didn’t stretch enough, sat too much - finally went to my physical therapist the other day and he is totally crushing it already. I would wish I was smarter by this age - instead just thought I could beat it myself -
Man getting out in the truck was fantastic though - even just the little bit of camping we have done lately
I even got back and as my mate Damien had replaced his front grill - I have always disliked mine (painted it black as soon as I got the truck) I found a faux TRD Pro grill on FB marketplace for $60 and Shazam !!

 

September 2017, after working a contract in Perris Valley CA Damien Germano and I camped on the way-ish home up a local well known spot. watching the marine layer was cool....



I then taught a rock climber guy I met at the hot springs @ Mammoth to speedfly, in one day, and after launching him off the bunny hill a couple times we hiked the local hill and got him launched and safely down. He had been given Dean Potters wing after he passed and this was his way of honoring his friend. (note it was risky as but he was a switched on dude and was very 'body aware)


pic is him launching the bunny hill. we had too much going on during his actual flight.....

During this period we were flying a lot, speedflying and skydiving mostly. it was normal to work skydiving all day then hike the hill (right across the street) and speedfly (or sometimes paraglide)


flying a parachute with folks flying wing suits is a def trip....

I got my leg tattooed and then made the interesting decision that camping in the mountains in Mexico was great idea. Damien, his girlfriend and I set out to try to conquer the track that had taken us down in the beginning. Armed with our new found 4WD we would not be defeated......



Unfortunately Damien was travelling with 2 compromised tires, which slowed our day and made us a bit weary about going too deep. we played a smarter game and stopped and camped, the Mountain won again.....



We limped our way home, but not to be outdone - and with a still freshly done tattoo I immediately returned south of the border, this time with my mate Jesse - to fly paragliders at the dunes....



After several days of too much dirt my tattoo had had enough and I managed to get it decently infected, somehow I thought I was invincible prior to that.....all good in the end though.....

 

Thanksgiving 2017, Damien, Trevor Thompson and I decided to head to Anza Borrego. We had heard of a place called 'the squeeze' and as far as I knew it had a bypass.....wrong !



Definitely one of the wildest tracks I had driven up to that point, after completing it we pushed on, at a slow old rate.


We found camp above the next obstacle - quite the wicked view, although I was fairly nervous for what was next....



Heart Attack Hill has somewhat of a rep locally, I guess been a decent amount of vehicles roll down it. Somehow I thought there was a bypass for this too - duh.



Its steeper than it looks.....

The rest of the Pinyon Mountain trail was quite stunning, and we were able to enjoy the rest of the desert

 

Early December 2017, my mate Will and I went out to the desert, Will had moved here to work at the wind tunnel in town and we had become fast friends. Anza Borrego and above Diablos Drop Off was a bit of a favorite, wicked views and usually a bit of action as people went down (and sometimes up) Diablos (noted as a one way - down)




After a couple months searching for a Tacoma for my mate Trevor Thompson (Joe Rogan podcast) I found one up in Monterey so we drove up there and snagged it. A 2013 (14?) in the best color (I was a bit jealous) with some suspension work and wheels and tires, a cap on the back and a Prinsu roof rack - then we headed south and camped in Big Sur



Christmas 2017 - myself and a couple mates Keith and Trish realised we had no where to go, family wise so we headed to the desert - explored some slot canyons and had the time of our lives - laughing and enjoying the peacefulness

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Cheers, likely more fun for me as I relive some of these trips, thanks for checking it out though

 

October 2024 - a shift in focus to the desert:

 

Sally's truck update....

After camping and utilising the Bambeds setup for the kid, who is now taller than Mom and has been quite cramped in the Short Bed - sleeping diagonal but more 'curled up' I decided to make a go of using some left over plywood to make an extension...

Before....




My plywood was a bit thinner than the Bambeds - and we had a little bit of flex to the extension, I figured out making a 'Toothed' bracing using the hand hold cut outs. All and all stoked on how this turned out.

 

Having already sound deadened the rear of the cab, it finally dawned on me I needed to do the doors. Not sure why I didn't do this earlier, but finally got around to it I guess.....

I did somewhere @ 70% of the 'outer skin' of the doors (basically as much as I could reach) and then did just little bit of the inner skin. Made a huge difference for sure, Stereo sounds better, can hold a conversation whilst moving, may lay some down on the front floors as I dont think I have a lot there currently



Left Hand Brewing, the first Brewery I went to in the States when I came here in 1999, I spent a couple months in Longmont CO
That Milk Stout (on Nitro) is a great helper

 

After sound deadening the doors on my 2012, I set about doing the doors on the 17. Luckily the doors are 1- cleaner inside and 2- wider, width wise so easier to get a hand in there



The results are pretty amazing. Below 40mph it’s very quiet - almost creepily. Once over 40 there is some road noise - so I guess I need to do the roof next. Very pleased with the results though.

Took the truck camping - and offroad it’s wild how quiet it was creeping around.

Again an overnighter - this one yielding - spotting of some long horned sheep, a very low flying military helo, kid using the new sleeping platform and an all around great evening under the stars



Yes we have been repeating a campsite, mostly because it’s ‘easy’ to get to, has a great view and the road to a few of our favorite sites was closed a little while ago -

 

Spent the day sound deadening the roof, no I did not completely remove the headliner from the truck - deciding to work around it instead, or lazily - was time consuming and I mostly have it all back together - took it for a test drive and I was a bit bummed, wasn't the complete result I was hoping for - its better but I was really thinking it was going to be total silence in there

 

Disappointed in just the roof results or the entire cab? I have this on my to do list but not sure if it is worth my time and money.