ETAV8R's build: Gini and some wanderings

My cheap awning works great other than in dire winds. During windy conditions I took it down but covered my table and items near my truck by securing the tarp over the items. So it does double duty. I tried to figure out how to set up my larger tarp but the W thing began and it would have been an exercise in futility. The awning works and is a fraction of the price of other designs. There was a lot of moisture in Death Valley during new years and the tarp got the condensation where the things underneath did not.















This was after a breezy evening and one corner was blown off.

 

Love, love, love it! That last picture with those mountains...

And those wheels!!!

Truck looks great

 

Thanks!
The majestic Inyos overwhelming the view in this Death Valley location.

I'm hyper attentive now when I look at older 4Runners. I see these wheels all the time. My center caps are done now but the color didn't match as well as I'd have liked.

 

Are your wheels like shiny silver color? Caps came out darker or brighter?

The OEM reconditioned wheel I ordered was a different color silver entirely. I was fine with that, but I ended up spraying it to match and blend in better.

 

Yes quite shiny. I like them. The caps are off a tad. No biggie as most people won't notice it.

 

A few more from my most recent trip to DV. In a nutshell my travels took me to Saline, up Lippincott (worse than I last remember it), The Racetrack (saw the tire track carnage of assholes who don't respect nature or a National Park), Ubehebe Crater, Furnace Creek, and out Panamint Valley. I spent five nights in DV and it was a great time. The weather was cool/cold but met new people and shared stories. These pics aren't edited and some are from my cell. I usually edit my trip photos later in the year as part of an annual project I work on.

One person I met out there shared a new to me book. It is about the history of how DVNP came to be. I've since picked up a copy and have yet to read it.

$25 Death Valley National Park: A History (America's National Parks)

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0874179254/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Breakfast is about to get started


The new table works great. In my opinion keep it simple stupid...better than a convoluted "camp kitchen" type I used to bring on trips. Lighter too.


The new years crowds at the springs




Yes you do see an Airstream trailer in this pic. What you don't see is the $1000-$3000 bill the driver paid to have it towed out of Saline Valley Road south pass. The truck is a 2wd work truck dually with street tires and little tread left. Talk about rolling the dice. Apparently the driver borrowed it from his dad. Probably just told him they were going to do some desert camping.


Took a little hike on the first day. That old guy in the pic isn't me. I hope to be as fit when I'm 63. He still works two jobs. Not because he has to. He can retire anytime. He works because he enjoys the people he works with. He can outhike anyone I know and has a vast understanding of history and special places in and around Death Valley. I've been so fortunate to come to know people in my life. One day I hope to have everyone around a great big campfire and I'll act like W.R. Hearst and just listen to the tales they tell.


Sometimes the phone works...just have to be at the right place


A very special occurrence at the springs






Up till 1994 Death Valley was a national monument and there are still a few remnants


Lippincott and The Racetrack






This couple were planning on heading down Lippincott with their FJ and teardrop. Hope they made it ok. This is one of the spots at Homestake Campsite








Teakettle and the road to Ubehebe Crater. This road is the dreaded one. The washboard as you can see is impressive. The rental car carnage happens here.




Think I need an add-a-leaf




Hike it!






The valley proper. It has been a long time since I've been to the Furnace Creek/Stovepipe Wells areas. So amazing to drop into this area from the northern section. Time to dive down to sub-sea level depths.








I use a 1gal propane tank when camping and noticed it takes a hell of a long time to heat water. Since this was a winter trip warm/hot water was necessary. Coffee, oatmeal, and hot water nalgene for the sleeping bag at night. After the trip I finally broke down and bought one of those small ten dollar camp stoves to heat water. Then the Amazon curse caught me and I picked up a few more goodies. Essentially the cheap "Jetboil" system:
Stove-
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B4FY8YO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Pot-

$33 OLICAMP Hard Anodized XTS Pot, 1-Litre

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B007OJKI2U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Windscreen-

Camping Stove Windshield - Premium Aluminum Windscreen - WindSTOP Engineering - Collapsible & Foldable - Travel Friendly Wind Blocker - Great for Backpack Hiking Cooking Camping

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MPX9WSQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Doing some research I found out that you can refill the small green propane canisters fairly well with this-

$10 Onlyfire Propane Refill Adapter for 1 lb Tank, LP Gas Cylinder Tank Coupler for Throwaway Disposable Bottle, Fill 1 Pound Bottles from 20 lb Tank, Solid Brass

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X7OHXOC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You can even refill the small isobutane backpacking cannisters but I've not yet bought that adapter.

 

Now we will.

 

The past two days I took some time to do some how to and comparison videos about my Klymit sleeping pads. Here are a couple pics.
The green one is the Klymit Static V and the red is the V-Luxe insulated.

 

great thread! I use those same sleeping pads for camping. I also take naps on them almost daily during my lunch break under my softopper. Very comfy and I've used one for about a year now with no issues. I sometimes leave it inflated for weeks before I need to add a bit more air.

I've never been to death valley. gotta get out there soon.

 

Thank you. Yes those pads are amazing. I made a couple videos on YT about them. One is how to inflate them cheap and easy using a plastic trash bag and a rubberband.

 

Hmmm will have to find that video lol. I use about 15 breadths for the green one but that red one might be challenging

 

Frickin awesome

 

Thanks. Glad to help. This pad is pretty big and takes a crap load of effort to inflate. At 10k it isn't too realistic to expend that much energy inflating a sleeping pad. There are some nice and fancy and pricey products online to inflate these pads. I can't take full credit for it but the only other video I found was kinda lame. Not that my video is awesome but I hope it makes it more clear how to go about inflating these pads.

 

Shoot I didn't post any pics from my last trip to Anza a few months ago before the big bloom. They weren't that exciting and I was only there two nights. I met up with Crom and he noted that my suspension looked like it was sagging. Indeed a quick look underneath revealed about an inch clearance from the bumpstops. Once I saw that I knew an AAL was in order. It has been installed and I need to have the shims installed before I depart on a trip in the near future. I will report back after the trip with my thoughts and of course some photographs.

I also had the radiator supports replaced by the Energy Suspension kit. My mechanic changed his mind once he put them in and now fully endorses having that mod done on Tacomas. Can't wait to get out wanderin!

 

Recently got back from a wonderful trip in Owens/Death Valleys. Five days and four nights consisting of the White Mountains, Volcanic Tablelands, Mono Lake, and Death Valley-Mahogany Flat Campground. I tested out using my Kelty Tarp 12 and it worked great. Lots of new signage in Death Valley.

 

Great pics as always!

 

Well another trip to Death Valley is in the books. I was able to sneak off Thursday afternoon and got to a place to camp for the night around 9pm in the Hunter Mountain area. I saw several other light sources in Hidden Valley that evening. The next day was off to do a morning hike before heading into Saline Valley via the South Pass. Grapevine Canyon isn't too bad but past that the washboard is pretty bad in my opinion. I still don't get how people bring in street vehicles to the springs. It wouldn't feel safe to me rolling the dice, yet people do it.

The daytime temps this year in late October were a bit higher than I remember from past trips during this time. Nights were perfect. There was a waxing moon that took over the nightscape. My preference is no moon to enjoy the stars and there were a few shooting stars to be seen. On the last evening the sunset lit up perfectly and I attempted to get some shots reflecting off the Wizard Pool which was empty for some reason. Usually if people are present, photography isn't a good idea. Clothing is optional and not everyone wants nudies on the net. I got lucky but my timing was a bit late and my tripod wasn't behaving. I got a couple that might be salvageable.

The airshow this trip was great even though my attempt to video three F/A-18s coming through Dedeckera heading down to Steel and Saline failed. On the first hike day a KC-130 was high overhead refueling four F/A-18s in a long oval orbit. After arriving at the springs a B-1B flew by the Peace Sign on its way to Saline. At the springs the weekend was quiet other than no less than six different single engine prop planes visiting the Chicken Strip. Monday was busy with Hornets doing the Steel Pass jive.

The last day was a drive up Steel Pass to do another hike and head out via Dedeckera Canyon. I think there was a significant rain event since I was here last. Some petroglyphs that were visible in the past were either hard to find or not visible due to light brown dusting on dark canyon walls. The light brown dust must have come down from up above. The precipitation evidence was also noted closer to Dedeckera Canyon. Here there was a red hue where the wheel tracks were and some areas with a red clay which had dried where it pooled. The canyon I hiked also seemed to have more debris which could be attributed to heavy precipitation. I'd not been in this area for a few years and cannot locate my photos from that trip to compare with this trips photographs. If anyone has a guess as to what kind of scat is in the photo with the quarter for scale I'd love to hear it. There was bighorn droppings in the area and I don't think coyotes get up here or the dry falls in the area. My guess is a mountain lion.

At the springs one individual stated the falls in Dedeckera Canyon weren't too bad and that my Tacoma and camper shouldn't have any issues. The last time I'd been through there it wasn't too bad. This time it took lots of rock stacking for each fall. Perhaps the jeep group that went through two days prior decided to make it more fun for their rigs. Sorry but no pics of the falls since I was busy trying to get my ass through there unscathed. The bumper took a little bit on one fall but nothing too noticeable.

Due to the delay in Dedeckera I missed another great sunset. There was a bit of glow left at Eureka Dunes but not what it was a little while before my arrival. Most of the pics here are cell pics and some point and shoot. Speaking of my point and shoot camera, Canon G15 with a magnetically mounted polarizing filter...it started acting up and will probably be taking at trip to the Canon service center.

 

DV so magical! Thx for posting pics and sharing trip story.

 

That FWC camper looks money. I'd kill for one!