ETAV8R's build: Gini and some wanderings

Wow, that stinks. On the plus side, you had two medical professionals nearby.

My wife is an RN as well -- I'm hopeful that her knowledge will offset some of my stupidity.

 

I'm so sorry about the knee
I hope your heal fast!

On a lighter note, this was hilarious: springtime brings the no-see-ums bloom enmass and they love me.

 

My wife is a DPT and we both mountain bike a lot as well as hike and clamber in the desert. We’re also both over 60, for what it’s worth. We ride bikes with tubeless tires, but we each always carry a spare tube, just in case. We’ve used them twice since we switched to tubeless back in 2015: once for a sidewall gash that couldn’t be plugged, and once she rigged up a sling when I broke my collarbone and had to hike out 3 miles pushing the bike on-handed. I’m thinking that a bike tube might also be handy if my hood latch fails. Heal fast, and thanks for the cautionary tale and great photo’s. I am heading down to Mojave Preserve in a few days and thought about detouring via Saline but I’ve never been in March and I’m not crazy about biting bugs so thanks also for the tip on the no-see-ums. I’ve been pretty much every month from October to February but never this late in Spring and it looks like it will be pretty windy too.

 

mate - glad you are ok and healing. seems smart - bring RN on every trip - copy.

the in-reach is a cool device, we have been using one for the last couple years, great back up. heal well mate, travel well

 

Thanks...well there were two RN's on this trip...if I go alone then it will be only one.

 

I have used my inReach for a rescue call.
Seamless, with 2 way communication.

 

Eric, congrats on the new job! It’s great to see a trip report from you! Hate to hear about your injury. Glad it sounds relatively minor. Looking forward to more summer adventures from you.

For anyone without an InReach, bite the bullet and get one. I did SAR with the Coast Guard Reserves and my Sheriff's Office before I retired and have seen how useful they are.

 

Very nice!!

That fix looks much better than my fix. Years ago I went to Pick-A-Part to find a suitable replacement for mine. I believe I got one from a 1991 red Tercel. Using nutserts I got that sucker bolted in, but it's been through quite a bit and the sheet metal is starting to fatigue around the nutserts. I probably should contact @GHOSTSHIP for the proper fix.

 

Do it! Sergio will take care of it.

 

This makes me want an Inreach especially since I am alone most of the time.
Hmmm…but it might be a waste since I am working on my 75th year and extraction would likely be for nothing…LOL! “Earth to earth and dust to dust”.

 

A friend of mine got one night at the Cottonwood Campground in Joshua Tree and invited me out. I got there well before them and set up camp. I drove in from the north side of the park since it has been several years since I'd been in JTNP. I arrived early and had about three vehicles in front of me at the entrance station. I heard from my friend who left the next day via the same way and said it was about a 45minute wait for vehicles entering the park. So crazy. The only other time I've camped in JTNP was probably 2009 and I arrived at the same entrance late in the day, drove to White Tank Campground and picked whatever was open (probably 80% open), put my money in the paper envelope and enjoyed a peaceful evening with few other campers. Things have definitely changed.

Nice sunrise on the way to JT


I don't remember this "Cholla Garden" from my previous trip. Definitely no warning signs about bees. I do remember the park closed all campgrounds about two years ago because of bees. I encountered them north of JT just prior to that closure.






Continuing on my way south through the park I stopped at the intersection for the Dale Mining District/Black Eagle Mine Roads. No time to travel these roads on this trip. Quite an interesting and robust drag at the intersection.



Camp set up. I finally got out my cammo netting inspired by @DVexile . I appreciate remote/dry camping even more after spending a while in an established campground. The bathroom was the saving grace as it had running water, flush toilets, and trash bins. The sunset was nice as was sunrise the next morning. Even treated to a song dog (coyote) serenade late in the night.

 

I like that tarp setup and the netting is a good idea too!

 

I only used the tarp because of the campsite and an inability to use my awning.

 

ah gothca. I don't have an awning so always looking for new ways to use the noah's tarp i have. anything special about the netting or just something off Amazon?

 

Yes the Noah's tarps are cool. I have two and used them much more before I got the awning.
I've got two different sizes of desert cammo netting from Amazon.

 

Due to my recent injury I've had some time to focus on studies and also got out for a quick weekend trip. I'll do a short report ASAP because I did venture on some new to me paths.

Following in the footsteps of my dad and brother I've come to need a CPAP for better sleep. In order to help facilitate this during camping I've added a Bluetti EB55 and two of their solar panels. A 120W and 200W panel are now in my kit. I chose the EB55 because it fits below my sleeping platform and has just enough power for my CPAP but not an electric blanket too. Since solar panels don't always live up to their marketed specs I use the 120W for the EB55 and the 200W to power my truck battery system. The 200W replaced the one 100W rigid panel I used to carry.

With my truck shell I can place the CPAP right above the kitchen box and run the air tube above my sleeping area and down to where I sleep. This is working out pretty well for my camping experience.


Bluetti EB55 under my sleeping platform




CPAP set up and location




Solar panels doing their thing. Yes one has some shadow on it which cuts production significantly. This was later in the day and by this time I wasn't too concerned about solar power for my battery system.

 

So as not to deter from Adventuretaco's thread I'm sharing some pics from a trip I did in 2011 up Pleasant Canyon in the Panamint Range. These photos document what was there which may not be anymore as BLM contracts to have these areas cleaned up.























And some other random pics from that trip...









Before the silt beds were in the current state they are now...


Another Flippac spotted...


IMHO not so smart travelers...


Mohagany Flat

 

After my recent trip I decided to swap out one well used (heavily scrubbed) non-stick pot for another and also add a hard anodized aluminum frying pan. It still packs up the same as before...now I need to go camping again to test it out. It's mostly Trangia stuff with two GSI pieces.

 

I'll agree for the latter two vehicles, but am compelled to defend the foremost. Those RWD body-on-frame American sedans are surprisingly unstoppable. My first car was three tons of Detroit steel from the Nixon era... two doors, eight cylinders, opera windows, and an AM radio. Fluffy whitewall tires on 15" rims, they spun a lot, but that thing powered its way out of every stupid predicament I threw at it -- mud, snow, curbs, whatever. I'll agree it's still not the best choice for back-country desert exploration, but I'd take that car over any stock RWD pickup or Subaru on earth. And damn I miss those bench seats, it was like driving a couch. A loud, incredibly inefficient, yet somehow unstoppable couch.

AWESOME photo!

If you already have your parks pass, depending on your destination, it can be a lot faster to head in via Berdoo from the south. I always go this way during the busy season. Once got stuck behind an idiot, but usually it's relatively quick for a back-country route.

 

Checkout the Gambler 500, there's a guy around here with a lifted Crown Vic that he takes everywhere.