The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

I'm exactly like you on the Owens Valley/395 area, I consider it once of the most precious and beautiful places in the US. I honestly hope to retire some place between Bishop and Lone Pine.

I've more than once considered the alternate reality if LA DWP didn't effectively steal the water in the Owens Valley. In general most people think of DWP as being evil and it having had a significant negative impact on the Owens Valley because of the obvious impacts to the Owens River, Owens Lake and all the resulting dust. Obviously the present case is bad in comparison to the entire valley floor entering conservation of some kind. But that's a false comparison, no such thing would have occurred at the time of the water grab. If LA DWP hadn't stolen the water then I strongly suspect the valley would instead have come under heavy agricultural use instead. After all that is what happened in the central valley. (And actually the central valley was also subject to a water grab, just a few landholders effectively stole all the water rights during a particularly bad flood year by claiming they had "drained" land to make it arable when in fact all they did was wait for natural flood waters to recede).

So then the question is would we be worse off with the LA DWP grab as it stands now or the alternate case of heavy agricultural development. For me the answer seems pretty clear, I really don't want another central valley like agricultural cesspool on the east side of the Sierra, the one on the west side is ugly enough as is. LA DWP only takes the water. Agriculture creates nasty run off, salinates the soils and destroys the natural landscape converting it to a checker board while also taking the water. Large agribusiness is very effective at fighting off any kind of regulation by holding up the fictional small farmer as a victim. Alternatively everyone loves to hate LA DWP and routinely sue the pants off of them. I honestly don't think we'd see agribusiness being subjected to the environmental restoration programs and costs that LA DWP is. Consider also that agriculture regulation is often opposed by the local residents since it is their source of income and tax revenue. For LA DWP the local residents strongly support more and more environmental regulation of the DWP while the residents of LA are too far away and disinterested to fight the few cents increase in their water bills that Owens Valley regulations might cause. It is a classic case of NIMBY special interest advantage at work, the larger LA population will be forced to pay slightly more for water to improve the environment for the smaller but more interested population in the Owens Valley.

So over the years I've come to consider the LA DWP to be the lesser evil and the unique water grab in the Owens Valley to have unexpectedly "preserved" in a sense the viewshed from the Eastern Sierra that would otherwise have been destroyed by typical agricultural development. Of course it is really hard to figure out what alternate realities would really pan out, but that's one way I've come to peace with the current LA DWP situation.

 

Lots of Hot Springs in the area for sure. Mammoth is almost like my winter home. Here's a pic from Saturday. Me and a few buddies at the top just off chair 23 (I'm on the far left). Were heading over to the Paranoids which I hadn't done in 2 years due to lack of snow. As you can see the snow pack is good. 150% better than last year! I know that's not saying much but it's above average so far. We just need this heat to go away and bring on some more storms. It was a great weekend though.

 

Thought provoking indeed. What would the alternative look like? I'm inclined to agree. Agro it would probably have been... If DWP had a heart they would try to do more though... From the article, the lawyers are in full control. When there is a dispute that goes to arbitration, the DWP lawyers argue about the language in the arbitration clause. They also refuse to provide power to air control monitors. Residents in Independence expressed interest in putting up money to preserve the historical barber shop from the 1920's, instead DWP tore it down in the middle of the nightFrom the article it seems that they stonewall every attempt to reverse what they are doing.

When I ate last at the Ranch House Cafe, I had planned on eating and leaving quick as I was on my way home. Instead I ended up there for almost an hour. I sat next to, and struck up a conversation with Bob G. from Dunmovin, CA. He is one of the last remaining residents of the town (Dunmovin). If I recall correctly, he said that the town got its name from the wife of a miner who was sick and tired of moving from place to place, so she said I'm "done moving" and I'm staying put.



Anyways, I estimate he was in his mid/late 70's. A lifelong local resident of the area. The stories he told me concerning his life experience were straight of fiction. He impressed me greatly, living history and all, and I wished I could have spent more time with him. He had the best idea for dust control on the Owens Dry Lake. Instead of DWP spending 93 Million each year watering it, just put some asphalt down, and make a race track or something.

Here is a neat photo I captured on the last day of December, 2015. A tribute to the 395.

Awesome photo! Thx for sharing it. Looks like a great time. Our family missed out on the snow this winter. I too am hoping for some more storms...

Yes it's too bad about the heat! It's going to be 88°F here today...

 

This thread....


I always need to clean up after a few pages.

 

Solar lantern.

http://luminaid.com/products/luminaid-packlite-16

 

Damn Nick looks like you just set the camera down in the middle of the hwy . Did any cars go by while it was there? Edit - I see your shadow. Just a quick one I guess. I'm guessing around Ridgecrest?
This one's for you and Ken or anyone who's spent some time in the Eastern Sierra / Owens valley. One of my favorites. An ode to the Owens Valley and the Highway 395 corridor, this Double IPA is distinctly bolder than our Epic IPA and celebrates the aromas of wild local fresh hops, sage, and juniper.

nfs - that solar light is very cool. May have to get one of those. I'm a solar junkie

Like the story about Bob. Last time I ate at the Ranch House I wasn't impressed. Maybe it was a bad day? Try the Mt Whitney restaurant in Lone Pine for great food and history (best burgers in the valley). Mostly film history from the westerns. Also Jack's in Bishop is very good too. Great stuff.

 

This is returning the favor for the l-track and bleeder screws. Thanks Chris.

Product looks good and fun!

Yes. Just south of Ridgecrest. I put the camera on a 10-second timer. No cars passed. It was a straightaway and I could see in each direction, to minimize the risk of something bad happening.

Thanks for tip on the Mt Whitney restaurant in Lone Pine. I'll be sure to give it a try this summer. And sad face at bad restaurant experience. Hate it when that happens...

There are so many interesting places to visit / eat / explore along the 395 route.

I don't know about anybody else but I like "The Astro Burger". Been in business for over 40 years, and still family owned. It's got a little bit of shabby outside appearance, but outsides are outsides.

Located in Boron, CA at the busy 58 / 395 intersection. It's a nice alternative to the chain restaurants.



This is a pic of my wife holding our youngest when we passed through summer 2013.






We've also eaten at the Roadhouse Restaurant just caddy corner to Astro's and had good experiences there. It's a diner like experience.

 

Great post on Handheld radio comms. I can't believe how cheap those handhelds are. Wouldn't it be nice if the mobile setups were that cheap too?
I start a course next Friday for my amateur radio license so all this info is extremely revelevant and useful. Thanks!

 

You're welcome. Good to hear you'll get your ticket. Very fun and useful.

At my home I setup an antenna (same one on my truck), mounted to a 20' pole, ran some coax (feed-line), and a bulkhead pass thru in the wall to get into the house. The pole was free, everything else ran me about $150.

I hooked the coax up to my cheap ass Baofeng Radio. I can hit linked repeaters 39 miles away. I can talk to guys driving around in Phoenix from my couch, lol.

My wife can also use the radio to talk to me at work. I'm only 3 miles from home. Works pretty well, but there is one caveat to doing this way though.

Handheld radio receivers are easily overwhelmed in heavy RF corridors, such as urban environments. The tech term is "desentized" or "desense" In a nutshell, the radio receiver can't effectively distinguish between the signal it should be tuned to, and a strong signal it should ignore.

Mobile Radios have a lot more filtering installed in the circuitry, and thus will perform much, much better across the board and generally not subject to that problem.

My recommendation for mobile radio choose is the big 3. Yaesu, Kenwood, ICOM. Those suppliers make quality goods. The Chinese vendors are copying the big 3, and they have radios on the market for about half the cost. However, quality is substandard, and the menuing systems can be a torturous hell.

Here are a few pics of my home antenna

NMO Mobile antenna base station adapter kit. (Ground plane radial)


PVC pipe attached to aluminm pole, RF choke, and base station kit attached.

Radials attached and antenna mounted.

Here it is in the air


I had it up for a long time, but it's down now. I can put it up in an hour if I need to though.

 

On a really good day, I can park the truck in a few good spots and hit a UHF repeater on Mount Wilson and talk into Los Angles. Power level was either 10W or 50W... Pretty amazing if you ask me.

 

Nice home setup Nick. That is awesome that you can talk to your wife at home from your truck.
I've been looking at some of the dual band Yaesu radios but I'll look into the other brands you posted. I think I'm going to wait on pulling the trigger untill I'm done with this course so I can grasp a better understanding of how everything works.
I definitely want one that runs off 12V (some are listed at 13.6v) as I will be powering it like you have off my deep cycle auxiliary battery in the bed and not the starter battery/alternator.
One thing I'm a little torn on is the antenna. Obviously a center roof mount like yours is the most ideal. I don't have a cabrack for my truck yet but I've been thinking of building a rack over my shell for solar and for an antenna thats bolted to the Yakima tracks but sits lower than the Yakima crossbars. I've also considering just getting a tailgate bracket for it or a mag mount. I don't think I want it on the hood.

One of the biggest reasons I want to get a UHF/VHF radio which may not be as big of concern to you down in the desert is to monitor radio assisted logging roads. Logging is crazy here in BC and while you don't usually run into loaded logging trucks screaming down the FSR on the weekend it does occasionally happen. I have some time off during the week this year when there is more activity and a few trips planned so I want to make sure that I am prepared. They are suppose to call out their "up" or "down" mile markers so I will definitely feel safer tuned in and knowing when or if they are coming.
While I understand that you don't need a license to monitor channels/frequencies I figured if I'm going as far as installing a radio in my truck I mine as well know how to and be licensed to legally operate it. If I get dual band radio it will allow me to monitor logging traffic and still communicate with others.

 

Thanks man.

Good idea to wait on purchase. The dual band radios are really nice. When shopping, don't get hung up on power levels like I did. 50w v 60w v 85w etc. Believe it or not power is the least important factor in radio comms. Doubling power only results in 3dB gain. And you need 6db to move the power signal meter up one little bar as pictured below.


Where power does matter is when one is engaged in RF warfare. The strongest signal has a
"capture effect" on repeaters. Southern California has an unusual history of RF warfare dating back almost 40 years.

I've operated my radio just fine from 11.0 volts up to 14 volts. No problems.

I know your not there yet, but you'll eventually get there and that's how to organize stored frequencies in the memory channels.

I've got 1,000 memory channels to use.

No wrong way to do it, totally subjective...

I've organized them something like this:

• 0-99 Local repeaters,
• 100-199 VHF/UHF Simplex, according to my local band plan. GMRS, FRS, MURS,
  
• 200-299 Government frequencies (NFS, BLM, State Parks, CalFire, Etc.),
• 300-399 High Desert repeaters,
• 400-499 Eastern / Western Sierra Nevada

For vehicle installs, I always recommend a 1/2 wave antenna, with NMO mount. It won't matter that much where you put it and it will work just fine if installed correctly. Obviously higher is better. As far as antenna brands go... I really like Larsen/Pulse brand. Quality. They make commercial grade antennas for public safety, etc. I've heard Laird is another good commercial brand as well.

Sound intense! Good reason to be radio equipped! I certainly wouldn't want a big rig coming at me on a FS trail!

 

Hey Crom-brulé! Just wanted to say thanks again for recommending that Anza-Borrego book. I read through half of it today and there's so much good info in there! It actually reads quite well. I can see why you liked it so much. I plan to familiarize myself with the area as much as possible before my trip at the end of the month. I've already bookmarked a few places I will definitely be exploring once I'm down there. I'll post pics here if you don't mind- (at least unilt I get my build/bs thread together)...

 

You're welcome. Sure feel free to post share some pics. If that trip was this weekend I could have made it... It's been unseasonally hot, (90F today) it should hopefully cool down before you get out there...

I was monitoring the SOLA trip thread. Have you decided what your interests are while you're there? The place is large and a ton to see.

I've been going out there for 10 years pretty regularly, and there still a lot of stuff I haven't seen yet.

 

It seems I got myself in somewhat of a pickle with my balancing beads in the tires. I talked to 3 tire shops, all of their tire mounting machines work in a horizontal configuration.

Bottom line is if I have a shop take the rubber off the TRD off-road wheels the beads are going to spill and get lost.

I talked to the manufacture, Innovative balancing, and they weren't much help.

I may end up swapping the tires myself. Lol, that's a lot of work not sure I want that much work.

Alternatively I could get more beads to replace the ones to get lost.

Anyone got any good ideas?

 

Yeah, I saw you monitoring...
Since the group is going to camp at Fish Creek, I figure I'd try to see all the thing I could around that area. Diablo Dropoff, the Wind Caves, Rockhouse Canyon, the pictographs at smugglers canyon, and of course the Pumpkin patch. I'm sure there's going to be more things there that I won't have time for, but I'm just excited to see it and I don't mind wandering a bit... Pictures never do nature justice (no offense to Ansel Adams). I believe it has to be experienced with your own senses to really be appreciated.

 

Oh yeah. The beads are pretty small, correct?

 

I've been pondering this as well. I'm due for tires and may get some before the end of the month just to be on the safe side. My local tire shop also mounts tires horizontally, but they said that they use beads all the time. They might be thinking of the smaller sized beads that can be added through the valve stem. This doesn't work for the larger beads that you and I would use. Not sure. As much as I'd like to get the beads, I think it would be such a waste to have to buy a new set every time I need new tires. The only way to be sure you have the correct amount in the tire is to catch every single one that will inevitable spill out, or scrap them all and fill with a new pack. The tire mounting machines would not allow for a tarp or something to be placed underneath to catch and spilled beads.

 

Hey Nick. I'm heading down tomorrow if you have any free time. I'll PM my digits in case you can make it for a day.

 

That was what I was kinda thinking. That a cooperative shop may be willing to set something up to "catch" them.