yabanja
Explorer
The bentonite was a bummer but also pretty fun. You always wonder what you would do if you get stuck so it is good to practice every once in a while.
I never would have taken the risk if my wife had been along!
Allan
FIDO Expeditions 2016
- Thread starter yabanja
- Start date
The bentonite was a bummer but also pretty fun. You always wonder what you would do if you get stuck so it is good to practice every once in a while.
I never would have taken the risk if my wife had been along!
Allan
yabanja
Explorer
Warm....
We decided to have a layover day so a few of us went to hike Mount Trumbull. I was expecting glorious views of the grand canyon from the top, but it was too far to see. It was a lovely hike though and the company was good. Apparently the summit wasn't quite high enough for Howard so he claimed this tree to achieve maximum elevation.
The weather was becoming unseasonably hot. A couple of the people in our party had older dogs and they were concerned for their welfare in the hot weather. The agenda was to go down Whitmore Wash which is the lowest elevation point vehicle accessible to the Grand Canyon. There was no question that it was going to be ungodly hot down there so our party split up into two groups with one going to Whitmore and the other seeking the relatively higher elevation of twin point where we would catch up with them a day later. I was very excited to go to Whitmore and tagged along with that group. We got an early start to beat the heat. The first stop was at the old schoolhouse at Mt. Trumbull. It had been burned down and reconstructed in the 90's. It was open for visitors despite being unattended. A testament to how few people really get out this way. The inside was lined with historical photos my favorite of which was a guy sitting on top of a giant barrel cactus. We took the opportunity for a group photo.
This was very close to the turnoff to the south towards the Colorado. And the descent began. It was a lovely road meandering down through the layers for several thousand feet. In places it was very steep. We came upon a dirt runway airport where they transferred river raft customers from helicopter to airplane for their exit from the canyon. There was a lot of air traffic as we were just south of the no fly zone that the National Parks Service has been nice enough to implement over the bulk of the canyon. It was very different topography from the areas that we had been earlier.
The barrel cactus were quite something and many cactus flowers were in bloom.
The road was steep, rough, and remote. Just the way I like it!!
We arrived at our destination in mid afternoon. It was a parking lot perched on the edge of a cliff 900 feet above the Colorado. The topography reminded me very much of the Tonto Plateau on the south side of the canyon but I understand they call it something different on the north side. Here is a photo of Doug right outside the doorstep of his camper.(we parked a bit further from the edge-thinking of late night calls of nature and whatnot.)
There was a trail heading down to the river and nothing sounded better than a dip in the cool water as the temperature was in excess of 100 degrees. We decided the best course of action was to seek shade under Howard and Heidi's awning and wait for the trail to get some shade later in the afternoon. It was still early in the year and none of us were acclimated to the hot temperatures. We all just sort of lazed around all afternoon. It is interesting though. After this day my body adjusted and I had no problem with the heat in the coming week.
The shade came at around 4:00 and we all scrambled down towards the river. I was startled by a rattlesnake in the trail. The laws of physics took a break for a moment as instinct took over and I leapt straight up the slope off the trail. The snake went his way and I went mine. We made it to the cool Colorado for the best dip of my life.
Our campsite was pretty sweet.
We decided to have a layover day so a few of us went to hike Mount Trumbull. I was expecting glorious views of the grand canyon from the top, but it was too far to see. It was a lovely hike though and the company was good. Apparently the summit wasn't quite high enough for Howard so he claimed this tree to achieve maximum elevation.
The weather was becoming unseasonably hot. A couple of the people in our party had older dogs and they were concerned for their welfare in the hot weather. The agenda was to go down Whitmore Wash which is the lowest elevation point vehicle accessible to the Grand Canyon. There was no question that it was going to be ungodly hot down there so our party split up into two groups with one going to Whitmore and the other seeking the relatively higher elevation of twin point where we would catch up with them a day later. I was very excited to go to Whitmore and tagged along with that group. We got an early start to beat the heat. The first stop was at the old schoolhouse at Mt. Trumbull. It had been burned down and reconstructed in the 90's. It was open for visitors despite being unattended. A testament to how few people really get out this way. The inside was lined with historical photos my favorite of which was a guy sitting on top of a giant barrel cactus. We took the opportunity for a group photo.
This was very close to the turnoff to the south towards the Colorado. And the descent began. It was a lovely road meandering down through the layers for several thousand feet. In places it was very steep. We came upon a dirt runway airport where they transferred river raft customers from helicopter to airplane for their exit from the canyon. There was a lot of air traffic as we were just south of the no fly zone that the National Parks Service has been nice enough to implement over the bulk of the canyon. It was very different topography from the areas that we had been earlier.
The barrel cactus were quite something and many cactus flowers were in bloom.
The road was steep, rough, and remote. Just the way I like it!!
We arrived at our destination in mid afternoon. It was a parking lot perched on the edge of a cliff 900 feet above the Colorado. The topography reminded me very much of the Tonto Plateau on the south side of the canyon but I understand they call it something different on the north side. Here is a photo of Doug right outside the doorstep of his camper.(we parked a bit further from the edge-thinking of late night calls of nature and whatnot.)
There was a trail heading down to the river and nothing sounded better than a dip in the cool water as the temperature was in excess of 100 degrees. We decided the best course of action was to seek shade under Howard and Heidi's awning and wait for the trail to get some shade later in the afternoon. It was still early in the year and none of us were acclimated to the hot temperatures. We all just sort of lazed around all afternoon. It is interesting though. After this day my body adjusted and I had no problem with the heat in the coming week.
The shade came at around 4:00 and we all scrambled down towards the river. I was startled by a rattlesnake in the trail. The laws of physics took a break for a moment as instinct took over and I leapt straight up the slope off the trail. The snake went his way and I went mine. We made it to the cool Colorado for the best dip of my life.
Our campsite was pretty sweet.
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yabanja
Explorer
Early Departure
It was likely to be in excess of 100 degrees the next morning and in the name of vehicle preservation we decided it would be best to do the long technical steep climb out of the canyon early the next morning. We were on the road by 5:00 am. (This would turn out to be our earliest departure of the four months on the road. I know we are slackers but hey it is vacation. Or is it a lifestyle??) Seeing the sunrise was worth it. The colors are so much more vivid early in the day. We took a last glimpse at the river before packing up and heading out.
We got about halfway up out of the canyon when Will pulled over to the side of the road with a bad clunking noise in the right front. He had a broken shock absorber. It turned out that it had been installed incorrectly allowing the top to interfere with the chassis. While Howard and Will took it apart we took the opportunity to brew up some coffee and a snack.
Howard was nice enough to let me drive his earth cruiser for a few miles while he tried his hand at driving Fido. Man what a nice machine. I am afraid he got the raw end of the deal driving Fido!
There was a very rugged side road that was heading in the direction we wanted to go but Will wasn't up to it with only three shock absorbers on the truck. Howard really wanted to go as he had been that way years before in his 4Runner. So Sakshi went to Ride with Heidi and Howard tagged along with me as we split into two groups of two vehicles each with a rendezvous point about an hour up the road. This road was a rugged 4 low climb with a few significant rock step ups on loose cobble. I was very happy to have one of the older models with a low range gear box as I was able to creep up with no drama. Doug in his newer earth cruiser automatic transmission had to hit it pretty hard to get up and it was a really rough ride. Hard on equipment! No breakdowns today though as fate was smiling upon us.
We caught up with our better half up the road and had a little lunch before heading west towards twin point. We were at high elevation again and the grasses and wildflowers were fabulous.
Sakshi called a potty break and the spot she chose was littered with marine fossils. They were everywhere. Pretty cool stuff.
We made it out to another camp spot right on the edge where our friends who had parted with us at Mt Trumbull were waiting. Here are two happy campers!
We set up camp in the junipers and took our lawn chairs to admire the view. You could see a long long way. Howard and I were looking for the fabled sunset green flash. I have yet to see it.
Meanwhile Sakshi was off taking pretty pictures.
We had a lovely dinner of vegiterian fajitas with tofu. Refrigeration while camping has changed our lives. We are avid cooks at home, and now we have a complete pantry in Fido so we really just eat the same stuff we would cook at home. We really only restocked on vegetables and dairy, the beans, spices, etc lasted the whole trip. The pressure cooker is a life saver. It hardly uses any energy as most meals are cooked in 5 minutes and it also doesn't heat the camper up too bad. It is also the primary method for cooking homemade indian food. My favorite! Anyways, veggie fajitas:
And a last glimpse of the sunset before closing my eyes for the evening.
It was likely to be in excess of 100 degrees the next morning and in the name of vehicle preservation we decided it would be best to do the long technical steep climb out of the canyon early the next morning. We were on the road by 5:00 am. (This would turn out to be our earliest departure of the four months on the road. I know we are slackers but hey it is vacation. Or is it a lifestyle??) Seeing the sunrise was worth it. The colors are so much more vivid early in the day. We took a last glimpse at the river before packing up and heading out.
We got about halfway up out of the canyon when Will pulled over to the side of the road with a bad clunking noise in the right front. He had a broken shock absorber. It turned out that it had been installed incorrectly allowing the top to interfere with the chassis. While Howard and Will took it apart we took the opportunity to brew up some coffee and a snack.
Howard was nice enough to let me drive his earth cruiser for a few miles while he tried his hand at driving Fido. Man what a nice machine. I am afraid he got the raw end of the deal driving Fido!
There was a very rugged side road that was heading in the direction we wanted to go but Will wasn't up to it with only three shock absorbers on the truck. Howard really wanted to go as he had been that way years before in his 4Runner. So Sakshi went to Ride with Heidi and Howard tagged along with me as we split into two groups of two vehicles each with a rendezvous point about an hour up the road. This road was a rugged 4 low climb with a few significant rock step ups on loose cobble. I was very happy to have one of the older models with a low range gear box as I was able to creep up with no drama. Doug in his newer earth cruiser automatic transmission had to hit it pretty hard to get up and it was a really rough ride. Hard on equipment! No breakdowns today though as fate was smiling upon us.
We caught up with our better half up the road and had a little lunch before heading west towards twin point. We were at high elevation again and the grasses and wildflowers were fabulous.
Sakshi called a potty break and the spot she chose was littered with marine fossils. They were everywhere. Pretty cool stuff.
We made it out to another camp spot right on the edge where our friends who had parted with us at Mt Trumbull were waiting. Here are two happy campers!
We set up camp in the junipers and took our lawn chairs to admire the view. You could see a long long way. Howard and I were looking for the fabled sunset green flash. I have yet to see it.
Meanwhile Sakshi was off taking pretty pictures.
We had a lovely dinner of vegiterian fajitas with tofu. Refrigeration while camping has changed our lives. We are avid cooks at home, and now we have a complete pantry in Fido so we really just eat the same stuff we would cook at home. We really only restocked on vegetables and dairy, the beans, spices, etc lasted the whole trip. The pressure cooker is a life saver. It hardly uses any energy as most meals are cooked in 5 minutes and it also doesn't heat the camper up too bad. It is also the primary method for cooking homemade indian food. My favorite! Anyways, veggie fajitas:
And a last glimpse of the sunset before closing my eyes for the evening.
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yabanja
Explorer
Hot
The morning view from our window was equally stunning:
While the view was stunning, there was no shelter from the sun and it was becoming apparent that we were in the midst of a heat wave. After a short discussion we decided to move camp for the night a few miles back up the road to a lovely spot we had seen on the way in called oak grove. It was in the midst of a grove of trees and would offer much needed shade. Before heading back Will hopped in his Earthcrusier to follow us out to the end of the point and have a look around.
We stopped at a trailhead and had a brief walk before heading back to rendezvous with the others at oak grove. We set up camp and Will pulled out his smoker. I had no idea that there was such an art to smoking food! He had half a dozen different kinds of exotic woods to burn and the results were fantastic. Of course Sakshi took the opportunity for some more dog pandering.
The wine was flowing and life was good. It was another picture perfect evening.
The morning view from our window was equally stunning:
While the view was stunning, there was no shelter from the sun and it was becoming apparent that we were in the midst of a heat wave. After a short discussion we decided to move camp for the night a few miles back up the road to a lovely spot we had seen on the way in called oak grove. It was in the midst of a grove of trees and would offer much needed shade. Before heading back Will hopped in his Earthcrusier to follow us out to the end of the point and have a look around.
We stopped at a trailhead and had a brief walk before heading back to rendezvous with the others at oak grove. We set up camp and Will pulled out his smoker. I had no idea that there was such an art to smoking food! He had half a dozen different kinds of exotic woods to burn and the results were fantastic. Of course Sakshi took the opportunity for some more dog pandering.
The wine was flowing and life was good. It was another picture perfect evening.
yabanja
Explorer
Detour
We were about 3/4 of the way through our planned route from Fredonia to Mesquite. At this point we would be losing a lot of elevation and the temperatures were forecast to be in excess of 105 degrees. The people with dogs were concerned about their welfare, and honestly camping in that kind of heat didn't sound like too much fun to me either. The consensus was that we would head north to St. George and camp one last night on West Mountain Peak at 8000 feet before going our separate ways. We were heading north towards our Salt Lake Resupply, a few people were heading west towards California for further exploration, and Will was heading home. The dirt road to the north was good and we made fantastic time. It was nice to be able to cruise at 50 mph after all the slow slogging we had been doing over the last week.
We all decided to part ways in St George to resupply prior to regrouping at camp for the evening. We went and got groceries and came back out to find that we had a tire leaking. Luckily there was a tire shop across the street so I limped the truck over. I pulled the wheel so they could have a look. It turned out that we had a second cracked wheel. How fortunate that it waited until we were back to civilization! We really wanted to meet the group at camp that night so that we could at least say goodbye to all our new friends. It was only a few miles..... I decided to have the shop put urethane on the wheel and I pulled my previously glued wheel from the spare position and installed it. The shop removed the tire, glued the wheel, remounted and sent us on our way with no charge!! Sweet!
We made it about ten miles outside of town when the "resealed" wheel went flat. I sent Howard a text that we wouldn't be making it, and we did a record 1/2 hour tire change in the 105 degree temps before turning back towards town.
Upon later inspection it turned out that the crack in the wheel had progressed a further 10" around the wheel in that short ten miles
Luckily our friend Steve lived in St George and agreed to put us up while we figured out what we were going to do. Sakshi took the opportunity for more dog pandering!
We were about 3/4 of the way through our planned route from Fredonia to Mesquite. At this point we would be losing a lot of elevation and the temperatures were forecast to be in excess of 105 degrees. The people with dogs were concerned about their welfare, and honestly camping in that kind of heat didn't sound like too much fun to me either. The consensus was that we would head north to St. George and camp one last night on West Mountain Peak at 8000 feet before going our separate ways. We were heading north towards our Salt Lake Resupply, a few people were heading west towards California for further exploration, and Will was heading home. The dirt road to the north was good and we made fantastic time. It was nice to be able to cruise at 50 mph after all the slow slogging we had been doing over the last week.
We all decided to part ways in St George to resupply prior to regrouping at camp for the evening. We went and got groceries and came back out to find that we had a tire leaking. Luckily there was a tire shop across the street so I limped the truck over. I pulled the wheel so they could have a look. It turned out that we had a second cracked wheel. How fortunate that it waited until we were back to civilization! We really wanted to meet the group at camp that night so that we could at least say goodbye to all our new friends. It was only a few miles..... I decided to have the shop put urethane on the wheel and I pulled my previously glued wheel from the spare position and installed it. The shop removed the tire, glued the wheel, remounted and sent us on our way with no charge!! Sweet!
We made it about ten miles outside of town when the "resealed" wheel went flat. I sent Howard a text that we wouldn't be making it, and we did a record 1/2 hour tire change in the 105 degree temps before turning back towards town.
Upon later inspection it turned out that the crack in the wheel had progressed a further 10" around the wheel in that short ten miles
Luckily our friend Steve lived in St George and agreed to put us up while we figured out what we were going to do. Sakshi took the opportunity for more dog pandering!
pugslyyy
Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
Wow, been catching up on your wheel adventures, that really sucks to be having that amount of problems. We went with the ATW rims and they have worked really well for us, but we had similar "hope the wheels don't fall off" drama because our wheel studs had been badly buggered by the previous owner. We ended up damaging one of the ATW rims because of it (it warped from being only held on by a couple of lug nuts for a while) but I can't blame that on the rims.
What's the status on the new rims for you?
What's the status on the new rims for you?
yabanja
Explorer
Today the truck is sitting on new Kym Boutlon Wheels from Australia. They are very nice. Solid one piece rim construction. ISO certified. etc...
yabanja
Explorer
What to do?
Well, it was a dilemma. WHAT TO DO? We were stuck several hours drive from home with two cracked wheels and not a whole lot of confidence in the rest of the wheels. My friend Steve who we were staying with had a full shop at the house and we considered welding the wheels. I decided that I had tempted fates enough already and that welding wasn't a feasible option. On the bright side we had been staying close to home for the first few trips so that we could sort out these teething problems. I checked on the status of the wheels I had ordered from Australia. They were at a port in Brisbane so no help there. Incidentally as it turned out I should have had them air freighted via FEDEX. Shipping charges via boat were about $300 to get them to SanFrancisco which ended up taking two months. Then I had to deal with a forwarding agent. They required me to provide them with way too much personal information for my liking(SSN, Power of Attorney, etc...) And by the time I paid customs, forwarding freight charges, forklift fees, etc it was a third month and an additional $1000. Had they been air freighted I would have had them by now, likely would have paid about the same, and wouldn't have had to go through all the following rigamarole.
So I decided the best course of action was to go home and get the stock wheels. There was a bus that headed out daily and I was on it the next morning. Sakshi hung out with her new friend the dog in St. George to await my return.
Luckily I had held onto the original wheels but there was one small problem. I had sold the tires off of them. I got on the classifieds and found a set of six snow tires in excellent condition for $200!
The bus arrived in Salt Lake that evening at 5:00. I got home to discover that there was a broken sprinkler head producing a lovely fountain in the front yard. I fixed that and got the swamp cooler at the rental house up and running then hit the sack.
The next morning I was up early to purchase the tires. They were in beautiful condition but they were studded. Oh well, they would have to do. I loaded them and the wheels in the jeep and headed to the shop I used to manage to mount them up.
I got them all mounted up and was on the road by noon. Not a bad turnaround! Now to go rescue Sakshi before she decided to bring the dog home with us! I made it halfway to St George before the Jeep broke down in Beaver, Utah.
Well, it was a dilemma. WHAT TO DO? We were stuck several hours drive from home with two cracked wheels and not a whole lot of confidence in the rest of the wheels. My friend Steve who we were staying with had a full shop at the house and we considered welding the wheels. I decided that I had tempted fates enough already and that welding wasn't a feasible option. On the bright side we had been staying close to home for the first few trips so that we could sort out these teething problems. I checked on the status of the wheels I had ordered from Australia. They were at a port in Brisbane so no help there. Incidentally as it turned out I should have had them air freighted via FEDEX. Shipping charges via boat were about $300 to get them to SanFrancisco which ended up taking two months. Then I had to deal with a forwarding agent. They required me to provide them with way too much personal information for my liking(SSN, Power of Attorney, etc...) And by the time I paid customs, forwarding freight charges, forklift fees, etc it was a third month and an additional $1000. Had they been air freighted I would have had them by now, likely would have paid about the same, and wouldn't have had to go through all the following rigamarole.
So I decided the best course of action was to go home and get the stock wheels. There was a bus that headed out daily and I was on it the next morning. Sakshi hung out with her new friend the dog in St. George to await my return.
Luckily I had held onto the original wheels but there was one small problem. I had sold the tires off of them. I got on the classifieds and found a set of six snow tires in excellent condition for $200!
The bus arrived in Salt Lake that evening at 5:00. I got home to discover that there was a broken sprinkler head producing a lovely fountain in the front yard. I fixed that and got the swamp cooler at the rental house up and running then hit the sack.
The next morning I was up early to purchase the tires. They were in beautiful condition but they were studded. Oh well, they would have to do. I loaded them and the wheels in the jeep and headed to the shop I used to manage to mount them up.
I got them all mounted up and was on the road by noon. Not a bad turnaround! Now to go rescue Sakshi before she decided to bring the dog home with us! I made it halfway to St George before the Jeep broke down in Beaver, Utah.
yabanja
Explorer
The Jeep
The jeep was behaving as though it had a clogged fuel filter. It would drive for a while before stalling out. Wait for twenty minutes and it would start and drive again. This occurred in ever increasing increments until it wouldn't drive anymore. Sakshi and Steve loaded up with Steve's brother and wife into a borrowed truck with a tow strap and a fuel filter and came to my rescue. We changed the fuel filter and the Jeep drove flawlessly to St George.
The next morning we said our goodbyes, I changed the tires on fido and off we went. For the record, you can fit 4 37" tires into the back of a jeep cherokee. I love that truck!
Since Interstate 15 is an 80 mile per hour speed limit and Fido likes to go slower we decided to take a more scenic route. We headed West out of St George past Snow Canyon to Mountain Meadows where we stopped to have a look around.
This is a very interesting place. It is a large, well tended monument to those who died in a massacre here. The monument was built by the LDS church but is a federal park. The interesting thing is that they have divided it into two monuments a quarter mile apart to make it difficult to ascertain just how many people died here, and there is very little information as to what happened. It is actually a very intriguing story of greed and deception. You can read more about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre
In a strange twist of events, when we got home there was a news story about how the actual graves were just discovered on a farm next to the monument and now they have to figure out how to move the monument. It is not like this is ancient history. Just a big cover up.
We had a look around and then hit the road. A quarter mile down the road the Jeep stalled out. Arg!!! We limped it down a dirt road up into the mountains and made camp for the night.
Since St George was the only town around we headed back the next morning to find a mechanic. The jeep drove perfectly. We asked three mechanics who the second best mechanic in town was(next to them of course) and the consensus was Hummel's repair.
We headed over there and told them what was going on. It was clear that he really knew his stuff. He hopped in and we went for a test drive. The jeep was driving perfectly. I understood that it had to misbehave before the problem could be diagnosed, and I wasn't about to attempt the drive to Salt Lake and risk a big tow bill. I dropped him back at the shop and decided to drive it around town till it acted up and then come back for diagnosis. It was 10:00 am. I told Sakshi the plan and she said she preferred to hang out at the shop. I can't imagine why!
At 4:00 pm and 150 miles later.................... the Jeep finally acted up. I lurched back into the shop and he was able to get a quick diagnosis of a faulty fuel pump. He said he could get it done the next day so we left it there and headed back to Steve's place for the night. We didn't expect to be back here so soon!
As you can see Steve has a Volkswagen problem. I recommended drugs and therapy. Of course I am not one to talk as my Datsuns outnumber his VWs.
The next day Sakshi and I decided to catch up with some old friends who we hadn't seen in a long time. Hers was a pleasant former Coworker and his family, and mine a former customer. Both were very nice visits. We'll have to remember not to let opportunities like this pass in the future. It is a small world and you really have contacts just about everywhere. It just takes a little effort to connect (and remember who is where of course!) Later in the trip we had a great time inviting friends to come camping with us when we were near where they lived. It was cool because they could feel like they were joining our adventure and we didn't have to go to town. We developed a growing aversion to civilization as the trip wore on.
We picked up the jeep (along with a fair but sizable bill) and we were good to go. I normally do all the mechanical work myself but dropping a fuel tank by yourself in the dirt in 105 degree temps isn't really a good time.
The road beckoned. We would usually take our time and explore the dirt road route but we were both ready to get back and regroup. Once again we google mapped the road home excluding freeways and headed north west. There is some lovely and lonely country out there.
We stopped at this cool old open pit mine, smelter, and ghost town.
Our route took us up through Minersville and Delta and finally up to I80 past Tooella. There were some huge solar installations out there that I had no idea existed. I love the backroads. The funny thing was that this route was only a half hour longer despite the lower speed limits. I find it so much less stressful than the interstate which is full of people driving way over their heads speeding along in minivans at 90 mph while slapping the kids in the back seat. We stopped along the way for a nap and finally made it home early evening.
There was a short list of things to do to the truck in preparation for our departure to Canada in a couple of weeks and we got right on it.
Now I have to go pack up FIDO as we are heading to Moab this afternoon.
TO BE CONTINUED.............
The jeep was behaving as though it had a clogged fuel filter. It would drive for a while before stalling out. Wait for twenty minutes and it would start and drive again. This occurred in ever increasing increments until it wouldn't drive anymore. Sakshi and Steve loaded up with Steve's brother and wife into a borrowed truck with a tow strap and a fuel filter and came to my rescue. We changed the fuel filter and the Jeep drove flawlessly to St George.
The next morning we said our goodbyes, I changed the tires on fido and off we went. For the record, you can fit 4 37" tires into the back of a jeep cherokee. I love that truck!
Since Interstate 15 is an 80 mile per hour speed limit and Fido likes to go slower we decided to take a more scenic route. We headed West out of St George past Snow Canyon to Mountain Meadows where we stopped to have a look around.
This is a very interesting place. It is a large, well tended monument to those who died in a massacre here. The monument was built by the LDS church but is a federal park. The interesting thing is that they have divided it into two monuments a quarter mile apart to make it difficult to ascertain just how many people died here, and there is very little information as to what happened. It is actually a very intriguing story of greed and deception. You can read more about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre
In a strange twist of events, when we got home there was a news story about how the actual graves were just discovered on a farm next to the monument and now they have to figure out how to move the monument. It is not like this is ancient history. Just a big cover up.
We had a look around and then hit the road. A quarter mile down the road the Jeep stalled out. Arg!!! We limped it down a dirt road up into the mountains and made camp for the night.
Since St George was the only town around we headed back the next morning to find a mechanic. The jeep drove perfectly. We asked three mechanics who the second best mechanic in town was(next to them of course) and the consensus was Hummel's repair.
We headed over there and told them what was going on. It was clear that he really knew his stuff. He hopped in and we went for a test drive. The jeep was driving perfectly. I understood that it had to misbehave before the problem could be diagnosed, and I wasn't about to attempt the drive to Salt Lake and risk a big tow bill. I dropped him back at the shop and decided to drive it around town till it acted up and then come back for diagnosis. It was 10:00 am. I told Sakshi the plan and she said she preferred to hang out at the shop. I can't imagine why!
At 4:00 pm and 150 miles later.................... the Jeep finally acted up. I lurched back into the shop and he was able to get a quick diagnosis of a faulty fuel pump. He said he could get it done the next day so we left it there and headed back to Steve's place for the night. We didn't expect to be back here so soon!
As you can see Steve has a Volkswagen problem. I recommended drugs and therapy. Of course I am not one to talk as my Datsuns outnumber his VWs.
The next day Sakshi and I decided to catch up with some old friends who we hadn't seen in a long time. Hers was a pleasant former Coworker and his family, and mine a former customer. Both were very nice visits. We'll have to remember not to let opportunities like this pass in the future. It is a small world and you really have contacts just about everywhere. It just takes a little effort to connect (and remember who is where of course!) Later in the trip we had a great time inviting friends to come camping with us when we were near where they lived. It was cool because they could feel like they were joining our adventure and we didn't have to go to town. We developed a growing aversion to civilization as the trip wore on.
We picked up the jeep (along with a fair but sizable bill) and we were good to go. I normally do all the mechanical work myself but dropping a fuel tank by yourself in the dirt in 105 degree temps isn't really a good time.
The road beckoned. We would usually take our time and explore the dirt road route but we were both ready to get back and regroup. Once again we google mapped the road home excluding freeways and headed north west. There is some lovely and lonely country out there.
We stopped at this cool old open pit mine, smelter, and ghost town.
Our route took us up through Minersville and Delta and finally up to I80 past Tooella. There were some huge solar installations out there that I had no idea existed. I love the backroads. The funny thing was that this route was only a half hour longer despite the lower speed limits. I find it so much less stressful than the interstate which is full of people driving way over their heads speeding along in minivans at 90 mph while slapping the kids in the back seat. We stopped along the way for a nap and finally made it home early evening.
There was a short list of things to do to the truck in preparation for our departure to Canada in a couple of weeks and we got right on it.
Now I have to go pack up FIDO as we are heading to Moab this afternoon.
TO BE CONTINUED.............
yabanja
Explorer
After a short Hiatus
We stopped home to resupply and prepare for the second leg of our journey. The plan was to head up to Calgary before exploring the Icefields Parkway followed by Vancouver and a trip down the west coast. As usual we had a rough idea of where we wanted to go but not really any definite itinerary. We would try to explore as many dirt roads as possible, and had roughly three months before we had to be home.
Before we left there were a couple of things that needed to be addressed on the truck. The new wheels we had ordered to replace the cracked ones hadn't even left port in Australia yet so it looked like we were going to complete the duration of the trip on the stock wheels with the snow tires that I had purchased on the fly to get home. There was just one problem. The tires were studded and it was Summertime. I was willing to risk asking for forgiveness rather than permission in the US but was having some anxiety about the border crossing into Canada. On top of that, someone told me that Studs can puncture the tires on gravel roads. So, one UTube research session later we started removing the studs with dish soap and a screwdriver. This was monotonous brainless work so...........Sakshi the PHD student volunteered! (we have to work on proper task assignment as I am probably better qualified for the aforementioned task.) A full day later She had pulled 126 studs from each of the six tires!
Another item on the truck that needed addressing was fuel capacity. The original tank was only capable of holding about 24 gallons and at 13 mpg average the truck just wasn't giving me the range I wanted. On our trip with the Earthcruisers I had to carry a couple of Jerry cans to have the range to go the potential 400 miles of dirt between civilization. I was still concerned about range and missed out on a side trip or two because of this. To fix this I mounted a 50 gallon aluminum tank which had the added benefits of being more compact than the original circular tank and mounting much higher to increase ground clearance. On one leg of the trip ahead I went 475 miles on a stretch which was a vast improvement!!!
I also revalved the Front Bilstein 9100's and installed 7100 Bilstens with custom valving in the rear. The valving was finally correct and it made a world of difference in the ride of the truck on and off road. Very pleased with the results.
The final concern was insulation as we were heading north and having grown up in the pacific northwest I knew that while August had the best chance of nice weather all year it could still be cold and miserable. I installed 1 1/2" foam insulation on the whole floor of the camper which really helped keep the toesies warm in the morning.
Finally, we were all packed up and ready to roll. It was the 2nd of July. Our friends Bill and Jaimee were going to join us for the first leg of the journey and after consulting a map we decided to meet up at Hardware Ranch just outside of Logan, Utah. I had never been there before, but it looked like a nice dirt road route heading in generally the right direction-North!
We drove the 45 minutes to pavement end where we pulled off at the visitor center to wait for our friends. Hardware ranch is a wildlife management area which is mostly popular in the winter because giant herds of Elk come down from the mountains. They offer sleigh rides, and from the infrastructure it looks like it is a pretty big deal. Giant hordes of people standing in line like cattle in bitter cold temperatures. Sounds like fun!! Not! After a few minutes hanging about reading signs I noticed that there seemed to be an unusual amount of ATV traffic on the road. It was this moment that it dawned on me. It was the 4th of July weekend. Amateur hour-we were in for some fun!
After about a half hour our friends showed up and we hit the dirt running. The well maintained gravel road wound northwards through some lovely grassy slopes and a canyon or two. It was pretty dusty from the large volume of atv traffic but we made it through without incident. We almost always play it by ear when it comes to camping and usually this pays off with lovely spots in the backcountry with not a person in sight. Not in Utah on a holiday weekend though. We headed to a ridge overlooking the southeast corner of Bear Lake and it seems we weren't the only ones with this idea. After searching for serenity for a while we resigned ourselves to settling for a small corner of a large field filled with about 60 vehicles. Have you ever seen Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome? That is an apt description of the chaos that surrounded us. There were swarms of two stroke motorcycles and atvs circling in every direction. There was a mud hole in the middle of the field and every once in a while I would see people running over cameras in had while some ************ bag did a "watch this" manouver. Thankfully we weren't witness to any actual carnage and there was no Lifeflight needed. At another camp they decided the best way to entertain the kid was to let him run rampant in his atv. He literally sat there doing donuts for two hours straight!!! I think he may have been going for the record. It had been a long day of driving and I always seem to sleep well in FIDO so either I was really tired or they quieted down early. In any case we got a good nights rest and left early for greener pastures. I took this one picture where I could get the angle just right to show a lovely serene camp spot. I guess I was in more of an artsy than a documentary mood!
It was an inauspicious beginning.......
We stopped home to resupply and prepare for the second leg of our journey. The plan was to head up to Calgary before exploring the Icefields Parkway followed by Vancouver and a trip down the west coast. As usual we had a rough idea of where we wanted to go but not really any definite itinerary. We would try to explore as many dirt roads as possible, and had roughly three months before we had to be home.
Before we left there were a couple of things that needed to be addressed on the truck. The new wheels we had ordered to replace the cracked ones hadn't even left port in Australia yet so it looked like we were going to complete the duration of the trip on the stock wheels with the snow tires that I had purchased on the fly to get home. There was just one problem. The tires were studded and it was Summertime. I was willing to risk asking for forgiveness rather than permission in the US but was having some anxiety about the border crossing into Canada. On top of that, someone told me that Studs can puncture the tires on gravel roads. So, one UTube research session later we started removing the studs with dish soap and a screwdriver. This was monotonous brainless work so...........Sakshi the PHD student volunteered! (we have to work on proper task assignment as I am probably better qualified for the aforementioned task.) A full day later She had pulled 126 studs from each of the six tires!
Another item on the truck that needed addressing was fuel capacity. The original tank was only capable of holding about 24 gallons and at 13 mpg average the truck just wasn't giving me the range I wanted. On our trip with the Earthcruisers I had to carry a couple of Jerry cans to have the range to go the potential 400 miles of dirt between civilization. I was still concerned about range and missed out on a side trip or two because of this. To fix this I mounted a 50 gallon aluminum tank which had the added benefits of being more compact than the original circular tank and mounting much higher to increase ground clearance. On one leg of the trip ahead I went 475 miles on a stretch which was a vast improvement!!!
I also revalved the Front Bilstein 9100's and installed 7100 Bilstens with custom valving in the rear. The valving was finally correct and it made a world of difference in the ride of the truck on and off road. Very pleased with the results.
The final concern was insulation as we were heading north and having grown up in the pacific northwest I knew that while August had the best chance of nice weather all year it could still be cold and miserable. I installed 1 1/2" foam insulation on the whole floor of the camper which really helped keep the toesies warm in the morning.
Finally, we were all packed up and ready to roll. It was the 2nd of July. Our friends Bill and Jaimee were going to join us for the first leg of the journey and after consulting a map we decided to meet up at Hardware Ranch just outside of Logan, Utah. I had never been there before, but it looked like a nice dirt road route heading in generally the right direction-North!
We drove the 45 minutes to pavement end where we pulled off at the visitor center to wait for our friends. Hardware ranch is a wildlife management area which is mostly popular in the winter because giant herds of Elk come down from the mountains. They offer sleigh rides, and from the infrastructure it looks like it is a pretty big deal. Giant hordes of people standing in line like cattle in bitter cold temperatures. Sounds like fun!! Not! After a few minutes hanging about reading signs I noticed that there seemed to be an unusual amount of ATV traffic on the road. It was this moment that it dawned on me. It was the 4th of July weekend. Amateur hour-we were in for some fun!
After about a half hour our friends showed up and we hit the dirt running. The well maintained gravel road wound northwards through some lovely grassy slopes and a canyon or two. It was pretty dusty from the large volume of atv traffic but we made it through without incident. We almost always play it by ear when it comes to camping and usually this pays off with lovely spots in the backcountry with not a person in sight. Not in Utah on a holiday weekend though. We headed to a ridge overlooking the southeast corner of Bear Lake and it seems we weren't the only ones with this idea. After searching for serenity for a while we resigned ourselves to settling for a small corner of a large field filled with about 60 vehicles. Have you ever seen Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome? That is an apt description of the chaos that surrounded us. There were swarms of two stroke motorcycles and atvs circling in every direction. There was a mud hole in the middle of the field and every once in a while I would see people running over cameras in had while some ************ bag did a "watch this" manouver. Thankfully we weren't witness to any actual carnage and there was no Lifeflight needed. At another camp they decided the best way to entertain the kid was to let him run rampant in his atv. He literally sat there doing donuts for two hours straight!!! I think he may have been going for the record. It had been a long day of driving and I always seem to sleep well in FIDO so either I was really tired or they quieted down early. In any case we got a good nights rest and left early for greener pastures. I took this one picture where I could get the angle just right to show a lovely serene camp spot. I guess I was in more of an artsy than a documentary mood!
It was an inauspicious beginning.......
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yabanja
Explorer
Wyoming
We headed East down the mountain towards Bear Lake. It was a lovely gravel road with panoramic views of the lake. The morning was clear and sunny and life was good. We stopped at the Gas Station at the south end of the lake to top up before heading East towards the state line. We had about 35 miles of pavement before we got to Cokeville where we headed north on W-232 up smiths fork road. This area was much more remote and the only people out here were the shepherds. I really haven't explored Wyoming much which is strange considering we were only an hours drive from home. This was beautiful and remote country! More exploring is definitely in order. Just prior to our departure we had some pretty significant storms come through(one resulted in marble sized hail at my house as I was packing!). This road had some pretty big mud-holes here and there as a result of this. About 25 miles into it we came to a small bridge over a creek that had a sign saying 3 tons. That couldn't be right? Sheep and Cattle trucks go back here all the time don't they? Hmmm...... they generally engineer these things with a little leeway right? It wasn't a very big drop...... We were only 5 tons..... Hmmm.... Go for it!! No problem!
Our friends Bill and Jaimee were towing an off road camp trailer. They had been doing great through some rough terrain but then we came to a mud hole they didn't feel comfortable driving through. We did a short reconnoiter further up the road in Fido and it just got muddier so we decided to go back. It was too narrow to turn around and a loooooong way back along steep cliffs to any turnaround. We disconnected and manhandled the trailer around. The slope was pretty steep and it could have gotten ugly. Lucky for us it went really smoothly.
Here is a short video from the day:
https://vimeo.com/192047594
We went back a mile or so camped on a lovely hill with 360 degree views! Our friends were going to have to go home so we decided to make this the base camp for two nights. We saw our first Moose of the trip up here!
Everyone was feeling pretty camp-bound and my feet were itchy to find out what was further up the road past our point of turnaround so I jumped on my bike and went for a ride. The map showed the road going through and I really wanted to go that way. We were going to be heading out alone the next morning and I wanted to see if there were any FIDO impassable areas up ahead. I rode about ten miles bypassing significant mud holes along the way until I got to the main road intersection to the north. It was beautiful county and I decided we would head that way rather than turning back.
We headed East down the mountain towards Bear Lake. It was a lovely gravel road with panoramic views of the lake. The morning was clear and sunny and life was good. We stopped at the Gas Station at the south end of the lake to top up before heading East towards the state line. We had about 35 miles of pavement before we got to Cokeville where we headed north on W-232 up smiths fork road. This area was much more remote and the only people out here were the shepherds. I really haven't explored Wyoming much which is strange considering we were only an hours drive from home. This was beautiful and remote country! More exploring is definitely in order. Just prior to our departure we had some pretty significant storms come through(one resulted in marble sized hail at my house as I was packing!). This road had some pretty big mud-holes here and there as a result of this. About 25 miles into it we came to a small bridge over a creek that had a sign saying 3 tons. That couldn't be right? Sheep and Cattle trucks go back here all the time don't they? Hmmm...... they generally engineer these things with a little leeway right? It wasn't a very big drop...... We were only 5 tons..... Hmmm.... Go for it!! No problem!
Our friends Bill and Jaimee were towing an off road camp trailer. They had been doing great through some rough terrain but then we came to a mud hole they didn't feel comfortable driving through. We did a short reconnoiter further up the road in Fido and it just got muddier so we decided to go back. It was too narrow to turn around and a loooooong way back along steep cliffs to any turnaround. We disconnected and manhandled the trailer around. The slope was pretty steep and it could have gotten ugly. Lucky for us it went really smoothly.
Here is a short video from the day:
https://vimeo.com/192047594
We went back a mile or so camped on a lovely hill with 360 degree views! Our friends were going to have to go home so we decided to make this the base camp for two nights. We saw our first Moose of the trip up here!
Everyone was feeling pretty camp-bound and my feet were itchy to find out what was further up the road past our point of turnaround so I jumped on my bike and went for a ride. The map showed the road going through and I really wanted to go that way. We were going to be heading out alone the next morning and I wanted to see if there were any FIDO impassable areas up ahead. I rode about ten miles bypassing significant mud holes along the way until I got to the main road intersection to the north. It was beautiful county and I decided we would head that way rather than turning back.
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yabanja
Explorer
Tipsy...
The next morning we parted ways with Bill and Jaimee and headed north. It was sad to see them in our rearview but the excitement of what was to come made it all ok.
The plan was to head north and join up with forest road 10138 which would take us all the way to Alpine on the dirt. The road was narrow and muddy. It was paralleling a stream with a few lovely beaver dams which we stopped to admire. We rounded a corner and came to the largest mud hole we had ancountered thus far. It was deeply rutted but it looked like there was a dry line on one edge that I could put the drivers side tires on while the passenger side went through the mud.
If you have never ridden in a Fuso, you sit really high off the ground. It can be a bit disconcerting as the further from the ground you are the more it exaggerates the sideways movement when the truck leans over. After hearing Sakshi squawk on every slight side slope last year I installed a lev-o gauge on the windshield so we could tell just how far we were leaning and she could know that we weren't anywhere near the tip-over point. When she asked me what our threshold point was I told her that if we reached a side angle of 30 degrees I would start to pay attention. This worked great! She learned that most of the slopes we had been on were only like 15 degrees and it set her mind at ease..... until today.
So I started driving into the mud(wish I had stopped for photos) and I kept two wheels on the dry on my side. Well.......it turned out to be a lot deeper than I expected. As the passenger tires sank further and further into the mud instinct led me to turn into the slope and gas it. Sakshi saw the gauge max out at 45 degrees before we slammed into the far bank and the truck righted itself. Talk about pucker factor! I swear we were probably up on two wheels for a moment there. It is nice to know that we have a low enough center of gravity to get through something like that but really if it never happens again I will be ok with it. Oh....and I am never going to hear the end of it from Sakshi.
The only photo of of the muddy wheel a mile down the road.
To try and regain some esteem in her eyes I dropped her off at the top of this hill full of daisies with the mountain bike so she could ride a few miles to the bottom. She was all smiles!
We took a right at the fork in the road and headed further up into the mountains. This day would turn out to have some of the most beautiful scenery in the whole trip. We got up the top of a pass and stopped for some photos of the wildflowers.
Just over the ridgeline to the north we came to the headwaters of Greys River. There was a sign there that said "Watch me grow" and so we did. It turned rapidly from a small brook to a sizable river. The Mountains were beautiful-particularly around Coffin mountain. There were lovely river valleys and we saw several Moose throughout the day. At one point I stopped and backed up. I pointed out that the water was so clear in the nearby pond that you could see the tracks of a large animal across the bottom. Sakshi looked nonchalantly over and said you mean like from that moose standing right there at the edge of the pond? Yeah, I missed it. Pretty funny!! The scenery was stunning and we stopped for lunch.
And it was Sakshi's turn to drive!(notice baby the basil plant strapped into the center seat.)
On our short stop in Salt Lake I had installed a clothes washing machine in Fido (aka 5 gallon bucket with screw on lid). Theoretically all you had to do was fill it with water, laundry, and camp suds then drive down a bumpy road for a few hours. We decided to try it out. After three rinse cycles it was good to go. It turned out to be a viable solution for laundry for the duration of the trip.
We should have stopped to camp in this area but I had next bend-itis and before we knew it we were starting to see civilization again. There were a whole bunch of really expensive looking fly fishing retreat ranches that popped up all the sudden. We took a side road into the hills and found a lovely camp spot for the night and hung out our laundry! We hadn't camped in the mountains for quite some time and it was nice to have a campfire for a change. (Although the laundry ended up getting a bit smoked in the process!)
The next morning we parted ways with Bill and Jaimee and headed north. It was sad to see them in our rearview but the excitement of what was to come made it all ok.
The plan was to head north and join up with forest road 10138 which would take us all the way to Alpine on the dirt. The road was narrow and muddy. It was paralleling a stream with a few lovely beaver dams which we stopped to admire. We rounded a corner and came to the largest mud hole we had ancountered thus far. It was deeply rutted but it looked like there was a dry line on one edge that I could put the drivers side tires on while the passenger side went through the mud.
If you have never ridden in a Fuso, you sit really high off the ground. It can be a bit disconcerting as the further from the ground you are the more it exaggerates the sideways movement when the truck leans over. After hearing Sakshi squawk on every slight side slope last year I installed a lev-o gauge on the windshield so we could tell just how far we were leaning and she could know that we weren't anywhere near the tip-over point. When she asked me what our threshold point was I told her that if we reached a side angle of 30 degrees I would start to pay attention. This worked great! She learned that most of the slopes we had been on were only like 15 degrees and it set her mind at ease..... until today.
So I started driving into the mud(wish I had stopped for photos) and I kept two wheels on the dry on my side. Well.......it turned out to be a lot deeper than I expected. As the passenger tires sank further and further into the mud instinct led me to turn into the slope and gas it. Sakshi saw the gauge max out at 45 degrees before we slammed into the far bank and the truck righted itself. Talk about pucker factor! I swear we were probably up on two wheels for a moment there. It is nice to know that we have a low enough center of gravity to get through something like that but really if it never happens again I will be ok with it. Oh....and I am never going to hear the end of it from Sakshi.
The only photo of of the muddy wheel a mile down the road.
To try and regain some esteem in her eyes I dropped her off at the top of this hill full of daisies with the mountain bike so she could ride a few miles to the bottom. She was all smiles!
We took a right at the fork in the road and headed further up into the mountains. This day would turn out to have some of the most beautiful scenery in the whole trip. We got up the top of a pass and stopped for some photos of the wildflowers.
Just over the ridgeline to the north we came to the headwaters of Greys River. There was a sign there that said "Watch me grow" and so we did. It turned rapidly from a small brook to a sizable river. The Mountains were beautiful-particularly around Coffin mountain. There were lovely river valleys and we saw several Moose throughout the day. At one point I stopped and backed up. I pointed out that the water was so clear in the nearby pond that you could see the tracks of a large animal across the bottom. Sakshi looked nonchalantly over and said you mean like from that moose standing right there at the edge of the pond? Yeah, I missed it. Pretty funny!! The scenery was stunning and we stopped for lunch.
And it was Sakshi's turn to drive!(notice baby the basil plant strapped into the center seat.)
On our short stop in Salt Lake I had installed a clothes washing machine in Fido (aka 5 gallon bucket with screw on lid). Theoretically all you had to do was fill it with water, laundry, and camp suds then drive down a bumpy road for a few hours. We decided to try it out. After three rinse cycles it was good to go. It turned out to be a viable solution for laundry for the duration of the trip.
We should have stopped to camp in this area but I had next bend-itis and before we knew it we were starting to see civilization again. There were a whole bunch of really expensive looking fly fishing retreat ranches that popped up all the sudden. We took a side road into the hills and found a lovely camp spot for the night and hung out our laundry! We hadn't camped in the mountains for quite some time and it was nice to have a campfire for a change. (Although the laundry ended up getting a bit smoked in the process!)
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