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While I watched the tow truck pulled with all the capacity of its winch, and pickup did not budge at all. The pickup's rear wheels spun freely. The unpowered front wheels were turned in the direction of the pull, but that didn't seem to help. The gravel in this area was up to grapefruit...

On a recent camping trip on Vancouver Island I came across a 2wd pickup stuck in the loose rocks of a river bed. This was at Fairy Lake Rec Site near Port Renfrew. Apparently he strayed off the pack gravel while trying to launch a row boat. A tow truck was on hand, but was having trouble...

Rope on BC ferry Here's a shot of one of the mooring lines on a British Columbia ferry. Note that an armored thimble has been spliced into the line, and cable sling spliced into that to take the actual wear and tear on the dock. Actually in this picture there are two lines. One coiled on the...

A streamlined hardbox may be better for gas mileage than a lumpy load wrapped in a flapping tarp. It certainly does a better job at keeping gear dry. paulj

This page on spectra fishing line http://www.fishingkites.co.nz/fishingknots/spectra_fishing_line.html suggests threading the line through a length of braided dacron fishing line to significantly increase the strength of knotted line. The dacron keeps the spectra line from cutting itself. It...

If using coals from a fire, you probably have to use the 'seconds you can hold your hand above the fire' method of judging temperature. If using briquettes, you can use numbers. One rule of thumb that I use is twice the number of briquettes as the DO diameter (e.g. 20 for a 10"). For baking...

What approach are you planning on for resupply along the way? paulj

There are forums dedicated to hiking this trail, lots of trail journals, and some books. A food magazine even has a recent article on eating along the trail (by a San Francisco journalist?). paulj

On my S10 I built a storage bin along side one wheel well. I carried a jack inside this bin. My son now has the truck, so I don't recall the exact details. But at least one mounting point was fashioned from a strap hinge (T shape). One side was bolted to the bed rail; the long end of the...

I've driven parts of this last day on several occasions. Once we crossed back in the USA at that Nighthawk border, drove down to Conconully, and then up to Salmon meadows. I looked into taking 3820, but between its roughness and a hailstorm, I decided the wiser action was to backtrack. We...

Expedition Exchange has a couple of pictures of Bill shortening a line. I have copied it, but it looks to me as though it would weaken the line just like knots do. Basically he produces a chain of overhand loops, with each one holding the previous one open. The last is a marlin hitch. Over...

I have the cheapest, lightest Thule, the Sidekick. I would describe it as moderately useful. On extended camping trips it carries the lightweight overflow stuff - extra tarps, a small spade, traction mats etc. Items up there are bit more vulnerable to theft (but out of sight), subject to heat...

Along the Oregon coast, most of the land, other than state parks is private. However, large chunks of the the coastal mountains are national forest (or even BLM). Established forest campgrounds are generally more primitive than the state parks, and not quite as busy. There are also informal...

On the 90 side of Lewis River, the Twin Falls access road drops a short ways down to the river, where there is an outhouse, a turn around, and few tables upriver. If there used to be a bridge there, there very well could some sites on the otherside. Since it was late in the day, and someone...

Interesting. When I hit 90 from 88 I drove NE looking for the Twin Falls campground. Initially I over shot it because the sign was damaged. Then I found it was occupied, so it was SW to the larger Lewis River CG. I didn't realize that there was (or had been) a connector between Twin Falls...

I drove through that area between Mt Adams and Mt St Helens last week, but mostly stuck to paved forest roads. 141 to Trout Lake 80 and 8040 to the South Climbers trailhead (part gravel) 88 to 90 to Lower Lewis River campground 90 to 25 to 99 to Windy Ridge viewpoint of St Helens 25 to Randle...

In my experience, plain aluminum and hard anodized does not take a cure like iron or steel. But even without that, hard anodized is low stick. Also it is nearly as good as stainless steel at handling acidic foods. paulj

I was thinking more about use of synthetic winch rope with a short range hand winch like a come-along or hilift. The big advantage of chain is that you can maintain tension regardless of the distance to the anchor. But chain is heavy. I haven't seen any discussion as to whether it is possible...

The spec table for a specific tire model gives the allowable Rim Width Range, as well as the Measured Rim Width for each size. A quick look at several models, shows a range of 6-7" or 6-7.5" for this tire size. paulj

I have the 10" hard anodized GSI DO. While it does not have legs, GSI does sell a 3 leg stand for it, so it can be used with coals above and below. This arrangement has a couple of advantages. The oven packs more compactly, since the legs can go inside. The oven can be used on a regular...