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I just bought one of these Bigfoot bags, small cargo model. I've tested it for fit with some gear and in/on the car, but haven't used it yet. It looks well made, though getting the zippers to slide around the corners takes some fiddling. In my case it has most potential as a storage bag on a...

There are several features of that cabana that remind me of their 'carport'. For example the window coverings, which probably are sewn on the bottom, and with ties on the top, and mesh on the outside. Parts of the pole setup look similar as well. Assembly instructions might be available on...

I have several Kelty shelters, but not this one. They are well made. I have: - sun shade, 3 leg self standing shelter that fits over a picnic table. Study but a bit heavy (fiberglass poles) - carport, arched leanto that rests on car roof rack. Aluminum poles - Noah tarp, 4 point wing tarp...

I saw a similar rock cut on another car (RAV4) on a British Columbia road. That one uses local shale rock which is notorious for cutting tires. In the that case the cut was an inch down the side tread, on nearly new tires. I don't know if that can be patched. I've read of people stuffing...

Do you know what caused the flats? Where were the holes? As shown on my Oregon thread trip, I picked up a big spike - the handle end of a broken rat tail file, actually. Probably left by a chain saw user? It was my first opportunity to use a tire plug kit, and since the hole was clean, and...

It's a bit bulky to take on the plane, but I make most use of a DeLORME or Benchmark Atlas. I also like Moon guidebooks. If you need every street labelled, a Thomas guide for the major counties is best. I can't think of an obvious map that fits between the the detail of these, and generality...

Here's a suggestion for a 3-4 day loop that would give a good diversity of views: from Seattle head north to the Everett area, and take the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry to Whidbey Island (early on a weekday would be best). Meander up the island, checking out various state parks...

I just saw on the Okanogan forest district site that there is a major rock slide at Deadhorse Point on the Harts Pass road, so that is may not be passable for some time. paulj

What would you want to see in Canada, specifically British Columbia? There are 4 crossing points on the west side of the Cascades. The busiest is Peace Arch - I5. Normally waiting times heading south, back into the USA, are longest. You can information on this at...

Here I am experimenting with drawing routes on google maps. So far I've just traced a couple of roads in Hells Canyon area. backroads map

On the subject of cell phones, I had two with me, an older Verizon one (2-3 bands), and a newer Virgin Mobile. Both had a signal in the Clarkston/Lewiston area. Verizon had reception in the Enterprise/Joseph area; Virgin did not. Neither had reception between. I also got through from the Hat...

We camped every night except for the one in Joseph. One night, in an aspen grove in Hart Mtn refuge, we slept in a 2 man tent. The other nights we slept in the car. It is possible to sleep in an Element either by lowering all seat backs, or by raising the rear seats, and sleeping on the rear...

While driving on badly washboarded gravel road in the Descutes Nat Forest near Hole-in-the-Ground, we felt and heard some major thump-thump. Turned out I'd picked up a 4 inch piece of rat tail file, handle first, in the right rear tire. While I had a full size spare, I decided this was a good...

The last challenging road that I drove was Old Barlow road. This was the first road into the Cascades back in the Oregon trail days. It runs from Wamic near US 197 to Barlow pass on OR 35 on the SE flank of Mt Hood. I drove most the way on FS 48, a good paved road up the White River valley...

The Eastern Oregon hiking book got me onto several other short but rough tracks. One was the one up Pike Creek of the Fields Denio roads on the east side of Steens mountain. Another was the forest service road from the Plush Cutoff road to FS 3615 in the Warner Mountains. 3615 is mostly...

After Hat Point, we drove south from Imnaha along the upper Imnaha river (good gravel) to FS 39 (paved) and on to Halfway. FS 39 had just been opened the week before. The most promising campground near Halfway was FS McBride on FS 77 NW of town. From the DeLORME map it appeared that the...

From Jordan Valley in the SE corner we drove up to the historic mining town Silver City in Idaho. The first part of this drive is a modern industrial quality gravel road that served the a recently closed Delmar mine (2002?). Then the route becomes a narrow, rougher track to the historic town...

In terms of scenery, my favorite area was the Succor Creek and Leslie Gulch area south of Ontario. The roads through here are mostly good gravel. Some gravel on the Succor Creek part was fresh and course, and the upper part of the Leslie Gulch leg was loose and washboarded. There's a fair...

The first backroad we drove in the Hell's Canyon area was the Dug Bar Road along the lower Imnaha River. This starts in Imnaha, 30 miles from Joseph. The first 6 miles are paved, then it turns into rough gravel as it climbs above the river. Eventually it returns to the river. At mile 19 it...

HenryJ wrote that we were able to stop by and talk with him on our way through Ontario. We stopped by the Owyhee Dam as he had arranged, but no one was around. So we continued on to the main campground on the lake, where we camped in a civilized, if a bit crowded, setting among weekend...