Lunch didn't take more than twenty minutes or so - as it turned out, there were lots of gnats in town, so we didn't linger - and soon we were back in the truck and headed east. Well, almost. For five minutes or so we were stopped at the train crossing on the way out of town as an excavator loaded itself onto a train car and then balanced itself between the car and a truck that pulled it off down the tracks. Cool! "Let me just lift myself up and slide this rail car under my track, please hold."…
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Burning Man. I've never been and don't really ever feel like I will have the need to go, but the location - a big flat playa in the middle of a bunch of wilderness - has always intrigued me. Then, while I was researching side trips for our trip along the Nevada Backcountry Discovery Route (NVBDR) last year, I stumbled upon a few photos of High Rock Canyon, just north of the Black Rock Desert - wow! The desert turned out to be too far from the NVBDR for us to make the trip at the time, but ever since it's been…
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April 14, 2021 When I started Rig Reviews several years ago, I quickly found that after addressing a few significant items, most trips seemed to go smoothly, with relatively few notable issues - good or bad - cropping up along the way. But, on my last trip to Utah, that was far from the case. In fact, though most were minor, there were so many this time that I feel it worth listing them here, just to drive the point home: Passenger rear indicator lamp has burned out Driver front marker lamp has burned out Hella HIDs fail to turn…
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Having missed all the sunrises to this point, I made a point of actually getting up when my alarm went off after a calm night up on Snow Flat. Turns out, that's a good way to actually see a sunrise - who knew? Layers. Looks like it's going to be a nice day! Comb Ridge silhouetted into the distance. Up early, I took care of breakfast and got the tent all packed away by the time rose up over the eastern horizon. I wasn't sure exactly what I'd get accomplished today, but I'd decided overnight to make one final run…
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Headed north up Comb Wash, I didn't have far to go - a couple miles perhaps - before I reached the turn off to my next destination. Too, the road here was in great condition, making for quick travel times as I marveled at Comb Ridge through my windshield. Note: Visiting Comb Wash requires a pass. For more information, check out BLM Utah Cedar Mesa Permits and Passes Information. I'm always intrigued by the "solid arches" along ridges like this. I wonder what makes this formation so common? The north end of Comb Ridge. Soon, I was on a spur road…
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Perched on my little knoll in the middle of the road, I was happy that the night passed mostly windlessly so I could get some much needed sleep after the last couple of nights where I got almost none. Having gone to bed with clouds in the sky, but with a forecast of clear skies each day, I hoped that morning would bring a beautiful sunrise, followed by clearing. As such, I was up way too early. Light on the horizon, but way too early. Shouldn't have gotten up. My alarm - set for a Pacific Time sunrise, rather than…
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We had unfinished business in Utah, after our Ruining Around Utah trip back in spring of 2019. An unseasonably wet winter that year meant that the higher elevation roads were still impassable due to snow, so one of our primary goals - the Lewis Lodge ruins - remained just out of reach. And none of us have gotten back to see it since. I'd had so much fun on that trip - searching for Native American ruins - that I decided it was time to go back. With only a month or so before the departure date, most of the…
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My night at Birch Creek Ranch ended as peacefully as it began - there was no wind through the night, and while outside temperatures were cold, I was as warm as could be in the tent. Of course, being near the river, there was plenty of dew, and it was frozen to both the inside and outside of the rain fly when I awoke. Even the little mud clumps on the Tacoma were frozen. Rather than wait for everything to dry out - I was at the bottom of the canyon after all, and waiting for the sun would have…
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The wind that had picked up just as I went to bed continued all night. In fact, it stopped nearly on cue as my alarm went off just before sunrise. This was actually fine by me - I hadn't been bothered all that much by the wind, and it would be nice to have a calm day as I was out and about. I wandered away from the Tacoma - stretching my legs and admiring the nearly cloudless sky above - as the sun finally broke above the horizon. I'd chosen a good spot. While I'm not usually a fan…
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We've visited the Owyhee region of Oregon (and Idaho) several times, each time discovering something new, something special. Looking on a map, the region - located in southeast corner of the state - seems to be an empty wasteland. I assure you, nothing could be farther from the truth! Surely, it is remote, and from any single spot the landscape can seem monotonous - but all it takes is a little looking to find the gems hidden in plain sight. With a few days to explore, I decided it was time to look for remote areas we'd never before visited.…
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I've procrastinated replacing the windshield for two years now, a problem I appear to have first noted in a rig review after our Mojave Redemption trip in 2019! My reasoning - or worry - was twofold, really: I've always heard bad things about windshield replacement and the resulting leaks once the new glass is installed. I'm sure this is - as usual - due to inexperienced workmanship or lack of attention to detail, but I always feel like that's sort of what you get when someone else works on your vehicle. I know that's probably a broad over-generalization, but it's…
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March 8, 2021. Over the course of the winter, the truck has performed well. Four (!) trips down to the desert to stay warm have put a bunch of miles on the odometer and resulted in only a few little tweaks to the set up. But any tweak is worth understanding, so let's check them out. This rig review covers: Tragedies in the Tablelands (Jan 2021) Right Back to the Owens Valley (Jan 2021) Mid-Winter Mojave (Feb 2021) An Island in the Sky at the Top of the World (Feb 2021) Whew, at ~2500 miles each, it's only the beginning…
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TL;DR - Dropping poles into the RTT pole bag is asking for trouble. Nothing a little sewing can't fix, though.
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TL;DR - I'm loving a new, clear windshield. I should (but won't) make this an annual maintenance item.
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TL;DR - The trim piece for the garage door opener fell off on a bumpy trail. I need to secure it...more securely.
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TL;DR - Like lights, bushings wear out, and I'll be replacing several on the front of the truck. The LCA bushings are likely the cause of my misalignment as well, so I'll get that addressed after I replace the bushings.
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TL;DR - I replaced the bolts with grade 8 versions, hopefully solving the problem for good.
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TL;DR - I need to figure out why my Hella's don't come on all the time. Low priority though for me right now.
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