Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

03 May 2016
4 Comments

Thunder Basket Mod

And the tag is still on it!

And the tag is still on it!

There’s a thick steel bracket attached to the lower edge of the Ford’s tailgate opening. It’s just a flat plate maybe 3″ wide. It sticks out about 5″ and has a slot cut in it that goes from the end almost all the way to its mount. I think it served to make sure that the tailgate didn’t work itself toward one side or other. Now that the tailgate’s gone, I’ve been wondering if there was some way to put that bracket to another use.

That use surfaced on the first trip into Wickenburg AZ some time back. When going in for supplies and to drop off waste bags, it’s best to have the small trash bags and the solid waste bag from the C-Head toilet sealed and conveniently placed for disposal. Just for the trip in, the latter was placed in the Read more…

Posted in Mod Squad, The Intrepid and tagged
27 Apr 2016
4 Comments

Camp Hunting II

This is the gatekeeper for getting to town.

This is the gatekeeper for getting to town.

A day trip into Chino Valley for assorted necessities was needed after a week of camping miles east of town, so I decided that I may as well find a new campsite at the end of it – because I now can. I’ve hopefully outfitted the Intrepid for 1-week stays, and that was technically pulled short a few days when I failed to keep tabs on breakfast items. I was having soup or kippers for breakfast, which works, but it just felt…wrong. So wrong. Water was holding out fine after 7 days out, being somewhere between 1/3rd-2/3rds full, thanks to a simple menu that doesn’t require much cooking or cleanup. And I’m still waiting to run out of the first tank of propane despite running the furnace for minimum temperature each night.

And from the rear, it looks like this! I don't have all that much articulation to play with. This is where an overly-stiff frame can work against you.

And from the rear, it looks like this! I don’t have all that much articulation to play with. This is where an overly-stiff frame can work against you.

So, I made a late start and spent the day picking up packages, buying sundries, mailing off a failed memory stick at the Post Office, refilling the Intrepid’s water tank, doing laundry, buying groceries, disposing of waste bags, and of course enjoying breakfast out. I generally don’t eat any meals out because the expense adds up, but when a great place for breakfast is available and cheap, I’m a sucker for it.

By the time that was all done, it was after Read more…

Posted in Campsites, The Intrepid and tagged ,
25 Apr 2016
8 Comments

Camp Hunting in Chino Valley

A quick stop at an "antique dealer" in Yarnell netted a closed display building and a lot of sectioned automobiles outside.

A quick stop at an “antique dealer” in Yarnell netted a closed display building and a lot of sectioned automobiles outside.

Travel is never totally predictable – which can be good or bad – but at least when the best laid plans go awry, it’s now a lot easier to deal with. A pickup truck with a box in the bed is much more adaptable to improvisation than towing a big TT with a turning circle measured in fractions of a city block.

Wickenburg was heading into the 90s for daytime temps, which meant it was past time to hunt for altitude. I’d been waiting for a shipment to arrive in town, and planned my departure on its day of arrival. Thankfully, it came in on schedule. After a cheap overnight in the North Ranch campground run by the Escapees RV Club in Congress AZ (to take advantage of every amenity they had), I headed for Chino Valley.

I left before having breakfast. Heading north by way of Kirkland and a series of small towns and almost-towns, I’d had my eye on a small home-cookin’ breakfast place in Yarnell that previously had many vehicles it its parking lot. Mid-morning on a Tuesday, I pulled in Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, Travelin' Man and tagged
20 Apr 2016
20 Comments

Wickenburg Descent

At the end of the roll down the hill, the tires had to be aired back up in order to press on to Chino Valley.

At the end of the roll down the hill, the tires had to be aired back up in order to press on to Chino Valley. That’s a tire gauge on top of the rear tire, for a final check, since the dial gauge on my pump reads 4 pounds high.

The quarter-mile trip down Mt. Niitaka needs considerably more care than the climb, because the trail up continues back down in a sort of extended loop, with its own set of challenges. Mind you, I watched an old Jeep Cherokee cruise by camp, having had no difficulties, and once or twice a day, an open Jeep Wrangler went past with a few tourists, its driver stopping now and then to tell his stories. A nice, narrow 4WD vehicle with high ground clearance is all that’s needed, and I’m sure even a 2WD vehicle with a limited-slip rear axle could make it up the trail I came down on.

2WD without a limited-slip diff, which I affectionately call “one-wheel drive”, well, good luck and make sure your spare tire is usable – should your vehicle prove unsuited and you insist on proceeding up anyway, you may slice or otherwise overtax a drive tire. Forget trailers of any type unless they are small, lightweight, and off-road specific – or you don’t mind dragging your converted cargo trailer over deeply embedded rock projections. It’s your money. The cell signal in this area is generally very good, by the way.

The trail as shown in the video below looks flat and featureless, but keep in mind that I’m picking the smoothest path down it. It’s practically a cruise in a small-enough vehicle, but get wider and longer, and you can start grounding things out. At a couple of points, it’s a choice of evils and there is no “best” path. Classic utility or sport utility vehicles will find it fun and very easy. Bigger, lower vehicles with overhang and more cargo capacity, not so much.

I decided to take the advice I’d received and lower the Ford’s tire pressures in an attempt to soften the jarring violence of 70 PSI when going over rocks. I’d noticed on a walk-through that some of the Read more…

Posted in Mod Squad, The Intrepid, Travelin' Man and tagged ,
13 Apr 2016
6 Comments

Climb Mount Niitaka!

The top section of the ascent.

The top section of the ascent.

Well okay, what I’ve nicknamed Mt. Niitaka is actually a high hill on the outskirts of the Hassayampa River Canyon Wilderness at Wickenburg, Arizona, where Rincon Road plays itself out into other dirt paths. The lower approach going up the hill is actually the worst as far as pitching and heaving goes, mainly because it looks flat, but isn’t. You don’t know it’s coming, and a walking pace is way too fast. Then, suddenly, the truck is tipping left and right with a vengeance, and for no apparent reason.

This is the basic approach up the mountain, which I previously wasn't able to climb in 2WD on all-season street tires. Now, with the camper in back and some serious Coopers, it's do-able, with slippage. 4WD low makes it much easier all-around.

This is the basic approach up the mountain, which I previously wasn’t able to climb in 2WD on all-season street tires. Now, with the camper in back and some serious Coopers, it’s do-able, with slippage. 4WD low makes it much easier all-around.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. This “day of the climb” began an hour and a half north, in Prescott AZ. My delivering dealer for my FWC camper, Adventure Trailer, was to reposition the camper in the bed of the Ford Super Duty, A.K.A the “Mighty Furd”. It’s rearward end had somehow Read more…

Posted in Campsites, The Intrepid, Travelin' Man and tagged , , ,
11 Apr 2016
4 Comments

New Photographic Capture Medium Announced

[This was originally posted on my now-deceased “That’s Obsolete” blog. Since it’s gone away and I like the post, I’m stickin’ it here. Now it’s your problem!]

New chemically-based image sensor will improve image quality without batteries.

New chemically-based image sensor will improve image quality without batteries.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley today announced their discovery of a new process for the capture of photographic images. Professor Irwin Cory stated that, “This new medium solves some of the problems inherent to traditional digital image capture and storage, and is entirely non-electronic in nature. The medium not only serves as a self-contained light sensor inside the camera, but combines that function with permanent storage which is removable and self-contained. Unlike current technologies, it is unaffected by static charges, power outages, magnetic fields, or any of the degradation or end-of-life problems associated with solid state drives or hard disk drives. Our tests indicate that its images can be safely stored for many decades. Further, there are no obsolescence or compatibility problems as with digital file archiving, since this new medium is purely optical in nature and is entirely free of coding and programs going obsolete.”

Battery-powered prototype is fully automatic in operation.

Battery-powered prototype is fully automatic in operation.

Asked about the physical nature of this discovery, Cory said, “It consists of a thin sheet of plastic which has been coated with chemical layers which permanently change appearance in the presence of light. It is a non-reversible change. Once exposed to light, that sheet is momentarily placed in a chemical bath process to prevent further change, and this allows handling of the medium in any light conditions without further effect.”

This non-electronic photographic medium, dubbed “analog media” and “photographic film” by speakers at the press conference, was claimed to have image quality and operational benefits in addition to its freedom from electrically-based problems. Professor Cory stopped short of calling it Read more…

Posted in Navel Gazing
10 Apr 2016
7 Comments

Waiting in Prescott

Well, the cargo box is up higher, but is also back farther...

Well, the cargo box is up higher, but is also back farther…

While in Congress, Arizona, I installed a Curt hitch adapter, which has as many drawbacks for my use as benefits. The frame underneath the cargo box is now about 5″ higher off the ground, but is also placed some 8.5″ further rearward. Overall, I think it will help in the situations I expect to face, the prime drawback being that getting up into the camper is more complicated now. The frame was previously at the same height as the bumper’s step, making entry from the rear easy. It’s now useless as a step, and getting in requires a kind of side approach around the front of the frame in order to get at the bumper step. Entry and exit now requires more care in foot placement as well as using the entry handle for balance. I think the camper’s door now has the clearance to swing wide open, if it weren’t for the lawn chair and emergency shovel attached to the “back” of the box.

The Curt adapter itself can’t use StowAway’s hitch tightener – that now only fits the upper receiver that the box frame goes into. So, the box now won’t Read more…

Posted in Mod Squad, The Intrepid and tagged ,
08 Apr 2016
4 Comments

The One Thing

Sign in a ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona.

Sign in a ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona.

While vacating my campsite and heading for Congress to better deal with incoming storms (and their mud pits), I drove past a series of small ranches along a paved section of Rincon Road. The sign in the photo above caught my attention, and I stopped and backed up to take a better look. It was a simple cattle ranch, but the sign’s ardor seemed to say it all. Someone had found the one way of life that resonated with him/her, and wrote out a phrase from a song lyric for all the world to see, perhaps to declare that this particular venture is not just a way to make do until something better comes along. It’s not about the money, or a quest for “success” or prestige. Nor is it about “living free” of all constraints and responsibilities, approaching the world in a self-absorbed, narcissistic way that contributes nothing of real value back to it. I consider that it’s more about finding that one harness that fits well. It’s about living in such a way that we look forward to each day, with what we do feeding something satisfying into our souls. I can attest to the potential difficulty of finding that one harness (and the inherent difficulties that often go along with living in it), but if we can manage to do that, then there’s little need to bank on a future with no guarantees. Today is enough.

Posted in Navel Gazing and tagged
06 Apr 2016
6 Comments

Live And Learn

Not much to see here: the side-gap between the camper and the truck bed wall.

Not much to see here: the side-gap between the camper and the truck bed wall.

The prior (and first) “adventure trip” up to a remote campsite involving a difficult climb and descent from my dream campsite on BLM land near Wickenburg, Arizona prompted a routine check of the camper mounts, which hold the camper to the truck bed floor. It’s routine because after the camper is installed, you’re supposed to check the mounts for tension a few times over the next several hundred miles.

And the gap on the passenger side, which no longer matches.

And the gap on the passenger side, which no longer matches.

While fumbling around to access a wrench and screwdriver, I noticed that the rear of the camper was no longer centered in the bed – but the front of the camper was. Hmm. Not good. What was the situation with the mounts? A tension check of the rear mounts showed that the driver’s side mount was a little loose, which was odd because that’s the side with the extra gap. The passenger-side mount was Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, The Intrepid and tagged ,
01 Apr 2016
6 Comments

The Literal Shakedown Run

Sunset atop a plateau in Wickenburg, with my campsite in shadow.

Sunset atop a plateau in Wickenburg, with my campsite in shadow. GPS: 33.911597, -112.815678, according to Google Maps.

Having climbed up an interesting slope to get to my first camp, I stayed there for a few days before moving to another location in Wickenburg, Arizona. This is State Trust land requiring a permit, and I’ve never seen anyone checking for them in past visits. So I was surprised on my first morning there when someone in a white pickup truck came up the rise, got out and checked the Furd for the tag in its window before departing. Secluded as my campsite was, the Intrepid was high and in plain sight of the common campground below.

The trail I was on continued further, but the "V" at the bottom of a dip ahead posed a challenge for the overhang caused by the StowAway cargo box at the rear of my rig.

The trail I was on continued further, but the “V” at the bottom of a dip ahead posed a challenge for the overhang caused by the StowAway cargo box at the rear of my rig.

While I was here, I contemplated fixes to get the StowAway cargo box higher. That’s because I couldn’t get into this area as deeply as I’d hoped. There are two approaches that can be used, but they both extend the box rearward a significant amount. Thus much of the extra lift is cancelled out by the increased overhang, which can come into play whenever the vehicle is crossing the bottom of a dip in the trail. I first looked at the few Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Mod Squad, The Intrepid and tagged ,

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