Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

Archive for the tag “campsites”

30 Sep 2017
1 Comment

Trail 376A to Buena Vista, Colorado

Chrysler Prowler

What does a Chrysler Prowler have to do with a trail, you wonder? Nothing. I simply came across it at a gas station when I completed my trek to Buena Vista for errands. Prior to Chrysler’s bankruptcy and purchase by Fiat, they blew considerable funds on a few flagship image vehicles, the Prowler being the most notable of them. All short-run products, they probably caused more confusion in the marketplace than anything else and were seldom recognized by media critics as the styling achievements that they are, but they still bolstered Chrysler’s image of its willingness and ability to think well outside the box.

I knew I was going to be moving out of the Buena Vista area as a cold front moved in. At 8,000’ altitude, such an elevation is do-able, but needlessly cool. So my plan in taking this trail was to get to town and accomplish some time-absorbing tasks in order to get them out of the way for what would otherwise be an overly-full moving day. Trying to pack in a shower, laundry, propane refill, water refill, grocery resupply, fuel stop, and Rx stop plus a 3-4 hour drive southward is a long day, especially when finding a fixed campsite at the end of it is up for grabs. So, I figured that it would be worth it to hit Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, The Intrepid and tagged , , ,
15 May 2017
4 Comments

North of Flagstaff

Ahhh, trees, sky, and mountains.

Since I was too busy to post during the Overland Expo West (including nice naps to recover from all the walking around), I’ve been looking through the scores of photos I’ve taken in order to build a post. I’m writing this from a fine campsite about 15 miles north of Flagstaff, a Coconino Forest road called Schultz Pass Road (NF 545), on the opposite side of the highway from the entrance to Sunset Crater National Monument. Getting a cellular data signal in this area can be problematic, but after my cellular data modem came up completely blank, my iPhone was surprisingly happy to provide a working hotspot. Usually, the iPhone is the gimper while the modem is the producer. Go figure.

This is a true forest area, with the campsite itself at 7,490′ elevation. The “heat wave” is apparently over, the daytime temps for the rest of this week expected to be Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life and tagged ,
14 Feb 2017
14 Comments

Trip Routing

 

 

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This post is definitely more about describing how I work out where to go and where to stop than it is about how you should do so. There is a right way to do things, and then there’s my way. I’m now seriously behind in routing my trip for the upcoming commute/touring season of seven or so months, but that won’t stop me from delaying that task further with this post. Procrastination comes in many forms and with many faces.

Assuming – and that’s a big, pending assumption – that the local medicos do not seriously interfere with my departure schedule or make it necessary to closely monitor dosage results in a way that is incompatible with living on the road, I should be able to clear out of here somewhere in the last half of March, when the temperatures ramp up.

The primary goals are just two: get to Illinois in time to plague family and show up for pre-scheduled annual appointments in that area, and hunt for cooler high-altitude air along the way, at least until the true long-distance commute begins. Secondary goals are to visit the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, and then steer counter-productively back northwest to Prescott to see about installing rear air lifts on the Mighty Furdster. Then, according to plan, I hope to attend the Overland Expo West once again this year, not so much because Read more…

Posted in Miscellania, Navel Gazing and tagged , , , , , , , ,
09 May 2016
4 Comments

A Trail

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A trail, just like any other trail, only more so. In the middle of 3 days of overcast and variable rain, the skies opened for close to two hours, and I went for a walk in the direction that I had initially rolled in.

Originally intended merely to show the Intrepid in camp, this photo decided to place its own emphasis on something grander, don't you think?

Originally intended merely to show the Intrepid in camp, this photo decided to place its own emphasis on something grander, don’t you think?

What strikes me about this trail is that it has signs of long but infrequent use. There’s very little slope to this plateau but, as with all such trails, what there is in the direction of travel causes Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life and tagged ,
13 Oct 2015

Return of Evelo Explorations

Though your attention is naturally concentrated on the trail itself, it pays to stop and look around!

Though your attention is naturally concentrated on the trail itself, it pays to stop and look around!

[Caution for cellular data users: this post contains a heap of photos, and although they are all low-resolution pics, those readers on more restricted cellular data plans may want to wait for a WiFi hotspot before clicking on the “more” link that pulls down the whole post.]

Today’s post is about what I saw in Green River, Wyoming as I went further along a trail that I had originally hiked along. I include these posts because, well, I spend time exploring on my Aurora e-bike, and getting out there in one fashion or another is what it’s all about. Since I don’t do postcard scenic masterpieces or flower closeups, what I saw, you see. This trip meandered along miles of up and down, and I arrived back at camp both Read more…

Posted in Campsites, E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
04 Oct 2015
8 Comments

Staying “Home”

Front yard o' the day.

Front yard o’ the day.

This post is simply about going no further than a quarter mile from camp, and taking a zillion snaps of my campsite. Ugh, sounds horribly boring, doesn’t it? See, I intended to go out for a walk day before yesterday, got out there a ways, and then noticed some rain heading my way. Couldn’t be sure of the timing though, because here above Green River, Wyoming, you can clearly see stuff that might be twenty or more miles away. So, I walked this way and that about the camp in order to Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, The Defiant and tagged , , , ,
23 Sep 2015
6 Comments

A Miss and a Hit

You know, if I had a fishing license...

You know, if I had a Wyoming fishing license…

The trip to Green River, Wyoming was uneventful save for the beginning and the end of the 245-mile jaunt. The dirt trail going into Vedauwoo is bad washboard, as I’ve whined about before. My camping spot was just short of a couple of miles past the paved entrance. On the way in, I’d taken it at a crawl, the F-250s stiff springs making it jerk about, while the Defiant bounced up and down on the pronounced ridges with a sort of whaka-whaka rhythm. I noticed a hard-side truck camper idle in the following day, bouncing and rocking something fierce, too.

Since that time, the many passing vehicles appeared to be taking it at about 20-30 MPH, and although the ones with various kinds of trailers made a horrendous noise, that seemed to be the style of the locale. So, running solo later on a couple of errands to Laramie, I tried it. The trick was to get up to speed as quickly as possible in order to minimize the rather alarming judder. Not that bad! It was also not bad in that it chopped the trail time from a half-hour to a few minutes. All I had to do on hitting the pavement was to shove the GPS’ power plug back in. On the way back, slowing down to take the turn into my camp was unique, in that slowing on the washboard steered the back end right as the rear tires, inflated to their towing pressure of 75 PSI, made only occasional contact with the ridges. That aided my left turn, but the resulting door shake was disconcerting.

in the right type of RV, this place would be quite a treat.

in the right type of RV, this place would be quite a treat.

When departing for what promised to be a 5-hour drive – four hours to get to Green River, and maybe another hour to take Wyoming 530 and then nine miles of 012, marked as the “Lost Dog” Use Area – I decided to man-up and pull the Defiant over the washboard at speed. What the heck, why not try it? To crawl out again would just take too long, and the manly approach usually Read more…

Posted in Campsites, The Defiant, Travelin' Man and tagged , , , ,
08 Sep 2015
25 Comments

Picky Pioneering

You don't see too many of these. These were on the leg from Pine Bluff to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

You don’t see too many of these. These were on the leg from Pine Bluff to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Today was a short jaunt that turned otherwise, but in the end, I’m all set up in camp at Vedauwoo in the Medicine Bow National Forest, solar panels out and everything humming along. The cell data signal at my location is on-again-off-again at two out of five stars – and that’s with the amplifier –  but it works most of the time.

The day began with a drive to a Walmart in Cheyenne, made more interesting by having an incorrect address on their website. But, I made it there after some steering wheel gyrations and stocked up on fresh produce, eggs, bacon and so on. From there I keyed in the GPS coordinates generously volunteered by Flybiker. The impressive 3,000′ climb during the entire trip, plus a headwind, knocked the fuel display down to 8.0 MPG. Now I know what the title for the film High Plains Drifter refers to. There was a warning sign that the “Happy Jack Bridge” was out of commission until the 18th, but where was that? That was the exit I wanted, but where was this bridge?

Once I made it there, I found out that the bridge was the connector over I-80, and its sudden absence eliminated any chance of heading back east toward Vedauwoo. Oh well. What a great, wide trail! I was impressed that the Read more…

Posted in Campsites, E-Bike Pack Mule, The Enterprise and tagged ,
06 Sep 2015
10 Comments

Wimped Out Again!

No much for picturesque, but the WiFi signal is awesome. That's the park's #3 antenna next to the trailer.

No much for picturesque, but the WiFi signal is awesome. That’s the park’s #3 antenna next to the trailer.

Well, this was an odd end of day. I hit the Cozad Rest Area, and with only six truck spaces inline right next to the highway, mostly full, I could tell that it would not be primo. So, I went some 17 miles further west to my Plan B stop, another rest area near Brady, Nebraska. That had 22 truck spaces in diagonal. That was about half-full already, but I pulled in and began liberating the Defiant’s couch so I could lounge.

Trouble was, the cooling rain never showed up, and the trailer’s interior was once again reading 92 degrees. I listened to the refrigerated truck next to me grinding away, and the sheen of sweat began. Ugh. Another hot, moist and noisy night. Plus, Nebraska officially allows only a 10-hour stop.  I yanked out the iPhone and Googled “RV Park North Platte, NE” and found the Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Travelin' Man and tagged
01 Sep 2015
13 Comments

Fer PamP

Beside one travel trailer, a railroad layout.

Beside one travel trailer, a railroad layout.

Reader PamP made the mistake of admiring the lawn ornamentation in one earlier picture, so I took my camera along for my daily walk on one overcast day. Hopefully, clicking on an image will shuttle you to a larger version. The seasonal areas of Blackhawk Valley RV Campground strike me as the bucks-down version of a cabin at the lake. In this case, it’s the RV by the Kishwaukee River. For the cost of an RV of any type (some of which are like newer versions of the Defiant) and $2,000 a year fee, these stay here all year. All are owned by locals who visit on weekends, and some of the trailers have been here for many years. These are some of the more elaborate setups in the camp. Enjoy!

IMGP1453wtmk Read more…

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