Travels of the Adventure Brigade

Goatfest in Johnson Valley...Round II

2011-11-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

Goatfest. It sounds like a weird name, but it all started with Goatman...he's a real person. I'll take a guess and say it's the way his Jeep is able to cruise the rocks like a goat. That's close to how Billie Jean (the van) got her name; Tyler called it a billiegoat and we ran with it.

Anyways, we cruised out Friday morning to Means Dry Lake bed in Johnson Valley CA. I met up with Vlad and Ivan, some new friends who I was taking to the Jeep event. Odd...I don't have a Jeep anymore, but I felt like this is one event you can't miss!

Messing with fire

The van all set up. Kinda messy

Most of camp, before Max arrived with his off road teardrop.

So we arrived later in the afternoon. I unloaded the bike and was really excited, especially when Sebastian got there with his bike. Now we could play! Where are my keys? Where are my keys? Where the heck are my keys? Los Angeles.

Crap! I frantically jumped in the van and high tailed it back to the main highway where I had cell reception to give Sam and Max each a call. I completely forgot my keys in my motorcycle jacket (for road) and didn't bring them. Luckily, Max hadn't left yet and Sam helped me out meeting him in Santa Monica.

So the first day, there was no riding. Just relaxing...and some shenanigans.

Shenanigans

The next morning, we discover that Max has a leaking brake line. Rather than risk it, he runs to town to get a new one; about 20 miles away. While we hang out and wait, Sebastian teaches his son and girlfriend how to ride a motorcycle. Needless to say, both of the bikes fell a few times.

Teaching Nick to ride.

Finally, Max gets help from the BSC camp and we hear that the scenic run is going to leave. It's about 11:30, I'm having a sandwich for lunch knowing that I can't eat and ride like the Jeepers can! We start to get ready, got told Max would wait for us at the BSC camp. I looked across the lakebed and the group is leaving! Yikes! LET'S GO!

Off we go. I'm taking lead across the lakebed. Nick is following on his dad's bike. Then we hit sand. DEEP sand. I knew Nick would go down, but I knew that if I stopped then I'd have a tough time getting started again. I pushed on knowing that the X5 was behind Nick in case anything happened. Stopping at the mountain bottom, I could see the Jeep group making the ascent. Good, we caught up. Well...not we, but me. Poor Nick went down in the sand and they ended up turning the bike around (tires not meant for sand). So I waited for another 10 minutes and watched them take the bike back. Eventually, all was right, Nick got in the X5 and we jammed on. We got lost. We lost the trail and took a left instead of a right....into ROCKS.

Where is this trail? D'oh!

We eventually backtracked, after the X5 took a few rocks to the skidplates and I had to walk my bike through rocks. NOT FUN and NOT what I remembered! We came to the sand dunes, which were familiar and there was a group of dirtbikes having lunch. "Did you see a big group of Jeeps?" "Yea...about 30 minutes ago." "Which way?"

I rooster tailed the X5 in the sand trying to get a start (Sorry Ivan!) and we eventually started to catch on to the tracks of the Jeep group, but we knew we were too far behind. HAM radio didn't pick anyone up. At thsi point, we stopped. We knew where we were, we had gps, we were hungry....and Vlad had his shotgun. Let's shoot!

After shooting, we decided it was time to head back to camp. As we took a different way back, we came over the mountains above the lake bed.

This should be in a dirt bike magazine!

We decided to wait for a while and just admire the view.

Back in camp, Sebastian introduced me to a neat new tea that is very popular in South America, and I think Argentina. I forget the name, so let me know!

Tea

Tea was followed by cruising out of camp with a few Jeep guys (Julio, Max, Sean and OGMudbutt) for some more shotgun shooting. Everyone was real nice and didn't laugh too hard as I was kicked backwards! Shooting was followed by ice cold fridge margaritas. Followed by ice cold rum and cokes. Followed by an excellent dinner provided by NAXJA with a donation! (Thanks everyone for cooking and good luck building the team race Jeep!)

||deleted scenes from the night involving police cars, Jeeps, mud pits, firepits, and stuff...||

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to the lake bed!

The drive home to Los Angeles was POURING rain. 55mph back most of the way, but we made it unscathed. Until next year, Goatfest!

Laurel Lakes and Mammoth, CA

2011-08-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

The Adventure Brigade headed out to Laurel Lakes in the Mammoth, CA region. Here's our video report!

Let us know what you thought of the video or what other details you'd like to hear about in future videos!

The Adventure Brigade
-Garrett, Sam, and Crazy Dave the Adventure Lobster
.

Scuba Diving with an awesome photographer

2011-07-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

I went diving last night with Brent Durand and he took some awesome photos scuba diving!

Of course, you all wonder how this relates to me...besides that I was there, scuba diving is a great adventure...AND your favorite lobster, Crazy Dave, attended in the van. You can see all the photos

HERE

and here are those which relate to the van and me. But really, see the full set HERE

Billie Jean Goes Solar

2011-07-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

On my last Big Bear trip, I realized that I ended the weekend with 11.5 volts. While it's OK to do, I don't want to run the batteries down like that every time I camp. PLUS, I hadn't run the stereo or powered any electronics. Logical deduction says that once Sam starts to edit photos at night and we play the radio for some camp tunes or watch a movie at night we're going to run out of power...quickly. We need a way to keep the batteries topped up or recharged during the day for full capacity at night.

Solution: Solar Power. We live in Southern California, where sun is not an issue. Based on an everlasting and ongoing debate on www.ExpeditionPortal.com and www.thesamba.com, it became apparent that I needed to plan for more power than I thought necessary to run my current load. So I decided on an 85W solar panel, 6amp Morningstar charge controller and 10gauge wiring. I purchased the kit from www.ul-solar.com and modified the wiring with some alternator quick disconnect plugs so that the entire system from the controller to the panel is portable. By portable I mean that I can keep the wiring and panel (apart from each other) inside the van when not in use to avoid theft since much of the time Billie Jean is in front of the house waiting for the next camping trip. Then, when needed, I can quickly put out the panel in the sun and plug it in to the controller to charge up!

Storage of the solar panel: I haven't figured this out yet. Right now, I'm thinking I will create a custom "shelf" underneath the air conditioning which would protect the panel with the same type of packing it arrived to the house in. We'll see how "inspired" I get. I need to protect it somehow. I can't keep it upstairs in the upper bed because it's already tougher to close with the thick mattress and down comforter - I can't risk breaking the panel.

SO: without futher ado - I give you Billie Jean: Powered by the SUN.

Below is the charge controller installed:

I got time to test the panel today in the driveway and it's a gorgeous, sunny and warm afternoon. This panel puts more charging voltage into my batteries than the van's alternator does! Which is great because now the batteries will be FULLY topped off!

Independence Day 2011

2011-07-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

I am working on a video log for my Big Bear trip July 2-4. For now, here are three photos to entice you...

It was a perfect day for fishing (even though nothing was caught)

Max out barbecuing some spicy sausages and teriyaki chicken

Some brown mushrooms, stuffed with herbed goat cheese which I made for the entire camp Saturday evening.

NAXJA SoCalFest

2011-07-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

So we went up to NAXJA's SoCalFest! It was a great time. It was about a month ago, so I'm not going to write a description. Sorry I've been lame and didn't update. I'm heading out in a few hours for 4th of July weekend and I'll be taking a laptop with me to write down my daily thoughts. I might try for a video log...we'll see though!

In the meantime, enjoy these photos from SoCalFest!

Getting ready to roll!

Charlie surveying the group

Lunch in Pioneertown

Tyler and I got there early and went exploring while waiting for more people to show up. We found this.

What's the plan, dude?

A beautiful lunch spot!

Good thing I wasn't driving the van when we parked!

Rest stop!

Tyler fording the stream.

Me wearing the stream.

The Adopt-A-Trail group from the Sunday run. Great people and hopefully many of them will be at the 4th of July Adopt-A-Trail event this weekend!

A few more...

Max is the creepy background guy.

Sam and I goofin'. She's got her new stylin' pink headlamp

Gorgeous. These trails opened up, too. Got wide, flat and fast for the dirtbikes!

Camptastic Times at Refugio State Beach

2011-04-11T22:11:00.000-07:00

The Adventure Brigade was gathered. Dave at the front of the van on his usual precipice presiding over his kingdom of the interior. Sam navigating and DJing in the copilot seat. Me driving (and sometimes praying we’d make it up some hills).

Our trip to the Santa Barbara hot springs began better than my recent trips. Sam and I had planned this as a romantic getaway. “To the getaway van, Safari Sam!” We departed LA with a full tank of gas, a motorcycle, camp gear and high energy. We stopped for dinner at the Los Angeles famous Neptune’s Net. It was definitely not like I remembered it. Prices were reasonable and we enjoyed a beer while having calamari, fries and scallops to a live guitar blues player. Sunset made the whole scene surreal and we were off to a great start! The sun went down as we pulled out of the parking lot.

Arriving in Santa Barbara, we exited the freeway and began the now slow paced climb up Gibraltar road past the multi-million dollar homes we wouldn’t want to have (they are so far away from everything that if you forget milk, it’s a big deal). Cruising along East Camino Cielo, we had gorgeous views of downtown Santa Barbara from the ridge. We stopped at the water tower next to multiple empty cars. It was actually pretty creepy seeing so many cars with nobody in them. We at least expected to hear giggles or some giggity actions! I felt let down. =)

Sam practiced some photos of the downtown lights, but then focused her attention to the dark. She took a long exposure photo of some trees with the area lighting of Ventura/Los Angeles lighting up the sky in orange and purple and a few stars. While it may not sound exciting, check out the photo!

Yea…she was jumping up and down she was so excited!

We cruised down to the dirt road of the hot springs and began our descent. The first thing we noticed was how smooth the road was! It became apparent that a grader had recently run the road. I wasn’t going to complain in the Westy! That is until we came to the ROAD CLOSED gate halfway down the trail….

Apparently we should have called to check road conditions before driving all the way up the mountain! I found out Monday that the road was closed due to two foot deep ruts from all the rain they got the last week! Part of wanting to head up was because of the rain making the rivers and the dam flow heavily! Oh well, in true Adventure Brigade spirit, we weren’t going to stop now! Another car creeped up to where we were examining an area map. A couple guys got out and I called out to them asking if they knew what was going on. Nope. One was kind of drunk which was semi entertaining. We showed them on the map where we were and how this was the only driveable road in which was now blocked. They decided to camp on the road past the sign for the night…I wonder if the Ranger found them?

Continuing on, we backtracked East Camino Cielo and decided to take it all the way to the 154 highway to head over to Los Osos campsites near Lake Cachuma. I had been there once before and we had the map so off we went! It was now about 10:45pm. At about 11:45am, we reached highway 154. Thinking about it now, that road is SO windy that it would probably….no definitely faster to go back to the freeway and head north to the 154 highway and go up.

We drove to the end of the road leading to Los Osos up until we reached the river crossing. ROAD CLOSED. “ARE FREAKING KIDDING US?!?!?!” I groaned and Sam kept the enthusiasm up. We had passed a few campgrounds on the way in so let’s head back to those. We popped into the day use area and found another vanagon camping there but decided to keep moving. The parking lot turned into a maze and around in circles we went. Dim 1986 headlights didn’t help, hahahaha. I’ll bet that van guy thought we were nuts or drunk!

Pulling into Paradise campground, it was NOT paradise. Someone had pulled in 5 minutes before us and had literally gotten the LAST SPOT! WTF! The campground host approached us, seemingly unhappy.

Me: “Hi there, are there any sites left?”

Host: “You guys might want to be careful.”

Me: “What?”

Host: “People driving around at night are scaring some people up here…”

Me: “Uhhh, OK. Any spots left?”

Host: “You shoulda been here 5 minutes ago. That guy right there got the last spot. You guys should be careful driving around here at night.”

OK, so we don’t know what this guy’s weird deal was, but he had obviously been in the woods too long OR there were some psychos staying at the campground with guns or something…it was just weird. We bailed and headed back out to the 154. The host had said there was primitive camping about 12 miles up the road at Figueroa. We headed north and eventually came up on the intersection which would then actually begin the 12 miles in. Considering our luck, we decided it would be best to head back to Lake Cachuma Recreation Area. We cruised back and at 2:00am pulled into the campground. We simply parked in the parking lot, popped the top, had a snack and went to bed.

Saturday, 9am

We awoke to blue skies. Groggily we closed up the van and cruised out of the parking lot before someone wanted to make us pay for a night’s stay. We didn’t use a campsite, a fire ring or even the bathroom so we felt it was okay to move on. We decided to try Refugio State Beach north of Isla Vista. Arriving on site, the host was super nice. He circled two open spots on the map and let us go check them out. Spot #2 was tucked in a corner near the railroad tracks behind monstrous 40foot RVs running generators. No thanks.

Spot #20 was the second row back from the closest to the beach. It was on the end so we only had 1 neighbor. Nice. We bolted back to the host and paid our dues. It had taken us from 5:30pm on Friday night to find a suitable weekend campsite and although we wanted something more remote, we couldn’t have asked for a better location. We sizzled up some bacon and had delicious Kodiak flapjacks which Sam’s mom, Vickie, had sent back with us from our last visit.

The mist hadn’t begun yet. It was cloudy and the campground was wet, so we unloaded the moto, attached the awning and set ourselves up for weather just in case. Good thing because shortly thereafter it began to mist heavily drenching everything. We were comfortable under the awning in our chairs, but we realized that these sites didn’t have barbecues! We had a tri tip to bbq, dangit! We explored the campsites and walked the mini trail loops of the cliffs. We watched some surfers do their thing and played on railroad tracks.

Getting back to camp, it was moto time!

We geared up and knew we were going to get wet. Correction, since I’m up front, I’M getting wet and Sam stayed dry…but I had a happy Sam and we cruised into Isla Vista to get a mini bbq from Target. We ended up with one of those notebook grills from BBQ Pro. Let me just say that it’s pretty sweet! We stopped and had enormous sushi rolls in IV before heading back to basecamp. The weather was warmer and dry in IV, but we returned to wetter colder weather at camp. No fear! We busted out the Mr. Heater in the van and in 5 minutes, Sam was toasty inside as I played with the new bbq toy.

The misting let up and we jumped back on the motorcycle and jammed up the road behind Refugio campsites into the canyon. Sam got great photos!

Of course it was now the late afternoon….it was, for all intensive purposes, raining…we had beer. So the keys got put away and the fun began! Bob Marley, Dirty Heads and Van Halen drowned out the noise of generators from the RVers. Tri tip soon seared over hot coals on our new nifty grill while bacon macaroni and cheese boiled to perfection inside the van. For those of you who think cooking in the van isn’t great, I disagree. It’s the most convenient thing ever! Washing dishes inside – phenomenal. What makes it work are the size of your dishes. If everything is small enough (standard paper plate sized plastic dishes) it all fits neatly in the sink.

Full of tri tip and mac…..and beer, we lit the fire pit. By now it was quiet hours and we enjoyed the sounds of crackling wood, waves crashing in the distance and the general quiet of nature. Peaceful.

Sunday 9:30am

I awoke in the van to vibrant blue skies, however at that moment in time it was DEFINITELY too bright (if ya know what I mean). Gathering myself, I courageously went back to bed. Sam was in no better shape. It was definitely destined to be a slow morning. A few cups of coffee, bacon and flapjacks cured everything and we began planning our day by not making a plan.

I don’t know what those RVers are doing inside their campers, but many of them ran a generator ALL DAY. Wtf…I had two house batteries and lasted all weekend without starting the van once. One guy had a generator to power a coffee maker and a crock pot. I had a French press and pot/stove. Oh well.

The sun blasted from the sky and we walked the beach. Sam took photos…probably up to 250 at this point as I strolled along enjoying watching her develop her new hobby. Dave was a lazy and stayed in the van. Around the noon checkout time, we threw everything haphazardly in the van and moved to the beach parking lot. The day wasn’t over and we didn’t want to come home! We set up our chairs on the beach with a beer, cheese, bread, salami and some chips for lunch. Not bad for vacation!

After thoroughly baking (I am the color of Dave now and trying to drown in Aloe), we picked up our beach picnic and began hiking the other side of the beach we hadn’t explored.

On the way, someone’s kid came up to their parents:

“The girls are gone.”

Parent: “What?!?”

“Their bikes are at the campground but I don’t know where they are!”

Then the word kidnap was used…A small panic, but the parents stayed calm and I think had the same idea that went through my head. This idea ended up being true. The two little girls had ditched their bikes and walked down the beach out of site. Needless to say, the father was politely upset with them, but handled it all very well.

Sam got great photos, we found beach caverns and caves and even some small tidepools!

Returning to the van, we sadly reorganized and prepped for the drive home. Of course, not before some delicious Freeb!rd’s nachos in Isla Vista. Best nachos in Santa Barbara and so far anywhere else. Nachos were followed up by bin candy and a leisure drive home.

- The Adventure Brigade

Garrett, Sam and Crazy Dave the lobster

The Voltminder

2011-03-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

So it was brought to my attention that installing the Voltminder up front actually wasn't as great a place to have it because of the long run in wire from the battery to the front which results in a loss of power just from that. So I moved the voltminder to the ever popular place by the rear cabinet. I'm satisfied.

I cut off the DC male plug and put connectors on. I ran the wire into the closet and down the side where I drilled a small hole to run the cable under the bench to my auxiliary fuse panel. Works like a charm and actually does show higher voltage in back than up front. I'm glad I did this modification. I won't leave it plugged in all the time, only on trips.

The big question now: what's next?

Then we ran into an older campervan in a parking lot.

The SoCal Desert Rendezvous 2011

2011-03-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the rendezvous!

Post Rendezvous write up:

So here I am...all loaded up! For this trip I decided to bring the motorcycle, so a custom bumper had been made, but the van sat a little low with the 300lb motorcycle. To compensate, I put in airbags in the rear springs of the van. It drastically helped!

You can see water out the back of the van as it seems the new water filler pipe I installed wasn't fully sealing! I noticed dripping out of the bottom of the van (NOT GOOD!!). I couldn't get it to seal and I didn't want more and more water to get in the van to avoid a rust issue, so I only filled it halfway and called it good. Besides, that was still about 6 gallons of water for two and a half days in the desert.

I drove out to meet Greg at his cabin in Forest Falls (yes, out of the way). I arrived first so I decided to make a sandwich. Greg ran a little late which meant I had time to make and eat lunch and take a nap. Sorry, Greg! Don't be late, dude! So when he got there, we loaded up the van from his truck and I made him have lunch in the car.

We arrived in the late afternoon as the sun was just starting to throw a shadow on one side of the camp from the top of the surrounding mountain. We set up and unloaded the motorcycle.

We walked around camp and met some people. I camped next to Jeff whom I've mentioned on the blog before from Mojave AND Big Bear trips. He's got the Toyota Tacoma with the popup camper (and nice heater). He had too much carne asada and offered us tacos and I traded some wine. It was dark by then and campfires were lighting up. We met up at the main campfire and I attempted to make rounds to all the different fires that night to meet everyone for a fireside chat.

It was then that Zach from Overland Gourmet showed up. He immediately unpacked a 20foot long table with multiple barbecues, cutting boards and table space. He set to work making goat cheese and bacon stuffed mushrooms, followed by a Japanese pork with dipping sauce, followed by grilled peaches with brown sugar!!!!! DID I MENTION IT WAS ABOUT MIDNIGHT!!!

So I had previously asked the Expedition Portal about the "drinking" policy. The rules were stated. I followed them. In fact, I think I didn't bring enough drinks for myself so it was a relatively sober weekend which was great! Although for the one guy that broke the rules....not so great. He was cruising around on a motorized bicycle, pretty intoxicated. He went down pretty hard on accident, but ended up breaking his collarbone. He was put to bed...not sure if the sleeping bag was duct taped up like in the rules though! just kidding! (side note: He posted up afterwards that he went to the hospital and is OK to make a full recovery).

The next morning was pretty windy. I woke up to the van rocking in the wind. As I groggily leaned up from the downstairs bunk, I peered out the windows to see people trying to hide from the wind. I guess now would be the time to fire up the heater and lay back down without struggling in the wind. By the time I got up, the wind had died down to a beautiful morning.

Here is the Syncro Vanagon crowd's U-shape camp:

The Syncro guys were really nice! (Bill, Jon and Seth) They invited me to Syncrofest coming up in mid April. I hope to make it! Bill's van is pretty sweet with what looks to be a custom Westfalia interior and a pop top added.

His pooch is a sweetie as well:

So then it was ADVENTURE TIME! I met up with Justin who was the only other guy with a motorcycle. He was much more hardcore as he had ridden out to camp on his motorcycle via mostly dirt roads. We met up with Tim and Mark. Tim was taking us on the Augustine Pass. This turned out to be a pretty awesome trip lasting a few hours!

Everything started out great. I was getting tips on riding, and we had a decent pace. We stopped first at the leftover bombs from the bombing range. Then we continued on to the top of Augustine Pass. After a rest at the top (there was even a clean porta potty!!) we continued on through the pass. Tim had mentioned there wouldn't be a lot of sand...............

Not so much....the wash was a good portion of the trail. Both Justin and I did this 2-3 times. Riding in sand is TOUGH! We were sweating by the end of the wash and happy to get on loose dirt again! We found a cool old mining area.

After that, we continued on. We went through another wash and ended up at the end of it. Crap. Now what? There was a "trail" heading up out the side of the wash. ARE YOU SERIOUS??? I thought to myself. I watched Justin jam up the hill having a tank slappin' good time. I positioned myself. I gunned it. The rise was over 45 degrees of incline and I was spitting dirt like it was going out of style scrambling to the top. I popped up behind Justin who looks back at me and with a big smile he makes a sign of the cross like "Holy Jesus, thank you we just made that!"

After that the rest of the ride was easier although Justin nearly went off the edge of a ridge with me close behind. We got back to the main road and decided that we knew where we were at that point and we opened up the throttles. Cruising at 45mph, we jammed back to camp blasting through sand, loose sandy corners and having a ball!

oooooo, a beer never tasted so good. I even graced the camp with me in my undies (sorry if you missed it ladies) while I showered next to the van. I felt like a new man. We meandered over to the trash pickup where Greg and I submitted a bag of trash.

I went out with Mitch, Apryl, Derek, Kevin, Robert and Alineh to do some shooting. My wrist was throbbing from riding that day so I couldn't shoot any of the big guns, but I did shoot the .22 rifle which was fun. PING PING PING! Mitch also sold me a handheld HAM radio which will be handy in the van and also while riding and hiking for security communications in case of emergency! Thanks again Mitch!

After that, Zach from Overland Gourmet fired up his Snow Peak gear and started carne asada tacos for the entire camp! Let's just say that all my riding that day gave me an appetite!

Seth's van is pretty sweet in the firelight:

It was a great night hanging out with a group.

The next morning was overcast, but I heard it was pouring rain in Los Angeles. Sounds like we got the better deal!

If you look at the picture above (click on it to see it LARGER) you'll notice on the highest peak there is a boulder. Next to that boulder, you'll see a small figure. That's Greg after hiking from the van to the top of the mountain in literally 15 minutes. He's a machine.

Can you see us?

So off we went, at noon, for home. Greg and I thought it might be good to take the rail home haha CHOO CHOO

But alas, all good things come to an end....

- The Adventure Brigade

More photos to come as I collect them from people.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I didn't have a camera, so while some of these photos are from my iPhone, thanks to the happy campers from the weekend, I was able to salvage the blog with stolen pictures!

Custom Rear Bumper and Moto Carrier

2011-03-12T14:43:00.001-08:00

The beginnings...cutting off the bumper brackets to weld on the custom bumper for strength.

And the finished product!

Updating the Van

2011-02-18T20:30:00.000-08:00

So I spent a little time updating the van. The original collapsible antenna was broken and bent. It worked just find, but it would wobble and I only gave it a matter of time before it broke off.

So I used a cool Samba trick and when I removed the old antenna, I tied a shoestring to the end of the antenna plug behind the radio. I pulled the antenna out through the headlight hole and voila, I had the shoestring. I tied the string to the new antenna plug and pulled it right back through to behind the radio. Easy peazy!! Now I have a shiny new antenna that is manually collapsible. Works great!

Then I finally got around to installing the Voltminder that I got for Christmas from my brothers! Looks like I'm all charged up! (although I need to replace the bulbs in the rear lighting unit because when I turn them on, it sucks TONS of power out of the system (one whole volt!)!

Last but not least, I had a moment of coolness and thought, "I'm going to get a custom license plate of my CA plate!" So I'm going to run this up front since no stickers are required and it is actually my own license plate. Cross your fingers for no ticket!

We were able to mount up the Kirkham's auto canopy to the side of the van, too! Coincidentally, it's storming outside so we're leaving everything open for a test run!

- The Adventure Brigade
Garrett, Sam and Crazy Dave

Volkswagen Vanagon vs Jeep Cherokee XJ

2011-01-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

So a friend asked me to talk about the differences between my now sold Jeep XJ (Cherokee) and the 1986 Volkswagen Vanagon. Well, here's what I came up with:

The VW has been nothing but wonderful to me! Not a single problem that I didn't create myself...(which is sad to admit that I'm the cause of it's woes). The only issues have been broken motor mounts, dented/bent/cracked exhaust and busted shocks...all from me.

So what do I think of it? Well, the only downfall is ground clearance. Mojave beat the crap out of that car and I'm not sure I'd do it again. Maybe get a trailer hitch with my moto and a quad for the lady. But I faced the facts that I'm not into rock crawling! I love riding along for it, but it's not my thing to spend 6 hours on a single trail going no more than a total of 10miles. I'm more of the traveling type.
Traveling is what the Westy does great! Better than the Jeep!
I'll start from the front to rear

1. BIG windshield - might not seem important, but one thing to keep in mind is that the van won't be traveling 80mph down the freeway. I tend to travel about 60mph in the slow lane and I get to take in all the views out of the humongous windshield! It's fantastic. Plus driving at that speed is much less stressful.

2. Captains chairs - for both driver AND passenger! Fantastic idea. I think current RVs have these as well, but it creates a seating arrangement much more comfortable than the Jeep. With armrests on each side of the chair, my arms are nice and relaxed steering the van even in high wind.

3. Full length dashboard - The Jeep kinda has space in front of the driver over the instrument panel, BUT the van while also having a larger glove box, has plenty of space on top of the dash for little things. Tons of space for a gps, Dave the lobster, phone, wallet, keys, coins in the ashtray, you name it. Even sweatshirts live up there.

4. Walkway into the rear - being able to park the van in a cold area and just walk back into the "living quarters" is pretty nice. There's no need to get out, unload the Jeep, lay the seat down, and then get inside only to sleep. Which leads me to:

5. Interior layout - This cannot be compared to the Jeep. Simply because it was designed for the completely different purpose of traveling while the Jeep isn't. The van seats FOUR. People wonder why not five, but that's because 4 can pack their stuff in all the cabinets and fridge comfortably while there wouldn't be enough sleeping space for five at night. Well, that and there are only two seatbelts in the back!

- Cabinets: The storage in the Westy is incredible. The engineers at Westfalia really thought the whole thing out. For a generic weekend camping trip you'll probably have extra space unless you're bringing passengers. Even then you wouldn't really know if everyone packs into the cabinets vs bags. Why bring a bag when you have a closet?

- Sink: Being able to wake up INSIDE the van, turn on the heater (whether electric or propane) and make coffee and breakfast in the warmth of the van is pretty sweet. Since I'm a California resident, cold means under 70 degrees haha! Having the onboard water (13.5gallons) is nice to refill water bottles, cook with, make coffee, wash dishes. All inside. SUVs can do onboard water, but generally just drinking water and you put it in another container to bring outside the vehicle to use.

- Two burner stove: It's larger than a Coleman grill but lights the same way. Use a lighter and keep a vent open since you're burning gas inside. Preferably at that point you'll be warm enough or it will be warm enough outside to warrant opening the sliding door and letting in the sunshine! The only time I've cooked "inside" my Jeep was standing at the liftgate and having the stove in the rear. Which if you sleep in the Jeep means you'll have to push all that stuff out of the way first, then set it all up. I simply wake up, grab the long handle lighter out of the drawer and poof...

- Built in fridge: it sucks. I use my Engel and I actually prefer it that way. It acts as a seat, and step stool to get into the upper bunk, is larger than the built in, and uses less electricity thus making it much more efficient. That's just technology advancing. I'll be replacing the OE fridge with more storage space. Let's face it, the van has the large floorspace to accommodate my 40qt fridge comfortably.

- Rear seat: Comfortably fits two (only two seatbelts!). The Jeep can fit three in the rear. The leg space in the back of the Jeep sucks. Period. Sam's Nissan Versa has 3x as much leg room in the rear and it was shorter than the Jeep. The rear seat converts to the rear lower bed which is ultra comfy (3-4'' of foam pad makes a nice bed!). The bed is taller than me 6'0 while in the Jeep, even with the rear seat laid flat, I couldn't stretch out...even at an angle I was uncomfortable. If you have cargo in the rear on the back pad, you'll have to move that to sleep just like the Jeep, but if you're good about packing, there probably won't be anything back there. Last time I went out, it was just outside stuff that was taken out of the van when we got there anyways, so just fold down and unroll the sleeping bag. (although I prefer to bring my sheets and down comforter!)

6. Pop Top: Honestly, whoever thought of a pop top is my hero. Being able to park the van in a parking structure is NICE! At just 6.75ft tall, it fits into most garages and a home garage as well! I can pull it into the garage to do work, wax it or whatever. The pop top is SO awesome over the Jeep. While the one person created the Jeepagon, they did a hammock layout. The bed layout in the Westy is a much better design, large enough for two. The only drawback is the tent. The tent does what a tent does best: breathe. So if it's super cold out and you pop the top, get the heater going. The upper area will fill with heat VERY quickly. The poptop also lets you keep your blankets up top when you drop the top for driving although I couldn't get it to close with the pillows up there...too fluffy!

7. Lastly, the engine: As is well known, the van is underpowered. I disagree (only when I'm not trying to go up a steep grade). With the original 2.1L motor, I am able to run about 45-50mph going UP the Grapevine. Anything steeper and it bogs down and you need 3rd gear. Living in LA means traffic. Although it's a stick shift, being in traffic means that I'm just as fast as anyone else out there! haha. So I don't mind the "lack of power". I get up to 35-45mph just fine on the regular roads. Getting 18mpg isn't bad either when some Jeeps get as bad as 8mpg fully built! I like the motor overall...it's very European. Small displacement, and it gets you where you want to go. I don't need a huge engine....although a small turbodiesel would AWESOME!

So that's my "comparison" from the Jeep to the van. For what I do in the "wild", it fits my needs perfectly. No rock crawling, but I got a dirtbike for the hard stuff and look forward to having Sam try a quad. The van is the ultimate Adventure Mobile...that's why another company made a Westy-type hightop called the Adventurewagen!

Jeep and Westies will get you there...just depends on if you want to crawl up and over or take the scenic route around....from what I heard it's more fun (and cost effective) to travel around. I mean, camping is an expedition, right?

I should put this on my blog!

PS: Here's a great 80's promotional video for a 1987 Vanagon: They go through all the models of the 7 passenger model, the Weekender, the Westfalia and the Syncro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y06prduBIHM

- The Adventure Brigade

Garrett, Sam, Crazy Dave

Carmel Valley Road Trip

2011-01-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

Carmel Valley is about 300 miles from LA. I was slightly wary about making the drive...or attempting it again, in the van as last time I had two tire blow outs. I left at 8:30am and didn't have any trouble on the drive up. A cool 60-65mph pace and about six hours later, I pulled into the driveway.

I have to say that it's the most rested I've been after driving 300 miles. Being able to sit in a comfy captain's chair with two armrests per side was pretty sweet. Dave felt a little cooped up and crawled around the van a lot.

You'll also notice the sweet new hubcaps, courtesy of the fam for Christmas! Without further ado, photos since I know you don't come here for the writing!

The view near Gorman. I will probably go offroading/camping/dirtbiking here with my buddy Todd soon!

Dave crawling around!

I couldn't stop staring at his....lettuce.

Coming over Laureles Grade Road into Carmel Valley.

We had rain for two days...it was nice and provided some beauty!

Well, it's raining outside; might as well enjoy a 12 year old MacCallen's scotch!

Lastly, Sam and I also took a side trip up to Van Cafe in Santa Cruz! They are a super cool (or groovy if I use van lingo) shop. They got my motor mounts all taken care of among some other goodies! The van is a pleasure to drive!

47 miles and two blow outs...

2010-11-26T16:19:00.000-08:00

I've been driving now for nearly 10 years and I've never had a blow out of a tire. Come to think of it, I've never had a flat tire either! (knocks on wood). I guess luck decided I had enough of a good ride.

I was on my way north from LA to see Sam's family over the Thanksgiving weekend and I'm coming down the Sepulveda pass. All of a sudden the van jerks awkwardly (more than usual from the windy pass) and a loud noise erupts BOOOOOM, TOCK TOCK TOCK THWACK THWACK THWACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! wtf! I went from the left side of the freeway (had to be there to make the interchange) to the shoulder and got to the safest spot to stop. I peer out the window and get blasted by a semi truck coming down. "F*(&$#$!" My first blown out tire. I mean, the dang thing literally exploded and there was no tread left on it! Being me and having my toolbox and jack etc, I changed the tire on the side of the freeway (that was pretty scary since the LA traffic was fairly heavy and going 80mph 3 ft from me)

I continue the journey after putting on the spare tire and filling it full at the nearest gas station. I had noticed that the spare looked a little sketchy (kinda rotted and cracked) but I thought I'd try it. Within 10 miles....BANG FLOP FLOP (I was already going slower and in the right hand lane so I was able to pull over faster). It's now 11am or so. I call AAA to get towed and wait on the freeway until nearly 3pm! Naturally I had specifically told the operator that I needed a flatbed, but they sent a tow truck. Sigh....OK, I jumped the curb of the freeway and turned myself around on the shoulder as semis and cars rushed past on their merry way. I was on the side of the road for FOUR hours, and not one person or highway patrol stopped to check if I was OK. WTF.

On our way back, people start giving me and the tow truck driver (Oscar who is a SUPER cool dude) signs pointing at the van. He pulls over and investigates. The van was falling out of the tow truck and dragging the blown tire on the ground spitting up rubber pieces at the cars behind. F(*&@@#. We spend another 30 minutes trying to get it to sit right in the tow thingy. We finally get home at 4 to assess the damage:

NEW SHOES!!!

The Mojave Road in November

2010-11-15T10:32:00.000-08:00

The Mojave Road: It's quite beautiful. It's a magical place to go. I'm not sure I'd want to go alone unless traveling on established roads, but the well prepared traveler and a second vehicle can have a grand time.

This time: NINE vehicles and SEVENTEEN travelers.

This was to be the first hardcore trip with the van. I had previously taken it to the hot springs with no problems so what could possibly go wrong?

Half of the group went out to the first campsite on Friday morning. The rest of us met around 7pm on Friday night after work at my house in the marina. We got situated and loaded and we were off!
We get on the 15frwy to go over the pass and lo and behold, Max comes on the radio, "Garrett, do you want me to give you a baja bump?" (for those of you unaware of a baja bump, it's when offroaders don't get out of your way...you come up behind them and "bump" them at insane speeds to tell them to get out of the way)
"Dang dude, I'm FLOORING it right now!"

About an hour later the radio cackles again, "Garrett, pull off at the next gas station."
We stop at the next exit and fill up our tanks. We've still got 120 miles to go. Max's Jeep is making a weird sound and he tracks it to the water pump. Great....we're heading to the desert. The LAST thing you want to fail is a water pump. It's way past closing time. Max decides he'll head into town first thing in the morning and buy a replacement.

We arrive in camp dead tired at 2:30am. The camp is pitch black and everyone is asleep. WTF is this???? Where's our greeting party? Where's my open beer being handed to me as I get out of the van? This is unacceptable.
Sam and I head over to Eric's tent housing Eric, Matt and Tyler. We call out to the dog and wake him up first knowing that he'll start getting exciting and waking everyone else up in the tent. We peek inside as Charlie comes out and see Tyler passed out fully clothed in his sleeping bag with his headlamp still on. Nice...must have been some night!
We get ourselves situated, have a few drinks with everyone who arrived and head to bead.

Saturday, 7am
YODELING pierces the air! I had heard some people walking around, and was half awake in the penthouse. As the yodeling starts from the truck speakers I roll over to Sam and she gives me a look. You know, the look like it's MY fault this is happening!? "Oh come on, you know we were loud when we got to camp last night. We deserve this."
Jeff decided to get revenge since he's an early riser on us late arrivals. It wasn't too bad though. Coffee and breakfast flowed freely and we all prepared. Max disappeared down the road to go to Autozone for his water pump. When he's back, we decide that the slow moving vehicles will start the trail since they should be able to easily catch up. Off we go with Max working and Charlie supervising (the dog). Eric hangs back in case they need a working vehicle.

First stop...a ghost town just off the trail. It's creepy.

We all comment on how unexpected well the van is holding up to the abuse of the trail. I've been hitting the front on some of the rocks so I go to investigate. Looks like my license plate is now my bumper skid plate and the spare tire skid plate is doing its job wonderfully! Nice!

We continue on to Fort Piute.

I don't have a lot of photos of Fort Piute as we took our quick tour and decided to keep moving. Max and Eric were visible in the distance kicking up dust making their way to us. A quick view with Rudy's binoculars told me they were HAULING to catch up. I was slightly jealous! It was 11am at this point and we decided that lunch could wait........as long as I had a banana! I felt much better with a banana and Stone Levitation Ale. BACK TO THE ROAD, MONGRELS!

Eric and Max had caught up by this point...Max had not only replaced his water pump but also suffered a flat tire trying to follow Eric. His tires were kinda OK to begin with so harassing them in that fashion probably didn't help. He showed me the 2'' gash in the tread. "WOW, you guys must have been MOVING to catch up with us here with a flat tire repair as well"

"Yea, I'm going to go your pace now," said Max.

As we came down the road, I began bottoming out on the smallest rocks in the road. Something wasn't right...DUH, I had aired down TOO MUCH and as we flexed the sidewalls of the tires, more air escaped and I was slowly going flat. Max helped me out with a quick air fill at the bottom of the hill.

We load up and head back down the Piute road and down the telephone road. We turned right to climb the Piute Summit. Everything began well. Tires performed and rocks got kicked up but nothing we weren't used to by now.

Bing, Bang, Crack, Bang....rocks over rocks we go. We skid out a bit on some loose gravel, but the van keeps up the pace. Squeek Squeek Squeek...."That's different," I say. I peer out the window down at my driver's tire as I climb the hill. "No worries, it's just one of the ugly hubcaps squeeking on the aired down tires!" That's when I heard a different noise. A ratlling. A quick inspection reveals no more hubcap. I peer in the mirror and see it rolling back to Max, conveniently coming to a stop at his driver's door.

"This is my prize now! I'm going to turn it into something for you," He jeers. "They were ugly anyways!" I retort. We realize that apparently Max and I have been making significant progress over the rest of the group as they are about five minutes behind us on the hill climb. WTF...I'm in a van, how is this possible? Max and Andy begin raving about how amazed they were at the traction of the van and driving going on.

All this is going on while the van idles on the hill. OK, well, let's keep going. We pile in and keep up the climb until BANG...."pfff pfff pfff pfff". Max comes on the radio telling me to stop. I just ran over a big rock which couldn't even clear his differential so he hit it too. We come to find that I use my exhaust pipe to go over the rock and bent it backwards creating a hole in a welded seam. Nothing major and nothing that can't be fixed back home. It's just REALLY annoying now and sounds like a tricked out Super Beetle.

We stop again wait for the group and watch them making slow progress up the hill behind us. Man, talk about a Billy Goat van!

That's when the second issue hits...."GURGLE". Confused, I get quiet and listen......"GURGLE POP", what the heck is THAT? Sounds like water.........."uh oh, Sam, get in the van now, we need to keep moving and get to flat ground!"

"What? Why?"

"I think the coolant is beginning to boil!"

We cruise another 20 yards to the summit of the hill and I shut off the motor and coast to a stop. Disaster averted! Hooray! LUNCH BREAK!

We all find it pretty funny that my 1986 VW Westfalia is leading a group of well equipped off roaders through the desert. We must be QUITE the caravan to look at!

We get back on the road and continue on our merry way through the Joshua Tree Forest. It seems thicker than last time, but then again, that was a while ago. We're all beginning to wonder about setting up an evening campsite in a few hours.

Dave Chillaxin'

Let's go people...get on the bus!

Now honestly, how much more van does it get?

We're keeping good pace on the established road right before Rock Spring. I know the turnoff to the difficult section is close and it goes flying past us on the left. Well.....I've beat up the van enough today, let's just stay on the bypass and see what happens. I hear no complaints from anyone in the group. We get to Government Holes and discover there is no camping on site. Dang, we though we could have. Oh, well, PUSH ON!

Just down the road is the Hole in the Wall turnoff. We see a huge pile of boulders and cruise to investigate and find fire rings ready for us. YES! Everyone immediately separates and parks their vehicle where they can. I search for level ground to park the van. I turn off the motor, pop the top and look around..."I'm all ready! Are you guys?" --- gotta rub it in, ya know?

The Wild Mojave and some Bourbon.

We cook a GREAT dinner of steak tacos with rice, beans, Pico de Gallo, onions and beer. Everyone gathers around the fire and we TURN IT UP! We have only tonight to finish the wood, build it higher. We have fire permits and fire extinguishers. The night progresses with stories told, a thank you speech by me and

...

I passed out shots of Don Julio to everyone in celebration of my birthday on November 30.

End of Saturday

Here is a little video put together by Rudy:

Starting the Trail - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqMcVsWL2vQ

Fort Piute to the School Bus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHWts7ATlZ0

The Adventure Brigade (all present and accounted for!)

Garrett

Sam

Crazy Dave

Day Two on the Mojave Road

The Rings Loop Trail - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI265eHCaP0

Mailbox and Lava Tubes - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SACOf-xg8QU

We woke up to a COLD morning, but never fear! I had recently purchased a Portable Buddy Heater! This little guy takes 1lb canisters or can hook up to my 5lb can for heavy duty work. I ran it before bed and anytime I woke up to go to the bathroom or chilly. Sam was lucky and slept the whole night.

We all got up slowly, a little groggy from last night's festivities. We had a "Van Cafe" going on in the van! I was making french press coffee for 9 people and everyone huddle around the sliding door so they could get a piece of the heat from the heater and stove in the van. Talk about popular!

We packed up and headed down the road to Hole in the Wall Nature Rings Loop Trail. This is a trail that starts at the visitors center, wraps around the mountain and comes back through a slot canyon-ish deal where you have to use rings hammered into the rocks to get up. It is said to be the hiding place for Jesse James!

After the Rings Trail, Jeff and his son, Kevin, decided to call it a day since it was near midday. We had gotten quite a late start. We said our goodbyes and the rest of the group continued on. We had lunch at Marl Springs by the corral enjoying some brews, cold cuts and good tunes.

I will report that after the Piute Summit climb, there was nothing more difficult than that (and the very beginning of the road was pretty rough). We skipped a gnarly section but it doesn't count since there's a bypass and we were tired.

So we arrived at the Mojave Mailbox and there was a big group of jeepers and trucks there. As the van pulled up, hole in exhaust and everything, we got smiles and I saw some people poking others to draw attention. Again...talk about popular! I guess I see now why people with these vans get crazy looks everywhere. Even the dirtbikers who had passed us on Saturday gave us thumbs up or a "Hell yea" as they went past.

We searched the logbook and found my ExpeditionPortal group's names from April 2010! That was fun! We also found the frog garden and a secret hidden gnome patch! There was a ~10year old kid there and he was showing us around since we weren't sure where this stuff was. Someone joked that he was a tourguide so I tipped him $1. He sure was happy and hopping like a frog after that!

After the mailbox, we went further down the Road and turned up Aiken Mine Road to head to the lava tubes.

We passed the old volcano on the way up

Boy oh Boy was there a surprise for us! Look who was waiting there! ANOTHER VANAGON!

We cruised into the lava tubes and messed around and on the way out we encountered a BAT! That was fun!

Yea...we're dorks!

Is Quinn chosen??

We reluctantly left the lava tubes and chose the hard way out to Highway 15. Down the sandy washes, we cruised 30mph and tried to keep up our speed so we wouldn't get stuck in the sand. We hadn't gotten stuck once yet this trip and we weren't about to start! Nor did we have to reattempt any obstacle!

At the end of the sandy section, we stopped by the highway. The Mojave Road continues across the highway, down to Soda Dry Lake and in through Afton Canyon. It was near dark and everyone was feeling pretty withered. This was about the time yesterday that we set up camp. We make a democratic decision to call the end of the trip. We aired up the tires, had a few more shenanigans, stopped at In N Out in Barstow and made it home by 9pm. I was zonked out by 9:30!

Rudy continued on the Mojave Road without us. As he posts his videos I'll post them here.

Here is the final group:

The Adventure Brigade

Garrett

Sam

Crazy Dave (too tuckered out to drive home)

Extra photos!

Sunset at Dockweiler

2010-11-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

So we decided to catch a quick sunset in the van with a relaxing wine and some tunes. Not much to report except we had a great time, and Brent and his girlfriend Quinn came along too!

Images courtesy of BrentDImagery

Santa Barbara Hot Springs in October

2010-10-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

The hot springs...I could write an ode, but then you would all think I'm weird!

There's always something crazy that happens on hot springs trips. Here's a breakdown of how it went down last weekend. It's about 1pm on Friday and Sam and I have put quite a few hours into getting the van ready between her redoing ALL the water plumbing and cleaning and me redoing the stereo and twin auxiliary battery system. Sam sends me a txt "I think I have to work this weekend" Well crap, I've already committed to showing up and there are people meeting us at the hot springs who are already there and out of cell phone range. Sam ends up having to work.
Not wanting to disappoint, I hurried and packed up early and headed out of LA, after picking up Tyler, my twin, and off we went to Santa Barbara. The first letdown happened when we lost radio reception - no problem, hook up the iPhone to the nifty USB interface on the new stereo! We found out it doesn't work that way, this stereo only reads files off of flashdrives, not your iPhone! Good thing we were 3 exits from a Best Buy and were able to stop in a pick up a male to male auxiliary cable to make it work...still disappointing though.
We arrived in Montecito to pick up Callie and her sister Sam (I know, right?). After saying our hellos and goodbyes to her mom, we were packed up and off! We began climbing Gibraltar Road in thick fog with the windshield wipers helping us out. The headlights on the van need some serious help...they suck. The fog was so thick that we could only see about 5ft in front of us. Using the lowbeams helped, but the lights are so weak that it was hard to see anything! We crept up the hill at 5mph in first gear for 30 minutes. Out of nowhere, we get headlights behind us from a panel van. This guy is MOVING in the blinding fog. We pull over, let him pass and then think "He obviously knows where he's going!" so we high tail it behind this guy and save probably another 30 minutes of SLOW climbing.
We bust through the fog about 80% of the way to the top of the mountain. Cheering ensued and we cruised along the top of the road in the pitch black led by the moon and my crappy headlights. We arrived at the dirt road. I think it's been a while since that van has seen some dirt, although when I cleaning it out I found two maps of Baja circa 1987 in the glove compartment...adventure? Yes please!
After cruising down the dirt road at a reasonable pace (sane) I realized that most of the noise coming from the van was not the van falling apart, but rather all the supplies that gravity and inertia was having its way with. We arrived in camp, popped the top and set up camp and a fire. We enjoyed a few cold beers to celebrate our arrival and went to bed after burning an entire bundle of wood.

-Saturday-
I awoke in the van and was still alive. Man, this is pretty nice! I'm literally INSIDE while camping on a bed. Pretty sweet. We got moving and had some breakfast. We started playing some frisbee and met Vic who was a retired gentleman from ExpeditionPortal.com.

He's a real nice guy so if you ever spot an Isuzu delivery truck with a camper on the back, just wave hello! We hung out for a while and I made some steak fajitas for lunch.

This was followed by a cold romp in the stream near the campsite. At this point, we heard the music of a dirtbike's exhaust note. CONNOR. We began calling out, but he couldn't hear us over the exhaust.

FINALLY, he turned off the bike as I was jumping through the bushes. I could see confused looks on his and his girlfriend's faces as I appeared out of nowhere, shirtless, with my ridiculous adventure hat. Awesome. Coincidentally, there was a Honda Accord driving away. ANDY! I shouted out and he stopped and I began waving like a lunatic. It was hard enough to meet people up here, but harder when you have never met them and only know what vehicles to look for!
Andy brought his friend Rachel and they are both Navy. I could tell they were stand up people and felt good about having them join the fun camp! Vic returned from a trip to the springs and we all got our introductions and hung out playing bean bags, frisbee and enjoying a few drinks.

So the plan had been to have Callie's mom come up Saturday afternoon with dinner of burgers, beans and corn. The time kept passing and we became worried. Had the fog become impassable? Nope, a man stopped at our camp, gets out of his truck and looks at a business card, "Are you guys....Callie, Sam, Garrett and Tyler?" OH CRAP...what happened? "Well, I ran into Callie's mom at the top of the hill and she was just freaked out by the fog, then she was super low on fuel and THEN a black widow appeared in her truck on the driver's windshield. She's freaked out and heading home."
Oh man, that really sucks. "BUT, she gave me all your food." WOOOOOHOOOOOOO! We were extremely disappointed that Carol couldn't make it, but she promises to come up with us next time since she's also never been there and lives in Montecito. So we got the food, put it in the fridge and headed up to the hot springs!

I usually refrain from taking pictures at the springs since people are in their bathing suits.....or not.
We returned to camp and pumped up a good fire and got a nice base of coals. I put together the tripod grill, mashed together some burgers and heated the beans. Andy cooked some hot dogs and Connor cooked some brats. Everyone had a cheeseburger and shared all the food. I love community dinners!
The night continued, but I began feeling not so well with pounding headache and nausea. Everyone else felt good, so I called it a night around 10:30pm and went to bed. I know Tyler, Andy and Rachel cruised up to the hot springs again after I went to bed which made me happy to know Tyler was showing them the ropes.

- Sunday -
I woke up cold in the van. I'm sleeping in the upper bed which has canvas walls which naturally are 24 years old. Perhaps a new canvas would help hold in more heat. I love canvas. Tyler was snoring below. I wanted to power up my laptop and get some homework done, but I didn't want to wake Tyler and I sure as heck didn't want to sit outside to do it at 7am in the cold. I went back to sleep after putting on a sweatshirt. I think a Mr. Heater Buddy will be in order for any future fall/winter trips.
We all woke and had a great breakfast. We packed our camp leisurely and said our goodbyes.

Callie and Sam had to get back to Montecito for their mom's book signing!

We arrived at the house and were greeted by the two large golden retreivers and some of Callie's family. We showered and all headed to Padaro Beach Grill in Carpenteria where I proceeded to sample each type of pizza that was provided. It was a great time and I am so thrilled for Carol. Check her book out here - It's for the family of a struggling addict/alcoholic and how they can help. Carol is an amazing person so be sure to check it out!

We arrived home in the late afternoon and were able to relax before hitting the hay. See you November 12-15 for the Mojave Road!!!

-The Adventure Brigade

Pictures to link (smaller res)

New Stereo in the hotness

2010-10-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

Spent some time last night in the van:

Sam took down the curtains because she wants to wash them as they smell gross due to the PO being a smoker.

I got the stereo put in and it looks great! Camping will be much more fun now!

Pretty awesome that it's wired to the auxiliary battery system. While it doesn't turn on/off with the keys in the ignition, I can turn it on while in camp with the keys in my pocket and not drain the starting battery. I like this feature.

So after wiring the stereo, we HAD to test it out. Problem: It's 3am and I want to test a subwoofer....not bright. So we lay low, pack up the tools, and crawl into the upper bunk area. Sam busts out the remote control for the stereo and we are thrilled to be able to turn on the radio and adjust the tunes from bed! Now just to figure out if it controls the ipod via the USB plug or not.

Here's a picture of the headunit, a JVC Arsenal KD-AHD69 available at Crutchfield for $149 (and includes two free 6x9 speakers which I haven't decided where I'll put yet!). Notice that I don't have the keys in the ignition and the radio still works...teehee, good times in camp!

Then, I wired in the subwoofer package from my Jeep. I mounted the amplifier to the back of the woofer (I know some stereo gurus HATE this practice, but it works for me) and ran the power cable under the carpet and under the rear seat to the DUAL Optima Yellowtop National Luna power pack auxiliary system I created. Here's a picture of the placement of the woofer...nice and clean:

Now, I will refrain from showing you pictures of the twin battery National Luna power pack setup as I feel it's quite ugly and confusing...I even shorted two wires putting it together! So, the plan will be to install a BlueSea fuse panel under the rear seat near the power pack in order to properly run fused accessories off of it! More on that later...

update 10/27 - Speakers

So I put in a different headunit as the JVC ended up being difficult to use and it didn't control the ipod. Worked well, but just not how I wanted it. I ended up with a Sony headunit which is a brand I know and trust. Sony CDX-GT640UI

So also, after putting in this new headunit, it puts out 17 watts RMS and the speakers in the van, I found out, are CRAPPY Autozone $5 speakers which can handle PEAK 25watts...yikes, no wonder it sounds awful. I also found some interesting wiring leftover from the previous owner...not sure how he thought this was a good idea. Even MY wiring isn't this bad...

The wiring panel for my auxiliary stuff:

The New Adventure Mobile

2010-10-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

It's the end of an era...not really, it's the beginning a new adventure.

The Grape is now for sale, so if anybody is interested, give me a shout at adventurebrigade@gmail.com.
But on to the new vehicle:
Meet the new to us Volkswagen Westfalia circa 1986. 2.1Liters of water cooled hotness (although my brother would disagree about the hotness).

That conversation went this way:
Me: "Isn't this awesome"
Tyler: "I can't believe you got this."
Me: "I know, it's pretty sweet."
Tyler: "Well, at least you won't be stealing any chicks from me in it!"

We'll see about that since my chick loves the van! Big plans are being talked about, but we're going to take it slow with this one. Just run it until we decide or feel a need for something as the Germans were pretty smart in designing this thing.

The only current modifications that will be done soon are:
1. New water pump for sink
2. Fix air conditioning
3. Replace auxiliary battery system to power fridge, lights, 12V accessories and the radio all while the car isn't running. (Maybe a small furnace heater in the future)

Why replace you say? The current system has tiny wires and while it works, I don't trust it. I have a National Luna Portable Power Pack which I will install under the rear seat where the current second battery is.
This system, when powered on, allows me to monitor voltage and has an intelligent solenoid to recharge itself when the vehicle is started AFTER detecting the main battery is fully charge.
The PPP has an Optima Yellowtop in it. I will also wire on a second Optima Yellowtop to double the capacity of the system.

So that's the current plan. We're heading up to the Santa Barbara Hot Springs again on October 15-17 for the weekend as an inaugural trip. Funny thing is, in the first 24 hours of having the van, I drove it over 100 miles from a romantic dinner on the beach with Sam to opening night of lobster season with my brother, Brent, catching the biggest lobster I've ever gotten. Good signs for the adventure mobile!

Naturally a blog post isn't complete without what most of you already came here for - PICTURES! Higher resolution to come soon, but here's what I have so far:

Lastly, here are the fun facts about the vehicle:

Engine: 2.1 Liters of water cooled awesome
HP: 95
Transmission: 4 speed manual
Camper: Sleeps 4, table space for 4, dual burner stove, sink with 13 gallon fresh water system, Engel fridge (from Jeep as the one currently in the Westy will be removed to make space for storage/heater), campsite hookups if ever parking with RVs....yea right!, Pop top canvas, dual battery system.
Height: 6.75 ft (fits in most parking garages which was critical to my decision)
Suitable ground clearance - 2" lift springs are available; however, we'll see if we need them.
Storage above front seats on roof - perfect for firewood or dirty pieces (trash bags)
Very strong aftermarket support for spare/replacement parts with two big van authorities right here in California!

Santa Barbara Hot Springs #3

2010-09-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Let's face it, there's something about heading out into the wilderness and coming upon some sweet setup hot tubs in the middle of nowhere. Throw in some tri tip, drinks, Jeeps and camping, and you have the ultimate mix.

Such was the idea heading up last Friday to the Santa Barbara hot springs with a few friends. It turns out that Sam had to study for her LSAT class and thus wouldn't make it....DUDES TRIP!

I packed the Jeep for my solo mission, although not fully solo, as trusty Dave would be joining as usual. He's not a hot water fan, but he makes due sitting around in the shade while wearing his lobster shades. I drove up with my buddy Max from NAXJA. He's been helping me out lately with my Jeep build. If you live in Los Angeles, he's opening up shop for custom fabrication work, parts and services for just about any vehicle!! Check him out at www.Wilsonfabworks.com.

Anyways, I digress. We drove up and decided that this would be the trip that we take the southern route up to East Camino Cielo and Gibraltar Road. Luckily for us, it was pitch black and there are no lights in Montecito! Max's preprogrammed GPS led us in circles...literally, while my GPS didn't know where we were just up from the 101 in the hills. After turning around for about 20 minutes, I say screw, but out the trendy iPhone, and direct us to the correct route coming from the south...we were WAY off!

We arrive up at the hot springs to a dark camp. Looking left, I see a few small fires and think, "Eric and his friend are supposed to be up here...I wonder where?" Looking right, I immediately spotted them. The camp was lit up around with some tiki torches to keep bugs at bay (which worked like a miracle!) and they had two lanterns to guide us in. After we set up camp, we decided to go for a night drive down the roads since Max had never been there before.

We came back to camp and decided it was just too early to go to bed...I mean, Max and I had gotten there at around 1130 and it was only 1am! We set up a campfire, opened some sodas (or beer, but I haven't been drinking for a few works because of a fitness thingy...) and chatted the night away...until 4:30am!!!!!!!!! Yikes, looking up, we noticed the night sky getting lighter and decided to call it a night.

The next morning, we fired up the tiki torches to keep the deer flies away. Amazing results! We made an awesome breakfast of soyrizo/egg/avocado tacos and turkey sausages. We packed up our gear since I had been raving about the little swimming area up at the dam (see previous hot springs trip report to see pics). We got out boardshorts on, sunscreen on, and piled into the vehicles. We got up to the dam and realized, DAM, there's no water here! It was all dried up! I still decided to show the guys the death tunnel under the dam, so in we went. It was dam dark inside. We got through after hearing a bat or two and took the stairs to the top of the dam. It was pretty dam high. Charlie (Eric's dog) couldn't get up on the dam, so we left him at the base. He was pretty dam upset. Up on top of dam, we had a dam good view of the valley. We were up pretty dam high and took a few photos.

Returning to camp, we decided to hit up the Big Caliente hot springs. Someone the night before had left the hoses in both springs so they were ridiculously hot. We heated our legs, but couldn't do much more. We decided to come back at night and left the hoses out of the water to let the tubs cool down. Cruising back to camp, it was beginning to be late afternoon so we decided to prep dinner.

I chopped up most of an onion and two bell peppers into tin foil. Lacking butter, we sprayed the crap out of the mix with butter flavored PAM, applied garlic salt, pepper and cajun seasoning and tossed it into some fire coals. We heated water for the garlic rice pilaf and began bringing the burgundy pepper tri tip to room temperature. Once satisfied, we set up the tripod over the fire and started everything cooking. That tri tip cooked for a good 45 minutes on the fire, dripping juices onto the coals and making our mouths water. We could hardly take it anymore when we pulled it off and covered it with foil on the cutting board to let the juices soak into the meat.

That tri tip was awesome! You can't get that fire grilled taste out of a barbecue! The meat was perfectly red in the middle and didn't even need barbecue sauce! The vegetables came out soft and sauteed-like. The rice pilaf was a great side.

We followed up dinner with a few dishes (the tri tip had to be eaten on proper plates, of course). A friend of mine from Santa Barbara and another guy from LA's Southern California Outdoor Adventurers.
Since we haven't heard from anyone or seen anyone, we decided to run up the hill and give everyone phone calls to see where they were. On the way up, we run into my friends on their way down to the camp! Sad news...they decided not to camp and just come up with their ladies to take a swim. We cruised up and spent a few hours up at the hot tub hanging out and trading stories.

The next morning, we made an enormous egg scramble with leftover tri tip, onion, and bell pepper. Sided with avocado it was awesome. We hung out some more and slowly packed up the camp. It was right at the end, and Matt (Eric's friend) was pouring out tiki torches for transportation back home. A wick fell into the can and he reached a finger in to fish it out.
"Hey man, I think I'm stuck."
"What?"
"Ya, I can't get my finger out..."
*smirk, giggle
"Seriously man, I'm stuck...OW, great, now I'm bleeding!"
*giggle "That's kinda funny"
"I'm bleeding and it really hurts..."
*SMIRK, laughter "Hey guys...Matt's stuck..."
So eventually, we had to use pliers to pry open the top of the canister and get his finger out. He ended up having to get stitches. No hot springs trip is complete without an accident ;)
We finished up by hunting bees with the griddle and dousing them with water since we lacked tiki torches after the incident...

- The Adventure Brigade
Garrett, Dave (and Sam)

Sam would like to say she'll be on the next trip since her LSAT test is early October!

Another shout out goes to Jeeperjohn from NAXJA. He helped me build my Jeep from the beginning (see build post). He's available to help anyone down south near San Diego: jeeperjohn@verizon.net

Big Bear in August

2010-08-17T16:49:00.000-07:00

So the big idea: Go to Big Bear with a big group and run a trail or two. Mission: Success!

I drove up to Big Bear on Friday with the twin brother, Tyler, and Dave. You know Dave, the rockin' lobster you'll always see around the purple Jeep. We did a caravan out with Max (the Black/Yellow XJ) and met up with Todd out somewhere in San Bernardino. We met up with Derek and Derek, Jason, and lastly Robert and Alineh (you may remember them from Mojave).

We cruised up highway 330 and had to make a quick stop in Running Springs because Tyler and I THOUGHT we heard, "Oh NO, Oh NO!" over the CB radio. Alas, after pulling the SIX vehicle convoy over, nobody said they had said it. It was, however, coincidental that Max's Jeep was smoking. A quick search didn't turn anything up and conjecture said it was oil burning off. Max popped the hood and to his dismay it was his roof rack lights wire having some kind of short where it melted the wiring. Good thing he popped the hood! A quick disconnect of the wire from the battery and we were on our way!

We arrived in camp to meet up with Jim, Steve, Eric, Zac and Jeff (who had already gone to bed...he's 51 and had a heart attack a few months ago so I gave him a break), besides, it was past 9pm. We lit up a nice campfire and hung out.

Day 2

I decided it would be funny to wake up Tyler and Eric by placing Robert's truck next to the tent and blaring the horn. They weren't as amused as we were. They had had a late night far after I went to bed at 1am. It had been in the low 40's that night and I had to sleep with Charlie covering my feet which helped immensely as I had forgotten my sleeping bag! Yikes! Steve graciously lent me his military wool blanket spare which he later regretted due to the cold ha-ha.
We had a nice breakfast and rounded up the vehicles. Everyone except Jeff and Steve would run Gold Mountain. We headed out, without Eric's Tacoma, and aired down just outside of Big Bear.

We cruised part way up the hill to find a traffic jam on a lonely dirt trail! About FORTY Jeeps were in front of us in some group run. Well, we got comfortable and watched Jeeps from stock to tricked out climb up the first obstacle. Then it was our turn!

UP I went with Dave. We stalled halfway up and had to back down and reattack but made it on the second try. Not a few turns later, going up another obstacle did I encounter problem number 1. Apparently, when the gas tank skid was put on on, the rear exhaust hanger wasn't fully bolted back up and it allowed the whole piping to pull out from in front of the catalytic converter. It sounded like a V8 or stroked out 4.0L. Oops. Eric thought this was a cool "feature" of the Jeep.

We put it back together and later it came undone and had to be held together with bailing wire to keep it from falling out again. So I have that to fix this weekend. We took lunch at the Rock Garden and afterwards continued on the path.

So then we continued on to the top of the hill. Todd fell over a few times and wasn't hurt but he was SO tired by the end of the day. His rear dirtbike tire just kept spinning on these rocks all over the trail. It was a well deserved time when we finished the trail in the mid afternoon.

We hauled back to camp and packed up to move over from Yellow Post 30 turnaround area to across the lake and some other group campground which we ended up having to share with people. The FS accidentally double booked us, but they were OK with us being there. They said they would be loud, perhaps in an effort to ward us away, but set up shop. We got music going, a huge potluck feast, and kept the good times rolling until 2am. Longer than those people who warned us were partiers...

The next morning we don't have any pics since Tyler's camera died, but it's okay. We decided to all head out of Big Bear since only two vehicles wanted to run John Bull, but only had 1 passenger seat with too many willing riders. It was decided to take fireroads out down the mountain, so half the group went that way while the other half cruised out via the highway. The trip ended at Tyler's house with a hot tub and barbecue lunch!

-The Adventure Brigade (minus Sam)

and now for requested miscellaneous pics!

Overlanding and Adventure Travel

2010-06-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

Overlanding is the self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal. Typically, but not exclusively, accommodated by mechanized off-road capable transport (from bicycles to trucks) where the principal form of lodging is camping; often lasting for extended lengths of time (months to years) and spanning international boundaries. Historically, "'overlanding'"^[1] is an Australian term to denote the driving of livestock over very long distances to open up new country or to take livestock to market far from grazing grounds. Between 1906 an 1910 Alfred Canning opened up the Canning Stock Route, one of the most famous overland routes in the world.^[2]

History

While expedition is defined as a journey with a purpose, overlanding sees the journey as the purpose. With that criterion, overlanding most likely started before modern humans came onto the scene. Marco Polo's expedition along the Silk Road could be an early example in modern history, though he did have a defined purpose.
Overlanding in its most modern form with the use of mechanized transport began in the middle of the last century with the advent of commercially available four-wheel-drive trucks (Jeeps and Land Rovers). It is somewhat prescient that the founding company of the Jeep was Willys-Overland Motors. In 1949, with the Land Rover brand less than a year old, Colonel Leblanc drove his brand new 80-inch Series I Land Rover from Great Britain to Abyssinia ^[3].
There followed many more private journeys, and with the colonization of the African interior, groups would set out from Europe with deepest Africa as the destination. To aid in these endeavors the Automobile Association of South Africa published a guide titled Trans-African Highways, A Route Book of the Main Trunk Roads in Africa ^[4]. The first edition appeared in 1949 and included sections on choice of vehicle, choice of starting time, petrol supplies, water, provisions, equipment, rule of the road, government officials and rest houses. The serious tone of this book gives some clue as to the magnitude of such a trip, and it was from these beginnings that overlanding developed in Europe and Africa.
In Australia overlanding was inspired to a large degree by Len Beadell who, in the 1940s and 1950s, constructed many of the roads that opened up the Australian Outback ^[5]. Those roads are still used today by Australian overlanders and still hold the names Len gave them; the Gunbarrel Highway, the Connie Sue Highway (named after his daughter), and the Anne Beadell Highway (named after his wife).
One of the most well documented Overland Journeys was by Horatio Nelson Jacksonin 1903.^[6] In the Americas overlanding was coming into its own in the 1950s as well. In 1954 Helen and Frank Schreider drove and sailed the length of the Americas from Circle on the Arctic Circle to Ushuaia Tierra del Fuego in a sea-going ex-army jeep ^[7].

Modern Overlanding

Overlanding has increased in the past couple of decades, and is getting ever more popular in large part influenced by the Camel Trophy event run from 1980 to 2000 with routes crossing some intensely difficult terrain. In 2007 Overland Journal, an overlanding specific magazine, came onto the scene^[8]. It is now quite common for groups of overlanders to organize meetings, and an annual meeting is held every Christmas at Ushuaia. Through the use of the internet it is much easier to find the information required for extended overland trips in foreign lands and there are several internet forums where travelers can exchange information and tips as well as coordinate planning (see external links below). While some commercially built overland capable vehicles are produced^[9]^[10], many overlanders consider the preparation of their vehicle a paramount part of the experience. Both South Africa and Australia have significant industries based on making accessories for overland travel.

Commercial Overlanding

The late 1960s saw the advent of commercial overlanding (see Overland travel). Companies started offering overland tours to groups in large, specially equipped trucks. Mostly in Africa, these journeys could last for months, and relied heavily on the participation of the paying passengers for food preparation, food purchasing and setting up camp. The ultimate of these adventures was always the 'trans', or the complete journey from Europe to Cape Town in South Africa. Commercial overlanding has since expanded to all the continents of the world save Antarctica.

References

^ "Chisholm, Alec H.". The Australian Encyclopaedia. Sydney: Halstead Press. 1963.
^ Canning, Alfred Wernam (1860 - 1936) Retrieved on 26 February 2009
^ Slavin, K&J, with Mackie, GN and McDine, D (1994). Land Rover The Unbeatable 4x4 (Fourth Edition ed.). Somerset, UK: Haynes Publishing. ISBN 0-85429-950-5.
^ Trans-African Highways a Route Book of the Main Trunk Roads in Africa (Fourth Edition ed.). Johannesburg, South Africa: The Automobile Association of South Africa. 1958.
^ Beadell, Len. Bush Bashers. Sydney, Australia: Lansdowne Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-86302-402-6. http://www.beadell.com.au/index.html.
^ |url=http://www.overlandjourney.tv |
^ Schreider, Helen & Frank. 20,000 Miles South. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc.
^ Overland Journal - A quinterly publication dedicated to the overlanding community.
^ Earth Roamer - Manufacturer of fully outfitted overland trucks, based in Colorado USA.
^ Unicat - German based manufacturer of large fully outfitted overland trucks.

Source: Wikipedia

Santa Barbara Hot Springs

2010-06-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

The Santa Barbara Hot Springs have become a tradition for the Adventure Brigade. We both attended USCB and Sam's first off-road experience was with me going to the hot springs so it always holds a special place in our heart...not to mention that somehow we come back with ridiculous stories from one of the most relaxing places I know!

To set the scene, we woke up early on Sunday morning and packed the Jeep (seen above) TIGHT. I've never put FOUR people and camping gear into the Jeep so we made good use of the roof rack. We made a quick stop to get Freeb!rds for lunch in Isla Vista before back tracking to highway 154 to begin our ascent. We took the short cut up Gibraltar Road to East Camino Cielo Road and stopped at one of the water towers for the breathtaking views that they offer of downtown Santa Barbara and the harbor below.

Heading further along the road, we eventually come to the fireroads which lead to Pendola Station and the hot springs. One of the first things I noticed was that this early is season were the flowers and lush green of the valleys. We've come up in dead summer and it's a little more brown due to the heat. Our temperatures were mid 80's and perfect!

After descending to camp, we set up camp and pulled Todd's dirtbike out of his van. Tyler had already started his hot springs celebrating while Todd and I drove. The first picture is of Todd on his 300cc dirtbike while the second one gives an idea of how Tyler viewed our trip vs me in the background driving tamely (I didn't want to break anything AGAIN).

So upon heading up this way with Todd, we had a purpose: To find the mono debris dam which I had been told could be boogie boarded down! I mean, how ridiculous must we have looked showing up to a campsite in the Los Padres National Forest with boogie boards?!? Nonetheless we found the debris dam but were slightly disappointed that the bottom water level would not allow a run down the dam for fear of breaking necks. We did some really fun exploring on the dam though!

That night got a little more interesting as poor Eric ended up having bad luck with his Tacoma. While we decided to head up for a night time hot spring dip, most people wanted to come with the slower driver, me. Tyler and Eric headed up after me in the Tacoma. Todd, Myles, Sam and I arrived at the hot springs ready to take a dip, but Eric and Tyler did not arrive. We turned around and began the drive back down the trail and we came around a corner to blinking hazard lights. The picture tells you what happened. Good thing I packed my recovery gear and was able to strap him out of this pickle. I'm pretty sure he learned his lesson.

We strapped Eric out, and went back up to the hot springs in good spirits. On the way back, we split up the same way and the Jeep arrived at camp...but where was the Tacoma? Please, not again...I thought he learned his lesson the hard way! We loaded up in the Jeep again and headed back up the trail to find Eric and Tyler with hazard lights flashing again, but this time on the road - with a flat tire on the front driver's side. My theory is that it was damaged in the first mishap and then the road took its toll on the way back.

When we finally got back in camp, it was late and I headed straight for bed not wanting to deal with anything else.

I awoke to a nicely cool tent in the shade of the trees I had strategically positioned under while again hearing people of complaining that their tent was too hot to stay inside. I woke up to Andy having made soyrizo and eggs with a side of orange juice and a croissant. Quite a good start to the morning.

After breakfast, I HAD to ask Todd to ride his dirtbike and he showed me the basics. I already know how to ride a streetbike, but this is WAY fun! It was even more fun after he showed me how to properly turn in the dirt since I wasn't going fast. I was too scared of falling and I only wanted to try it...not go all out! Maybe dirtbikes will be in the Adventure Brigade's future since Sam was curious to try it but felt concerned since it wasn't her bike.

Andy had fun with Charlie:

After that little slice of fun, half the group needed to get moving. Maria and Marcus (in an above picture with Dave the Lobster) decided to get moving, Eric had a barbecue to get to and Todd decided it would be easier to head back in the van since he made a 6th person for the drive to the trailhead to go hiking. Sam, Myles, Tyler, Andy and I cleaned up camp and headed back to Mono Debris Dam. Tyler enjoyed floating around on the boogie board and we all took quick dips in the warm water. We explored more of the dam and surrounding area.

Here's a scary picture taken INSIDE of the dam...

After relaxing at the dam until mid afternoon, we headed back to camp, packed up and headed down into downtown Santa Barbara to the Habit Burger. We got back into LA around 9pm and unloaded the Jeep quickly, took showers, reviewed some photos and then hit the hay.

Thanks for reading!

-The Adventure Brigade
Garrett, Executive Transportation Specialist
Sam, President of Photography
Crazy Dave, Lobster

The Mojave Road Trip

2010-04-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

4/23/2010

Got a good night's rest and packed up the Jeep for the trip. All looks well and fluids are full. I'm on the road to meet up the Expo guys at 3pm in Victorville. I get my start at 1pm which should have been sufficient except for the time I spent idling in 2nd gear down the freeway. Arrived at the Costco parking lot in Victorville to meet Robert and Elena. I spotted his truck as I drove in and figured it was them.

Since it was 4:30 by the time I arrived, I figured I'd be the latest one, yet lo and behold I wasn't! Eric with Steve, and Jim arrived around the same time I did so we didn't spend more than 20 minutes in the parking lot before we took off...we were supposed to meet Ben at the Avi at 6pm. Yea, right! Not sure what time we got to the Avi, but it WAS NOT 6pm

We gassed up at the Avi for a reasonable price ($3.09) and headed out...the wrong way. We got on the wrong side of the Mojave River and "someone's" gps wanted us to cross the river. Went sorta like "Where does the road go?" "Over the river?" "See if the Jeep can make it." "fine...."

Naturally, we figured out that it DOES NOT go that way; however there were some BIG fish.

After getting to the trailhead (I can see how it would be MUCH easier to find during the day), we set up camp and a fire. Good times were had as the beers came out of the cooler and meat/garlic bread was put over the tripod grill.

We cruised down around 2am to get Greg (Red Xterra) since he arrived late after leaving LA at 730pm. That was quite an adventure of driving around...

one quote:
"Dude, this is a dead end loop"
"Oh.....yea...I know, I thought you wanted to see that NO TRESPASSING sign..."
"awesome"

End of Day 1

Day 2 (4/24/2010)

Woke up with the sun beating on the tent. Sure is going to be a warm day! The Jerry Juice from last night didn't give any ill effects and I'm still alive . The Engel kept everything nice and cool, but now it's sitting in the sun. I open it up, but everything is just dandy and cold! HOORAY Engel! I bust out the chorizo, eggs, avocado and sour cream breakfast burrito with a little Mango twist juice on the side and feel MUCH better.

Eric cooking himself some eggs:

"Anybody want some coffee?" - Jim
"Yea, I'll take some!" - me
"It's instant coffee and it works real well, if you know what I mean" - Jim
"That's okay...I'll be fine." - me, indeed I was fine...until about 30 minutes later. Time for an emergency executive board meeting (see picture above carrying bucket). I take it to the top of a hill and post my throne overlooking the valley. Quite the great experience for my first time using the bucket!

We got on the road pretty darn late (maybe 1030ish). I think next time I'll tone down the nighttime fiesta in order to get some quality road time in the morning. There are quite the beautiful vistas as we cruise along the trail.

CLICK HERE for YouTube video

I also notice some beautiful blooming Joshua Trees and take the time to stop (holding up Ben and Robert behind me) to take some photos:

A few cactus flowers!

We stopped for a bit near the first highway crossing and came to realize that half of us wanted to "go fast" and the other half wanted to slow down for pictures..I was in the second group. We of course encountered problem #1: Greg's Xterra wouldn't start with a bad battery.

So we jumped him, which became the "thing" to do at every long stop. Good thing he had two jerry cans on his roof....well, not good for one of them. See, shortly after this, Greg was driving with his windows open when one of the cans on his roof opened by itself and spewed about 2-3 GALLONS of fuel into his passenger window! Poor guy had the windows open. Needless to say we came to a quick stop and by the evening, the smell was gone, but it still should get a nice detail soon.

Let me just say that Robert has a pretty slick Tacoma. 3" lift on 33" tires...too bad he doesn't push it

We all start moving again and I think I stopped about every 100 yards at first because I saw a neat flower...or bush...or something I thought might be kinda artful to take a picture of

We finally made it to Piute Springs...or creek...gosh I can't remember since Eric's friend Steve was navigating as the week before the trip I lost my book somehow! Although is was nice that whenever Eric went flying through an intersection and then wondered if we went the right way, I'd walk back to the intersection and see a rock cairn...

On the way down, we stopped for lunch and I busted out the auto canopy for some shade. I'm sure the two-car crew that rolled by us as we sat cool in the shade was jealous

Here's a neat tree that was up at the spring:

So after that, we realized that it was getting late in the afternoon and we should find a campsite. Where do we camp? Well, crap, it's BLM land so we can't just camp anywhere; You have to camp in a designated area.

Here is where I encountered a very large problem...with the dust in front of me, I didn't see the BIGGEST whoops coming up. I nailed them at about 30mph and am pretty sure I got all 4 tires off the ground and cleared whoop #2 in order to land front first into whoop #3 and come to an abrupt halt. The crunching and banging was sickening. As I came to a stop, I grabbed the radio:
"Grape to Goose, hold up, I just had an accident!" - me
"Are you okay?" - Eric
"Yea, I'm okay, but I don't think the Jeep is...OH MY GOD THE BUCKET FELL OVER AND THE LID OPENED! AHHHHHH!!!! - me

While the waste bags seal and claim to not smell, they pretty much do, but with the lid of the bucket, you can't smell it in the car. When the lid opens, you definitely smell it! So now, the dust is still settling, I crashed the Jeep and it smells like feces.

I jump out and do a quick inspection of the front end. Everything actually looks okay and nothing is loose. There was enough force to send my 30lb tent into the passenger seat and enough to tip over my firmly strapped down fridge. Goodbye eggs.

Well, we start moving again and I'm bottoming out over EVERY whoop and bump...something's not right, I basically have ZERO front suspension and I spent the rest of the trip going about 10-20mph off-road. My front end is now sitting about 2-3" lower than before so something is blown out or dramatically bent.

Someone remind me the name of the campsite because I can't remember it, but that was a good night. We got all set up and I busted out my solar shower which had been heating up on the roof of the Jeep during the day in the wheel of the spare tire (since we weren't going fast, I was able to just toss it in). A hot shower was pretty key to ending the day and I felt refreshed and clean with no dirt on me or in my "areas"...

Out came the Jerry Juice, a little music, some dancing, bonfiring, smores, midnight hiking, and general fun. Eric brought out the cake for Steve for his birthday and we all sang and made merry! Matchstick candles didn't work too well though.

This camp was the best camp as we set up with the mountain on the east side of us. This kept everyone very cool in the morning in their tents.

End of Day 2.

Day 3 (4/26/2010)

Waking up with the shade on the tent is amazing, but I already went over that. The potluck last night was incredible! Carne asada burrito/tacos with sour cream, rice, beans, lettuce, avocado, garlic bread, hot dogs, guacamole, chips, salsa and beer....AND MORE!

I wake up to hit the bathroom only realize I hear moaning...sexy moaning...well, my tent WAS next to Robert and Alineh, but this was oddly coming from the other side...Eric and Steve's side in their 2-person tent! Hmmm...a more intense listening resulted in confirmation that this was indeed SNORING.

So a nice and easy waking followed by another scrumptious chorizo, egg, avocado, sour cream breakfast burrito...I don't eat this well at home! I got to try out my new wash station and I must say that it is quite the piece of neat equipment for car camping. Eric has a fun pic of me with it all set up. So we break camp and hang out in the shade for everyone to pack up.

Props to Ben and Jim for sleeping in their truck and having a minimalist approach to the whole thing. They waited for us everyday to pack it all in. We get a move on, me bringing up the rear in my now custom Cadillac suspensioned XJ...lame I say!

Got a sexy Jeep pic:

and then we arrived at the Joshua Tree forest. This part was definitely SUPER fun being surrounded by desert forest...don't believe me?

Check out the video HERE (I'm sorry for the red glare...)

Amazing plants and trees as far as the eye could see! There were a couple tippy sections and it's interesting to say the least when your suspension has LOTS of give instead of resistance to tipping...

We cruised through the forest and eventually came upon the penny can! Super cool!

After that, it was time to keep moving since it was a HOT day. We kept cruising and found the MAILBOX! How COOL! We all wrote our names and EXPO names and left a few stickers

Well, now it's time to decide on what we want to do. The Road isn't far from the end and we can camp at Afton Canyon or we can call the trip done....pffffffff The Adventure Brigade never stops a trip early! It's all about Afton canyon and besides, we still have LOTS to do!

So off we go! Next stop! Soda Lake...so now we have really fast dirt roads and I'm still only driving pretty slow because lots of the small bumps have me bottoming out with a nasty crunch noise. We stop for lunch and bust out the canopy for some shade on the pleasantly HOT lake bed. This awning just paid for itself for sure! The funniest part is that the two-car crew that passed us last time while we were in the shade eating come rolling by in the same situation...pretty funny I'd say.

While debating soda lake, the two-car crew doesn't come back and coincidentally another vehicle goes driving the other direction...I guess we'll make it across after all!

I have been carrying my rock since the beginning and can't wait to see the pile and it's little secret...don't worry, mum's the word! Of course, Greg's car needs to be jumped (as is now standard) but he notices that with all the bouncing around, he has lost his battery hold down...oops!
Nothing a little rope can't fix!

And of course we get lined up for the classic convoy photo:

Now after the lake, we cruised through the river bed to the big bridge. I was able to stop a few times and take some flower photos since I was moving so slow anyways it's not like they weren't already waiting for me every 15 minutes or so...

After a quick stop to rest in the shade of the bridge, we kept moving to the caves. We went up first the wrong canyon but it was full of boulders and didn't seem promising. It didn't disappoint in that regard. No dice. Neat flower though!

We kept going and then found the caves after a slot canyon! SO COOL!!! I'm not sure if these are the old lava tubes everyone talks about, because there is some serious rope ladder climbing to be done...

After the caves, we came to the water crossings. Everyone was pretty excited about it, and I was more wondering if I'd get water inside or not. Turns out it wasn't THAT deep...at the least the first one wasn't.

Photo by: Ben Kaupp

Here's a video of Robert going through this crossing

The other crossing was deeper...about 2 1/2 feet or 3 feet deep. Not bad!

We made camp at a site in Afton so we could use the firepit and have the picnic table. We feasted until full. Later in the night, we wanted to go back to the caves to see how creepy it would be so we got in Eric's truck and started to cruise back. We went through the first deep crossing with no problem; but the second one......well, here is the description in his words:

"While we were deciding where to camp, Robert kept saying over and over, "If we camp anywhere near that river someone is going to end up stuck at 2am." Of course we decide to camp right near it because we're all ready to have a nice cold beer. Sure enough, midnight rolls around and we decide to go back to the caves for some more exploring. We all piled into my truck and since I hadn't taken it easy at all up to that point I wasn't about to start just because it was dark out. The first crossing went well and we made it through safe and sound. With that in mind I decided to kick it up a notch or two and power through. I made it most of the way through before my truck just rolled to a stop and I thought, thats weird that I'm not moving. Sticking my head out the window to investigate I see my bumper floating by me and realized I was stuck"

But yes, we walked back to go get another rig and tools. On the way back we passed a rattle snake that must have been on the warm road! Neat sight...did anyone get a picture of it? So we get back, get in the Jeep and Robert's Tacoma and head back to the river. We had to winch Eric out of the river because his engine had ingested water. Water does not compress and if you try to start your engine, you'll kill the motor resulting in a VERY expensive AAA tow. So we spent the next few hours taking out parts of his motor to expose the spark plugs and remove them. Eric turned over the motor and water came shooting out the cylinders!!! Afterwards, we put it all back together and it started right up! GO US!

The night ended around 4am.

I had strategically parked the Jeep so that it would block the rising sun (just like the mountain had done) and that little trick worked like a charm. It was pretty hot in the morning and my tent stayed nice a cool! We didn't have much of a breakfast, just some cookies and donuts and juice since nobody felt up to the task of a full eggs/bacon meal.

We said our goodbyes and cruised back to the highway. Got home, unloaded, washed camping gear that needed it, rinsed down the Jeep, stopped at 4wheelparts to try and diagnose the bottoming out issue, but they don't know, then took a nap.

Quite the adventure. A successful adventure. An adventure worthy of being in the books of the Adventure Brigade!

End of Trip log.

There are so many more unique and amazing photos. Most posted were taken by me, but the others were taken by Ben Kauss. You can see what he took at HIS WEBSITE.

Thanks for reading!

- The Adventure Brigade

NAXJA Adopt-A-Trail and Snow Run

2010-03-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

Leaving Los Angeles at dawn!! I haven't seen this scene since the movies! (yes, I'm in the far right lane and drive about 60-65 mph bc I get great gas mileage that way)

What greeted me in Redlands about to go up the 38? Awesome lush green! Crazy Dave and I (yes, the Red Lobster is the Grape's mascot...he's ferocious) began to get excited about today's adventure! The cooler was stocked with soda, water, chips, pretzels, cheese dip, salsa, bread, Red Bull, Girl Scout cookies and other misc items...

Anyways, we aired down, disconnected and went a whole.... 100 yards onto the trail and stopped. ha-ha. We cut branches and overgrowth that was in the way of the trail.

After that, we went another whopping 100 yards to the bottom of the hill and stopped at a creek crossing where we put the water back into it's bed to run where it was supposed to instead of creating a mud bog. Then we pushed onwards to more difficult territory (i.e. deeper snow). Had some fun coming through muddy sections, deep snow areas, watching people get stuck (I was in the back just cruising through the premade tracks...). I did; however, get to use my shovel to help dig two people out. I guess here's where I should mention that I was anti-social during our lunch break due to feeling so crappy. I ended up taking a nap in my Jeep for about 20-30mins and once I heard we were starting out again, I felt much better, pounded a little more water....and turned up the Aerosmith on the ole ra-dee-oh!

These two guys are nuts...but awesome dudes! :sombrero: They were ramming each other doing the push/pull through the snow...Thanks for breaking trail, guys! (Parker and bro)

So James was checking out all the action in his stocker XJ in front of me, basically being a good snowplow to pave the way for me. I only had to pull him backwards once and Cal had to winch him up the very last hill, but other than that, his XJ was a great performer! He got a little stuck here (below), but made it out all by himself by going just a few feet at a time. "GREAT JOB!" said Dave.

So while watching action, Tony aired down and I got a sweet pic (my fav from my camera).

And lastly, since I saw dawn, it was only appropriate to see the sunset as I descended the 38 into Redlands for the drive home. NO traffic and stopped at In N Out for dinner. Got home around 10pm, unloaded the cooler/spare battery and went to bed around 10:30.

Dual Batteries for the XJ

2010-03-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

So with the purchase of an Engel MT040 fridge/freezer for our adventures, I put the fridge in the Jeep and let it run all night. I was able to start the car after nearly 20 hours of running, BUT I only drove about 5 minutes to the supermarket and then came back to a dead battery...Need to fix that!

Enter the National Luna Portable Power Pack. By installing this dual battery system in the XJ, I will be able to run my seperate electronics from it without running the risk of depleting my starting battery and being stranded. Also, in case of an emergency of a dead battery, I can remove the second battery from it's home in the Power Pack and use it to start the vehicle.

Here are the installation pics!

There was already a grommet where I could route the wires to the outside of the vehicle. Some people would get critical about the sharp metal edges and say that I'm going to short the wires...

So I went ahead and routed the wires through the original grommet in order to prevent a short!

Next, I routed the wires under the vehicle along the brake lines to the engine compartment.

Then I followed the wire harness in the engine compartment to the starting battery.

I plugged it all in and voila! Second battery ready to go!

So why the National Luna Portable Power Pack? Installation couldn't be simpler. Electronics in the Battery Box are completely isolated from the battery compartment, ensuring that there is no risk of damage from leaking or gassing batteries (even though the Optima Yellowtop is a sealed battery that doesn't gas). The Battery box features built-in battery monitors with low and high voltage alarms as well as charging voltage indication. The pack is smart in that it knows when to attach and detach itself from the vehicle's charging system. It hooks up to the charging system after 5 minutes of driving time and immediately detaches itself when I turn off the engine so there is no possibility of draining the starting battery!

Mystery Adventure! 12/26/09 - 12/28/09

2010-01-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

So me and some friends cruised out to a secret spot to go camping for a night or two. We went to go surfing and it sure was BIG! Double overhead surfing waves! I stayed out of the water, but my older brother Brent went in at the campsite...aye carumba!
Establishing camp and setting it all up was a team effort to string up the tarp, which we didn't need because the predicted rain didn't come down. We had a large bonfire with large agave plants which create quite the large bonfire blaze!

Enjoy the photos below!

Airing down the tires for the dirt roads...

While airing down the tires, we spotted this guy!

Mobbin' some roads at 65mph! We hit a few jumps and caught air!

Group shot at a Rocky Point on the way to the campsite

Established campground prepared for weather which never came.

Brent about to jump in to some monster waves...see below for size!

Paddling out in the waves...can you spot Brent???

Sunset and flowing water...makes a great photo!

Sunset splash!

Overhead campground shot with waves rolling right up to us!

Friends...Abe and I hanging out

GOOD MORNING!!!!

About to cruise out for the day to find some surf!

Awesome picture we encountered inland...

Until next time, Secret Spot...

Thanks to Greg, Abe and Brent for an awesome trip...oh and of course Dave! He came too! I'll find his pic soon.
Photo credits: Brent Durand 2009

The Adventure Brigade

Rockin' XJ Jamboree 2009

2009-11-13T11:52:00.000-08:00

So it was a great weekend from November 6-8! We went out to North American XJ Association's 'Rockin' XJ Jamboree...aka Goatfest'. While there were no goats, the event took place in Johnson Valley, CA. This place is pretty awesome for any kind of SUV. We were able to tool around on the dry lake bed, run high speed through desert trails and whoops (jumps) and watch some hardcore machines do the hardest trails!

We even got a ride in Santa's Sleigh II! Here are some photos!

On our way out to JV.

So nice, you'll taste it twice! ick

So it was a bit chilly and we decided some Graperitas were in order!

I guess I didn't mention that my buddy Eric and his dog Charlie came with us! Charlie was a hit and Eric is a cool guy...especially with the 'bro hat'

Here are some people that were out there and camped next to us! Daniel and Amy are super nice, he can fabricate (might get a rear bumper from him).

Of course Dave was along for the ride! He didn't drive this time...

Some happy passengers!

We cruised with this group of smaller Jeeps since we didn't have gas tank skid plate protection. They were very fun. Here's the convoy. Daniel's big Jeep is behind me.

Dave taking in the views!

A quick lunch stop

A guy named Stephan attempted to come down a waterfall and just had a wrong angle...oops! We watched it happen!

Here we are showing a little flexing from the suspension going over an obstacle

We had a slight oops...the transfer case was in Neutral which disconnects the drivetrain, so while I shifted into first gear, the driveline wasn't engaged and I rolled back into Daniel. His bumper was unscathed!

An obligatory awesome shot. I think Sam should get into photography!

Here's Sam hitching a ride in Santa's Sleigh II

You can't see her, but I promise Sam is in the front seat! Strapped in with a 5-point harness!

This gives a good idea of the obstacles Sam got to ride over!

Then it was MY turn! So awesome!

An awesome trip by the Adventure Brigade!

and their guests...Eric and Charlie!

Mammoth Lakes, Sand Canyon and Movie Road

2009-10-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Last weekend we went up to Mammoth with two friends, Callie and Greg. We stayed at Adam's condo in the mountains and took a day trip up Sand Canyon.

Here is everyone (except Garrett) in front of the Grape.

Going up the trail was great fun, following a 10 year old child on a dirtbike. He was having trouble and we all found it very cute when his rear tire dug a hole in the sand and you could tell that he was very flustered with us behind him.

The Grape in its natural habitat

Our arrival at the "unnamed lake" was a good signal for lunch. We unpacked and hung out by the lake which we named "Callie's Lake". Here are a few photos:

Photo Credit: Callie
Camera: my iPhone

Callie and Sam by the lake...is that Bigfoot in the background?!?!

Sam is Zen

Greg and I posing in front of the Grape.

On the way back from the lake, unfortunately while Sam was driving, the tie rod broke loose. This means that one wheel turned one direction while the other wheel turned the other direction (as can be seen in the photo).
Needless to say, we crashed. We fixed it with wire since we were at the bottom of the trail (thank god a new friend named Greg with a Hummer found us on the way down and had the means to fix it!) and made it back up to the town of Mammoth where we stopped at a hardware store for all the supplies we needed.

Post-adventure drinks and dinner at Whiskey Creek

The next day we slept in, made a big breakfast and packed some sandwiches for the adventure home. Why was it an adventure driving home? We stopped and drove through the Alabama Hills and on Movie Road!
From Wikipedia: (The Alabama Hills are a popular location for television and movie productions (especially Westerns) set in an archetypical "rugged" environment. Since the early 1920s, 150 movies and about a dozen television shows have been filmed here, including Tom Mix films, Hopalong Cassidy films, The Gene Autry Show, and The Lone Ranger. Classics such as Gunga Din, Springfield Rifle, and How the West Was Won, as well as more recent productions such as Tremors and Joshua Tree, were filmed at sites known as Movie Flats and Movie Flat Road. In Gladiator, actor Russell Crowe rides a horse in front of the Alabamas, with Mount Whitney in the background, for a scene presumably set in Spain. Star Trek Generations was filmed here in addition to Overton, Nevada and Paramount Studios. More recently, many parts of the films Ironman (film) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were filmed here.)

In front of some famous rocks!
Sam, Me, Greg

Getting an easy ride back to the Grape.

Sam posing with Mt. Whitney in the background. We are going to climb Mt. Whitney next fall.

Building the Sour Grape

2009-09-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Here's a new post about the new adventure vehicle!
Specs:
1997 Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
4-door
4 wheel drive
NP-231 transfer case
5.5 inch Rubicon Express Heavy Duty Long Arm lift
4.56 gears in both axles
Aussie lockers front and rear (locked n loaded)
Tom Woods driveshaft in rear with Advance Adapters slip yolk eliminator
Crager Soft 8 wheels
33" BFGoodrich All Terrain tires
full size spare

more to come...

Here are a few pics from the build weekend!

Coyote Flat, CA

2009-08-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Coyote Flat expedition was a 100% success! It was the first time that Garrett had gone extended camping since he was a little kid!

Sam and Garrett and Dave (the lobster mascot) left late Monday morning and drove out to Bishop, CA. We stopped at Vons for dry ice and food (we already had drinks in one cooler with 3 frozen bottles of water (2-Liter size). We then stopped at the sporting goods store (Wilson's) for a bear vault since all the LA area stores were SOLD OUT!

Then we hit the trail for Coyote Flat off of Schober Lane. We used Charles Wells "Guide to Northern California backroads and 4x4 trails".

We camped at the first primitive sites about 8 miles in because it was dark by then.
This is when we discovered that Garrett had forgotten the poles to his nice canvas tent over 300 miles away! Sam seeing his bad mood brewing came through with 3rd grade engineering and fabricated a fort with 2 chairs inside the tent.

Needless to say we were warm and Sam's a keeper for being a good sport! We then ate like royalty with a fresh batch of frozen Bertolli shrimp fettucini cooked on the propane stove.

After that, we opened up the tequila...we didn't use cups and it went downhill from there and the next morning was a wee rough on Garrett . We trucked back down the route into town for a Mexican lunch at Amigos in Bishop and then went to Kmart for an el cheapo $30 tent which proved fantastic. Back up the hill we went and we followed the directions in the book all the way to the Baker Creek campground. There was not a soul in site as we "bounced" over the rocky ground picking lines so that we wouldn't break the underside of the Jeep Cherokee on the basketball sized boulders. We set up camp in the afternoon and broke out the sun shower on the roof to heat up. We were the only ones in campground for THREE DAYS!

So let's see - day 3 - we would wake up late on our camping pad from Cabela's which is a phenomenal piece of car camping equipment. It's very bulky and not for everyone, but we figured that if we're taking the Jeep, we're taking the luxuries...we'll save the hardcore for the backpacking! So between our camping pad (which was more comfy than a futon mattress while much thinner), solar heated camp shower (104 degree showers kept us clean and the little $15 aluminum table from Big 5 allowed a pleasant dining table near the Cabela's suitcase camp kitchen which was also ESSENTIAL to car camping! We had it all!

We'd wake up late, make breakfast of potatoes o'brien, tortillas and cholula hot sauce and a side of pancakes and bacon! We'd clean it all up and repump a full aquatainer of fresh filtered water direct from Baker Creek. The filter and corresponding chlorine drops yielded better tasting water than any bottled water! We then filled up the camelbak and hiked all around and up to Baker Lake and Hidden Lake with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We didn't go far enough to hit Thunder and Lightning Lakes. We came back when the sun was in a good spot and showered off which felt great !!!! We cooked up a nice dinner of bratwurst and beans and later had s'mores over the fire!

Day 4 we drove over to Funnel Lake. While the lake was specified in the book, the road was not. I would definitely take your time as we did as the trail was definitely a moderate trail (for a stock height Jeep Cherokee). After banging around on the rocks and having a grand old time, we found a false lake right before Funnel Lake. Being slightly disappointed in its size, we pushed onward looking for the REAL Funnel Lake only to find it a stone's throw over a slight hill about 1/10 of a mile away! We hung out and had lunch and then made the hike over the rocks to Rocky Bottom Lake which is right behind Funnel Lake over a swarm of boulders/rocks. The drive back to camp was a fun one and we bonded. We showered off quickly and made a great dinner of Hebrew National Hot Dogs and Velveeta Mac n Cheese with a nice bottle of wine to boot!

So now, it's Thursday night and a few other people have arrived at the campsite. We're kinda bummed because we liked our solitude! We decided to see how we felt on Friday to decide on whether to stay or not. We woke up Friday to a relatively windy morning and decided to break down camp. We packed everything up better than before (nothing rattled an inch on the way down) and we went exploring! We went up a huge vista road to the top of the meadow's mountains and overlooked down to Big or Lone Pine. We decided that if we had extra fuel, we'd have tried the route down into the town, but we also wanted to backtrack to see teh Schober Mine! So back down into Coyote Flat we went and tracked all the way to the Schober Mine. A cool little site and a fun adventure awaited us for the ride back.

On the way back, we went up another unmarked road to the top of a mountain. Upon seeing that it could potentially go in the right direction, we put the book aside and busted out our regional Bishop map which listed trails including OHV trails. We were on a random ATV route that would connect back to the main road right near the fork at Coyote Flat! Let's dooo it! The road wasn't well maintained and you could tell it was traveled by light ATV's but the Jeep ran it like a champ!

After that, we just headed down to Bishop for a quick late lunch and trucked it back to Los Angeles where we rallied to go out and went ice blocking in Malibu!

- The Adventure Brigade
(Garrett, Sam & Dave)

Welcome Letter

2009-08-17T11:49:00.001-07:00

Hello Readers!

Thanks for visiting the site! Be sure to become a follower (even through gmail!) so that you can get any updates for future adventures!

- The Adventure Brigade
(Garrett, Sam and Crazy Dave)