3 Weeks, 9 States and a 45 year old FJ40/M416 Combo (1 Viewer)

[Rock40]

Hit the road this morning. Plan is to be in Bend, OR this evening. We will be camping at Bull Bend Campground in the deschutes national forest and sampling some of the local brew.

 

[chappysfj40]

Sweet. Good luck.

 

[DSRTRDR]

good luck

 

[Rock40]

When we arrived at Bull Bend last night late, there were no campsites. Causality of coming in late on a holiday weekend. We created our own spot just outside the campground (one of the benefit of having a RTT on a trailer) and set up camp. Woke up this morning to fog and 40 degree weather, brrr! By the time we left we had a good view of the Deschutes River (pictures below). On our way to Crater Lake National Park now with clear blue skies and lots of pine trees.

 

[daniel.watters]

Nice!

 

[chappysfj40]

Wicked cool

 

[Rock40]

We are camped off Hwy 139 at Hog Lake near Canby, CA. The "lake" is 3-4 miles off the highway via an access road. We got to the lake but something was missing.....

Yeah, no water

 

[POTATO LAUNCHER]

Thanks Right now the plan is Telluride, CO then up towards the north

If you're going to be in Telluride, go over Ophir pass and take 550 North. The pass is an easy shelf road but the Million Dollar Hwy is extremely cool and worth driving.

 

[Rock40]

Funny you mention that I talked with a guy I met up on the rim of Crater Lake and he also recommended this, thanks Justin! we'll seriously consider that as an option as we're currently "ahead" of our planned route/schedule + we have 2 extra days we can add anywhere if it's an area we really like.

So far no serious truck casualties minus a broken weld on the aluminum air intake/filter support. I'm pretty sure that broke last night on some nasty washboards and it's zip-tied back in place for now. Oh, and the fact that I ran down the highway with the front passenger hub locked for about 20 miles right when we left

 

[Rock40]

Driving through the Plumas National Forest today after leaving Hog Lake. The weather is beautiful, but hot. It has been 90 degrees outside but is hovering around 100 in the cab. These little piggies just might be roast beef in short order. Took a bath break at Lake Alamanor and we both felt refreshed. Next stop Frenchman Lake, just outside Chilcoot in Little Last Chance Canyon.

 

[Rock40]

We arrived at Frenchman Lake up in the Little Last Chance Canyon, CA.

The campground was beautiful and completely empty after Labor Day weekend the ARB fridge/freezer has done a great job of keeping our large food supply cold and we enjoyed pesto salmon over a Ponderosa pine fire.

FJ developed a minor coolant leak on a heater hose, easy fix tho

We got up early today (9/3) so we could get on the road for breakfast in Reno. Although it was still dark, we were rolling out of camp at 6am after topping off the water tank.

The sun was just rising as we crossed the Nevada state line

Today we'll be driving Hwy 50; dubbed the loneliest highway in America.

 

[batcon]

Looks like an awesome trip.

 

[Rock40]

We have now nearly survived the drive across Nevada on HWY 50. With several over 7000 ft passes, unique mining towns, crazy reroutes thinking we had to hit ALL stops listed on the pass (it pays to read all the fine print - just sayin'), the heat, spitting fuel, and crazy 70 mph speeds in the FJ we are still considering staying married Our last stop before Baker, NV was Ely where we met Mark and his sweet FJ 40 collection - thanks Mark for giving us a tour!

 

[Rock40]

And then there was this....

I'm guessing this occurred at 70+mph in the heat yesterday in Hwy 50, surprisingly it didn't blow out and it still holds air. Time to swap the spare on and count our blessings that it didn't let go on the road. Mohawk Chief tire, may you rest in peace

 

[batcon]

Looks like the original tires that came with the trailer. I have a couple that look like that.

 

[Rock40]

Turns out that 3/4 of Great Basin NP closed 2 days ago for road re-paving, damn. We did see Lehman Caves and we camped out at Upper Lehman campground.

After swapping the spare tire on the M416, I changed the oil in the FJ. A campsite oil change is probably not an activity recommended or endorsed by the National Park Service but we had planned ahead for it and had purchased a 5 gallon bucket/lid to capture the used oil. Bottom line: I don't trust a drive-in oil change place not to screw something up

 

[SIZZLE]

And then there was this....View attachment 937860

Well there's your problem son...

Looks nasty, glad nothing was hurt.

Keep the pics coming!

 

[Rock40]

Made it to the top of our highest pass yet - 8385' on an unnamed pass on Hwy 24. Pretty pleased with ourselves, especially while towing approximately 1200 pounds behind us!

 

[Rock40]

We made it to Capitol Reef National Park this afternoon and after a quick stop at the visitor center, we headed out on the unpaved, 58 mile dirt loop which is Cathedral Canyon. The ranger warned us that the road was rough and she advised us not to tow a trailer out there, ha!

It was 29 miles to the 5 site campground near the mid point of the loop and this took about 3 hours in low 2WD low range making use of all 4 transmission gears. Yes, we could have gone much faster in the coil sprung FJ but I didn't want to beat the snot out of the M416.

We saw this old truck (guessing crane?) complete with a petrifying rattlesnake in the cab about 1/2 way in.

I'm pointing to the looming thundercloud in the distance which would eventually rain on us.

After crawling along while steadily gaining elevation up to 7,000', we made it to camp around 5:30. Naturally, it starting pouring (along with thunder and lightning) as we set up camp. When the storm passed, we were greeted with this awesome view

 

[Kofoed]

Lehman caves and that campground (by the creek) is a great stop. I had a pretty good burger and a beer at baker two years ago lol. Stop at goblin state park after capitol reef if you are headed to hanksville. The henry mtns. south of hanksville would make a nice camp spot