Official Camping Trip Report Thread (5 Viewers)

[slacker24-7]

dang I had 2 t's in my tool box and a hour away... glad bomar was at home... that's a neat area to explore

 

[pmccraney]

dang I had 2 t's in my tool box and a hour away... glad bomar was at home... that's a neat area to explore

Reminds me of this movie scene:

 

[jfz80]

Nice work on the backcountry rescue and repair party guys.

For future #EAF reference, the heater hoses can be connected together with the remaining t-that is not completely broken with the remaining rear hose pinched off with vice grips or depending on the year of the 100 the passenger side hose should reach to the driver side nipple. Cooling system can then be filled with water from a creek, roof rack coffee water or worst case pee in it.

Just curious as ive never worked on a 100 save a lift install but have read of this issue and would be good to know. Can you bypass the whole blend valve T with a foot of hose like on an 80 like shown?

I always keep a foot of silicone hose in the tool bag for this reason and finally got to put it to use on a buddy's 80 when his let go but there are just 2 barbs, not 3.

 

[ntsaint]

Thx to Cam's issues, my 100 now has brand new Heater T's...among a few other things at 49T today.

 

[HoneyBear]

Perhaps against some recommendations, I went camping on the MS gulf coast this past weekend at Buccaneer state park. Bugs weren't terrible Friday night, there was a breeze, but Saturday night they were much worse. No one mentioned the "My Counsin Vinny" train that went by at least 8 times between midnight and 6 am. That was awesome, would not go back for that reason alone. Overall the spot was pretty nice, will add some gopro footage when I download it. We spent some time at the beach flying kites and drinking beer. Just the usual beach things. Overall, wouldn't recommend the spot.

I bought a new tent, it did great, REI 6 man base camp.

Smoked a pipe just for Rob and Nolen.

And got a picture of the 4Runner with the coastal sunset.

 

[wngrog]

For the 5 people here that are not on Facebook.......

I just got back from a little camping trip Im trying to document over on Expo Portal. Enjoy.

Westward Wander - 8 Day Solo Expedition from Mississippi to the Mountains - Expedition Portal

 

[fountainhead]

Thanks!

 

[Papalud]

Bringing this thread back from the depths of page 3...

Had a fun little run on the Trans America Trail through half of Arkansas this past weekend. My buddy in Nashville called me the middle of last week and said he was playing a casino gig in Roland, OK Saturday, which just happened to be a few miles from where the AR section of the TAT starts. He was planning on running it from the OK/AR border through MS back to TN and asked if I wanted to join him. He had just run the section from Corinth back to I-65 the weekend before and was ready to do more. I checked my calendar and didn't have anything pressing until Tuesday, so I was in. Not but a few hours later I get a text from @slacker24-7 that he's camping at my favorite spot on the Buffalo River riding with some Jeep guys. So I ask him if he wants to join us on the run, and wives be damned, he goes from one 5 day camping trip to riding with us.

So, my buddy Alex and I have been friends since high school and were roommates a couple of years in Oxford. He drove a '73 Bronco back then, a later a first-gen Discovery, so we did a bunch of stupid off road stuff back when I had my first 62. He more recently sold an all-original, uncut '76 Bronco, bought a Land Rover Santana 88 which he's about to sell, and just bought a 2017 Dodge Ram Rebel. It's still completely stock, but he was ready to stretch it's legs.

We also got our other high school/college buddy Ed to drive over from Memphis to meet us and make it a true reunion. I picked him up in Little Rock Sat. and we drove to Roland to watch the concert and crash at the Cherokee casino before hitting the trail earlyish Sunday. Alex has been a professional bass player/musical director for a bunch of country acts over the years and is currently in Mark Wills band (if you listened to country radio in the 90's/2000's you know who he is).

Sunday we meet up with Dave at the border and hit the trail. The first few miles is just a patchwork of gravel farm roads, but still pretty country. As we get closer to the Ozark Nat. Forest we start to hit some proper dirt and I get to see some cool areas I haven't explored before. The TAT was mapped out by a motorcycle guy as a coast to coast route that uses as little pavement as possible. Lots of motorcycle guys and mountain bikers use the route, but it's good for trucks, too. Nothing really challenging, but a great off pavement ride through beautiful country.

We had the added benefit of crazy-nice weather. It never got above 75 and we only had a few small showers the first day. We camped at a spot that Dave knew not far from the Mulberry River on Sunday night and got to enjoy steaks and a proper campfire in August. Monday we made it into more familiar territory for me as we cruised into Oark and headed east through the forest. The afternoon brought some more substantial rain, but by that time, we were getting out of the national forest and back onto more gravel farm and country roads. When we hit Hwy 65 around 5:00, we all split ways and headed home, except for Alex who stayed on the TAT for 2 more days. He finished AR, did the MS section, and back through TN. The 2 days we were all on the trail, we did over 250 miles, almost all on dirt. Alex probably tripled that.

My overall impression of the TAT is that it's a great idea...depending on where you are. Crisscrossing gravel roads gets a little old, so I'm guessing some sections would get pretty monotonous. I really want to do the western part from Colorado on through Oregon, and I'm curious about the route through east TN/western N.C.

Anyway, it was a fun couple of days, and I guess I'm hooked on the ozarks since this is my 4th trip there so far this year. Glad @slacker24-7 got to come join us and show us some fun spots we'd have missed along the way.

If you took the time to read all that you deserve some pics...

 

[Papalud]

 

[Papalud]

 

[ntsaint]

The overlook at the top of white rock mountain is pretty cool. Especially early with a lot of fog down in the valley.

 

[Papalud]

No view that morning, but the fog was pretty cool.

 

[wngrog]

Blaylock not only cheating on us but also stealing our Scout Guide without approval.

In the words of Bufort T Justice "What's the Got Dam World coming to?"

 

[slacker24-7]

A few more pics.. Sorry I cheated Nolen, Ron was just irresistible with all that trail and steak talk , here are a few more pics

Way cool trip and thanks for the invite !!! If anyone finds Alex's go pro that fell off his truck in eastern Ark ,please share the awesome footage of the ozarks that's on it . And we did learn that signs that say DEAD END and IMPASSABLE road don't necessarily tell the truth !! And there are some psycho dump truck drivers . The day after we left the hills we had a 6" rain that caused a 12 ft rise on the mulberry river

. I really hope to finish out the eastern 200 miles in the next couple weeks

 

[wngrog]

Made a quick trip to the Oachita Mountains this weekend. Weather looked Horrible but we pressed on anyway.

Weather was bad but we managed to skirt around it all the way up

Dustin loaned me a bad ass ARB snatch strap and I pulled this 10,000# beast out of the mud with my 60

Not a ton of tales but plenty of great pictures


Dustin and his family and I rode up Friday taking our time

We stopped by Blue Hole to see what the. Current camping situation was

 

[wngrog]

We explored the bottom of Blue Hole and drive to the top. This is still one of the coolest spots in Arkansas

 

[wngrog]

Dustin and I got a little off track and instead of backtracking we pressed on through some fast water.

 

[wngrog]

LarryB and Dave had us a nice spot picked out at Bard Springs with some shelter. We were expecting a cold wet night but to our surprise the rain stopped and it was not cold at all.

LarryB killed it with some carnitas on the Skottle. I put up some monkey bread in the Dutch oven.

 

[wngrog]

We woke up to beautiful cool weather for just long enough for me to unzip my tent completely to air it out.

Then the rain started and the temps started dropping.

The fire got stoked and we started packing up.

I tossed up the wind barrier on the fox wing and Dave started breakfast.

Andy and Bomar pulled up and we all piled back into the Cruisers and hit the trails. The waterfalls and streams were outstanding.

 

[wngrog]

We explored all over and marked lots of great campsites for the future.