Last weekend's trip tried to cancel this weekend's trip....

AbbaZabba · 08-02-2016, 02:54 PM

We went to Gunnison National forest, short Friday to Sunday trip. New location and took longer than expected to get there. Kids almost drove me to going home. Glad we didn't though. Ended up exploring into the forest and following the roads to a little place called spring creek resevoir. Kept going past that and found a little campground on Spring Creek itself.

2 spots nearby were occupied when we arrived, but they left the next day. Road had some rough spots, but we weren't the only large camper we saw. There was also a designated campground (but no hookups etc) on the south side of the reservoir, or you could find a spot on the north for free. <shrug>.

We set up facing the Reservoir, but when we go back, I would face the woods to give us shade in the afternoon. The lower green area in the background is the creek.

Looking back at the camper (its in the center of the image next to the tree in the foreground.

Looking North (vs south at the camper). There is snow and ice on the mtns in the background. I expect they are capped year round.

Okay sized creek, big enough to fish, but doubt anything larger than 8 inches lives there. Good sized creek to throw rocks into. And plenty large to run through for playing fetch.

We noticed that the dust cap fell off inside the decorative cap and knocked out the plastic piece. I took it apart and then let the dealer confirm, no damage to the bearing, but I get to buy a new cover. Oh well. Looks like they will replace the tongue jack since it isn't retracting the whole way, so we break even.

I did discover that the ramp DOESN"T lift the other axle so glad I worked on this at home vs the side of the road. Off to buy a piston jack.

Going back this weekend to the same area. Hope to do a little fishing in the creek downstream where it is larger and hope to get to do some more exploring up into the mtns.

Stan · 08-02-2016, 04:00 PM

Nice pics and writeup. Looks very isolated - I like that.

**Lloyd** · 08-02-2016, 06:52 PM

Totally awesome!!!

AbbaZabba · 08-02-2016, 07:31 PM

With the 6V batteries and the gennie to charge during the day, we can go for a long weekend. Would be good to get a solar setup, but the $ is already invested in the generator, so seems extra, we don't burn that much gas. For a 3-4 day trip don't have water issues. We are a big fan of getting off the grid. If for no other reason, the dog can get off a leash and just run all day. Going back this weekend and will do more exploring. Plus play with the camera on the dogs back some more.

**Lloyd** · 08-03-2016, 06:29 AM

Where did you ever find room for "six" batteries?
I have two, and can't find enough room to sacrifice for two more.

harley · 08-03-2016, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lloyd

Where did you ever find room for "six" batteries?
I have two, and can't find enough room to sacrifice for two more.

LLoyd ..looks like he said '6v batteries'..probably only a pair of them.

AbbaZabba · 08-03-2016, 01:05 PM

Yes, 6Volt batteries, only 2. Wonder if i could run my AC off six 6Volt batteries..... heck, id settle for running the coffee pot. The instant stuff is pretty good, but its not the coffee pot quality. not coffee snobs, but we do like a hot coffee in the AM to start the day. A must, so I do run the generator in the AM to keep momma happy. And no one complains.

harley · 08-03-2016, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AbbaZabba

Yes, 6Volt batteries, only 2. Wonder if i could run my AC off six 6Volt batteries..... heck, id settle for running the coffee pot. The instant stuff is pretty good, but its not the coffee pot quality. not coffee snobs, but we do like a hot coffee in the AM to start the day. A must, so I do run the generator in the AM to keep momma happy. And no one complains.

Hey...for coffee, it is called a percolator. old style that you can still get and make the coffee on the stove...easy...I don't even own a generator(hate the noise) and can stay for about 5 days on one battery , using 12v sparingly.

**Lloyd** · 08-03-2016, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley

LLoyd ..looks like he said '6v batteries'..probably only a pair of them.

Looks like I better start reading the posts a little closer.

AbbaZabba · 08-04-2016, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley

Hey...for coffee, it is called a percolator. old style that you can still get and make the coffee on the stove...easy...I don't even own a generator(hate the noise) and can stay for about 5 days on one battery , using 12v sparingly.

Yeah yeah.

We've talked about it. And so far have landed on "well, we have the coffee pot already so just keep using it." Only $20 for a percolator though. I do want to update the lights to LED and thats a ton of money compared to a percolator.....

Now that we seem to have resolved the charging issue (ways to ensure camper is topped off before a trip) we don't have issues with electricity. And really, only issue we used to have was when the juice falls below a certain point, the heater stops working. And we use it all night every night out here. Slated to be low 40s this weekend.

morphrider · 08-04-2016, 04:17 PM

We are headed up to Red Feather area for our trip. Looking forward to the cooler mountain weather this weekend. Been too swamped with work to accomplish a trip since Father's Day. Not good, our riding season with toys is too limited. Enjoy your trip.

morphrider · 08-04-2016, 05:51 PM

Quick pre-trip reminder to check air in spare tire too. Just checked all of mine and it only had 25 psi in mine. Would have been worthless in the event of needing it.

AbbaZabba · 08-09-2016, 01:31 PM

So we went back to the same set of forest roads. Took longer to get there, so it was late and it was POURING rain. Roads were bad, we almost got stuck in one place as we were turning around since our first, second......tenth sports were all occupied. The weather had made most of the roads rougher than two weeks ago. Took hours to finally locate a spot and I got to set up in the rain. And dark. And it was still less stressful that when we arrived the last time.

We did some hiking and mostly driving around the area when we weren't playing at camp. I am still not able to fish since daddy duties come first, but I am watching for all the spots I can find for the future. We drove some of the forest roads to explore, almost got stuck on a couple spots, but the truck is a beast.

I did manage to give the truck a new ding during the rainstorm finding spot and trying to not get stuck. But now it matches the one I put on the other side. Guess I have now confirmed my bump stops on both sides

It was overcast and most of the day, but still got to the top. Some of the roads were really not appropriate for us, so had to turn around a couple times.

The girls went crazy with all the cows that were grazing in the forest area. They enjoyed pointing out and naming every single cow. The dog also found a nice wet pile of horse poop to roll in. At least we had extra soap and a creek nearby. and at least it wasn't a skunk.

View from the front door, upside no bugs even with the creek 40 yards away. Some people fishing the creek up and down.

Large valley 6 miles through the forest has a lot of camping, fishing and ATV areas. I am thinking its so remote, it'd be a hard sell to move to Dorchester. But what an amazing area.

While the view from Cottonwood Pass is amazing, we won't be going back over it until they pave the road next year. The west side of the pass is pretty rough and the roads after are worse. We ended up having a screw break for the lower bodywork braces (easy fix) and the medicine cabinet door snapped off when it swung open. Its only the door, thinking it is also an easy fix. I hope. And I need to get a more secure solution for all the cabinets (I think I have one with the baby locks. After the medicine cabinet, I'm just going to secure them all.

These spots feel like prime fishing holes, you don't want to broadcast the best ones, but if someone is planning on going to the area, PM for exact details (clearly some people already know).

morphrider · 08-09-2016, 02:45 PM

Great pictures, looks like you were able to have a fire anyway. We had fire ban in effect where we were at.

AbbaZabba · 08-09-2016, 03:37 PM

Yes, the lack of ban is one of the reasons we like this area. The Gunnison ranger district was very clear they've had plenty of rain and no concerns with a ban. Many of the closer and other places do have the bans. Camping ain't camping without a fire at night and doing some campfire cooking.

Good call on the spare tire pressure. I've developed the habit of hitting it with a tool when I walk by. I can't tell its exact pressure, but it lets me know if its really hard or way off. Definitely some grey area in there though.

Steve7 · 08-09-2016, 04:40 PM

Looks like a good trip after all. Nice pics!

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