Back from maiden voyage in my new Hawk

[alano]

Got back Saturday night from our 13 day maiden voyage in our new Hawk. Picked up the Hawk Friday afternoon and headed out Labor Day morning after two semi-frantic days getting things ready. From the South Bay, camped on the California, Oregon and Washington Coasts and into Olympic National Park. From there crossed East to Rainer National Park. Turned South to the Columbia Gorge via Mt. St. Helens then past Mt. Hood to Diamond Lake and finally Lassen N.P. That's a lot of volcanos. Details to follow when I download the pics.

We met with rain, bugs, cold, dark and even our own sweaty selves that used to put a severe crimp in our tenting experience. With the FWC they were just minor annoyances and even opportunities. Great time!

Alan

 

[ski3pin]

Details to follow when I download the pics.

Looking forward to it..............................................

 

[craig333]

Waiting patiently (not really).

 

[alano]

First Days: As mentioned above, we picked up our camper at FWC on Friday afternoon and carefully drove it home. Gentle driving up to Woodland (~ 110 miles) netted me just over 18.1 mpg on the dash computer. With the camper (Dry weight: 1195 lbs) we got 14.3 mpg. Better than I expected. Friday night we backed it into our tight side yard space and called it a day.


Saturday and Sunday we put in shelf paper (the wife is a big fan of shelf paper) and practiced using all the things they showed us at the factory that we promptly forget. The wife's boss gave her Friday off so she could accompany me to pick it up or we would have really been clueless because I'm really good at nodding thoughfully as stuff exits my dusty brainpan. We decided to take both sleeping bags and a comforter along with the sheets. Sleeping bags spent the entire trip being shuttled from the camper to the cab for the night and back to the camper for driving. Took the jacks off right away. Smartest thing I did was to outfit our 7 gallon water jug with a 18" flexible sprinkler riser so I could add water to the camper without being next to a faucet. I hefted a lot of water, but without it, we would have spent plenty of time looking for reachable water. Threw an old bathroom rug set on the floor and took an old fake grass welcome mat for under the step ladder we got as a wedding present nearly 31 years ago.

Stocked way too much food (as always) along with the cooking supplies and our new Coleman grill and stove. Dropped cleaning stuff in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and stored a bunch of misc. stuff in an old ice chest with a broken clasp. Clothes went in the back of the cab.

Day 1 Monday Sept 2 Labor Day: Plan was to leave Labor Day since most folks would be heading back as we were heading out and we needed the time to get ready. Took a picture of the rig in the driveway just before we headed out. Got through SF with no trouble and even stopped at the GG bridge overlook for the first time in probably 15 years. My rig could park in a regular spot no trouble. Drove up 101 to Patrick's Point State Park. We had hiked here last year and thought the distance was just about right for a first day with an uncertain start time. Backed into the site with little trouble. Had a great deal of trouble popping the top since I forgot to unlatch the clamps. Fixed that <headslap> but still had some trouble raising the front and began to regret not getting the strut assists but after a couple of nights I had my technique down so struts will wait until we start mounting goodies on the roof. Went for a quick walk on the beach before dinner of jalapeno poppers and cheeseburgers (double chedder and chives) cooked on our grill. Did the dishes inside which was kind of a treat as we used to use the 3 step Girl Scout process. Wife had a bit of trouble with the high counter and small sink. Dark, cold and a bit breezy by this time so we played cards in the camper and went to bed.

Day 2 Tuesay Sept 3: Both of us had some trouble with the overly firm pad in the cabover bed but still better than a sleeping bag in a tent! Breakfast in the camper - set off the smoke alarm toasting an english muffin over the stove. That never happened outside before. Packed up and drove out to the hike a bit around the cliffs over the Pacific. Then did a disappointing walk around a neglected native plant area before heading up the road. Stopped in Crescent City for forgotten groceries like milk. Tent camping we didn't take any because of trouble keeping the ice chest stocked but with a fridge it isn't a problem. Ended up at Umqua Lighthouse State Park in OR. Took a walk around Lake Marie before dinner - kind of a large pond with delusions of lakedom to be honest. Had to level the camper for the first time. I took 4 2x6s but it wasn't always enough. Deployed the awning for the first time - this was one of the few tasks where the wife's diminutive stature worked to her benefit - I found I had to hunch over to crank it in or out. Another round of cheese burgers with some really good rolls we found at Safeway for dinner.

Pic 1 is getting ready to leave.
Pic 2 is pretty obvious
Pic 3 is at Patrick's Point SP
Pic 4 is just South of Prarie Creek SP

More soon.

 

[BobM]

We did the same trip in July and had perfect weather the whole time. Loved the Oregon coast and St Helens was amazing. Here's everywhere we went:

 

[Timothy McGowen]

Sounds like a great start. Keep the stories coming. I have never had a truck camper before and am excited about the thought of ordering a Hawk as a retirement present to myself within the next twelve months.

 

[alano]

To continue:

Day 3 Wednesday Sept 4: Rose early and while the wife ran around the lake, I tried to figure out a different way to pack the camper so the food boxes were closer to the door for lunchtime needs. This try didn't work out so well and things kept falling over all day. (I had been leaving the front curtains of the camper open so I could check things out in the rearview mirror). Rained a little bit overnight. As expected, it was kind of loud hitting the roof just inches from our heads but easy to sleep through when warm and dry.I did discover the wisdom of setting up the awning at a bit of an angle as water streamed down on me as we prepared to retract it. Stopped at Tillamook Dairy for an ice cream cone lunch and then made a side trip to Nehalem Falls which were rated very highly by our "Camping in the Pacific Northwest" guidebook. What was supposed to be a 10 turned out to be a 1. We walked upstream wondering if we somehow misread the sign but when we didn't hear the roar of falling water, we shrugged our shoulders and retreated back to the drive. Pulled into Fort Stevens State Park in extreme NW corner of OR for the night and after a wonderful chat with the ranger, settled into a site with electrical and water hookups - our first time. Had a little trouble figuring things out and discovered the 10 foot hose that came with the "Ready to go Anywhere" package is too short. Took a short walk to Coffenbury Lake at sunset and saw but didn't get pictures of a couple of otters frolicking. Spagetti for dinner with sauce brought from home. Note to self: next trip pre-grate the parmesan to save on dishes. Rained again during the night.

Day 4 Thursday Sept 5: Packed up a little muddy as the rain was harder but we'd packed big trash bags for the welcome mat and ladder so the camper stayed clean and dry.Drove out to the very lip of the mouth of the Columbia river for a walk along the beach. Plenty of fisherfolk not pulling anything in that I saw. Did find an odd creature dead on the sand that we couldn't identify (see picture). The wife thought it was part dragon but I'm pretty sure it's demon spawn. Anyone here know? Found the Post Office in Astoria before crossing the bridge into Washington. Gassed up in Aberdeen before following 101 up to the Olympic N.P. Stopped at the Ranger Station and learned that low tide was due at 7:30 next morning and Ruby Beach a few miles north had tidepools. We love tidepools. No camping at Ruby Beach so we pulled into Kalaloch Campground. All the sites overlooking the beach were full (of course) so we took a more secluded one at the end of the loop. Popped the top and headed down to the beach for a walk. Walked for a bit and then played catch for a bit before heading back for dinner. Plan was for pancakes and bacon. Discovered bacon was moldy not just a little green mold around an edge we could cut off but yellow mold as well. This was probably the low point of the trip. After drying our tears, changing our rent garments and cursing our unlucky stars, decided to have eggs with the pancakes. Real maple syrup (of course) but the eggs were like ashes in our mouths after being all set for bacon. Headed back to the beach for sunset pictures.

Pic 1: Umpqua Lighthouse
Pic 2: Dead creature on the beach. Can anyone identify it?
Pic 3: Sunset at Kalaloch Beach

 

[alano]

and some more:

Day 5 Friday Sept 6: Sprinkled during the night - no biggie. Packed up without breakfast - getting pretty good at it by now. Drove the few miles to Ruby Beach and had a great time walking along checking out the tidepools. Not as much diversity as we've seen in Pacific Grove, but great fun nonetheless. Short drive to Hoh Rain Forest. Even early all the riverfront spots taken. Wandered over to the Visitor's Center and took the two short walks around there. Relaxing afternoon hanging out by the camper. The wife did a charcoal sketch and I whipped out a quick ink and watercolor study. Mosquitoes pretty aggressive so we ate another spagetti dinner in the camper. Used to have to slather on the insect repellant to make and eat dinner and everything ended up tasting like bug stuff. After dinner we prepped for our first real hike of the trip.

Day 6 Saturday Sept 7: Slept in due to the light drizzle. Oh right, rain forest. Had a quick breakfast and hit the Hoh River Trail. Right at the trail head a sizeable bull elk had planted himself. After skirting this fellow we hiked for almost 3 hours up river before turning around. A good start for us. There have been a few trails where I've envied backpackers and this is one because you have to go quite a ways to get to the point where you can see Mt. Olympus. Beyond the ability of most day trippers. Back to camp for cold beers before we used one of the few untried features: the outdoor shower. Man, I'm here to tell you that it was great. We donned bathing suits, stood on the welcome mat, washed our hair over the bucket (biodegradable soap of course) and then did the old wet, wash and rinse routine. Probably used less water for the two of us than we used to do the dishes most nights. Of course the temperature was about 70 and there was little or no breeze but warm to hot water made it a pleasure. Had an idea to make a privacy screen using the jack mounts as attachment points but that will have to wait. Made tuna noodle surprise for dinner. Don't quite know where we got a can of tuna from since I always figured it was fish for people who don't like fish. We like fish. Prepped for early start and went to bed early feeling old and tired.

Day 7 Sunday Sept 8: This was our planned transition day. Moving from coast to volcanos and doing laundry along the way. Got away early, got gas in Aberdeen again and found a laundrymat on the outskirts of Olympia. Got groceries including bacon! Drove past the state capital building - my parents, who visit these things whenever they can, claim it is the most beautiful in the country. Drove uphill to Cougar Rock C.G. in Rainier N.P. Found perhaps our favorite site for the whole trip all factors considered. Had a very nice chat with the ranger about popups and recommended this site to him. Steak and couscous for dinner before planning out our hike for the next day.



Pic 1: Tidepool at Ruby Beach
Pic 2: Bull Elk ONP
Pic 3: Our campsite at Hoh CG ONP

 

[ski3pin]

Looks like you are breaking in the camper right. Looking forward to more. Is the creature a sturgeon?

 

[Riverrunner]

Ski ID'ed it. It's a White Sturgeon.

Haven't been to the OP in a long time and need to make a trip. Kalaloch beach is a nice place to be.

 

[alano]

Thanks for the ID. It was only about 3 feet long so obviously a small one.

 

[alano]

Day 8 Monday Sept 9: No tea/coffee this morning as longer hike planned. Drove to the Visitor's Center at the base of the mountain and found the trail head to the Skyline Trail. A couple of deer guarded this one. Uphill. We walked uphill. But boy was it worth it. We saw a fox that ducked out of sight before I could deploy my camera. I did get a couple of nice shots of a coyote, plenty of marmots, ground squirrels and just missed a pica. About 5.5 miles and 1700 feet elevation gain in 3.5 hours was enough for us this day. Looked into the Inn and stopped at the Visitor's Center to look at the stuff for sale when it hit me that we should get a souvenir magnet for the camper fridge door.The door is steel, right? Right! Drove back to campsite, popped back up and prepared for showers again. Problem: the shower wand quick disconnect wouldn't connect quick or slow. After much poking and prodding we finally fell back on the oft forgotten trick of reading the manual. It suggested a non-toxic lubricant such as Vaseline would do the trick. I took stock of my lubricants on hand and selected WD-40 over canola oil spray despite not being clear on its toxicity. After a bit more poking we had our very welcome showers. Relaxed the rest of the afternoon before a dinner of pasta with bacon and onion sauce (we eat a lot of pasta). Made plans for tomorrow.

Day 9 Tuesday Sept 10: Full breakfast for us anyway of cereal along with tea/coffee since we were planning an easy day. Packed up and drove back to the VC to do the gentle Nisqually Vista Trail. Just 1.6 miles and minor elevation change. Insanity began to set in and we abandoned our easy day idea as we start climbing up the west side of the many trails leading from the VC area. "Let's go to this next crest and see what's there before we turn back." was our mantra. I call it donkey hiking. You see the carrot a short way ahead and by the time you get there you see another carrot just ahead so you keep going like the donkey cart with the carrot dangling in front of the dumb beast. We ended up at Glacier Vista before sanity set in and we staggered back down. Drove East past Reflection Lake which didn't before pulling into Ohanapecosh C.G. at the SE corner of the park. Set up and found a trail head leaving from the CG to Silver Falls. Hiked out to the falls but by the time we got back I was suffering from a blister on my left heel and was tired and cranky. An uneventful shower and cool drink with ice no less mellowed me out. I learned a while back that Crystal Lite makes water from a Camelback drinkable and rum makes Crystal Lite drinkable. Gin would probably work too. Experiment time for dinner: I had recently discovered that Trader Joe's Pub Cheese has almost the exact same ingredients used to make macaroni and cheese. So... we cooked up some rotelli and spooned in a generous amount of pub cheese, seasoned it, added the bacon (of course) and enjoyed. No bake mac and cheese far better than boxed stuff. Spent quite a while sorting out our plans for the last days of the trip since we want to be home Saturday night.

Pic 1: Coyote surveying its domain. Mt. Rainier N.P.
Pic 2: The marmots were rehearsing "The Lion King" but I got a picture during a break. That's Mt. Adams in the background.
Pic 3: Our rig in front of Mt. Rainier

 

[craig333]

You sure that third pic isn't a postcard? Thanks for the trip report. Very much enjoyed it.

 

[alano]

Still more:

Day 10 Wednesday Sept 11: Up early as it was a rough night with a crying baby and a poor woman who couldn't stop coughing - they packed up and left probably for medical attention. Plan called for spending the night in the Columbia Gorge with a side trip to the west side of Mt. St. Helens and this we did. The drive up to Windy Ridge Lookout - the closest you can drive to the mountain - is a Paul McCartney: long and winding. Well worth it. Nearby Spirit Lake rose 200 feet after the eruption. Mind boggling. Drove back down and on to the Columbia. Once we reached the river we had a beautiful drive for a bit upriver on the Washington side until we could cross. Alas, on the Oregon side we were faced with I84 - our first freeway since 101 slimmed down the first day out. The wife wanted a proper shower on this, our 31st anniversary so we stopped at Viento SP right off the freeway and a mere 100 yards from the river. What we didn't realize right away and our campground guide didn't bother to mention was there were train tracks between the river and the CG. Salmon and Rice-a-Roni for dinner representing our respective present and newlywed circumstances. Fruit flies in abundance here and a few had a serious drinking problem as they plunged right into our wine glasses. Hot afternoon gave way to quite pleasant evening temps.

Day 11 Thursday Sept 12: Night reminded my of the classic Aerosmith song: "Train kept a rollin'" ALL NIGHT LONG. Breakfast before packing up and heading to the Mt Hood NF. We have a hike planned but when we get to the trail head we find the road pavers are using the pullout for their equipment and aren't keen on letting us use a corner. Plan B: had thought of spending the night at Trillium Lake just south of the mountain but decided to just stop for a look and push further south - less driving another day. Lake Trillium is quite small but incredibly beautiful. Lots of fisherfolk including a loud know-it-all we could hear all over our walk around the lake. We'll come back for a couple night stay sometime soon. Pushed on to one of our few non-outdoor targets: the quilt shop in Sisters. The wife is an avid quilter and Sisters has a outdoor quilt festival every year and the quilt shop is apparently quite the landmark. Funny thing about quilt shops and yarn shops too: I don't mind wandering around looking at stuff but you'd have thought the place was seething man-hating Amazons for the amount of time any other man spent in the store. Wife bought some fabric and we treated ourselves to frozen yogurt and then bought some interesting food stuffs from a charming shop. Drove on to Diamond Lake just north of Crater Lake NP. Arrived about 5pm so after popping the top we took a couple of beers down to log by the lakeside. Omelets for dinner before replanning our last day in light of our earlier improvisation.

Pic 1: Mt. St. Helens. Picture that bowl filled in and rounded on top - that's how it was before the eruption in 1980.

Pic 2: Mt. Hood reflected in Trillium Lake

 

[takesiteasy]

Wow, this seems like such a great trip! Nice pictures too. That Trillium Lake shot is a keeper for sure. Thanks for sharing your stories.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

We have done over the years,not as a single trip,most of the spots you hit.We would like to go to Rainier NP,into the park not just a drive by like we did years ago.
Enjoyed your trip.
Thanks for sharing.
Frank

 

[craig333]

Just being able to have a trip report with "day 11" makes me envious.

 

[alano]

Day 12 Friday Sept 13: Got up early and walked through the campground along the lakeside. Saw a great horned owl and a family of otters enjoying an early breakfast. We too had breakfast then headed back to CA via Klamouth Falls. Stopped to take a couple of pics of Mt. Shasta to add to the volcano collection. Ended up at Manzanita Lake CG in Lassen NP. Thought it would be more crowded what with the weekend and all but only about half full. Walked over to the VC and did the little Water Lily Interpretive Trail where we tried, often in vain, to remember the tree identifications. Back to the camper for taco night before dominoes and puzzles. Couple a little ways away confirmed my suspicion that some people only camp so they can make a fire.

Day 13 Saturday Sept 14: Got up, got breakfast, got packed and drove the main road from the NW entrance to the SW entrance. Stopped to do a short interpretive trail where boxes talked to us about Lassen's 1914-15 eruption when we walked up. This was new to us. Drove onto the trail head for the Bumpass Hell trail. Mile and a half trail to sulfur vents and hot springs. Couldn't quite understand the ladies enjoying a snack in the middle of the sulfur smell though. Trail quite crowded on the way back so good thing we were there early. On to Kohm Yah-mah-nee VC for magnet and ice cream treat. Long drive home mostly on the freeway. Great trip but nice to be home. Final tally: 2320 miles at 13.4 mpg for the whole trip.

Pic 1: Mt. Shasta kisses the sky.
Pic 2: Mt. Lassen. I hope you're keeping track of the volcanoes, there will be a test later.
Pic 3: Bumppass Hell in L.N.P.

 

[craig333]

I like Volcanoes, test away

 

[alano]

Epilogue: Took the camper off the truck and tried out my dolly. Worked pretty well though I saw some flexing as we rolled it I want to shore up. Going to add a shelf below for storage too. Next big test is to remount the camper on the truck. Hoping to use the dolly to make it easier.


Observations:

Insects seemed unusually attracted to the front of the camper and actively avoided the windshield of the truck. Perhaps one of those wind shield things is in order.

Plenty of pop ups in CA and OR but I didn't see another one in all of WA.

We ended up eating all our breakfasts and about half our dinners inside due to cold, wind or especially bugs.

The grey water container we got with the "Ready To Go Package" caused us no end of annoyance. The handle broke, the valve was flaky so the sink wouldn't drain and sometimes it filled with air and had to be burped.

This was the longest trip we've had in almost twenty years and the first trip of more than a five days where we didn't stay in a hotel/motel at least one night.

People did ask us about our pop up camper. More gave it a long look as they walked or drove by.

I think we used every feature / option in our rig but the Yakima tracks, solar plug and the Porta-Potty. Tracks and plug are for future need / wants but the unused Porta-Potty surprised me. We always ended up in developed campgrounds so we didn't need it. We are thinking of some weekend trips before our typical Spring trip to the desert so one way or another we'll have an opportunity to try it out.

Mt. Rainier N.P. was our favorite stop on the trip with great hiking opportunities. We didn't drive around to the North part of the park as it seemed like it would take hours and the campground was already closed but we'd like to check that out sometime.

We're thinking about getting kayaks or a tandem kayak to add paddling to our list of camping activities. Had the full Yakima tracks put on the roof for just such a contingency.

Really glad we got the 3/4 ton truck despite the lower gas mileage. The rig handled really well and I have no expectation of making any suspension mods.

Initially I left the curtains open on the front of the camper and the door so I could use the rear view mirror a bit. After a couple of days I stopped bothering as I was using the side mirrors quite effectively. I'm on the fence about removing my flaky backup camera (wireless). While it was a good quick check on the situation right behind the rig, I ended up backing with just the side mirrors almost exclusively plus help from my spotter in campgrounds.

All-in-all, we had a great time and are extremely happy with our Four Wheel Camper / GMC Sierra 2500 rig. Thanks again to the good folks at Wander The West for all the information and advice that made our purchase and our trip such a success.