Cottonwood Canyon considerations + Turnbuckle Trouble

[hoyden]

I didn’t expect to come home a day early, reeking of coffee. But that’s what happened.

Lessons learned on this trip:

1. Just because you can does not mean that you should.

2. It is very easy to get lost on Forest Service trails! That could be dangerous. Really. Kind of like cute woodland creatures, just because it's pretty doesn't mean it’s safe.

3. Take the time to highlight the route on your paper map. GPS will take you the shortest or quickest route, but often it is not the best route (and on the forest road, can be a dangerous route, or just end you up in the middle of nowhere cuz it got confused).

4. Just because someone gives you directions, doesn't mean they are correct. Same with their coordinates. Double check on your own map and highlight the route.

5. Bring extras of essentials. Like turn-buckles that will strand you if they break.

6. That goodness for those brown Forest Service signs. But don't count on them to be there!

7. Do one thing at a time. And when things start going wrong, slow down. (I did those! )

I started this unexpected three-day weekend with a visit to a friend in Flagstaff. My plan was to pop-up in his driveway, but he had a guest room! Fancy! The dogs had a grand time. His pup and Argos are pretty evenly matched in size and age, so they romped for hours.

Pugsly got a chew to gnaw!

Thursday morning started with a “meh” breakfast at a restaurant en route. But it filled me up, and because they had forgotten about me sitting outside with the pups on their patio, my waitress didn’t charge for my coffee. I gave her a good tip.

My first plan of action was to drive up to Cottonwood Canyon, UT to scope out a possible location for a Fall campering gathering. I headed up toward Page and stopped at the atrocity known as the “Glen Canyon Damn”

It wasn’t too much further to the turn off for Cottonwood Canyon. I saw a number of vehicles on that dirt road while I was on my trek. I didn’t realize it was so popular.

That’s Paria River there. River. Yah. Welcome to arid land.

 

[hoyden]

I keep forgetting to take pictures of this little guy, but he’s the fourth* doggie on these road trips. Doesn’t have a name yet tho.

*Pugsly, Argos, the stuffed dog inside the camper Dumpling who has traveled with me since 4th grade, and this guy

After arriving at the location where our coordinates led, I wasn’t impressed. There was only room for one or two vehicles, and heavy powerlines lined the road up further. (Apparently, according to Trip Advisor I should have kept going. Although, while lovely, it doesn’t look like there are any larger areas to set up group camp. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g57030-d4234736-Reviews-Cottonwood_Canyon_Road-Kanab_Utah.html#photos;geo=57030&detail=4234736&ff=195505894&albumViewMode=hero&albumid=101&baseMediaId=195505894&thumbnailMinWidth=50&cnt=30&offset=-1&filter=2 )

Our spot:

I backtracked to check out an area that I’d passed that looked promising. Hard to get perspective, but there’s a fire ring up behind my truck a short ways. Perhaps….

It would have been ideal to camp there. I really like the open spaces, and the stars are probably amazing there, but temps were hovering in the 90’s and felt like it was getting hotter. Too damn hot. And Pugsly, the snug-nosed, is definitely not fond of the dry heat. So, we skedaddled to my Friday night planned location. I figured, if it was nice, I’d just stay there til Sunday.

I don’t know when this fire happened, up in the Kaibab forest East of Kanab, but it was huge. Not much in the way of Aspens still.

 

[hoyden]

The Forest Service roads out to the North Rim Crazy Jug point weren’t supposed to be too difficult. This is where the lessons at the top kick in (pretty much all of them). I ended up paying attention to my on-board Navigation instead of re-reading the directions I had written down (which were actually two roads more than necessary, I found on my way out this morning).

Looks pretty and fairly benign, right?

Instead of taking NF 22 --> NF 206 --> NF 425 --> NF (?takes ya to the point), I ended up on NF 214, which turned out to be a crazy 4x4, with occasional need for Low, super narrow at times, unproductive 15 miles round trip waste of almost 2 hours. (that said, it would have been fun if I hadn’t been focused on gas and not getting lost)

I didn’t get a lot of photos, because I was concentrating on driving and not getting lost.

Road?

Got our share of “Arizona Pin-striping”… oh, I guess it’s “Utah Pin-striping”!
I also picked up a branch later on!

Good thing that layer of dirt is protecting my paint!

I went round trip on that road. Wish I’d gotten some pics of the more harrowing areas. There was also one darker section that was so buggy, I had to roll up the windows. I felt like I was in that scary forest in The Wizard of Oz where we first see The Flying Monkeys.

After backtracking the whole way, I considered just going to find a pay campsite at that Park Service sanctions site off of Hwy 87. Then I saw a sign for NF 22… It was wide and nicely graded… so I decided to give it a shot. I think I was past the logical thinking part of the day.

 

[hoyden]

I took NF22 the 10.5 miles my original instructions said, found NF 206 and turned onto it for a mile. I had to backtrack and actually put NF425 into my Navigation – and it found it! A half-mile back… NF425 was pretty long, and I was running the mantra “this better be worth it” over and over in my head, while keeping an eye on my gas level.

Hey look! A sign! Holy cow, I was super surprised that this was actually going to work out. I’d thought perhaps I could ask someone at some point, but I hadn’t seen another person since I left closer to the paved, where there were a few campers parked back in amongst the trees. (I wish I’d gotten a pic of the weird painted green school bus that had found it’s way reasonably far in. It was painted with “Yawway”(sic) and a few other religious words. I’m glad I wasn’t camped near them. Talk about creepy)

It was a little tricksy finding a spot. Out at the point itself were signed tacked to trees declaring “No Camping Here”. At first I was tempted to just set up, because it’s a pretty out of the way place. But I thought better of it, when I considered that a Forest Ranger might just come knocking at my door after dark and scare the crap out of me… and my bear spray….

There was a ‘four way’ where four forest roads met. Obviously, I took one in, one went to the Point, and the other two? I explored down one and found a pull-in with a fire ring.

So, I set up camp there. It wasn’t level, and after trying various variations of levelers and angles, I gave up. Turned out to be pretty okay, if a bit angled towards the back. But side-to-side was level.

Fatigue is is dangerous and also something to be very aware of (difficult if you are the fatigued person!) I put rocks under the tires (I’m still paranoid about rolling off the edge of cliffs when I camp at them), got the camper popped up, set up, and the dogs inside… and I kept misplacing things. Like my water bottle that I just had in my hand. Or the dog food lid I’d just taken off and set down.

Even though this was my view from my campsite, I started to get anxious and the Fear was starting to creep in “alone… twisty roads… cliff… alone….”

and out my camper window!

 

[hoyden]

I had gone past hungry, but knew I needed to eat. I had a little chunk of Trader Joe’s Blueberry Goat’s Milk Cheese and crackers (seriously, if you haven’t had this cheese, go out to your TJ’s right now and get some. It’s delicious and it keeps the existential heebie jeebies at bay) I also made some minty tea and felt a bit better.

There was sagebrush near my door, so I breathed in a few huge gulps to clear my senses of the days stress.

Hey! There’s the fire pit. And that’s how close to the North Rim I was camped! Whoa!

My Four Wheel Camper in North Rim glory

The dogs weren’t as impressed.

My view from reclining position after sunset. Not too shabby

 

[hoyden]

Since I had a lovely view of the not-so-spectacular sunrise, but could see the amazing sunset last night peeking through the trees, Cayuse texted me and suggested a different location just up the road and around the bend. Before I did that, it was time for breakfast! This is where lesson #7 up there comes first into play. I had too many things going on: feed the dogs, make coffee, make breakfast, clear dishes…. And that’s when the full cup of beautifully dripped dark, steaming, delicious coffee got knocked over and spilled into my stove, and cascaded down onto the floor. I got it all cleaned up, learned my lesson, and started all over – one thing at a time. I ate, put the various food stuff away, then made my second cup of coffee.

Before breaking camp, I did my Good Campering Maintenance and checked the turn-buckles. Imagine my surprise when the rear left turnbuckle itself was loose (driver’s side, the one that had previously had a dramatic loose fastener and I put blue Loctite on it a few weeks ago) and imagine my Fear when I found the left front one completely off! Of course, it was the difficult to reach one. I got down on my belly, [SIZE=12pt]not realizing that coffee had spilled on the carpet… [/SIZE]and spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out why the fastener kept slipping off when I thought I’d hooked it?!? Finally, in a stroke of pure mechanical genius, I decided to take the turnbuckle out and see what the heck.

This was what the heck.

and I immediately remembered my not-done shopping list that was still stuck to my dashboard.

Crap.

I went to lesson # 7 again. Okay, who knows when this broke. I could have been driving lopsided for a while. I had no cell signal and a SPOT but hell if I was going to Alert for this! Not while the camper was still on the truck! (ahem)
I gathered my wits, made an assessment, made sure the remaining three turnbuckles were tight, and decided to leave. It’s Saturday. As much as I wanted to say, “hey, it ain’t gonna fix itself, might as well just enjoy this spot and stay over again” … it’s Saturday. Which means tomorrow is Sunday. I wasn’t going to risk a store being closed cuz I was stupid enough to stay over at this pretty place for another sunset. I got packed up and started to head out.

Remember that four-way forest road intersection I mentioned a short while ago? Well, I got there and couldn’t remember which way I’d turned in my fatigued state. Fatigue can screw you up at the time it’s happening, and even the next day! I felt an adrenaline rush and The Fear started to creep in. Oh fcuk. Oh fcuk. I knew it was about 25 miles back to pavement of Hwy 67, and wasn’t sure how far to the cute North Rim Country Store I’d passed the previous day. I pictured myself, afloat at sea, stranded on some random FR10365, out of gas, and with no one in sight.

I took a few breaths and remembered that I’d put in FR425 into my Navigation yesterday and it had found it nicely! I searched my history, plugged it in, and skeptically followed it’s lead. Since it had led me so far astray yesterday, I was still nervous that I would end up stranded… but it led me right to a nicely graded FR425! WOOT! I wasn’t going to have to SPOT call in the cavalry! YAY! WHEW! Whoa. Be better f-ing prepared, Dawn! I thought I was... but I was not.

The sign itself was not blurry. This is where I had a decision to make. Go the 18 miles to the paved Hwy 67 and hope the Country Store was close, or take dirt the 33 miles(!) to Fredonia where there was a gas station?

I’d been crawling along at about 3 – 10 mph for an hour at this point. Every bump making me worry about the camper sliding off my truck. I stopped and checked the three turnbuckles every ten miles, to be certain. The right side ones were solid (!) and that poor one on the left needed tightening frequently, but was holding. (in retrospect, and after reading about turnbuckle tightening on the FWC site, I wonder if I should have moved that one to the front left – closer to the cab?)

I opted for pavement. I figured that at least if I run out of gas there, or if something more drastic happens with the camper, I’ll be where other people regularly travel. I hated the thought of getting stranded on the FR roads. (I did see two trucks – loaded with quads - on FR22 a few miles later.)

Oh! My tree branch! It decided to come along for a ride. Argos was a bit confused by it.
Come to think of it, I think there’s still a piece wedged in behind my awning. Will need to remember to get that out.

Turned out the North Rim Country Store was a few steps away from where I eventually exited FR22! Only took me about 1.5 hrs for the 30 miles (better than my 2 hrs for 15 miles yesterday!)

I gassed up at $2.80(!) and talked to the nice folks working there. They told me that my best bet was to go back to Kanab (some 62 miles backtracking). They told me where to find the True Value, and if they didn’t have what I needed there was some other hardware store just up the road. That seemed to be my only option, so off I went back to Kanab.

 

[hoyden]

Luckily, it was an uneventful drive back and I easily found the True Value. They had different turnbuckles, but who was I to argue? Unfortunately, the hook part is smaller, so I can’t just interchange parts.

Funny story. Many moons ago, a boyfriend was using my tools and lost my 16mm shorty from my set. I told him it was fine as long as he replaced it. He never did. I also never replaced it because in reality, it was rare that I needed a 16mm shorty….

Neither True Value nor the hardware store just up the road had a 16mm shorty, so I tightened it the best I could with an adjustable, and set out for ?

I was considering camping over near Lake Powell on a beach area that a friend of mine had recommended. He said that it was lesser used (but still often quite crowded), pretty, and had a big Lone Rock in the middle of the water. Perhaps up a Utah mountain? And I vaguely considered going over to my beloved Valley of the Gods... But the dogs didn’t seem happy about the heat – especially Pugsly, she doesn’t do good in heat – I decided to head back towards Flagstaff, see how we were all feeling, and make a decision then. There are a bunch of spots up in that neck of the woods (so to speak) that are nice, higher elevation, camping areas. But by the time I got to gassing up in Flag, I decided to just get us home. I wasn’t convinced that the new turnbuckle was going to hold (it did) and that nagging my mind made me not want to try more ‘adventures’ right now.

There is time for more adventuring – with spare turnbuckles and better pre-mapping any remote locations.

 

[Cayuse]

Great write up and wonderful pictures!

Spares are good!

 

[Squatch]

Great story and adventure. Thanks for posting it.

A definition. One doesn't go on an adventure. One goes on a trip. When things don't go as planned and you have to improvise and rely on your wits and still have a good time and get out unscathed and with your hide you had an adventure. When you don't it's a catastrophe.

If you have a Tractor Supply store (TSC) out that way they have a good selection of forged turnbuckles with eyes instead of hooks. One of the hooks or eyes on each turnbuckle is a normal standard right hand thread. Remove each turnbuckle and add a simple hex nut to that side. Once you have the turnbuckles tight then lock each one with the nut. Cheap insurance. You may have your turnbuckles too tight. FWC told me hand tight and one turn. On the factory turnbuckles a 9/16 wrench should turn the turnbuckle and tighten the above locknut.

Locknut pic. Hope this helps.

 

[hoyden]

Thanks Cayuse and Squatch!

I do seem to find adventures!
And as much as I would have liked kicking back on the Rim, it's not bad to have to face these situations. You learn about your rig, about yourself, and about what you both (you+rig) are capable of. Not to mention the dogs. They were none to pleased with me, although, Pugsly likes the harry off-road because it's very slow and rocking. Not so much for washboard. But who likes washboard? Oh, Cayuse does!

I like the locknut idea!
Oh, the guys at Adventure Trailers said they have turnbuckles for me. YAY AT! (if y'all are even in this region, you gotta stop by their shop. Great folks)

I was thinking about the overtightening possibility and wondering if the right side ones are too tight and that's why the left side ones are having issues? There is also the crazy off-roading I've been doing might contribute....

While I was driving out yesterday, I was thinking that perhaps I shouldn't have a vehicle that allows me to go just about anywhere.
Just because you can....

Ha! Nah, I never was one to play it safe.

 

[hoyden]

Oh! I just remembered the other lesson: Forest Road seem to be named different things in different maps. My GPS had FR22 as FR422 (all the double digits were named triple), the guy who posted the coordinates/route on Freecampsites called them FDR, and out ther ein the Forest they are FR.

Not huge differences, (except that GPS convention) but enough to confuse. And the last thing you want out there is to be confused.

Well, maybe not the last. The last thing you want is stuck, without water or communication device. (after having been bitten by a rattlesnake, dumped by your S/O, and dog ran away or died. Yep, I just created a country music song)

I had pulled out my Kaibab Forest map, but hadn't been able to find these roads at all.That goes back to Lessons # 3 and 4. I shoulda pulled that map out with a highlighter marker or at least some marking removable tape (so I could use map again) before I left the house.

 

[Stalking Light]

Sounds like quite the adventure, thanks for sharing.

 

[takesiteasy]

Good story! We've had some of those "adventures" and it always seems like they are better in hindsight than while they are happening. We are heading to the north rim in October- looking for some adventure, haha.

I did the locknut mod to our turnbuckles- actually put locknuts on both hooks with lock washers (requires getting left hand threaded nuts and 4 right handed). Overkill. But I never have to check the turnbuckles now.

I second the caution about over-tightening the turnbuckles. Hand tight and another turn or less. Then the locknuts.

It's better to have a turnbuckle fail (as long as you have a spare) than cracking your camper (there is a long thread about this somewhere here).

 

[hoyden]

Good story! We've had some of those "adventures" and it always seems like they are better in hindsight than while they are happening. We are heading to the north rim in October- looking for some adventure, haha.

I did the locknut mod to our turnbuckles- actually put locknuts on both hooks with lock washers (requires getting left hand threaded nuts and 4 right handed). Overkill. But I never have to check the turnbuckles now.

I second the caution about over-tightening the turnbuckles. Hand tight and another turn or less. Then the locknuts.

It's better to have a turnbuckle fail (as long as you have a spare) than cracking your camper (there is a long thread about this somewhere here).

Thanks!

I hadn't considered the needing the left and right hand threaded. Silly backwards threads.... Good reminder!

Will definitely check the tightness of the right-side ones. I am thinking that might be the issue. Overtight on one side, leading to failures on the other.

When I pulled out the broken turnbuckle, my first thought was "so that's why it kept slipping off", then "oh... crap...." then, "geez, glad it failed and not the camper or truck mounts!"

 

[Bseek]

Hoyden, You are amazing. Thank you for sharing your adventures, good and bad. I need to get more adventurous. I bought the 4x4 to get off road, but then the thought of doing it by myself scares the bejeebers out of me. I think I need to invest in a SPOT for that extra layer of security. I don't have a GPS, I think they get people in more trouble than they think. Give me a good old fashioned paper map any day.

So, off to the store to buy a couple of turnbuckles. I have never had a problem with mine, but I sure wouldn't want to be far from civilization and need one.

Really, assuming you let someone know your plans, even if you get stuck, you carry everything you need to survive quite a while in the rig. I figure just sit tight. Injury is a different matter, though.

Keep adventuring. And keep sharing. How come you don't have your blog listed in your signature line? I know I have read your blog in the past and I wanted to go back and check for recent activity. But I can't find it.

 

[hoyden]

Hi Bseek!

Thank you!
It can be scary going out alone, but preparation is key. If I'd had spare turnbuckles (like I had on my shopping list), I would have just replaced it, moved to the other North Rim location, and had a lovely day. If I'd done my pre-trip mapping, I wouldn't have been lost and thus scared.

Also, if going at it alone is scary, take baby steps.
Secret: I'm afraid to tent camp alone. A couple of years ago, I decided I needed to try to conquer that fear. First place I went? Grand Canyon South Rim. Campgrounds with a lot of people around. It was great! Going to a place like that made me feel safer with people and Forest Rangers all over the place. I didn't conquer that fear (and got a camper ;-) ) but I know I can do it.

For prep and peace of mind, I have tire repair kit, traction devices (not Maxtraxx, but similarish), extra water, backpack in case I have to leave my rig, tools (tho not sure what I could actually repair on a new Tacoma....), Bear spray, a nifty portable car charger, a number of paper maps, my SPOT - I send my family and a couple of specific friends my itinerary with coordinates and keep in touch with them as I can when plans change...etc.

As soon as I fix my DR200, I'll bring my motorcycle along at least some times. I'm thinking I'll bring my mountain bicycle along regardless tho. This trip had me thinking more about that. IF I had run out of gas (which, honestly, was unlikely. I had at least 80 miles left on that tank), I could have carefully mapped out how to get back to the main road and ridden my bike if I had it. Still considering... with the dogs, that changes a lot of dynamics.

The thing is, no matter how physically prepared you are, you must be mentally prepared.
I learned that years ago when I was at a restaurant with a friend who was a black-belt in Ju-jitsu. A guy came by and harassed us (it was ugly) my friend started to cry and I confronted him and told him to leave us alone or I'd call the cops. He left us alone. I had little martial arts training, but I do have a quick temper when someone is hurting a friend/family.

I'm good at keeping level-headed when in a situation, but I tend to forget my back-up plans. On my previous "Chasing Abbey" crazy cross-Utah trip, I actually had a few places mapped out as "back-up-in-case-of-too-hot" but the heat and stress got to me and I forgot. I'm working on ways to make that not happen. Perhaps taping my back-up locations to my dashboard?

I just changed my signature to include my website/blog. Thanks! :-D

 

[rotti]

Just out of curiosity I was wondering if you have a rubber bed mat on your truck?

I have a LineX spray on bed liner with a rubber bed mat on top of that. In the four years my camper has been on full time I have only had tighten my tie downs once and that was at the 500 mile mark. Of course I have now cursed myself and will soon have a catastrophic failure of my own.

I'm with the pug, I'll save Utah for the cooler/cold months and enjoy the Colo high country in the summer. Enjoyed your trip report and happy trails.

 

[GroovyDad]

Hey Hoyden, I really enjoyed reading about your "odyssey." Those kinds of trips are scary at the time, but will stand out as your fonder memories later on. Nevada is a lot like Arizona in that a lot of the places worth going don't have a lot of people running around, so if you get in a jam, you might not see another person for a while. Like you, I always leave a detailed trip itinerary with people back home in case I don't come back in time. I've never had problems with my turnbuckles, but I think I'll go buy a couple of extras in case I ever need them.

As for the AZ/UT pin striping, I think they're just the patina of a lot of great adventures. And, at any rate, they're better than Oklahoma pin stripes (tobacco spit out the window that hits the side of the truck...). I love the fact that you're not afraid to get out there live it!

Do you have any Benchmark Maps? I NEVER go anywhere without them. I use my GPS, but I don't trust it. I just use it as a back-up of sorts. Check out the Benchmark Maps (they're a lot more detailed than the DeLorme Maps) if you haven't already. Mine are full of trip notes, coordinates, highlighted routes, etc.

I liked seeing that you travel with a little stuffed dog. Last year, while on a camp trip, I pulled over to wet my fly rod on a little river and when I got out of the truck, I saw a little stuffed Gund porcupine on the ground. I picked him up and he's been traveling with me ever since. I try to take pictures of him in all of the places I go.

I look forward to reading about your next adventure.

 

[RicoV]

I think we need to take another look at this nut-on-the-turnbuckle thing, even though it's been covered before in previous turnbuckle threads. It seems clear to me that a nut placed on the outside of the normal-threaded J-hook side isn't likely to hold the turnbuckle in place in the event it were to come loose (if the camper was really getting jostled). On the other hand, a reverse-threaded nut cinched onto the outside of the reverse-threaded J-hook would in fact do what you're wanting it to do, i.e., keep the turnbuckle in place. As always, please correct me if I'm wrong about this, but I just tested it on a spare turnbuckle and it seems true to me. Then again, I'm not the brightest bulb in the lamp shop...
Rico

 

[hoyden]

Just out of curiosity I was wondering if you have a rubber bed mat on your truck?

I have a LineX spray on bed liner with a rubber bed mat on top of that. In the four years my camper has been on full time I have only had tighten my tie downs once and that was at the 500 mile mark. Of course I have now cursed myself and will soon have a catastrophic failure of my own.

I'm with the pug, I'll save Utah for the cooler/cold months and enjoy the Colo high country in the summer. Enjoyed your trip report and happy trails.

Thanks! Yeah, Pugsly knows best. I really need to listen to her more.

No rubber bed mat. I've read a little about them. Will hafta look into it more.

I thought it'd be easy to find cooler places to camp (that aren't Flagstaff area) but I seem to be having difficulty.
I do plan to go back to that North Rim location though, now that I know where.....