On the second week of October, I went on my annual elk hunt in Colorado and Utah. There's a number of things to share about the outing.
The weather was variable with bright sun, to overcast and snowing. While I had experienced some troubles with the Atwood furnace, the repair I made earlier in the year, of replacing the sail switch, resolved the problem. Compared to the 12,000 BTU furnace I originally installed, the new 18,000 BTU Atwood worked much better. The noted difference was before on the first furnace, in extremely cold weather, it seemed to run constantly to keep up with the chill outside, utilizing considerable amount of propane. The new furnace cycles in much shorter periods of time, and with the digital thermostat, keeps the camper a nice even temperature and uses much less propane, just what I had hoped.
We did experience a considerable amount of condensation, but I expected this and didn't worry about it much. Didn't have an outside thermometer, but was pretty sure it got down to single digits a night or two. We shut the furnace off at night, and bundled up in two sleeping bags. Still froze water inside the camper in water bottles and even with two sleeping bags I got a little chilled. We used a five gallon water jug for water needs, as the water system has been winterized, and I didn't want the fittings to freeze and break causing leakage. The solar system, and the batteries kept up with power needs despite the overcast conditions. The main power draw was the DC Isotherm fridge, the furnace, lights, and a CPAP at night.
My hunting buddy was a friend from work, where we once were partners in a sales territory. We had a good time, getting up at 4:30 AM to have breakfast, load packs, bundle up and set out hiking up the mountain before first light. We saw a lot of animals on the first day, and my buddy was able to take a bull elk in the early afternoon. That meant the work began, because the meat had to be cared for. We hung some of it to cool, and then began packing some of it out. We were back in about two miles from the road, as this is a hike in or horse area only, which doesn't sound like much until you're carrying a 70-80 lb pack. The hips and shoulders really feel it by the time you get back to camp.
I was able to take a cow on the third day. We took a total of nine loads to get the two elk out and back to camp. As the snow was melting, the terrain was muddy and slippery, and careful footing was required, but I still went down twice. No injuries luckily. The scenery was beautiful, and we had the additional experience of seeing several coyotes, eagles, beaver, mule deer, hawks, and crows and Clark's Jays (camp robbers), to name a few.
The trip was wonderful and the Four Wheel Camper made the outing a delight. With two bunks, warm inside, a nice galley, with stovetop and fridge, it was way comfortable and delightful. I used to go in a white outfitters wall tent complete with a wood burning stove, camp stove, lantern, chainsaw, axe, etc. Really roughing it! That took a lot more equipment and time to set up and take down. While it was comfortable and fun to use the wall tent when I still had my sons at home, for just two people the camper is so much more simple to use and can't be beat.
There were no issues with leakage or anything malfunctioning, so it seems I've got things dialed in.
Poky
Ultimately, the dinette was put on hold. Way past thread update time now.
