Barko1
Senior Member
I just retired in February, got the older FWC Grandby last Fall, and have never been to Alaska so it was time to make plans. My daughter is off work from injuries and needs to get out of the house and I have two canines that go everywhere so rather than wait to Fall I decided to beat the tourists and maybe some of the bugs and head North to take in the sights. I've been using my 97 F150 4.6L 4x4x long bed but decided I needed more power for the load and the hills so I picked up a 99 7.3 L, added a DP chip, wanted to add airbags but that didn't make it. Also put in a rear slider which was really convenient.
Th trailer is rugged and I decided I needed it to haul Kayla's Segway (helps her get around) an extra spare, a tool box, generator, etc. As mentioned the truck is new to me and had 113,000 miles on it. Had it gone over well and drove it to Colorado earlier to pick up the new dog and some other trips but not entirely known.
First thing I learned was that the tires were probably not up to the task.
The tread was good enough but the were 6 ply and technically had the load capacity but after this one lost the tread only 50 miles out I went down the road and decided to replace all 4 with some 10 plies.Having the farm jack and a good breaker bar made changing much easier but the whole deal altered plans, that's OK, no need to get back to work. Ended that day East of Eager, AZ where the temp dipped to 22 degrees, colder than we would see in Alaska.
The next day headed Northwest going through Flagstaff and Kanab. Thought about the North Rim of the Grand Canyon but still closed as was Cedar Breaks NM in Utah. At elevation above Cedar City found a Forest Service site that required pushing through a couple snowbanks but like the night before it was free
Crossed Utah to NV and rt 93 North. Nothing too exciting, but Twin Falls had a nice viewpoint
There were some nice spots, always had to make sure the dogs got their chance to leave their mark and strtch their legs.
The Border Collie is the new addition, MTNHigh helped me track him down as he was being given up in Colorado. Of course the dog is insane, we have had him a couple months and he had been neglected and let me tell you border collies want to do what they want to do and that usually involves controlling something or someone. Therefore frequent exercise stops where they could run free, he doesn't get some running in he will find other avenues for the expression of energy, just a year old. Going before the tourists were out really assisted in allowing this.
Idaho included a visit to Craters of the Moon, was cold so few pictures
Continued up US93 along the Snake River and into Montana
Not really a warm welcome but we found some nice trees to camp under
Still a hell of a long ways to Alaska, more later.
Th trailer is rugged and I decided I needed it to haul Kayla's Segway (helps her get around) an extra spare, a tool box, generator, etc. As mentioned the truck is new to me and had 113,000 miles on it. Had it gone over well and drove it to Colorado earlier to pick up the new dog and some other trips but not entirely known.
First thing I learned was that the tires were probably not up to the task.
The tread was good enough but the were 6 ply and technically had the load capacity but after this one lost the tread only 50 miles out I went down the road and decided to replace all 4 with some 10 plies.Having the farm jack and a good breaker bar made changing much easier but the whole deal altered plans, that's OK, no need to get back to work. Ended that day East of Eager, AZ where the temp dipped to 22 degrees, colder than we would see in Alaska.
The next day headed Northwest going through Flagstaff and Kanab. Thought about the North Rim of the Grand Canyon but still closed as was Cedar Breaks NM in Utah. At elevation above Cedar City found a Forest Service site that required pushing through a couple snowbanks but like the night before it was free
Crossed Utah to NV and rt 93 North. Nothing too exciting, but Twin Falls had a nice viewpoint
There were some nice spots, always had to make sure the dogs got their chance to leave their mark and strtch their legs.
The Border Collie is the new addition, MTNHigh helped me track him down as he was being given up in Colorado. Of course the dog is insane, we have had him a couple months and he had been neglected and let me tell you border collies want to do what they want to do and that usually involves controlling something or someone. Therefore frequent exercise stops where they could run free, he doesn't get some running in he will find other avenues for the expression of energy, just a year old. Going before the tourists were out really assisted in allowing this.
Idaho included a visit to Craters of the Moon, was cold so few pictures
Continued up US93 along the Snake River and into Montana
Not really a warm welcome but we found some nice trees to camp under
Still a hell of a long ways to Alaska, more later.
