Since the tires were installed on Monday, it felt wrong to not go out and get them dirty, so my wife and I decided that because we had a three day weekend with no other commitments, we might as well give the tires a test (even though I put about 30k on a set of Nitto TG’s on my Landcruiser).
I left work early on Friday and did the final packing while waiting for the wife to get out of work. Once she got home we headed out. The plan was to head to Saline/Death Valley for some warmth.
We drove down US 395 into CA. We made it to Lee Vining and because it was getting late/dark, we turned right on Hwy 120 and down towards the south side of Mono Lake . We found a spot outside of the no camping zone and set everything up (which took about 10 minutes (we love our FWC by the way). Before falling asleep, I fired up the Coleman Catalytic heater and crawled into the sleeping bags.
Saturday morning, I woke up around 4 am because I noticed that my face was getting cold, I looked down and realized that the heater wasn’t on, it had ran out of propane (small 1lb bottles). I got up around 6 am and looked at the thermometer inside the camper, 23 degrees. Good thing the sleeping bag is warm. I put a new bottle on the heater to help take off the chill while getting dressed and started getting ready. I started the truck and its thermometer showed 13 degrees, burrrrrr. We got packed up and headed for Bishop.
Moon setting over the Sierras.
Once in Bishop, we stopped for breakfast and a few last minute supplies that we had forgotten. After all of that was done, we headed for Big Pine and topped off the fuel tank. From there we headed up to and then down the North Pass road into Saline Valley .
At the beginning of the dirt, I aired down to 30 psi in the front and 35 psi in the rear. I figured I would try it there and see how it handled. That seems to be a pretty good combination for washboards for now. We made it into the valley and turned up towards the springs. As we drove in, there were a few rigs heading out, but overall it didn’t look too bad. The lower spring had a few camps set up and there were a few more between the upper and lower springs. We set up camp and had lunch at the upper north spring and found a great spot. Did I mention the temperature when we got there was 78 degrees and there wasn’t any wind? Yeah it was that good. The high for the afternoon was 82 degrees, still no wind.
Camp.
Had a soak after a little hike in the afternoon and just chilled the afternoon away reading. The weather was perfect and it was just too nice to do anything. Around 8:30, we took another soak under the stars, had the tub to ourselves both times.
I left work early on Friday and did the final packing while waiting for the wife to get out of work. Once she got home we headed out. The plan was to head to Saline/Death Valley for some warmth.
We drove down US 395 into CA. We made it to Lee Vining and because it was getting late/dark, we turned right on Hwy 120 and down towards the south side of Mono Lake . We found a spot outside of the no camping zone and set everything up (which took about 10 minutes (we love our FWC by the way). Before falling asleep, I fired up the Coleman Catalytic heater and crawled into the sleeping bags.
Saturday morning, I woke up around 4 am because I noticed that my face was getting cold, I looked down and realized that the heater wasn’t on, it had ran out of propane (small 1lb bottles). I got up around 6 am and looked at the thermometer inside the camper, 23 degrees. Good thing the sleeping bag is warm. I put a new bottle on the heater to help take off the chill while getting dressed and started getting ready. I started the truck and its thermometer showed 13 degrees, burrrrrr. We got packed up and headed for Bishop.
Moon setting over the Sierras.
Once in Bishop, we stopped for breakfast and a few last minute supplies that we had forgotten. After all of that was done, we headed for Big Pine and topped off the fuel tank. From there we headed up to and then down the North Pass road into Saline Valley .
At the beginning of the dirt, I aired down to 30 psi in the front and 35 psi in the rear. I figured I would try it there and see how it handled. That seems to be a pretty good combination for washboards for now. We made it into the valley and turned up towards the springs. As we drove in, there were a few rigs heading out, but overall it didn’t look too bad. The lower spring had a few camps set up and there were a few more between the upper and lower springs. We set up camp and had lunch at the upper north spring and found a great spot. Did I mention the temperature when we got there was 78 degrees and there wasn’t any wind? Yeah it was that good. The high for the afternoon was 82 degrees, still no wind.
Camp.
Had a soak after a little hike in the afternoon and just chilled the afternoon away reading. The weather was perfect and it was just too nice to do anything. Around 8:30, we took another soak under the stars, had the tub to ourselves both times.
