Thumbcocker
09-21-2018, 10:50 AM
For the past 5 years Mrs. Thumbcocker and I have made more or less annual trips to Utah. We really like the diverse geography of the state and the people. I have decided to post some of what we do/did, our equipment and itinerary, and impressions. Hopefully some of you will find this useful or interesting. We have gradually refined our methods and we are still learning as we go but the basic system works well for us. So here goes.
Vehicle: 2003 Toyota Tundra 4x4 with off road package and a shell on the bed. Trucky was purchased new in 2003 and has 115,000 miles on him. He has been regularly serviced and has new tires, water pump and serpentine belt. Gas mileage is 14-15 but he is dead on reliable and paid for.
Tools: full set of Craftsman mechanic tools in a box that fist between the front and back seat. Also took the following in the back for just in case. Shovel, ax, hatchet, long crow bar, high lift jack, harbor freight floor jack, harbor freight air compressor, harbor freight 750 watt invertor, hatchet, tow straps with clevis, jb weld, duct tape, and assorted other stuff.
Weapons: Ruger single six .32 magnum load is 100 grn rnfp over 4.0 of unique. CZ75Bd two loads. Hornaday critical defense and NOE 135 RNFP over 5.0 of power pistol. The CZ barrel has been throated and crowned by Doug Guy and shoots very well. Ruger LC9 with the same loads. Ruger New Model flat top 4 5/8" .44 special with H&G Keith clone over 8.0 of power pistol. This gun has been worked over by Bill Olgasby and has a 3 lb trigger pull and a minimal cylinder gap (.002) it was a good shooter before being worked over it is stellar now. RWS 6M .177 air pistol. This was tossed in at the last minute on a whim and proved to be a very good idea. We could sit in our chairs and pot at cans on the hill side with no noise when we were just hanging out around camp.
Special equipment: I have a CPAP machine that requires some accommodation. I have a 12 volt power cord for it in addition to the standard 110 power cord. 12v power is supplied by a deep cycle battery in a trolling motor box. The box has breakers and 2 12v power outlets. A black and decker trickle charger plugs into the 12 v plugs when 110 volt power is available. In the woolies I use a 20 watt solar panel hooked up to a charge controller to help extend the battery power. So far 3 days in the mountains or desert has not been a problem running the CPAP at night. The battery also charges our phones. There is no cell reception a lot of places we go but I always have books on my phone.
Lodging: We first slept in the truck bed under the topper on a Coleman air bed. This was less than satisfactory so we started taking the tent. The tent is a generic sportsmans guide 6 person with shock corded fiberglass rod frame. It is large enough for two adults to have room for their stuff, a queen sized air mattress, a CPAP machine and power source etc. and not feel cramped. A hint here. When a tent is advertised a sleeping 2-4 it usually means 4 very small folks with no gear who like each other a lot. If you are traveling in a truck get a bigger tent. Second tip: if you are using an air mattress get the 12 volt inflator for the mattress. The air mattress let us bring our blankets and sheets from home. A word about air mattresses. Being filled with air they assume the air temperature and it can get cold from the bottom at night. A Wal-Mart egg crate foam mattress pad is a worth while investment.
Food: We brought home canned deer and chicken from home along with beans corn and veggies. The real star of the trip was the timeless PBJ. PBJ and an apple in the morning will carry you a long way. On the way out we made muffler meals. Muffler meals were deer burger with lipton onion soup mix and slices of onion double wrapped in heavy aluminum foil pour in a dollop of olive oil before you seal them up. On some vehicles you can pop them on the exhaust manifold at the engine block Trucky required me to wire the meals on top of the muffler. Pretty simple wire packages on top of the muffler and drive for one hour. Hot meal when you get to your destination. A one pot hot meal in camp was made by cooking rice in sauce pan adding a pint of canned deer, a jar of mushroom gravy, and a small can of mushrooms. Very good with soy sauce or seasoned salt.
In part 2 I will cover out itinerary and impressions
Vehicle: 2003 Toyota Tundra 4x4 with off road package and a shell on the bed. Trucky was purchased new in 2003 and has 115,000 miles on him. He has been regularly serviced and has new tires, water pump and serpentine belt. Gas mileage is 14-15 but he is dead on reliable and paid for.
Tools: full set of Craftsman mechanic tools in a box that fist between the front and back seat. Also took the following in the back for just in case. Shovel, ax, hatchet, long crow bar, high lift jack, harbor freight floor jack, harbor freight air compressor, harbor freight 750 watt invertor, hatchet, tow straps with clevis, jb weld, duct tape, and assorted other stuff.
Weapons: Ruger single six .32 magnum load is 100 grn rnfp over 4.0 of unique. CZ75Bd two loads. Hornaday critical defense and NOE 135 RNFP over 5.0 of power pistol. The CZ barrel has been throated and crowned by Doug Guy and shoots very well. Ruger LC9 with the same loads. Ruger New Model flat top 4 5/8" .44 special with H&G Keith clone over 8.0 of power pistol. This gun has been worked over by Bill Olgasby and has a 3 lb trigger pull and a minimal cylinder gap (.002) it was a good shooter before being worked over it is stellar now. RWS 6M .177 air pistol. This was tossed in at the last minute on a whim and proved to be a very good idea. We could sit in our chairs and pot at cans on the hill side with no noise when we were just hanging out around camp.
Special equipment: I have a CPAP machine that requires some accommodation. I have a 12 volt power cord for it in addition to the standard 110 power cord. 12v power is supplied by a deep cycle battery in a trolling motor box. The box has breakers and 2 12v power outlets. A black and decker trickle charger plugs into the 12 v plugs when 110 volt power is available. In the woolies I use a 20 watt solar panel hooked up to a charge controller to help extend the battery power. So far 3 days in the mountains or desert has not been a problem running the CPAP at night. The battery also charges our phones. There is no cell reception a lot of places we go but I always have books on my phone.
Lodging: We first slept in the truck bed under the topper on a Coleman air bed. This was less than satisfactory so we started taking the tent. The tent is a generic sportsmans guide 6 person with shock corded fiberglass rod frame. It is large enough for two adults to have room for their stuff, a queen sized air mattress, a CPAP machine and power source etc. and not feel cramped. A hint here. When a tent is advertised a sleeping 2-4 it usually means 4 very small folks with no gear who like each other a lot. If you are traveling in a truck get a bigger tent. Second tip: if you are using an air mattress get the 12 volt inflator for the mattress. The air mattress let us bring our blankets and sheets from home. A word about air mattresses. Being filled with air they assume the air temperature and it can get cold from the bottom at night. A Wal-Mart egg crate foam mattress pad is a worth while investment.
Food: We brought home canned deer and chicken from home along with beans corn and veggies. The real star of the trip was the timeless PBJ. PBJ and an apple in the morning will carry you a long way. On the way out we made muffler meals. Muffler meals were deer burger with lipton onion soup mix and slices of onion double wrapped in heavy aluminum foil pour in a dollop of olive oil before you seal them up. On some vehicles you can pop them on the exhaust manifold at the engine block Trucky required me to wire the meals on top of the muffler. Pretty simple wire packages on top of the muffler and drive for one hour. Hot meal when you get to your destination. A one pot hot meal in camp was made by cooking rice in sauce pan adding a pint of canned deer, a jar of mushroom gravy, and a small can of mushrooms. Very good with soy sauce or seasoned salt.
In part 2 I will cover out itinerary and impressions