CANCELED: Dirty Bacon's Great American Adventure

[DirtyBacon04]

I'm getting one of these...

[DirtyBacon04]

Here's my list of places to hit. It's way too small. Please add some location ideas if you think they're worth a peek.

Trails/Parks to hit:

.Rubicon Trail (Holy Grail)

.Moab, Utah (duh)
-all of it

.Mojave Nat. Preserve, So Cal

.Anza Borrego Desert State Park
-all if it

.Ouray, Colorado (San Juan Nat Forest)
-Blackbear Pass

.Mendocino Nat. Forest, Nor Cal

.Whipsaw Trail, British Columbia

.Grand Canyon/Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona
-Death Valley
-NW Corner of AZ (7,600 sq miles)
-St. George, UT toward Canyon overlook at Tuweep Point
-N from Tuweep to Hwy 67 @ Jacob's Lake. To North Rim (closed in winter)
-Continue E to Marble Canyon

.Morrison Jeep Trail, Wyoming

.Las Vegas
-Bitter Springs/Logandale Trails

[BC backroader]

Hey, DirtyBacon04, I'm glad to see you've got the Whipsaw Trail on your list. Give me a call when you get up this way, I may join you on that one. It's been about 20 years since I last did the whole length, but I often hunt the first 30km North from Hwy 3, the boring part. Beyond that point, you get into some alpine parkland, with a couple of gnarly mudholes, then a steep slickrock climb that may require a winch. The descent on the other side passes a large open pit copper mine, and drops into the old gold rush town of Tulameen.

I've done the full length in a '66 Bronco, a winch equipped '72 Suburban 2500, and a '78 Blazer. The trip in the Sub was from Tulameen to Hwy 3, so it was downhill on the bedrock leg, which made it a high-pucker section!

BTW, this route, at least the interesting parts, is usually only open from July - end of Oct., under deep snow the rest of the tear.

[Trail X]

Valley of the gods is a nice place to camp, but the road is really mild. Its basically just gravel. But its a beautiful place.

There's a place on the west rim of Lake Powell that you can drive to, its basically a rock cliff, but it looks pretty awesome. I wanted to make it there on our trip, but I didn't have time.

Also, when near Moab, drive south down to Beef Basin and just explore around. We were running a bit late on time, and didn't have time to really explore that area. Its super remote and also super beautiful. That's where I shot this:

[DirtyBacon04]

Appreciate the suggestions. Keep em' coming!

Did some pricing for the "big" upgrades needed before the trip. Made me a lil nauseous.

Smittybilt RTT - $800

Wheels/Tires
Procomp Rims 51 series - $55.99 x 5 = $279.95
BFG AT KO - $198.99 x 5 = $994.95
Total rims/tires - $1,274.90

Fridge/Freeer
Whnter 45qt FM-45g - $454

Keep in mind, none of these prices include shipping, tax, install, etc. I might be able to shave a few buck here and there, maybe reuse one of the tires currently on my truck as the spare to save me $200. Smittybilt just came out with the RTT within the past few months, but i've only read good reviews on it. Plus, I'm on a budget, and $800 is on the low end for a RTT.

[DirtyBacon04]

Just ordered my RTT!!! It's always a little stomach-churning to pay large amounts at once, but I know it's a good investment.
I went with the new Smittybilt RTT. Not a whole lot of reviews on it yet, but it seems good. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles I wanted, but it's the only one in my price range that had free shipping. Otherwise, I was looking at adding over $200 to any other tent for shipping. I'm getting this delivered to my house for $846.94 (final), which is actually pretty good for a new RTT.
I like the Tuff Stuff tents, and they are in my price range, except can't find anywhere with free shipping on them.

It's due here on Feb 4th, so I suppose I better get my ass in gear to get my roof rack ready! Next is either the fridge or the laptop. Time is counting down! T-minus 6 months and 8 days

[Trail X]

Good luck with the tent! That Smitty tent looks nice from the pictures. What more bells and whistles do you need? That price is pretty darn good, and you won't have to spend a whole summer putting it together!

Your biggest challenge will be mocking up the tent on the roof rack and lifting it up there numerous times.

[DirtyBacon04]

The TuffStuff RTT had a fully covered entrance/ladder and came standard with the changing room for the bottom.

[The Roadie]

Nice one! I have the bottom room for mine, and used it once only in a place with other people nearby. Might be nice if staying a couple of days where it's raining.

[DirtyBacon04]

It's been a productive couple of days. Got my roof rack prepped for the tent. BTW it's a bitch to cut down 14ga SuperStrut with a Dremel. I think i went through 5-6 cutting wheels. Also got the foundation built for the rear platform. Still got some more customizing to do. Going to cut some kind of access panel for the fuse box, also probably coat the whole thing in Herculier to add some type of waterproofing. Next will the shelf I am building in lieu of drawers. You'll see what I mean as soon as I have the energy to build it.

[v7guy]

Looks like a good start, can't wait to see your thoughts on the roof top tent.

[mikekey]

Nice looking platform, that's a way better job then the ghetto one I originally rigged together on ours.

[navigator]

get an angle grinder from HF and some of those cutoff wheels, they are nice to have handy.

[DirtyBacon04]

Thanks guys, I'm excited about the progress. Can't wait to test out the tent.

Chris, funny thing is I have an angle grinder but I'm out of wheels for it.

[CoastieMike]

Here it is bro. I may be dumb but God made me so dumb because he made me so strong.

Ideas:
I'd have a resume written up of everything you have done. All the schools the corps sent you to. You'll obviously be carrying your own tools and you obviously have the hands on experience of using them. Maybe a mobile mechanic service would be a good idea. Having a No Liability form looked over by some kind of lawyer would be a must. And a few different kinds. Ones for repairs ones for recovery. There are a lot of people out there that are a //// ton dumber then you are I that some how make it out of their house every day.
Uber, you could take people to and from a trail or campsite or RV or hotel...
Get a badass camera and take badass pictures. Send them home and have them printed out on a canvas and framed then sell them. Make money
Varmint exterminator on the go. Big ass snake in the toilet? You just made cash AND dinner.
Stopping in at local VFWs ask around on bingo night for odd jobs manual labor tasks. While playing bingo= cash payouts plus cheaper beer and most likely a place to park over night.

You're in a great position to go do this thing. Your head is clear and knowledge of laws and how to obtain those laws is wise. That's what will or the breaks on these kinds of trips. People not thinking of "the lawman"
Bro some jackass started a kickstarter for making a chicken salad A kickstart for a cross county movie would be easy because then at the end of ityoull just have to edit together and send it to some company to make copies of it. A $20 buy in gets you a dvd a $40 buy in gets you a dvd and shirt a $60 buy in gets you dvd shirt coosie and so on. Best part is it goes into a paypal.
Set up a paypal if you haven't. It's easy as tits and will be in your bank account after a few days. Anyone can use their card to pay a paypal. You can use this for people to pay you if they don't want to use cash.
Art grants is something to look into. I have no real clue but I know people that have gotten them for very very dumbshit. If you come up with a topic for your trip to highlight and say you are going to make into a film and that film will be crudely shot because it's a cude topic BAM! Netflix.
And remember if you ever hit the point where are hungry there are going to be homeless shelters and soup kitchens all over the place. Get a meal and then think. Also homeless shelters will get you moving and thinking again. And certainly motivated.

As well as everyone on this thread I'm sure would throw in $20 of "You are doing this, you are the man, I salute you sir" it's not a handout, it's a man card because they haven't. (Not intentionally making anyone feel that they have to or that they should attempt this)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mikekey]

Remind me when the launch date is again?

[DirtyBacon04]

mid august. After our family vacation in the FL Keys, I'll be officially starting from Key West, FL.

[DirtyBacon04]

About time!!











I've been very pleased with the quality of this tent. The ease of assembly and the attention to details. I'm impressed. I'll do a full review soon. Plus I hate having pavement pictures only, so looks like I'll be doing some camping in the near future.

[maricard]

Look great...

[Infamouz]

great work man.