BLUERIBBON COALITION ACTION ALERT!
The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest is formulating a new travel plan that will limit ALL vehicle use to designated roads, trails and areas. On August 26, 2008, the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) was published in the Federal Register, beginning the public scoping period for travel management. (more…)
BLUERIBBON COALITION ACTION ALERT!
Forest Service to Host Next Series of Open Houses on Motorized Access
The Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests and Crooked River Grassland are formulating a new travel plan that will limit ALL vehicle use to designated roads, trails and areas. The public is invited to attend any of several upcoming open houses scheduled in Central Oregon communities. The Forest Service (FS) is asking for your input during the 45-day public comment period, which will run through June 15, 2008.
Over the past year, personnel at the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests have been working with citizens, as well as state, county and local governments to identify how to provide for motorized access to dispersed campsites. The FS is now ready to begin environmental analysis of the proposal.
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Anybody who ventures away from well-maintained forest roads will eventually be faced with the decision to attempt a water crossing or not.
Before you go out for your next overland adventure, you should learn a little about your vehicle, its capabilities and some modifications that will help you in case you are faced with a water crossing.
Once you’re about to make the water crossing, you’ll need to do some planning to increase your chances of a successful water crossing.
Then after you successfully made your water crossing, there are some maintenance items that need to be dealt with.
All these topics are discussed in a great article titled Water Crossing How To over at Offroad-Adventure-Travel.com.
This information will help you safely make water crossings without major damage to your vehicle.
You can read more off-road adventure travel tips at http://www.offroad-adventure-travel.com/tech.html.
When I purchased my Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser, I knew there were issues with the power windows. Except for the drivers door, all the windows rolled up and down, not perfect but they worked. Then one rainey day last Fall, I rolled down the rear door window and pop, the window would not roll up any more. Luckily, I wasn’t too far from home.
As a temporary fix, I wedged a door shim between the glass and door panel. There it stayed until I had a dry day to diagnose and fix the problem. Here are the steps I took to disassemble, diagnose and repair the problem.
After reading a few threads on ih8mud.com and with my factory service manual in hand, I was ready to tackle the problem.
Having recently witnessing first hand what a deer can do to a full size vehicle at highway speeds and considering the locations I travel to and from, I decided it was time to add a little protection to the front of my Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser.
My needs for protection of the front of Land Cruiser were simple, maximum front end protection from animal strikes and other objects, and a strong point to mount a future winch. Since I’m building my Land Cruiser as an overland expedition type vehicle, there was no need for super high clearance rock crawling bumpers. I wanted a bumper that would increase the chances of reaching my destination if the unthinkable happens.
If you’ve been looking for an alternative to standard tent camping, a roof top tent on your expedition vehicle may be a viable option for your needs.
Imagine only taking minutes to set up and tear down the tent. No more trying to find that perfect level, lump-free, dry spot to pitch your tent. No more valuable cargo space taken up by a tent, mattress and sleeping bags. Maybe I getting old but it sounds good to me.
There are many roof top tents available in the United States, each with features that are great for specific purposes. The latest entry into this market is the Simpson II tent from ARB. From the early versions I had the privledge to view, its a nice set up to have. It would sure look nice on my Land Cruiser.
For further information, please read the ARB Press Release.
Last Saturday, two Chilean people beat the “Driving to the highest altitude by car” world record on the slopes of the Ojos del Salado volcano, in the Atacama Desert, Chile.
Gonzalo Bravo, the driver and his spotter, Eduardo Canales, reached the 21.942 ft on their tiny Suzuki Samurai. Read More
If you’re new to GPS (like me) and want to use your GPS unit for vehicle dependant expeditions and exploring, paddlenbike over at 4wdtrips.net has a great post titled “Thinking about GPS? Some things to consider”. He reviews what configurations are available and what actually works for backcountry off-road travel. Enjoy.
Since I purchased my 1992 Toyota FJ-80 Land Cruiser, I noticed, that when compared to other 80-series Land Cruisers, my FJ-80 actually sat a little higher than the typical soccer mom vehicle. Sometime in the past, a previous owner must have installed some aftermarket suspension on the Land Cruiser. Whatever brand of suspension was installed, it did not ride very well, providing a spine-jarring ride just over the rough pavement. There had to be a change.
My intended use for the Land Cruiser is primarily as a daily driver and to double as an expedition capable vehicle for taking the family camping, exploring, snowboarding and mild wheeling. I didn’t need a suspension system for extreme four wheeling or rock crawling. I needed a suspension that allows for a good ride when either empty or when carrying a load for a week-long adventure.
Just launched is a new forum at http://www.pnwoutdoors.net for all of you to discuss and share your favorite Pacific Northwest outdoor activities.
Discuss and plan trips. Discuss outdoor activities including wheeling, camping, hiking, snowboarding, skiing, mountain biking and more. I’ll be adding more categories as the forum takes shape.
Registration is simple and free. Join today and introduce yourself on the forum. Share your passion for the Northwest outdoors.