May 2007 Oregon Camping

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Wed May 30, 2007 9:10 am

Next time. We were looking forward to meeting you! Every car that came by we were listening for that VW sound...
Deschutes is coming up.

chachi · Post by **chachi** » Wed May 30, 2007 10:04 am

hey, i really want to make a july trip with you guys but the 21st and 28th are both out. could we get something going for the w/e of the 14th?

chachi · Post by **chachi** » Wed May 30, 2007 10:05 am

got curtains up in the bus last night, just another tick on the camping list of to-dos, albeit a small tick.

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Wed May 30, 2007 11:22 am

I'm a campin fool so if anyone wants to go for a weekend prior to that I'm in! (unless I'm already out there somewhere. I vow to be in the woods as frequently as possible this summer)
Gypsie was talkin about someplace around Mt. Hood. Mebbe he can put somethin together. June is fresh too!

spiffy · Post by **spiffy** » Thu May 31, 2007 9:14 pm

Ahhhh, I just got to view the pictures!

I smell pickles and mentholatum gum.

Hope you guys left a wilson out there to commerate the meeting of good friends.

Gypsie · Post by **Gypsie** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 7:21 am

IFBwax wrote:Only if I get to bring the bus I find in a field the day of the campout.

=D>

This is one funny man. Okay I will come out of hiding with my telling of the camping story.

This trip almost did not happen for me. I was getting ready to start a new job and finishing up with some old business and then out of nowhere (well, actually from across the street) comes this offer to sell me a '80 westy for a good price. I tell the camping crew I am going to spend the weekend working on it. That went over like a fart in church. I decide that I will work on the westy as much as i can before going camping

I go to the field where it has been sitting for the past eight months. I have tools, a bentley and a fierce determination to make this thing work. I do not have a key at this point and it will be delivered by 5:00pm on Friday (the day before the camping trip). I am able to use a Gypsie Trick or two to get the thing open and begin to take things apart and examine. put pattery on a charger at noon, change plugs, check ignition system. put in some fresh gas, clean stuff, twiddle, clean more stuff, when it was 4:20 I danced and plucked out a song or two with the mandolin, all to the wide eyed consternation of the folk heading home early to get out for the holiday weekend. It was a country road and I think they were a bit suprprised to see someone in said field let alone a straw hat wearing, greasy, mandolin picken', dancin' fool.
The key arrived at 5ish and I istalled the battery, turned the key... she cranked about 5-6 times and fired up. then died. I had the timing light and tach hooked up so I started her again and kept her running until hte oil filled the lifters and things were running smoother. when she was running on her own i went back and adjusted the timing. There was a metal timing scale that had no numbers or any marks other than a very distinct yellow line that I presumed to be the correct timing point.

It was sounding good. I packed up the tools and pulled the westy out of the field. She had gumption! It drove great. Good power, I was ecstatic. i got it home and gave her a thorough cleaning. Here is where things started to go sideways. I will tell you folk if you promise not to tell Colin of my foolishness... I really wanted to show of my new acquisition. I packed her up with camping gear and early next morning went to meet up with the camping crew. I pulled in beaming. I puffed and strutted a bit and then we headed out. just out of Estecada is a nice little climb that puts even a well tuned rig to the test. I began well, but soon began to lose power, I settled in to a 25mph pace on this 6% grade. when I hit the top of the hill it died. I had IFBwax behind me and he stopped with me. I started removing things from the engine area and he went ahead to get Jasan and Bob. I had brought the timing light, tach, compression tester, and a grip of tools for just such an occasion. I decided to check dwell and timing first. Dwell was reading 20. timing mark (the yellow line) was indicating TDC (I checked the position compared to Charly Brown's scale.
I had been running with bad timing and bad point gap. Jasan pointed out several apparent vacuum leaks (in all the typical places). Road side repairs and a bucket load of hope and I started her up again. She ran better than a few moments ago so I decided to give her another go. We headed down the other side of the hill and turned off onto the road into the outback. This was an uphill road and she bogged and died just about immediately. She was leaking a fuelly oily mix. Not much but definately under load. More working in the engine compartment. A compression rtest of #3 showed a max of 30psi. This warranted a change of plan. I called AAA and asked for a flatbed. I waved the fellas on with a promise to be there soon. I told AAA to look for the guy with the straw hat and the mandolin. I have regular AAA with 3 miles of towing and I had 32 miles to get home. at 3.50 a mile that was looking to be a very awckward discussion when I got home to explain how the new van I bought broke down and cost another $100 to get her home and I still wanted to get out to the woods. Luckily for me the driver was a little feat fan and we blasted some great tunes all the way home and when we arrived my wife was not there. I had him set her down in the driveway and I paid him quick and shooed him off. I made the quick swap of gear and pulled out in the Gypsie Wagon. I arrived at the campsite at 4:30 but Bob helped me turn back time.
The weekend was great. The hikes were great. The swirling couds were great (we were camping in the clouds and you could see the vapor swirling all around.
We had a great hike that brought us from 4500 feet to 2500 feet in two miles. It was cool to see the flora change as we descended. mushrooms, flowers, and scenic wonder all around!

lesson for me is to not jump the gun about taking an unknown quantity (like a van that I really don't know what is happening inside) into the woods. The other lesson is to keep hanging out with these guys because they are the cats jpajamas. Supportive, generous, and not too smelly.

Spiffy,
making Wilson's is your thing. I brought my wilson and only had a few worried moments of thinking he got tossed into the fire. He stood watch and stirred the coals when he could. He is resting comfortably in his holder. I actually had a little twilight zone moment thinking of him sending out 'kill the van Juju" because he was sitting at home in the Wagon and I was heading out to the woods. When I got back he was staring at me with those penetrating eyes of his.[/i]

spiffy · Post by **spiffy** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:30 am

Wow! Usually my Wilson's are hex-free, maybe the Gypsie Wagon put him up to the jinxery? Let me know if you need some parts for the new ride, I have some blinkets and bloots down in the basement that are bored to death.

ruckman101 · Post by **ruckman101** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:46 am

You Bastards!

That'll learn me the consequences of not checking in. Great to see and hear from Chachi again! Haven't seen ya in quite a spell.

Actually, I spent that weekend POR15ing the rust on the floor of my gutted Bertha, had to be done, so wouldn't have been able to make it anyway. Great weather for it. And up at Amboy with that great view of Mt St Helens.

Been putting the hours in, scrambling to finish the new curtains now. $39 a yard for the replicated fabric. The stuff I picked up was cheaper, but still an investment. Tighter pattern, redder, thicker (insulation good, I figure). I have only the curtain behind the closet in, but I like it.

Maupin.

neal

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 8:50 am

Checkit out, a Lookout Springs update:

Me: Was Lookout Springs still clean? Hauled out a lot of trash about 4 months back but usually it doesn't last long.

Rob (from Trailadvocates): No, unfortunately there was quite a bit of trash, including a bunch of pop/beer cans.

And we cleaned that place spotless. Only lasted 3 months, so sad. I can't believe the idiots didn't notice how clean it was. Guess that's how they piss around their territory. Of course Rob could have picked up some of the trash...

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:04 pm

I'm convinced that some humans are more closely related to rats than apes. It's the rats that shit where they eat and sleep. I think that area is still to close to the redneck contingent to be kept in respectable shape.

IFBwax · Post by **IFBwax** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 9:34 pm

DAmn it to hell westy78.. you beat me to it on that AVITAR!!!!!!

IFBwax · Post by **IFBwax** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 9:39 pm

Gypsie wrote:
IFBwax wrote:Only if I get to bring the bus I find in a field the day of the campout.

=D>
This is one funny man. [/i]

You make camping a blast! I wish I could bottle your exuberance for life!

It was a memorable trip. And as you may know, it wasn't long after that trip that Charlie began running like crap.. needing a rebuild. So I may have burned a bit of Karma with that little shot at you.

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:50 am

Another Lookout Springs update, someone has hiked that trail down to Roaring River. Interesting, and there's even a pic of some of my flagging:
http://portlandhikers.com/forums/thread/25207.aspx

spiffy · Post by **spiffy** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:10 am

Nice, beautiful area

I need to figure out how to do those water pics with my camera...that is a really cool trick.

About how long is that loop in red that the guy wants to hike 30 miles or so?

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:31 am

At least! What's the point of that? Testosterone + ego. Sometimes I go less than a mile when doing heavy trail work or exploration. That's the shizzle, you don't see anyone out there, still the last of the Backcountry.

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

May 2007 Oregon Camping