Thanksgiving plans

[Lighthawk]

Big storm up here in the Sierra foothills. Looks like a war zone at 3,000' with black oaks, maples and pines & cedars busted all over PG&E lines. It dumped about 16" yesterday evening. Oaks fell across my power/phone/cable (internet!), so who knows when I'll get power.

So: Best thing to do is leave town!
We planned our first trip to Soldier Meadows and hoped to run High Rock Cyn on our way back to Cali. Now we're not so sure with all the precip and predicted cold. Yes, we have a furnace in our insulated Hawk, but if it's 25F outside, it's not that much fun.

I'm wondering if anyone has winter experience in Black Rock? We know enough not to drive the playa, fer cryin' out loud.
But seriously, is it accessible in the winter? Particularly over TDay.

Looking for suggestions to alternate destinations. I would also love to take my sweetheart to Saline Hot Springs for her first visit, but am concerned with A: crowds at the springs over the holiday and B: North Pass road conditions.
I've driven the route before, but not during snow.

Thought about a run to Joshua Tree, but all reserved sites are gone. We've got five days to use and are open to ideas.
Mostly I was hoping to be somewhere by mid-day thursday to use my new Webber Q120 BBQ and do up a turkey breast!

Andy

 

[Ted]

Andy,

Go to page 6 of the trip reports and read DD's and my trip reports for Black Rock. In short, it is a slippery mess when wet. My wife and I were considering going there for Turkey Day ourselves, but due to the recent weather have gone to Plan B. BTW, since we aren't to far away from each other, Plan B is Pinnacles National Monument. Yes, the whole trip is paved and we will be camping in a campground, but considering the weather, and the fact there is good hiking there and you can see condors, we're ok with that.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Hi Lighthawk,

I have been into the Blackrock in winter when the playa was a 2" deep lake, when the playa was dry as a bone, and when there was 2" of dry snow covering it. Escaping the storm that had caught us in Soldier Meadows, we drove on the snow-covered playa. We were the only tracks and since it was still snowing, we were in and out of a white outs and so had a little trouble finding the ramps leading from the playa to the pavement.

I guess you could give Bruno's Lake Club a call and ask Bruno what the weather up there is doing. First tell him you are interested in a room and then ask about the weather ;-)

Stew

 

[Desert Rancher]

If you want to head south-Mojave preserve has plenty of open camping, similar desert to Joshua Tree and a bit closer. Kelso train depot has been restored and is worth a visit. Forget Saline-it will be like a zoo.

i just had a BBQ'd Turkey breast last night. Marinaded in garlic and teri. Love those.

 

[Desert Rancher]

Also-Panamint Springs Resort has an annual free Turkey dinner Thursday, but that may be busy...

 

[Lighthawk]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I just knewBlack Rock would be extremely muddy and likely subfreezing, and Saline Hot Springs would be a zoo. Guess I just needed to hear it from someone else too.

Plans resolved by my ever-resourceful woman: She found us camping reservations at Benton. Each site has it's own hot tub / spring and we know the area. There's nearby Chidalgo Canyon petroglyphs, some mining sites, possibly Mono Lk and maybe a long side trip to Fish Lake Hot Springs that will keep us busy over TDay weekend.

And, oh yeah. The Webber will be put to good use!

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Andy,

Go to page 6 of the trip reports and read DD's and my trip reports for Black Rock. In short, it is a slippery mess when wet. My wife and I were considering going there for Turkey Day ourselves, but due to the recent weather have gone to Plan B. BTW, since we aren't to far away from each other, Plan B is Pinnacles National Monument. Yes, the whole trip is paved and we will be camping in a campground, but considering the weather, and the fact there is good hiking there and you can see condors, we're ok with that.



Good choice Ted.The Pinnacles are nice this time of the year.Living as close as we do we go to the west side several times during the year,mostly day trips.We hope to take a nice trip to the east side and camp,hike for a few days some time after the new year.Have a good turkey day to all.

Frank

 

[Lighthawk]

First night @ Benton was maybe 12 degrees. FWC furnace worked like a champ with our reflectix liner to keep us comfy. I made the mistake of leaving the camper out, unheated the night before wse left, so had to thaw out the pump/drain, but all seems to be working.

Question: how many nights of heating (12 hrs) do folks get off one 5 gal propane bottle. The gauge looked 3/4 full this morning, but it's not real accurate.

 

[craig333]

Lots. I generally fill my tank once a season. Twice if I do a lot of barbecuing.

 

[Darryla]

Lighthawk: Just an opinion. We camp quite a bit on 3 - 4 day trips and we run the appliances to their full use. I fill up the propane every 3 to 4 trips. Now, the bottle probably is only a little more than 1/2 empty. But as I do with gas for the truck, I fill everything up as close to when I am half empty. You never know where you end up or when you may be stranded. Always bring coats that you may not need, extra food and water, and fill up the propane early. 3 gallons is only about $10.00. Why risk it?. Especially in the winter.

Have fun out there, drive slow and error on the side of safety. Carry chains and a fold up shovel even if you have 4 wheel drive.

Darryl

 

[Ted]

Wow, 12 degrees! That beats our record. Can't say exactly how long it will last, but here is our moste recent activity on a fill. Typical two night weekend running only the refrigerator on propane, followed by a four day weekend running the refrigerator and a little bit of heat. This weekend we had a night at 21 and a night at 23 degrees. We set the heater for 45 and it ran quite often (no arctic pack or added insulation). Our guage is useless also, so we worried that it might be getting low. Got a fill and it only took 3.7 gallons, still 1/3 full. So I would estimate you could get four days and nights of running the fridge and the heater in cold weather. But like Craig said, in good weather and I'm not running the heater, the tank will run the fridge for a couple of weeks at least.

 

[Lighthawk]

[

quote name='Darryla' date='26 November 2010 - 08:54 AM' timestamp='1290790478' post='43718']
Lighthawk: Just an opinion. We camp quite a bit on 3 - 4 day trips and we run the appliances to their full use. I fill up the propane every 3 to 4 trips. Now, the bottle probably is only a little more than 1/2 empty. But as I do with gas for the truck, I fill everything up as close to when I am half empty. You never know where you end up or when you may be stranded. Always bring coats that you may not need, extra food and water, and fill up the propane early. 3 gallons is only about $10.00. Why risk it?. Especially in the winter.

Have fun out there, drive slow and error on the side of safety. Carry chains and a fold up shovel even if you have 4 wheel drive.

Darryl

Well, after two nights @ Benton with lows of 10F, we drove to Bishop via Fish Slough Rd, and bought .93 of a. A gallon! Amazing efficiency, considering the furnace cycled all night. The reflectix helps immensely.

We went on to Fish Lake Valley and camped at the springs. The portable Webber 120 was awesome again, with grilled corn at night and a roasted apple for breakfast. And I roasted some seranos for salsa. Muy sabroso!

We wanted to come home, after learning that PG&E had restored power after six days. But 80 is closed due to spinnouts, so I'm here @ Ft Churchill State Park, NV typing on my Droid phone. Yay for 3G cell sevice.
[/quote]

 

[Darryla]

Sounds like a good time. I am going to look up those places. Interestingly, we use that barbecue at home and the smaller basic one remains in the camper. That reflective wrap seems to work well. I need to investigate that. I may be a little conservative, but I am probably running the minimum on suspension and I do not have a winch so I try to take some basic precautions. I probably even replace the batteries before their time in both the truck and the camper.

Darryl

 

[Funstini]

Was thinking about a trip this weekend to the Blackrock. Yeah you don't want to be there (on the playa) when it's wet, you'll just bury the axles. I was up above the playa one time when a rain storm came in, the next morning I saw a small dot out on the playa. Took a picture and got back home and blew it up on the computer and noticed it was a camp with the campers in about 6 inches of water, and no way out. I'm sure they had to spend a couple days there before they could get out.

About winter camping below 20 degrees ........ haven't quite got it figured out. If it's cold outside and I use the furnace it runs all the time and it is pretty loud. I bought a small electric heater and use it with a converter and also a generator. When using the generator it runs on the faster speed, which is loud and also uses a lot more fuel and only good for a few hours. I haven't tried the converter all night because I'm afraid of running down the two blue top batteries in the camper then then running down the truck batteries. I'm thinking about just running the small electric heater on the lowest setting just to take the chill out of the camper and keep things from freezing and use the furnace when it get gets real cold inside. I have to investigate how the they stay warm on those winter trips to Alaska and the Yukon. It's a test in progress.

 

[MarkBC]

About winter camping below 20 degrees ........ haven't quite got it figured out.


Don't want to hijack this thread, but since its subject has kinda expired anyway...
Funstini - Have you considered/tried a propane catalytic heater, such as a Wave or a Buddy? Silent and no electric draw -- radiant heat.
Lots of posts here on WTW about the Wave in particular...search on "Wave" if interested.