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Old 12-01-2013, 10:58 PM   #1
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Near Walupt Lake (WA) 8/24/2013

Second trip in our new (to us) van. We headed from Seattle down to the Gifford-Pinchot NF near Randle, WA. Waylon, the mountain dog loves riding in the van



We found a nice grassy spot for lunch.



As the dogs were knuckle-heading around in the woods, they stirred up some kind of wasp/yellowjackets. Desert dog (Nachita) booked it back to the van but Mountain dog managed to let a few of them burrow into his fur. For some reason, they didn't sting but man, they were mad. We got them all out with no further drama.

We cruised around the FS roads in the area just to see what's around. I found a little trail that looked like it might end with a cool campsite. It didn't. But I still got to drop the van in to 4Low and feel the awesomeness. I friggin love how this van handles on tight terrain. Turnarounds need no more width than my Tacoma.

There's a CG at Walupt Lake that's pretty cool, but crowded. We planned on boondocking so we found an overgrown side road with a wide spot. Our map and compass said we should have a view of Mt. Adams, and we kind of did...


We set up camp and started puttering around.



The wife thoroughly enjoys van camping.


We took a road-hike. Sticks are essential equipment for camping.


Toward dusk, the clouds cleared and we got some pretty cool views of Mt Adams.




The boy is learning how to navigate. He helped us pick our exit route.


On the way back to Seattle, we stopped for lunch near Alder Lake just about the time when the steam train pulled in. Like any 2-year-old since the start of the industrial revolution, my son is really into trains and he thought this was AWESOME.


I had flushed out the freshwater system, but I hadn't changed the Seagull filter. Our water tasted awful. Luckily we brought some jugs.
Still didn't need to use the heater. Still haven't scratched the 4wd itch.
We saw a maroon SMB on our way back into town.

Prior to this trip, I installed the Scangauge. With the gauge, I started to notice the narrow separation of the EOT and ECT... but I figured it was just the hilly terrain- I never had much steady-state throttle conditions.

Still a great trip!

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Old 12-02-2013, 08:07 AM   #2
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Re: Near Walupt Lake (WA)

Love me some trip reports!
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Old 12-02-2013, 08:37 AM   #3
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Re: Near Walupt Lake (WA)

Very cool. Trains, camping, no rain (it looks like, this time), a great site with a mountain view, it doesn't get any better than that!

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Old 12-02-2013, 04:16 PM   #4
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Re: Near Walupt Lake (WA)

Once more a nice trip report. Your family really seems to enjoy the SMB !
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Old 12-11-2013, 04:58 PM   #5
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Re: Near Walupt Lake (WA)

Nice report thanks...I love seeing different areas. Figured it would have been a bit colder or was that from earlier this year? Here is a link to cleaning the water tank. Some cities just have bad water...if you clean the tank and add fresh good tasting water you should be OK. But I still carry water to drink

viewtopic.php?f=40&t=2688
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Old 12-11-2013, 06:04 PM   #6
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Re: Near Walupt Lake (WA)

Daveb, the trip was from earlier this year- I guess I should have dated the trip. There's probably a bunch of snow up there now.

Prior to this trip, I drained the propylene glycol the PO had in the tank and flushed it a few times with hose water, driving around so it sloshed. Then I filled it up with properly diluted 5-star chemicals Starsan (I use it for homebrewing) and ran that through the whole system with the Seagull filter out of the loop. I thought it tasted OK after that so we went camping (with the filter back in the loop...). When we got back, I replaced the filter and now it tastes wonderful.

Our city water tastes great here.
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Old 12-11-2013, 08:33 PM   #7
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Re: Near Walupt Lake (WA) 8/24/2013

I love driving over white pass, Packwood, Randal,Morton I spent many summers on that side of the cascades hunting bear,cougar back when I had hounds when I was a kid.
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