Well, as I mentioned to the folks over on the Avion thread, my son has been bugging me all week that he wanted to go camping and take the ATV's out to our favorite little beach here on Kodiak Island Alaska. Problem has been weather has been 20-30F with winds 25 to 55 mph for quite some time. Well, Thursday afternoon the wind settled to a mere 15 to 25 mph with occasional gusts to 30, so it was time to attempt to load the camper on to the truck.
SO said son assisted me crank up the 1966 Avion, got it loaded without incident, and then began loading the other goodies in. Then Friday afternoon I got off work a little early, fueled up, went home hooked on to the ATV trailer pulled up in front of the house and began loading ATV's, food and sundries for our overnight-er. He called his friend who came over as we were wrapping up the load-out. Got all the bikes gassed up, cinched up the torsion bars as I had been warned of lots of ice on the roads and lots of big frost heaves. Also strapped to the trailer our latest camping acquisition, a Honda EU2000i. Since I have added a forced air 12,000btu furnace, and with the weather as cold as it has been, i knew that my single group 27 180AH wet cell would be sorely tasked.
Once loaded up, we began the normal one hour drive From Kodiak "city" to Roslyn Creek. This is about a 55 to 60 mile drive. I had queried a coworker that lives less than a mile from the beach how the roads were, and he said that the ice was bad and the frost heaves were worse. He was right!
About half way out we stopped to let traffic by and gave me chance to snap off a few pics.
As you can see, there is ice around and some snow. I am running 19.5 studded snow tires, trailer has brakes on both axles, but just load range E trailer tires, non-studded.
All the way out we were seeing deer on the road, off the road, on the beach etc.
Here is one out on the beach,
As we got closer to our camping area the frost heaves that were so bad that we were in second gear on the ZF-6 and doing 15-25mph gave way to solid sheets of ice...
Two hours later we arrived at the beach and it was absolutely beautiful!!
Thats all the pics for Friday Night! Next Post will have the next days!!
Garry
SO said son assisted me crank up the 1966 Avion, got it loaded without incident, and then began loading the other goodies in. Then Friday afternoon I got off work a little early, fueled up, went home hooked on to the ATV trailer pulled up in front of the house and began loading ATV's, food and sundries for our overnight-er. He called his friend who came over as we were wrapping up the load-out. Got all the bikes gassed up, cinched up the torsion bars as I had been warned of lots of ice on the roads and lots of big frost heaves. Also strapped to the trailer our latest camping acquisition, a Honda EU2000i. Since I have added a forced air 12,000btu furnace, and with the weather as cold as it has been, i knew that my single group 27 180AH wet cell would be sorely tasked.
Once loaded up, we began the normal one hour drive From Kodiak "city" to Roslyn Creek. This is about a 55 to 60 mile drive. I had queried a coworker that lives less than a mile from the beach how the roads were, and he said that the ice was bad and the frost heaves were worse. He was right!
About half way out we stopped to let traffic by and gave me chance to snap off a few pics.
As you can see, there is ice around and some snow. I am running 19.5 studded snow tires, trailer has brakes on both axles, but just load range E trailer tires, non-studded.
All the way out we were seeing deer on the road, off the road, on the beach etc.
Here is one out on the beach,
As we got closer to our camping area the frost heaves that were so bad that we were in second gear on the ZF-6 and doing 15-25mph gave way to solid sheets of ice...
Two hours later we arrived at the beach and it was absolutely beautiful!!
Thats all the pics for Friday Night! Next Post will have the next days!!
Garry
So just to follow up, Thanks for all the great comments! So Friday night it got down to the high teens, we shut off the Honda Generator at about 8:30 pm, and didn't get up till about 7:30. Had to adjust the thermostat down through the night, because even with the vent cracked the 12,000 btu Atwood was cooking us out! Some of you may remember from the Avion Thread that before this fall all we had was the 3000 BTU wave catalytic heater. This past fall I finally installed the Atwood and it has been great. We also changed out the 5 year old Walmart group 27 house battery for a Group 27 180aH battery. And with the Boon Docker smart charger, it seems to be doing well, but I had not given the battery that much of a hard test. When we went to Anchorage for Thanksgiving, the camper stayed plugged into shore power all night and we were driving around during the day. Even with temps to 6 below zero, the Atwood kept the camper very toasty, but it did go through the propane at those temps. I was having to fill up every few days.
So when we got up, the furnace and Engel Fridge/freezer was still running well, and the battery indicated 10.8 V with both running. Had to bring in the generator to warm it up before it would start and stay running. Put the camper back on the generator at about 9:30 in the AM. While I was cooking breakfast the boys unloaded the bikes to enjoy the sunny but cold morning ridding the beach and trails and sliding around on all the ice!
I pulled off the screen, the pink 1 inch foam board and the reflectix from one of the dinette windows to let some light in and to watch the boys, and after I thawed the window I took these pics.
After Breakfast and alot of bike riding the boys were cold, so had some more hot chocolate and I had some more coffee. Then we loaded up the bikes and decided to explore a little more of the Chiniak area since the Native Corporation had done some more logging and it had been over a year since we had been out this far past our favorite beach.
The storms have been big this year and while it has been frigid, so we have alot of icy build up on the beach rocks that we don't normally see.
God created the Sitka Blacktail deer here on Kodiak to blend in very will with the terrain! We counted over a dozen along side the road between Friday and Saturday. The boys kept asking if it was legal to hunt this time of year. I had to keep reminding them that they had to wait till August.... ๐
This is a more typical Kodiak Beach. This is why Kodiak is lovingly know by the locals as "The Rock".
As we started the long process of driving back to town, these were the road conditions...
Here is the sign for a 10% grade with alot of ice. I was in first gear and slow before I even started down the grade...
This Guy didn't manage to stay on the road...
At the Olds River the sun had cleared the roads pretty well.
By this time all the cold weather and junk food and fun as well as my slow driving on the ice and frost heaves, both boys were out cold!
And the cattle were enjoying the sun as well!
As we reached the American river, there is a large dirt parking lot that everyone parks at to take the Saltery Trail in on their ATV's. This trail is not for the faint of heart, though not difficult in the summer can be quite sportin in the winter...
This is the view as I pulled of the clear main road...
And this is the view at in the parking lot.
As I was leaving the lot, I managed to wake up the boys, as I decided to see if I could get the near 50 foot of rig the break loose and do a controlled slide. It was only a little slide, as the studded tires on the truck work well, but the movement got the attention of the boys! ๐
More of the scenery on the drive back.
When we arrived back at the house, I had a fair bit of icicles and here you can see the studded 19.5 tires that I have that work VERY well!!
I hope that you have all enjoyed!
Garry
So when we got up, the furnace and Engel Fridge/freezer was still running well, and the battery indicated 10.8 V with both running. Had to bring in the generator to warm it up before it would start and stay running. Put the camper back on the generator at about 9:30 in the AM. While I was cooking breakfast the boys unloaded the bikes to enjoy the sunny but cold morning ridding the beach and trails and sliding around on all the ice!
I pulled off the screen, the pink 1 inch foam board and the reflectix from one of the dinette windows to let some light in and to watch the boys, and after I thawed the window I took these pics.
After Breakfast and alot of bike riding the boys were cold, so had some more hot chocolate and I had some more coffee. Then we loaded up the bikes and decided to explore a little more of the Chiniak area since the Native Corporation had done some more logging and it had been over a year since we had been out this far past our favorite beach.
The storms have been big this year and while it has been frigid, so we have alot of icy build up on the beach rocks that we don't normally see.
God created the Sitka Blacktail deer here on Kodiak to blend in very will with the terrain! We counted over a dozen along side the road between Friday and Saturday. The boys kept asking if it was legal to hunt this time of year. I had to keep reminding them that they had to wait till August.... ๐
This is a more typical Kodiak Beach. This is why Kodiak is lovingly know by the locals as "The Rock".
As we started the long process of driving back to town, these were the road conditions...
Here is the sign for a 10% grade with alot of ice. I was in first gear and slow before I even started down the grade...
This Guy didn't manage to stay on the road...
At the Olds River the sun had cleared the roads pretty well.
By this time all the cold weather and junk food and fun as well as my slow driving on the ice and frost heaves, both boys were out cold!
And the cattle were enjoying the sun as well!
As we reached the American river, there is a large dirt parking lot that everyone parks at to take the Saltery Trail in on their ATV's. This trail is not for the faint of heart, though not difficult in the summer can be quite sportin in the winter...
This is the view as I pulled of the clear main road...
And this is the view at in the parking lot.
As I was leaving the lot, I managed to wake up the boys, as I decided to see if I could get the near 50 foot of rig the break loose and do a controlled slide. It was only a little slide, as the studded tires on the truck work well, but the movement got the attention of the boys! ๐
More of the scenery on the drive back.
When we arrived back at the house, I had a fair bit of icicles and here you can see the studded 19.5 tires that I have that work VERY well!!
I hope that you have all enjoyed!
Garry
