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Area13
Explorer
May 19, 2018

Trip Report -The Dalles Campground, WA

The Dalles Our first “Dry” trip in our new 2019 Host Cascade. 4 days, 3 nights near Mt Rainier, close to home, about 1.5 hrs away. The 9.5' tree I have always heard about got dropped recently, safety hazard I guess with rot. Battery/solar was my obsession on this trip, lots of shade and clouds, brought my yami and didn’t use it! We ran the furnace quite a bit (high 40’s at night), radio, lights and fridge the whole time. I hit as low as 12.1 volts when we left, close to 50%.
Was a good relaxing trip with some hiking, no fishing with a high blown out river. Town of Greenwater near by had great beer and burgers at the Naches Tavern.
Truck did great with the camper, getting more comfortable with the setup, only 5 psi in the bags this trip, 10-15 next, little sag, not much, feels solid, ready for more!









Here's a video-------
The Dalles Campground-Greenwater, WA
  • Hi, we were just a couple of miles from you on that same day. After some booney road exploring, we found a beautiful open spot with a view of Mount Rainier on a Forest Service road about a mile off the highway. Nobody else around. Glad you had a good trip. Mark & Carol, Northern Lite & GMC 3500.
  • c.traveler2 wrote:
    That was a nice wooded campsite you shown in the video, just a suggestion when you pan,slow it down while panning. I've made this mistake myself and had videos come out on the blur side. Looks like a great place to stay at.

    How far did you go on your bullet proofing, just had my '07 done.


    Thanks on the advice, iphone amateur.

    I bought the truck last year with 76k for just over $20k, clean and straight. My good buddy is a 25 year Ford mechanic and approved the truck, full checkup, said it was a cream puff. We did the bullet proof diesel EGR, New oil cooler, blue spring fuel pressure, coolant flush with VC9, new degas bottle and cap, coolant filter, all fluids changed, stand pipes and dummy plugs, STC fitting, already had the newer turbo with drain pipe, newer FICM, other things I don't remember, wasn't cheap, didn't do head gaskets, he said don't tune it, don't need 'em, they're good, it's a 300k + truck. I bought a scan gauge 2 to monitor ECT/EOT deltas, FICM and alternator voltages and such. I flashed my FICM with the Atlas 40 tune. Helps turbo lag and peps it up a bit with no pressure on the heads. I have 4" exhaust with a high flow muffler so EGT's are not an issue with it.
    I LOVE the truck, drives nice and hauls perfect. I couldn't justify spending more on something newer since I have a work rig I make my living out of and only will drive this truck 3-4k a year.
  • That was a nice wooded campsite you shown in the video, just a suggestion when you pan,slow it down while panning. I've made this mistake myself and had videos come out on the blur side. Looks like a great place to stay at.

    How far did you go on your bullet proofing, just had my '07 done.