Miguel Sanchez
Observer
So, this a semi-maiden voyage for the recently semi-completed early Bronco adventure trailer. The trailer build thread is here:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/127104-Early-Bronco-Expo-Trailer-Build
Anyway, we left Bend on Friday morning with our final destination for the day planned to be Summer Lake Hot Springs. East on Hwy 20 and turn south in Millican to catch China Hat Rd through to Fort Rock, the Christmas Valley for fuel and south via Fandango Canyon to Paisley and then on to the hot springs. Sounded so simple...
It'll never be this clean again!
Headed down China Hat Rd
Stop at South Ice Cave for a little spelunking!
Fort Rock is in sight!
A stop at the Fort Rock cemetery provided just the setting for a couple of turkey sandwiches and an iced tea. A break from the washboard gravel road was needed, and we were pleasantly surprised to find very little dust inside the trailer. Little did we know what was yet to come...
After a quick stop in Christmas Valley to top off with fuel and buy another bag of ice and a gallon of anti-freeze (I gave mine to a stranded couple in a Chevy van back on China Hat road - they had lost a hose, fixed it, but were pouring their drinking water in the radiator), we headed on down the road and turned off to head south on Fandango Canyon. It's about 60 miles through to Paisley, so I guessed +/- 3 hours to setting up camp and soaking in the hot springs
The first 3 miles were pretty tame. Just dirt/gravel road stuff, no problem rolling at 20 to 30 mph. After that, things got a bit rougher! I wouldn't call any of the Fandango super challenging or even treacherous, but it was GRUELING! It got pretty rocky:
and dusty:
and seemingly endless... We spent hours crawling in low range, 1st gear, to avoid whiplash. It took 7 hours to go 57 miles, and shook up the contents of our kit pretty good. My 7 gallon water jug burst at the bottom and leaked all over inside the trailer, a few cans of pop/beer burst inside the cooler and emptied themselves, the remaining cans literally did somersaults and were inverted in the ice! Suffice it to say the fun was over after the first 4 hours. When we finally reached the good road I couldn't contain myself!
We rolled into the hot springs and set up camp. Dinner was spaghetti and garlic bread, with a few Deschutes Twilight Ales for good measure. The hot springs were very welcome to soak the dust away!
After a lengthy soak in the springs the next morning, we rolled out for our next stop - the Sunstone Rockhounding area north of Plush, OR. We would head up 395 to Hogback Rd., then take Corn Lake Rd. over to the mines. I swear I was just over there last year, but when did Abert Lake go dry..??
Hogback and Corn Lake roads are a breeze - everything from here forward will be compared to Fandango, and this is no comparison!
We rolled in to the Sunstone Rockhounding area and set up camp quickly. As soon as we were set up, we headed out to look for Sunstones. This was the first time we have done this, and while we found quite a lot of good stones, we also learned a bunch about what to do next time. When we come back, it will be with screens and shovels. We were surface hunting, and still found all of these:
The most beautiful thing we found on the whole trip was the sunset over the Warner Valley!
This morning, we scratched around for a few more sunstones, and then headed for home! It would take us about 1.5 hours of gravel and 3 hours of pavement to find our way back to Bend. As is typical for me, once we were on a homeward bound mission, I only stopped for gas and the occasional dry spot in the ditch that needed moisture. I tend to take less pictures once the adventure is winding down... Besides, the Portal limited me to 25 pictures in this post.
All in all, the trailer performed great, and certainly passed the off-road/rough-road test with flying colors. The left side brake is very grabby now though, I suspect being full of dust. I'll hose it out this week and see if that helps.
'Till next time!
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/127104-Early-Bronco-Expo-Trailer-Build
Anyway, we left Bend on Friday morning with our final destination for the day planned to be Summer Lake Hot Springs. East on Hwy 20 and turn south in Millican to catch China Hat Rd through to Fort Rock, the Christmas Valley for fuel and south via Fandango Canyon to Paisley and then on to the hot springs. Sounded so simple...
It'll never be this clean again!
Headed down China Hat Rd
Stop at South Ice Cave for a little spelunking!
Fort Rock is in sight!
A stop at the Fort Rock cemetery provided just the setting for a couple of turkey sandwiches and an iced tea. A break from the washboard gravel road was needed, and we were pleasantly surprised to find very little dust inside the trailer. Little did we know what was yet to come...
After a quick stop in Christmas Valley to top off with fuel and buy another bag of ice and a gallon of anti-freeze (I gave mine to a stranded couple in a Chevy van back on China Hat road - they had lost a hose, fixed it, but were pouring their drinking water in the radiator), we headed on down the road and turned off to head south on Fandango Canyon. It's about 60 miles through to Paisley, so I guessed +/- 3 hours to setting up camp and soaking in the hot springs
The first 3 miles were pretty tame. Just dirt/gravel road stuff, no problem rolling at 20 to 30 mph. After that, things got a bit rougher! I wouldn't call any of the Fandango super challenging or even treacherous, but it was GRUELING! It got pretty rocky:
and dusty:
and seemingly endless... We spent hours crawling in low range, 1st gear, to avoid whiplash. It took 7 hours to go 57 miles, and shook up the contents of our kit pretty good. My 7 gallon water jug burst at the bottom and leaked all over inside the trailer, a few cans of pop/beer burst inside the cooler and emptied themselves, the remaining cans literally did somersaults and were inverted in the ice! Suffice it to say the fun was over after the first 4 hours. When we finally reached the good road I couldn't contain myself!
We rolled into the hot springs and set up camp. Dinner was spaghetti and garlic bread, with a few Deschutes Twilight Ales for good measure. The hot springs were very welcome to soak the dust away!
After a lengthy soak in the springs the next morning, we rolled out for our next stop - the Sunstone Rockhounding area north of Plush, OR. We would head up 395 to Hogback Rd., then take Corn Lake Rd. over to the mines. I swear I was just over there last year, but when did Abert Lake go dry..??
Hogback and Corn Lake roads are a breeze - everything from here forward will be compared to Fandango, and this is no comparison!
We rolled in to the Sunstone Rockhounding area and set up camp quickly. As soon as we were set up, we headed out to look for Sunstones. This was the first time we have done this, and while we found quite a lot of good stones, we also learned a bunch about what to do next time. When we come back, it will be with screens and shovels. We were surface hunting, and still found all of these:
The most beautiful thing we found on the whole trip was the sunset over the Warner Valley!
This morning, we scratched around for a few more sunstones, and then headed for home! It would take us about 1.5 hours of gravel and 3 hours of pavement to find our way back to Bend. As is typical for me, once we were on a homeward bound mission, I only stopped for gas and the occasional dry spot in the ditch that needed moisture. I tend to take less pictures once the adventure is winding down... Besides, the Portal limited me to 25 pictures in this post.
All in all, the trailer performed great, and certainly passed the off-road/rough-road test with flying colors. The left side brake is very grabby now though, I suspect being full of dust. I'll hose it out this week and see if that helps.
'Till next time!
