Well That Was Unexpected!

Videos

After a completely unexpected start to the day, I take care of some business in town and then head out to Cedar Mesa to hunt for Native American archaeological sites. I end up at one of my favorite places to camp. (Click here if you can’t see the video below.)

GPS COORDINATES
* House on Fire Ruin trailhead: 37.5374, -109.7323
* House on Fire Ruin: 37.54376, -109.74461
* Mule Canyon Towers trailhead: 37.5325, -109.7322
* Mule Canyon Towers: 37.5264, -109.7321
* Butler Wash Ruins trailhead: 37.5243, -109.6324
* Butler Wash Ruins: 37.5252, -109.6399
* Arch next to Butler Wash Ruins: 37.5256, -109.6394
* Campsite: 37.266934, -109.809694

I Didn’t Plan for This!

Videos

In this video things don’t quite go as planned, but I make the most of it and have a great time. I then head up into the mountains and find a beautiful campsite. (Click here if you can’t see the video below.)

GPS COORDINATES
* Newspaper Rock: 37.987997, -109.518012
* Roadside Ruin trailhead: 38.163169, -109.762572
* Cave Springs Trail trailhead: 38.157228, -109.751666
* Pothole Point Trail trailhead: 38.170258, -109.806539
* Big Spring Canyon Overlook: 38.178284, -109.817132
* Slickrock Trail trailhead: 38.177042, -109.814502
* Wooden Shoe Arch viewpoint: 38.150536, -109.781514
* Campsite: 37.8773, -109.4465

I Had It All to Myself!

Videos

In this video I check out a natural arch and waterfall up in the La Sal Mountains east of Moab before descending back into the red rock desert to hunt for a little-known but absolutely incredible arch. (Click here if you can’t see the video below.)

VIDEO LINKS
* My Arches National Park hiking guidebook
* Kamchatka Gear (My online store)

GPS COORDINATES
* Geyser Pass: 38.4863, -109.2320
* Brumley Falls Trailhead (Squaw Spring Trailhead): 38.4791, -109.2901
* Brumley Falls: 38.4752, -109.2920
* Brumley Arch: 38.4754, -109.2924
* Otho Natural Bridge “trailhead”: 38.5764, -109.4593
* Engagement Ring Rock: 38.5674, -109.4562
* Otho Natural Bridge: 38.5546, -109.4672
* Campsite: 38.346866, -109.459636

Two Interesting New Products for SUV RVers, Vandwellers, and More

Articles

I occasionally check Kickstarter to see if there are any products that I think would be interesting or useful to those of us who spend time traveling and sleeping in our vehicles. For those unfamiliar with the site, Kickstarter is basically a way for people with ideas for products to raise money so that they can put those products into production. They do this by pre-selling the product before it’s been produced. If you back a project on Kickstarter, you pay the money and then can expect to get the product in 3 or 6 months or whenever it’s ready after being produced. (See the note at the end of this article.)

One of the products currently raising money on Kickstarter is called the Moki Doorstep. It’s a piece of metal that attaches to your car’s door frame to give you an extra step to make putting things on or taking things off of the roof of your car much easier. Here are some pics:

The Moki Doorstep
The Moki Doorstep
The Moki Doorstep
The Moki Doorstep

It costs $30. This product could be great for those of us who put cargo boxes, kayaks, skis, or solar panels on the roof of our vehicles. Check the Moki Doorstep out here on Kickstarter. There’s also a great video showing how it works, which I’m embedding below (though you may not be able to see it if you’re an email subscriber to the blog).

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/666339959/moki-doorstep

The second Kickstarter product I wanted to share is a bit silly but still, er… interesting. It’s called The Car Pool. It bills itself as “The world’s most portable toilet for men.” It’s basically a long tube. One end gets hooked up to an empty plastic bottle, and then the man pees into the other end. Here’s a pic:

The Car Pool
The Car Pool

To me, this product seems completely unnecessary for most people. If you’re a guy, it’s already not that hard to just pee into a wide-mouthed bottle. The one instance in which I could see it being useful is if you have limited mobility. Then maybe something like this could make a difference for you. But hey, if you think you’d like it, by all means get one and let me know how it goes. One Car Pool costs $19 to $25, depending on which tier you back the project at. There’s a dumb video that shows off the product, but I don’t want to embed it here. If you’re interested, go to the product’s page and watch it there.

What do you guys think of these products?

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Note: Backing a product on Kickstarter does not 100% guarantee that you’ll get it. You can learn more about risk and accountability on Kickstarter here.

A Storage Shelf Built Into a 1998 Toyota 4Runner

Articles

Last week I got an email from SUV RVing reader/viewer Galvain (Chasin’ Simplicity on YouTube) saying that he’d built a shelf in the back of his 1998 Toyota 4Runner. He then sent over some pictures and a video of his build and gave me permission to share them here. The shelf is based off of the one that I made in this video. Great job, Galvain! You can also check out his blog here.

Here are the pics:

Storage shelf build in the back of a 1998 Toyota 4Runner
Fitting the shelf in the back of the 1998 Toyota 4Runner
Storage shelf build in the back of a 1998 Toyota 4Runner
Adding bins and legs to the shelf
Storage shelf build in the back of a 1998 Toyota 4Runner
Adding a top to the shelf
Storage shelf build in the back of a 1998 Toyota 4Runner
Attaching the top of the shelf to the rest of the shelf with an adjustable cable tie
Storage shelf build in the back of a 1998 Toyota 4Runner
The shelf from inside the 4Runner
Storage shelf build in the back of a 1998 Toyota 4Runner
The plywood sleeping platform that goes over the gap where the head goes when laying down to sleep.

You can see Galvain talk about his builds (the plywood head platform and the shelf build) in his video here (click here if you can’t see it below). The shelf portion starts at 6 minutes 27 seconds.

Wild Success & Epic Failure (and Tacos)

Videos

In this video I head into southern Utah’s Arches National Park to look for some obscure and difficult-to-find natural and man-made features. I experience both success and failure and see some incredible scenery along the way. Oh, and then I make tacos. (Click here if you can’t see the video below.)

GPS COORDINATES
* First (small) arch: 38.8325, -109.7017
* Sibling Arch (approximate location): 38.8424, -109.7056
* Far Out Arch: 38.8242, -109.6505
* Campsite: 38.861979, -109.744811

VIDEO LINKS
* My Arches hiking book
* Julien inscription photo source
* Hanging table kit
* Little camping grill