Vanagons in the Wilderness Thread

[bread geek]

camping w/ family colebrook new hampshire

[Steelhead]

Drove 40 miles of fire roads to acces the canyon rim of the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus river. The rig performed like a champ - even on the some very unforgiving and treacherous terrain. Only other vehicle I saw on the road was a lifted wrangler with huge tires.

Massive wildfire and subsequent logging last year made for an interesting ecosystem. Bushwacked down 2300 vertical feet in less than a mile (steep!) to fly fish for trout in untouched and nearly inaccessible waters. The hike out was brutal but the trip was great. I've been visualizing this effort on google earth and topos for 10 years and finally found the time and someone who would go with me (dog willie, laying down exhausted in the shade). Wish I had brought a better camera - blakberry pics will have to suffice.

caught 6 rainbows in this pool alone...

Scenic valley on the drive out

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'77 Bay Window / '89 Caratsburg (aka. the Stormtrooper)

[crazyvwvanman]

Baja last week, Sea of Cortez, 400+ miles south of the border.

[carterzest]

left this one out:

Unity Reservoir, Oregon, amongst the elephants. Got the only campsite with open door to lake view. Bottle of wine and perfect light for this thread!

I do not think it gets any better than this(22.00 shower + campsite after three nights prior stealth camping.....)

Me thinks that this is what these Vanagons is all about!

this was the other way looking East

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Happiness=Portland, Oregon in the rearview mirror!

[Escorial Syncro]

Up road 27.25 just north of Grand Junction, CO. Nice free Colorado camping, but the area does have a shooting range and tons of ATV motorcycle guys, so not the quietest.
_________________
Joel Lane
1985 Vanagon converted to syncro, ALH TDI, Reimo Primus top with Westy interior
2002 Toyota Tundra 4x4
1974 Honda CL360 Scrambler (for sale!)

[tozovr]

Katahdin Iron Works last weekend.

Heading back to camp stopped for a shot...

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...like a young Julie Andrews all whacked out on PCP, kinda fun but kinda scary too

'83 1.6TD
DX 5 Speed
"Whistler"
www.sinisterbikes.com

[onwardtothestars]

This is all near hot sulfur springs CO. We normally camp elsewhere but we came to find another new locked forest service gate blocking our "back way" access to our favorite camping spot. Last year we had to find the back way when finding the normal way had a new forest service gate. The gates all open June 15th but that doesn't do us any good on memorial day weekend.
We found another few ways in studying the maps but questionable legality on some of the locals' no trespassing signs and such kept us from exploring them.
Anyway, the syncro did well, used G or L a lot, seems my VC is working as it should, this being the first time using the van with the drive shaft installed.

This trip marked the final outing of the WBX.
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lots of VW's

[kirsplat]

packed up the wife and pups in the 87 and did the North Cascades Loop this weekend.

A little over 500 miles

my beautiful co pilot

and if she could reach the pedals, she'd steal it

broken down in Winthrop.......guess what?

Lake Chelan

Leavenworth

Icicle Creek

we left Sunday and came back Tuesday to miss the massive backups over the passes, planned it perfect!

What a great trip!

Chris

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86 Syncro|EJ253|Carat

[VanWilder]

Camping on the Wilson River

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VW
________________________
"83.5" Vanagon GL Air cooled "VanWilder"
VanWilder has given back to me more then I could ever put into it September 22, 2010
Malama Ka `Aina—"Respect the Land"

[paddyh]

Waterton

riding, running, dogs, beer.
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81 A/C Westy
02 Impreza Wgn

[The Salt]

Pine View Res.
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88 Wolfsburg Edition Weekender

[PNW Westy Owner]

Near Goldendale, WA this past weekend. The Pacific NW has had one of the wettest springs on record. Finally have been able to get out and camp in some nice weather.

[firepilot]

Monarch Pass in Colorado. Getting up that pass revealed to me how underpowered it is, especially in a Syncro Westy. Part of it is the gearing, you can wind it out in 2nd, but then you shift to 3rd and you are so low on the power curve that you start slowing down

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86 Westy Syncro

[JED THE SPREAD]

Cornwall UK

jed
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[Popsvan]

North Creek National Forest Virginia....

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[joetiger]

We went to Wakarusa in Arkansas the weekend before last and dealt with 100+ temps, so this weekend we went the opposite direction and headed to Turquoise Lake, up by Leadville at around 11,000 feet. It was cold, wet, and we got about three inches of snow Saturday night.

We stayed in a campground with three other couples and a total of seven little girls ages 3 to 8:

The girls spent most of Saturday afternoon/evening out of the cold rain and in my Vanagon. I can honestly say that after eleven years in these things, this was the most trashed one of my Vanagons has ever been. It took me three hours to clean up the Goldfish ground into the upholstery and mud/gravel/potato chips from the interior. (My fault for letting them eat in there!)

The lake looked more like a Loch in that weather, but we did catch a few cutthroat and rainbow trout:

The drive back was crazy. Very low visibility around Georgetown and wet, heavy snow above about 8000 feet. This IS June, right?

I had my Bus Depot EZ Awning up the whole time and it did pretty well with the rain, but then we got the snow Saturday night and I heard a loud CRASH at about 4 AM. I went out in the morning and the whole awning had completely collapsed under the weight of the snow (I have a photo of that which won't upload; I'll try to add it later.)

The amazing thing? After I sorted through the wreckage, nothing was broken. The poles that hold the thing up had simply bowed in and given out and the collapse pretty much saved the legs. Kudos to Ron for a great product!

I was worried that my kids didn't have a good time, but when I asked Lindsey what her favorite part was, she said, "everything!"

Success!
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Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Available Now! Vanagon to Louisiana--A Two-Lane Reckoning Through Past and Present

www.josephtrussell.com

[campism]

So maybe it ain't wilderness, what with planes flyin' over and all, but it sure as heck looks like the spot to camp, so we did.

[HeftySmurf]

Testing out my new suspension

[kamzcab86]

Just got back from a 10-day, 1000+ mile trek (6 days were spent parked in Durango). Aside from the horsepower issue , an on-the-road minor coolant leak fix, and the kickdown not working, the van performed beautifully!

Standing near a corner in Winslow, Arizona.

Near Petrified Forest, AZ waiting for a broken-down Chevy truck to catch up.

El Morro Nat'l Monument, NM (Very hot day!)

Durango, CO... at the end of the week, got to try out the new rain fly thanks to a freak, cold storm that blew through (it snowed at the higher elevations! ). Rode the train, went mountain biking & rafting... and saw several Westies while in town!

Four Corners: open Friday, Saturday and Sunday... so that the traders can hawk their wares; the monument itself is closed 24/7 for reconstruction.

Brief trip into UT for a member of our traveling party to see Monument Valley.

Lake Powell, AZ (got to try out the leveling blocks!).
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~Kamz
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子

[Timwhy]

Camped at Peaks-Kenny State Park last weekend.
Hope to visit two more state parks this coming week while I am on vacation.
Peaks-Kenny was really a nice park, clean and not too many bugs.
What impressed me the most was the bathroom facilities, there was a bath house that has 10 rooms.
Each room has it's own shower, sink and toilet. These rooms are petting large,
with room to spare. There was a section of the room for changing as well.
Most of the state park campgrounds that I have been to, just have
out-houses. It was nice to see flush toilets for a change.

The campsites were pretty big and spaced out from one another on the left side of the park.
It looks as if they had enlarged the campground at some point,
as the size and spacing of the sites were different on the left side of the park than the right side.
All in all the park was nice and I'll visit there again this summer.

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'15 Audi A3 Quattro
'09 VW Tiguan (dead)
'87 VW Westy
'91 Tin Top
'90 Cabby
What the Westy wants the Westy GETS


http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?search_author=Timwhy&show_results=summary

http://www.youtube.com/user/TIMWHY2?feature=mhee