The Tundra Supertool

[JCMatthews]

I'm back

I am on Expedition portal all the time, but I have neglected this thread. I have tired of trying to do trip reports, so I think that I will add pictures of trips here. The last few things that I have posted about the Tundra were mostly about repairs that I was tired of making. The truth is they are needed because it gets used. To prove that point and to reflect on the reason for having a capable rig here are some photos of our last year or so of fun. We were able to do all of this because we have such a good truck. You'll notice that I got a Brute Force Fab bumper installed, and that the M416 is with us on many trips.

In this first post the pictures are from a fall trip in 2016 to Moab to try some mountain biking and to visit Arches. The next trip was President's Day weekend 2017. We stayed the night near Canyonlands, drove Long Canyon Trail, and met friends to hike Corona Arch.

 

[JCMatthews]

I'm back continues

This next set starts with us loaded up for a trip to Flaming Gorge in June. We took the paddle board but never got it on the water. We took the kids through the dam and floated the Green River.

Then I took two of my kids on a fishing trip on Boulder Mt. in early August. We ended up coming home past Fish Lake and up through Central Utah over a pass we did not even know existed. We did not do much fishing and the trip did not go as planned, but we loved it.

Finally is a shot of me pheasant hunting this past November. Iused the Tundra to hunt deer in October as well. It has been a great year or so thanks in part to our ability to get it done in our truck.

 

[zidaro]

looking good buddy!
Need to get out your way and see that UTAH!!

 

[JCMatthews]

looking good buddy!
Need to get out your way and see that UTAH!!

I love to be a tour guide. Come and I'll show you around. This link is an expedition Utah trip I guided. Bring the Tundra. My old Cherokee would have kept up with your '87 Runner, but it has gone away.

 

[JCMatthews]

I already have reservations for Gobblin Valley for President's Day. We plan to hilke Horseshoe Canyon that weekend too.

Then Easter weekend we have reservations in Capitol Reef National Park. We haven't really been to CRNP so we will explore and make plans to return.

 

[zidaro]

Baja is in my blood this Spring
but maybe Fall or next spring we can plan something

 

[JCMatthews]

Just let me know.

 

[JCMatthews]

I had an accident in my Tundra almost three years ago. A car hit me in the driver side front tire. The impact bent my lower control arm. The awesome repair shop installed salvage yard parts, to save the insurance company money. So last week I paid to have a new control arm installed because the bushing were falling apart. Today the rack bushing will be on and it will be good as new.

 

[Cletus26]

I’m coming to Moab with dates looking like April 11-13th and 15-18th. Never been. Any input on what I should do? Been told white rim trail one stay and beef basin the other but nothing decided

 

[JCMatthews]

I'm coming to Moab with dates looking like April 11-13th and 15-18th. Never been. Any input on what I should do? Been told white rim trail one day and beef basin the other but nothing decided

Beef Basin is a long way from Moab. Like close to three hours, then looking around and then back your better off making Beef Basin an over nighter. I'm not telling not to go just know what your getting into. The whole drive is beautiful. White Rim is over 80 miles of slow bumpy offroad. I've done it in one day, but it is a long day. Again beautiful but long. What are you looking to do? For a nice day trip I'd recommend driving down Long Canyon and then coming up Shafer Trail. The Chicken Corners trail has amazing views. The end of the trail is where Thelma and Louise drove their car off the cliff. If you want to do some off-roading the first half of Finns and Things is doable in your Tundra,but I'm not sure i'd want to get into the second half with trucks as big as ours. I did it in a DC Nissan Frontier Pro4X, and it did great. We've had almost no snow so you could drive the La Sal loop.

 

[Cletus26]

Beef Basin is a long way from Moab. Like close to three hours, then looking around and then back your better off making Beef Basin an over nighter. I'm not telling not to go just know what your getting into. The whole drive is beautiful. White Rim is over 80 miles of slow bumpy offroad. I've done it in one day, but it is a long day. Again beautiful but long. What are you looking to do? For a nice day trip I'd recommend driving down Long Canyon and then coming up Shafer Trail. The Chicken Corners trail has amazing views. The end of the trail is where Thelma and Louise drove their car off the cliff. If you want to do some off-roading the first half of Finns and Things is doable in your Tundra,but I'm not sure i'd want to get into the second half with trucks as big as ours. I did it in a DC Nissan Frontier Pro4X, and it did great. We've had almost no snow so you could drive the La Sal loop.

I’m looking to see lots of interesting terrain as my main goal. I’m not afraid of hard wheeling normally but being so far from home I’ll probably keep it on the tamer side but also want to “use” my truck. I’ll be solo or with a buddy for the first few days then going to Vegas to pick up my wife then come back with her. I was told to take a few days on white rim. I don’t want to just drive all day but also spend some time actually enjoying camping. I was originally planning a much further trip but have been convinced to shorten the distance to not have to rush

 

[JCMatthews]

I'm looking to see lots of interesting terrain as my main goal. I'm not afraid of hard wheeling normally but being so far from home I'll probably keep it on the tamer side but also want to “use” my truck. I'll be solo or with a buddy for the first few days then going to Vegas to pick up my wife then come back with her. I was told to take a few days on white rim. I don't want to just drive all day but also spend some time actually enjoying camping. I was originally planning a much further trip but have been convinced to shorten the distance to not have to rush

If that's what your looking for then what I've suggested would work. To do a night or two on the white rim get on their website and get a reservation now. The few campsites get reserved early in the year.

 

[Cletus26]

I just went to their website and it says pets are not allowed even in vehicles. Well that puts a wrench in that plan as I’ll have my Chocolate Lab with me

 

[JCMatthews]

Your chocolate lab would be allowed out in Beef Basin. Maybe an overnighter out there would be good.

 

[JCMatthews]

Goblin Valley/Little Wild Horse/Horseshoe Canyon

I had Friday off of work, so I took two of my kids my brother and his daughter and went to central Utah to do some camping and hiking. I made reservations at Goblin Valley State Park. I have my truck set up to sleep in and I have set up my M416 for camping purposes, but it has finally turned cold here and we did not want to freeze. So we took the 17' Kiwi with a furnace. I know that is sounds like glamping, but we were parked next to a really nice Sportsmobile. On Friday we hiked Little Wild Horse Canyon until there was too much water to continue, and then returned to Goblin Valley and hiked across to the far side of the valley. We had a fun evening of frisbee golf, and card games. On Saturday we drove to Horse Canyon which is 40 miles east of Goblin Valley. There we hiked the 6.5 mile round trip to see the Great Gallery panel. When we reached the bottom of the canyon there were 13 wild donkeys waiting for us. Along the way we spotted two other rock art panels. It was a good time and we were happy to get out. This morning with sore legs I'm not sure.