To: Alstrom Point

My first introduction to Alstrom Point was from a photograph I had seen at an art fair in Flagstaff. The artist had a gorgeous triptych of Gunsight Butte at dusk printed on large clear coated aluminum panels. It left such an impression on me that I decided I had to go there and create my own version. After doing some research I realized that the trip wasn't just a short hike from a parking lot off the road, like the infamous Horseshoe Bend. It was a full blown adventure, much like Toroweap or Point Sublime in the Grand Canyon. Such adventures require some research and careful planning for both weather and road conditions. Travel too early in the season and you run the risk of road closures due to mud & snow, too late in the season and it's well, hot. Hot and no access to the water. I decided to take the trip in mid-March during Spring Break, so it could coincide with my girlfriend Kristi's time off from teaching school. It was also the inaugural official maiden voyage for the completion of a dream project.  I just completed a camper van build.  Its a four -wheeled drive Ford Econoline van that I installed a pop top from a VW Eruovan Westfalia. You can find the build out detailed in my blog: Topographic Escapades- Meet Jupiter After a year of painting, welding and cabinet building it was time to go on our first adventure. For fifteen years Kristi and I have been camper-vanning in a 76 Vw Campmobile. It was great, but this new van will let us go even further off the beaten track, in more comfort and with more convenience than before.  It wasn't the shake down cruise, that was back in October to the North Rim. No, this was the full on sink or swim Atlantic crossing. Alstrom Point was the first night's destination on a loop trip through the Escalante -Grand Staircase and Capitol Reef areas in southern Utah.



  Besides the information I gathered from the internet, including TOPO maps GPS coordinates, and driving instructions I stopped at the BLM Visitors center in Big Water, UT. They were able to provide me with more information, better driving directions and road conditions for not only Smoky Mountain road, but other roads in Escalante National Monument. Plus they have other interesting stuff like fossils and interpretative displays. The road to Alstrom Point is considered a class 3 high clearance vehicle road.  It starts out of Big Water and winds 25 miles to a point high over Lake Powell with a view of Gunsight Butte and the sacred Navajo Mountain.   The road was well maintained for the first fifteen miles or so, the next five were pretty rutty, and the last five out to the point was on rough slickrock and really slow going. Just after leaving Big Water you have to cross Wahweap Creek. At the time, there was probably six inches of water in the creek and I splashed right through it. I can imagine at different times it could range from being dried up to raging from monsoonal moisture. Here the gravel road is graded and smooth. You can make some good time, but don't forget to look around.



There are some very interesting buttes and cliffs made of a mixture of blue/gray and red rocks. If you are savy you may be able to find some hoodoos and toadstools worthy of stopping and photographing. Eventually the road begins to narrow, and become rutty. You will pass some turn offs to some hiking trails, and Ice Cream Canyon, one of the few places you can drive down to the water and camp on the beach. A few years back I took that route in my 4-Runner. You will definitely need four wheel drive low and to air down there, as the drive is in deep sand. Calling a tow truck will cost several hundred dollars, so the proper equipment and knowledge is invaluable. Eventually you will come to a sign pointing the way to Alstrom Point. The road actually gets smoother here as you drive the top of the mesa toward the point. Soon you will arrive at some slickrock. You can probably take a passenger car to this point, but I wouldn't try to go any further. There is a small view point that would make a good place to park and hike the remainder 2 miles.



If you keep going the trail proceeds up hill in a mixture of slickrock and sand. This is where you need at least a high clearance vehicle and momentum. There are some less popular view points to consider visiting, but we kept on, playing leap frog with some side by side ATVs all the way to the end. Not having lashed down the fridge and cabinets properly, we hit a huge bump and dumped the all the contents onto the floor. Two beers broke open and were hissing streams of beer all over. Should have put some duct tape on...doh! Not to be defeated, we quickly drank the remainder of the beer, cleaned up and crawled our way to the point. The view was spectacular. We stood there with the other members of the ATV party exchanging platitudes and quips. One gentleman asked how we liked the camper van, and another asked where we'd be staying the night. My response was "Right here Baby!" Then I told them about the beers breaking open, and we all had a little laugh. It wasn't long before they left and we had the point to ourselves. We set up camp and settled in. Kristi prepared dinner, and I began photographing until well after sunset.



I traversed the point back and forth looking for different angles to shoot. My gear consists of a Nikon D800e, and two lenses, an ultra wide 14-24mm f2.8 and the all purpose 24-120mm f4 zooms. I mounted the camera on a large sturdy Gitzo tripod, worthy of such heavy glass. I like to work a scene with one lens, then switch to another lens, then move on repeating the lens on and off procedure. Probably not the most efficient method but when I get to work, I enter a creative zone where feeling and emotion drive the creative process. I could zoom in on Gunsight Butte with one lens then take in the whole scene with the wide angle. I am constantly experimenting with foreground inclusion or isolating a particular point of interest. I also made some panorama images with both the wide and all-purpose lenses.



When using an ultra wide lens there is a certain amount of wide angle distortion that has to be corrected in post- processing. Sometimes there may be too much distortion, or cropping to be done to make an effective image. Another way around this is to take multiple shots and pan the camera from shot to shot, then blend them together at home with software. You have to be careful to have the shots overlap about one third of the frame. This lets the software identify and match like features, then align the images into a string, or panorama. I like to tilt the camera to the portrait orientation for this method and capture a series of vertical shots, all the while trying to keep the horizon level. The more images and data collected in the field, the better chance you have of creating a successful image at home on the computer.



Alstrom Point is what I would consider a sunset destination. Sunrise would keep Gunsight Butte in shade, while overexposing the sky. This scenario is almost impossible to deal with due to the limitations of the dynamic range of a camera. Sunset, however, positions the sun behind the camera and illuminates the scene and sky with a much narrower range. Once the sun goes down, then the real magic begins to happen. You can leave the shutter open for longer periods of time, and capture colors not even seen with the naked eye. If you were to continue into the night be sure to have clear skies. You can capture a beautiful array of stars and even the Milkyway. Don't be concerned with light pollution from Page. If you are facing East, the city will be behind you and may even help to illuminate the buttes. The Alstrom Point trip was a trip that rivaled the Tuweep campground of the Grand Canyon. A remote corner of Lake Powell will treat the adventurous spirit with the best that the Southwest has to offer. Beautiful sunsets, sweeping vistas of layered canyons, buttes reflecting in the water of Lake Powell and if you're lucky, a bit of solitude. There are no facilities there, and if you do decide to camp for the night please follow the leave-no-trace edict. Alstrom Point is still un-spoiled, so please show some respect if not for Mother Earth, then for the families that will come to visit after you.

Shake Down Cruise to the North Rim

I was literally hooking up the final wires and testing the ops while packing for the this trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We drove there and got to Jacob Lake around nine o'clock at night, then camped at the trail head to the Arizona Trail, just outside of town. There are some bathrooms there, and it made a nice place to sleep. The next morning we headed out to the Rainbow Rim via the Forest Service roads behind the Kaibab Lodge. We started tooling around and driving some of the four wheel drive roads between points.

We found a good spot a couple of dozen feet from the rim. We had access to a nice large rock just shy of the point where we could set up our folding chairs and watch sunrise and drink coffee, and sunset and watch the monsoon clouds play their magic with the light.

After our morning coffee, we rode our bikes out to the other various points. The trail is terrific, and gorgeous. It weaves in and out from point to point through pine and aspen forests.

Time well spent lazing in hammocks, sitting around campfires, playing with the dog, and drinking copious amounts of adult beverage. On the way out it happened. Sputter, spurt. Going up a steep washboard hill. Choke. Gag. Dead. I coasted down to the bottom of the hill, and tried restarting. For an hour. I surmised it was the fuel pump, since that was practically the only thing I hadn't changed through out the process. We were about 15 miles away from the North Rim Country store, still in the sticks. There was no cell coverage, anywhere close. We hadn't hardly seen anybody in the three days out there, but suddenly a small two door Hyundai came by and I flagged them down. They were lost, and I was stranded. I offered to get them back to the main road if they could get me to the North Rim Country store, the closest land line to call a wrecker.

It was Sunday afternoon before we were towed into Kanab, UT. So we decided to make the most of it. We found a nice restaurant (with beer :l1: ) and went to a movie in their small movie theater. The only movie that was playing was a kid's movie, The Box Trolls. We loved it. The next morning the repair shop opened up, found us a fuel pump at the local NAPA, and were back on the road by early afternoon. Everything kinda worked out, we didn't let the mishap ruin our trip, and we have a story to tell.

Van Build : Water tank, Sink & final Wiring

Keeping with the VW design consideration, I decided to store the water tank inside the cabinet enclosure. We always carried a spare water jug plus the water in the holding tank. I had ordered the water tank based on the dimensions of the enclosure. The tank was from plastic-mart.com and I could order a myriad of sizes. The one that fit the enclosure happens to be 8 gallons. I suppose I could have kept the tank outside of the cabinet, and had more capacity, but I wanted to have more storage underneath, and thought a water jug would be just as easy. Besides as it sits, the bed partly covers the access door, and could never be hinged. I devised a hook system that slides down on to the cabinet frame. Nothing special, just a couple of "L" brackets. So rather than hinge, the door slides up and out.

In the next photo you can see the drain tube. I had to drill into the floor, and it actually comes out in the lt rear wheelhouse. Also installed here is the used bar sink, a kitchen faucet from Home Depot, and a SureFlow water pump. I'm also working on an "Integrity Tank Monitor System" found at RVWholesalers.com. You can see the sensor strips being installed in the photo above.

Now's the final push: hooking up all the electrical to the service box (110v)

and the Blue Sea fuse block (12v), and the battery monitor above it.

Hooking up the power inverter, and the Go Power shore power/ inverter safety switcher. These were installed under the floor of the closet

I got these cool LED lights from Amazon. [url]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087WTSTW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00[/url] They are water resistant, and rotate 90 degrees. I got two 12 bulb and one 6 bulb. Love them, they create a great ambiance.

Sink, check, stove, check, fridge, check, lights, check, power inverter, check, furnace, check. Houston we are ready for lift off!

Here's a candid shot showing Kristi making morning coffee... Time for a trip! I don't have a picture of installing the flooring, that was one of Kristi's jobs, but you can see it in the photo above. We decided to use a vinyl resilient plank flooring. It's adhesive along the edges, but floats like a click lock Pergo would. We chose it because it was cheap and would hold up to spills and sand and abuse. The only drawback is the adhesive softens up in high heat and won't stay stuck. My solution was to air staple the flooring to the plywood floor in a couple of those areas. Up next... the inaugural first expedition.... to the Rainbow Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Van Build: The Furnace

Once I was in compliance with all the nuances of the installation, the fridge worked like a charm. I've taken the van now on a ten day trip through Escalante. 381 miles with 160 being on dirt roads, and 25 of those were on four wheeled drive roads. The fridge even actually kept stuff frozen in the freezer the whole time. And I mean rock solid frozen. And it's quiet. You can't hear it running at all. I did not use the fan from Dometic, I used the same fan Campingworld sells. They're the local Dometic dealer. Now for the propane furnace. I liked the Heatsource 2000 from Propex ( an English company ). Go Westy sells them. What I liked about it, you can vent it through the floor, and not have to cut a hole in the side. You have more flexibility where you can install it. They have even newer models that you don't have to orient it in any special way.

With all the insulation I installed, I barely had to use it on the trip. In Bryce I turned it on one morning to cut the chill. By the time the coffee was ready, I was back down to my t-shirt. I usually shut it off by the time I go to bed, and sleep in a sleeping bag. I already had experience with the unit because I installed another one in our 76 VW Bus. One time in Bryce we had to have it on all night long because it was like Zero degrees outside that night.

Van Build: The Fridge Install

Excited to complete the project we decided to tackle the Fridge Install first. So now would be a good time to get out the instructions right? Nope. Turns out the best time would have been before I painted it. Except then I was still in the decision stage. I was still on the fence of whether or not to go 3-way or 2-way. The instructions clearly stated that there had to be two vents. An intake and exhaust vent, one above the other. There were some major issues. I had only installed one. Then there was a large window in the way. :a7: Back to the drawing board. Son of a biscuit. Out go the front cabinets, and insulation. Now to source a replacement window. I took some time to find one with the right dimensions. And, don't forget I'm cheap. A custom one never entered my mind. I found one on e-bay, it was white, however. I can paint it black. It was an RV window, and not a van one. It ended up being far better than the old one. It cranked out, and had a screen. Now to take the window out and fill the big hole. I had some sheet metal left over from a HVAC project at the house and fit it.

Measure three times and fill once. I used the same method as before, making a body line by hammering the metal on a piece of strapping. Using panel adhesive and spot welds about three inches apart I affixed it for good. I had to use an old shelf bracket to stiffen the narrow piece between the window and upper vent. Welds and adhesive there, too.

I decided to install the window first, then paint around it. Since it was an RV window the application wouldn't be quite right. I drilled some holes, applied a hefty bead of butyl tape and riveted it in with big rivets. Then I painted it. Again. Then put the cabinets in. Again.

Some other considerations that had to be made included an upper curved baffle that directed the air up and out and a baffle on the in side of the outer wall, to ensure that only 1 1/2 inches was between the wall and back of the fridge. A fan had to be installed, switched from the circuit board that turns on with the fridge. 3/8 copper tubing into the vehicle had to be used, then down to 1/4 for each appliance, all on their own in-line shut off valve. But wait there's more... get your free copy of how to install a propane fridge today! Gee wiz, no wonder SMB went with a 2 way fridge.

 

 

Van Build: Interior Cabinets Part II

With the fridge enclosure and kitchen cabinet set in there, I had to make sure the seat would fit properly side to side, and front to back. I soon realized that the seat was made to fit with the base centered to the seat itself. If I slid the seat base over all the way to the wheelhouse, there was a 4 1/2 inch gap, between that and the inside wall. That also means that the seat overlapped the cabinet by as much. I had ordered the 46"x52" sofa bed, the narrowest available. It was obvious that I had to move the seat back and bottom over, and leave the base as close to the right wheel well as possible. So it was off to the metal fabrication shop for some stock. At first I decided to get some smaller stock and just extend the brackets.

It worked for the seat back, but not the seat bottom. It was too flexible when you sat on it, and was torquing the frame brackets too much. Back to the metal shop. This time I had a large 1/4" thick piece cut that spanned between the seat bottom mounting brackets, and extended another 6". This gave the seat bottom the rigidity that it needed. I installed the metal stock, measured over 4 1/2 inches, then drilled some holes. I bolted it all together. Now the seat sits nicely, and cantilevers over the wheel house. I have just enough room for the cabinets. You can see in the above image the metal installed on the seat back. The seat came with some brackets that bolt to the floor. Rather than go with just a nut and bolt, I wanted to be able to remove the seat without crawling under the vehicle. Quick bolts are the answer. I got mine here: [url]http://pitposse.com/pobishreha.html[/url] For some reason they only sell them in 3 packs, so I had to order six. Maybe the other two will come in handy. I added some sheet metal under the van to reinforce the floor and drilled some holes. Next up was to build the extend-a-bed. They do sell these at the same place as the sofa bed, but I figured that I'd end up rebuilding that one too and couldn't justify the extra cost versus a piece of foam.

I liked the idea of using some square steel tubing to make the bed extension, and the closet base. This had the benefit of being able to maximize the storage underneath. If I built it modular, the seat extension could also be removable, just bolted to the floor plywood using some nut-serts. That's what I did on the bed extension, I bolted the closet base down to the floor with bolts and nylon lock nuts.

Look at all that storage!

The above image shows the bed, the extension and the closet platform ready. I adhered white marine grade vinyl to the side wall in preparation for the closet install, which will be built in place.

Here is another pic of what will be the back of the cabinet. I wanted to keep the inside of the cabinets white, so I applied white marine grade vinyl to the insulation with 3M 90 spray adhesive. I used foam backed headliner fabric for the rest of the walls.You can also see the sofa bed in the reclined position.

Here are the vertical dividers and the front panels, insides painted white, ready to be installed.

I used L brackets and screwed the dividers to the body of the van in the upper inner reinforcement, and down to the plywood. Like I discussed earlier I had a left over sheet of laminate, which I used contact cement to adhere on the cabinet fronts. Plus doors from some used cabinets, cut to fit. At first I tried to hinge the rear closet door, but realized it would interfere with the couch. I bought some aluminum angle metal for tracks and made the doors slide instead.

I made a counter top out of particle board, but will be sending it out to be professionally laminated. For $160 bucks I had any color of choice. Can't really beat that doing it myself.

We were so excited by this time we couldn't wait to get out in the woods and try her out. We threw in the Yeti cooler (just happened to fit in the fridge cabinet) and headed into the aspens for a quick overnight!

It was great to finally camp in Jupiter. The road was really muddy and we got to use the 4wd

Van Build: Interior Cabinets Part I

Now that I've received my Fridge and rear fold down seat it was time to start measuring and seeing what dimensions the cabinets could be, and figure how every thing would fit. Originally I figured I'd be making everything by scratch, but as luck would have it my girlfriend's landlord at work was getting rid of some used cabinets, and a bar sink! Score! I new I could use some of it.

Here's the fridge. It's huge, and has a freezer, oooh. It also happened to fit perfectly in one of the cabinet enclosures.

With all the new floor insulation, I didn't want the carpet back in, so I ordered a molded front plastic floor covering from stockinteriors.com I ordered tan, but it came in kind of a baby schmidt brown. I then ordered a quart of interior trim dye from SEM, in a color of my choosing. I sprayed it with my HVLP spray gun. I trimmed the mat, and installed it, then reinstalled the seats.

So with the fridge enclosure, and the sink I could start making some plans. I probably didn't take enough pictures of the cabinet build, but will do my best to describe the process. Firstly I set the fridge enclosure just behind the drivers seat. Now I would say I am of average height and I set the seat to a comfortable driving position. I only allowed an inch behind the seat back. If I were any taller, or had to build this for the taller than average Joe, none of this would probably have worked. Then I measured for the cabinets. Lucky for me three doors, and one drawer fit with only a little trimming. There would be two cabinets. A kitchen cabinet, and a closet unit. The closet unit would end up being built in place with what ever length was left over.

Here you can see the kitchen cabinet under construction. I painted the insides of all the cabinets a glossy white enamel. This helps seeing inside a dark cabinet, and allows for easy spill clean-up. The outside of the cabinet will be a Formica laminate, that I had left over from a previous kitchen remodel.

The bed/sofa had to be installed to make sure I had the proper tolerances. And a tight fit it was. There were some issues with the bed install, but I'll get to that in an upcoming post.

Van Build: House Battery

Now that the bed and fridge are special ordered, I thought I'd start on the House Battery set up. This forum has really great resources on the different options, and how to-s. The different products that are out there really will make your head spin. Since I opted not to do a solar array, I chose a rather basic configuration. I went to NAPA and got about 30 feet of #2 red wire and a $30 battery isolator. Then it was to Amazon to order some Blue-Sea goodies: Blue Sea Systems 6007 m-Series (Mini) Battery Switch Selector, 3 Blue Sea Systems Class T 225 to 400A Fuse Blocks with Insulating Cover, 3 Blue Sea Systems 225A Class T Fuses, and one Blue Sea Systems PowerBar Dual BusBar with Two 3/8-Inch 16 Stud and Insulator. Sam's club had a screaming deal on deep cycle batteries Energizers 29HMs. Then I visited our friendly local metal vendor for some 3/8 thick 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 angle iron.

Research told me that the most common place for auxiliary batteries to be installed is on the frame rail between the body and side loading door cargo step. Ford even puts the extra Diesel's starting battery there. Using the batteries for measurements, I welded up a battery bracket assembly, then checked and rechecked the tolerances between the floor and the top of the batteries. I could use one hole that was already drilled, but had to drill three more holes in the frame.

I then cut some wire at various lengths using a die grinder to start building the isolator and switch panel, as well as the wiring to wire the two deep cycle batteries in series. A ground wire was added from the batteries to the stock ground wire already located on the chassis.

So the idea here is to run the wire from the starting battery across the cowl to the first fuse block, then into the Blue Sea switch position 2, then run wire from position 1 to the isolator input. I then ran a wire from the isolator output back to the switch in position 1+2. The final wire to the house batteries is installed to the output of the isolator. The idea here is with the switch position to '0' the system is physically isolated, the switch in position '1' is electronically isolated, the switch in position '2' is isolated physically too, but position '1+2' is physically connected. So you can either use the isolator, or the switch as redundant systems. The beauty of '1+2' would be if you needed a battery boost should the starting battery get too weak, or to charge the house batteries should the isolator fail.

The wire from the isolator then runs to another fuse block close to the house batteries and installed on the rail. The third fuse block was installed just after the house batteries, also on the rail. If there were a dead short the fuse closest to the battery would blow then isolating the batteries from the system.

Seeing the photos helps make more sense, I hope. Some additional research told me that the batteries sitting in the battery bracket assembly shouldn't be allowed to flop around. I've heard cases where the batteries jumped up and struck the floor over big bumps. My solution was to use some wire cable and turnbuckles as battery tie downs, as you can see in the image. I had to use two floor jacks to lift the batteries into position, then grade 8 bolts and nylon lock nuts were used to secure the deal.

Now the batteries do hang down below the frame, but not any further than the transmission cross-member, and still above the bottom of the running board. Since I have a short wheel based van, I don't think clearance will be an issue. Looks like were good to go...