Winter living in the Grand Canyon

[Mike Leary]

Keep us in touch, we just talked to friends in Flagstaff that say it's going down to 1 degree tonight, G.C. usually gets colder.

[deauxrite]

Looks like 6 tonight. Heater running..new dehumidifier running..white RV water hose split at about 12F. Now using internal tank and pump..all is good. There is a bit of condensation..but not too bad. Seems that bourbon, water and a hot shower makes it all OK! Taking two asprin and will check it in the morning!

[Jay Hawk]

Originally Posted by deauxrite

Looks like 6 tonight. Heater running..new dehumidifier running..white RV water hose split at about 12F. Now using internal tank and pump..all is good. There is a bit of condensation..but not too bad. Seems that bourbon, water and a hot shower makes it all OK! Taking two asprin and will check it in the morning!

I like the way you think... stay safe... you're 'streamin my dream.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Jay Hawk

The stove idea though is awesome. I looked on a site called Marine Stove based out of Washington and the Little Cod is a pretty awesome installation on a '55 Vintage 'Stream... I think i uploaded a pic...

There are some posts elsewhere on these forums about someone who installed a tiny, marine-style wood stove in his trailer.

So adorable, and the best heat and dehumidifier you can find. There is also the entertainment value of just looking at it.

We have a small wood stove in the main room of our little stick house, one of the best planning decisions i made when this house was built in 1985. Love it.

Interesting thread, though we never plan to winter over in our Interstate you just never know what the day might bring.


Maggie

[Jay Hawk]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

There are some posts elsewhere on these forums about someone who installed a tiny, marine-style wood stove in his trailer.

I know and completely functional. I dont know if your referring to StreamlineAK who is dry camping in ALaska for the winter... but she inspired me to look at the marine stoves. Although she went with a land style stove... I like how the Little Cod can be secured so it does not move...

I have been looking at different models for either restoration or buying new as I make a decision and now part of my criteria is having a layout I could alter for a stove....

[Gene]

At 7:30 am the temp here was .1˚—maybe went below zero just before the sun same over the mountains. We got 4" of snow yesterday. We are at 6,836' and I think you are a bit higher, so more snow and lower temps. You would have to be higher than we are to be getting out of the piñon forest and into the tall conifers.

Your water hose broke? I seem to remember you had an insulated and heated one.

So do you snowshoe, cross country ski or walk to work?

Seems like the JB Weld worked.

Gene

[Len n Jeanne]

Wow! What a wonderful experience!

Forgive a dumb question, but we do some off-season camping and plan a bunch more in February/March. We have always winterized the Bambi. We can still use the sink and toilet (via manual flush), so long as we put some RV antifreeze or windshield-washer fluid down with the waste water. We heat up small amounts of water on the stove. Showers have to be taken elsewhere. The main issue is constantly refilling our water bottles, but it does take away the worries about frozen water pipes.

The drawbacks to this system compared with having water on tap are obvious, but I am wondering if you considered it.

Our first-ever AS experience was camping in a year-round provincial park in Ontario in March. We chatted with the campground hosts who always winterized their RV. They had a couple-dozen water bottles, and showered in the park facilities.

[deauxrite]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

At 7:30 am the temp here was .1˚—maybe went below zero just before the sun same over the mountains. We got 4" of snow yesterday. We are at 6,836' and I think you are a bit higher, so more snow and lower temps. You would have to be higher than we are to be getting out of the piñon forest and into the tall conifers.

Your water hose broke? I seem to remember you had an insulated and heated one.

So do you snowshoe, cross country ski or walk to work?

Seems like the JB Weld worked.

Gene

"Seems like the JB Weld worked."

I hate to declare victory at this stage..but the hot water tank is NOT leaking. It appears that the JB Weld is holding up. It was a very small defect in the weld. I cleaned the area with acetone and roughed the surface with sand paper. Then I applied the JB Weld. I allowed it to cure for 30 hours and tested it. I continue to check it twice a day and I turn the city water off when we leave the trailer..until I am completely convinced.

Yes I split a heated water hose. I have no idea why it split..other than it was a couple of years old. I replaced it today with a new hose..wrapped with heat tape and foam insulation..all better..I hope.

We usually drive to work or ride the free shuttles. I would like to walk more, but it is three miles and very icy right now. I see lots of opportunity to walk in the spring.

Currently we have about 6" of snow on the ground..more tomorrow night. Night temperatures have been around 5f and daytime highs around freezing..not too bad!

[deauxrite]

Originally Posted by Len n Jeanne

Wow! What a wonderful experience!

Forgive a dumb question, but we do some off-season camping and plan a bunch more in February/March. We have always winterized the Bambi. We can still use the sink and toilet (via manual flush), so long as we put some RV antifreeze or windshield-washer fluid down with the waste water. We heat up small amounts of water on the stove. Showers have to be taken elsewhere. The main issue is constantly refilling our water bottles, but it does take away the worries about frozen water pipes.

The drawbacks to this system compared with having water on tap are obvious, but I am wondering if you considered it.

Our first-ever AS experience was camping in a year-round provincial park in Ontario in March. We chatted with the campground hosts who always winterized their RV. They had a couple-dozen water bottles, and showered in the park facilities.

If we were camping for a week or two I would probbly consider that approach. Since we are here for the next four months and we have prepared our trailer and ourselves for this effort..well, I think that we are committed to the plan.

I hope that we are getting ahead of our water issues. Since just about everything is new..I think that we can make the winter. Besides we are not close to the normal camper facilities in the park and our work schedules would make it pretty inconvienient to try and use those services.

One of my goals this winter is to decide for myself if this Airstream can be made into a "four season" living arrangement. There are lots of opinions..I want to decide for myself..and this is an opportunity to do that. For the last 6 years we have either headed south for the winter or winterized the Airstream and moved into a stick built. I will let you know what I think in April!

[AirHedz]

We are staying at The El Tovar tonight. It's a very nice place, but we do miss the 'stream.

I didn't think it would be easy to deal with the potential problems of a frozen trailer, so we left her at home.

It's good to hear that you are able to deal with the cold. I had my doubts when I first started reading this thread.
But it looks like you are hanging in there.

Good luck!

Eric

[Scott J-24]

Pardon my ignorance... What is heat tape?

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by Scott J-24

Pardon my ignorance... What is heat tape?

I's basically a long flat heater element that you wrap around a water hose, and then plug into 120 VAC to keep the hose from freezing.

[Scott J-24]

Thanks, that is one of the things I like about the forum, always learning something new.

[Crusty]

Just don't go into Home Depot and ask where to find the "heat tapes" or you will get either blank, dumb stares or be sent on a long walk all around the store to the locations of many completely unrelated items. The magic phrase for finding these things is "heating cables".

[crazeevw]

One video I've seen in YouTube shows wrapping waterhose in aluminum foil then placing heat tape next to the foil so heat can 'radiate' all around waterhose. Then insulate hose all the way to RV. It's on YouTube under heading 'How To: RV in the winter'.
Maybe this might help.
Good Luck, Derek

[deauxrite]

Merry Christmas to all of you that are following this thread. I have attached a link to a very short video clip of our Christmas Eve day. By the time that it finished snowing we got another 4 inches. More shoveling for me..keeps me in shape.

On the subject of heat tapes..read the packaging carefully. Most of the ones that you find in the big box stores specifically tell you not to use it on a vinyl or rubber hose..like the ones that we use. Those particular types of heat tapes are used on hard line and get too hot for hoses. I am speaking from experience..they will make your water taste terrible and, in my case resulted in a hose that self destructed. I finally found a heat tape that is used on roof gutters. It seems to be working much better..but this experiment of living in the cold climate of the Grand Canyon is about figuring things like this out..so stay tuned..I will let you know how the heat tape experiment works out!

Video - deauxrite's Photos

[AWCHIEF]

How are your pets handling the winter? Looking forward to some more videos and pictures of the canyon in the winter.

[PhilipKS]

Very cool video!

[deauxrite]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

How are your pets handling the winter? Looking forward to some more videos and pictures of the canyon in the winter.

Hey Mike! Good to hear from you. Rosie the wonder dog is loving the snow. She gets free run of the forest behind the trailer when there are no Elk or Mule Deer in the area. She romps and runs and wonders why I am sooo slow!

Cats..lots of sleeping going on..nothing new there!

All in all..pets are good..we are good. It is 7 degrees this morning and we had a blizzard yesterday. The snow was so thick and the wind was blowing about 40mph...it was tough for a couple of hours..then the suncame out! Go figure.

[flyfishrra]

Well it is a whopping 3 here in Denver! Merry Christmas! We still have water in the tanks and all is well! Have fun!