White knuckle, near death experience!

[TTnewbie]

Anyone here travel up to North-South Lake, Haines Falls, NY in the Catskills? I know there are 2 very steep hills while going up the mountain, nothing compared to Mount Pleasant Rd, that you have to go up on your way to the campground. I have a reservation for the end of the month there and now I am second guessing myself.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by TTnewbie

Anyone here travel up to North-South Lake, Haines Falls, NY in the Catskills? I know there are 2 very steep hills while going up the mountain, nothing compared to Mount Pleasant Rd, that you have to go up on your way to the campground. I have a reservation for the end of the month there and now I am second guessing myself.

Easy, call the place you have reservations for and I'm sure they will inform you of the best routes if it is not on their website.

[BM Welder]

We use a Rand McNally and good old road maps. This system has never failed us in many thousands of miles of travel and you can set it for the size of your rig. I had a Tom Tom at one time that wanted to take me down roads that didn't exist

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

... What truly baffles me is that when we get to our destination and inform them of the incorrect route to their address they always say it happens constantly. And most of them have tried notifying the different apps/device manufacturers and nothing comes of it. Amazing.

Writing logic rules to always result in optimum route selection is a challenge, I'm sure. Even if notified of a bad result, the vendor may not be able to logically describe new conditions for the software rules to fix the reported routing error without causing other unwanted consequences.

What amazes me is that it works at all. We take a lot for granted.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by chriscowles

Writing logic rules to always result in optimum route selection is a challenge, I'm sure. Even if notified of a bad result, the vendor may not be able to logically describe new conditions for the software rules to fix the reported routing error without causing other unwanted consequences.

What amazes me is that it works at all. We take a lot for granted.

I retired from 35 years in IT, a lot of it spent writing algorithms for drone flight control. So while I agree that designing software to find an optimum route for an RV for every location would be a challenge, I know it is not insurmountable. And yes, I also agree modern mapping software is pretty amazing.
What I was talking about was when the directions don't take you to the indicated address. Not fixing that after notification is unexcusable.

[TTnewbie]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

Easy, call the place you have reservations for and I'm sure they will inform you of the best routes if it is not on their website.

There is only one road that leads to the campground but it is at the top of a mountain.

[dmctlc]

For those naysayers that state never buy an RV GPS IMHO are on borrowed time before they run into a bad situation, are very lucky or never go very far from home. Now don't get me wrong as I stated earlier, I myself, recently ran into a sticky situation but quickly realized it since things didn't look right and was able to get out. Though with just using Waze or Google maps with no RV information its inevitable it will bring you the wrong way. Are the RV GPS's perfect, by no means but I run the RV'S GPS, use my RV1090 and also map out my trip on RV Trip Wizard. Is it overkill, perhaps but taking the ACs off the top of my MH or doing even worse damage is worth avoiding at any cost. Do I feel safe doing it this way not 100% but now I adjust my MH specs up a little to provide a little safety margin i feel better.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by dmctlc

For those naysayers that state never buy an RV GPS IMHO are on borrowed time before they run into a bad situation, are very lucky or never go very far from home.

That's a lot of really poor assumptions to try and support your personal opinion

[GravelRider]

Originally Posted by dmctlc

For those naysayers that state never buy an RV GPS IMHO are on borrowed time before they run into a bad situation, are very lucky or never go very far from home. Now don't get me wrong as I stated earlier, I myself, recently ran into a sticky situation but quickly realized it since things didn't look right and was able to get out. Though with just using Waze or Google maps with no RV information its inevitable it will bring you the wrong way. Are the RV GPS's perfect, by no means but I run the RV'S GPS, use my RV1090 and also map out my trip on RV Trip Wizard. Is it overkill, perhaps but taking the ACs off the top of my MH or doing even worse damage is worth avoiding at any cost. Do I feel safe doing it this way not 100% but now I adjust my MH specs up a little to provide a little safety margin i feel better.

I guess I like to live dangerously. I shudder to think about how bad RV life must have been like before RV GPS was available.

[DouglasReid]

Any 3/4 ton truck with a diesel engine would have walked you right up that hill.

[TTnewbie]

Originally Posted by DouglasReid

Any 3/4 ton truck with a diesel engine would have walked you right up that hill.

That's what the owner of the house where I made the U turn said. He said that 1/2 tons get stuck on the hill too.

One thing that I forgot to mention was that I was very low on gas. I had less than a quarter tank. I wonder if that played a part in it too. I remember taking a small Ford down a very steep hill to a fishing spot while vacationing in Puerto Rico and running low on fuel. When I tried to go back up the hill the car would not run because the hill was so steep that the gas went to the back of the tank and could not go into the gas line. I ended up having to reverse up the hill. In that position the gas was able to go into the gas line.

[asr524]

Originally Posted by TTnewbie

That's what the owner of the house where I made the U turn said. He said that 1/2 tons get stuck on the hill too.

One thing that I forgot to mention was that I was very low on gas. I had less than a quarter tank. I wonder if that played a part in it too. I remember taking a small Ford down a very steep hill to a fishing spot while vacationing in Puerto Rico and running low on fuel. When I tried to go back up the hill the car would not run because the hill was so steep that the gas went to the back of the tank and could not go into the gas line. I ended up having to reverse up the hill. In that position the gas was able to go into the gas line.

Did the engine turn completely off such that you had to find level ground before you could re-fire the engine due to the lack of fuel?

Also what year is your Yukon and what is your RV?

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by GravelRider

I guess I like to live dangerously. I shudder to think about how bad RV life must have been like before RV GPS was available.

We even managed to go camping without any communications outside of those we were camping with. The conscientious left a plan which basically stated "if you don't hear from us by ____(date), start searching at ______".

Of course, there were plenty who never left any trip information. Talk about putting the "search" back into "search and rescue".

retired Coastie
Fred W

[dmctlc]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

That's a lot of really poor assumptions to try and support your personal opinion

I was providing assumptions through my experience and opinion. You have yours I have mine. But when I'm driving my 45' MH towing a car all over the country odds aren't in my favor once I'm off the highway going to CGs if I'm not using an RV GPS. Other wise why do people buy thousands, upon thousands a year.. In my previous line of work I've seen the results of people with that thought process and it didn't end well for them or their RVs. MH, 5ers and TTs alike. How did we survive years ago, well let's say last year they sold a 1/2 million plus RVs and this year even more. They say 54% who never owned one before. They said they're over 9 million RV owners that will be on the road this summer back then well its easy to figure it out. If your a non-believer and that's a risk your willing to take, its your freedom enjoy it and the safety it doesn't provide those driving with you.

[TTnewbie]

Originally Posted by asr524

Did the engine turn completely off such that you had to find level ground before you could re-fire the engine due to the lack of fuel?

Also what year is your Yukon and what is your RV?

No, the engine did not turn off. It literally stopped. My foot was down as hard as I could press on the gas pedal. No sound or anything. The only thing I saw right away was the engine temperature shoot up. I hit the breaks and eased off of the gas. I put the Yukon in neutral and started reversing. I almost jack knifed so I tried again to go up the hill. This time I got to about the same spot but started going backwards with my foot on the breaks. I heard the tires skidding so I put it back to neutral. I tried a third time and after that gave up and made the U turn in the driveway.

I have a 2014 Yukon that I upgraded with a transmission and engine oil cooler. My trailer is a Cherokee 26dbh. Based on the specs on my trailer and tow I am within range for towing it. Could I benefit more towing capacity, of course. That is in the works. In this situation, even if I had a 1/2 ton pick up I would not have made it up that hill.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

It doesn't matter what app or device you use, or even if you use appropriate settings, they will all lead you wrong on occasion. When going somewhere unfamiliar we always research the route several various ways and even double check with an old fashioned paper map. And usually when a gps app has sent us wrong we suspect fairly quickly and stop until we are sure. And it happens more often than you would think when traveling a lot
What truly baffles me is that when we get to our destination and inform them of the incorrect route to their address they always say it happens constantly. And most of them have tried notifying the different apps/device manufacturers and nothing comes of it. Amazing.

We do the same, except we dnt' have any paper maps any longer. I use the GPS in the Pioneer GPS I installed and Tanya uses the map program on her phone.

We are constantly comparing one to the other.

I also have a truck GPS system on my phone I use to check the route first to find any low brides etc. to look out for.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by dmctlc

I was providing assumptions through my experience and opinion. You have yours I have mine. But when I'm driving my 45' MH towing a car all over the country odds aren't in my favor once I'm off the highway going to CGs if I'm not using an RV GPS. Other wise why do people buy thousands, upon thousands a year.. In my previous line of work I've seen the results of people with that thought process and it didn't end well for them or their RVs. MH, 5ers and TTs alike. How did we survive years ago, well let's say last year they sold a 1/2 million plus RVs and this year even more. They say 54% who never owned one before. They said they're over 9 million RV owners that will be on the road this summer back then well its easy to figure it out. If your a non-believer and that's a risk your willing to take, its your freedom enjoy it and the safety it doesn't provide those driving with you.

Buddy, we put a man on the moon using slide rules. I DO NOT think Im on borrowed time not having some RV specific GPS system.

[fenton04]

The slide rule, as good as they were lost out to the personal computer. As a chemistry major I and my fellow chemist ditched them ASAP. Slide rule really, I joined the Texas instrument revolution!

[AlaskaErik]

Originally Posted by TTnewbie

In this situation, even if I had a 1/2 ton pick up I would not have made it up that hill.

Not even in 4WD with the transfer case in low range? I wish I could try it with my 2019 Silverado. I'm always up for a challenge.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by fenton04

The slide rule, as good as they were lost out to the personal computer. As a chemistry major I and my fellow chemist ditched them ASAP. Slide rule really, I joined the Texas instrument revolution!

You are making my point for me, because it was NOT necessary to have that TI device, the slide rule worked and we were successful.

Technology is most often Nice, but NOT Essential Sometimes all it takes is some forethought and research.