Now boondocking in the Hot Well Dunes BLM campground, Arizona

This BLM campground is located roughly halfway between the towns of Safford on the north and Bowie on the south.  I've stayed here before, a little short of a year ago: LINK, leaving when things were starting to be shut down everywhere due to the pandemic.

The hot water tubs remain closed due to Covid-19 but camping is once again permitted, at the rate of $3/vehicle per day.  A bargain!  Especially since as a American the Beautiful Pass holder, I only pay half.

I even got the same spot as last time, with no clear line of sight of the neighboring sites so pretty secluded.

As I type this, the only people camping here are a family in a schoolie bus and the rig owned by the camp host and his wife.

It was after 3PM when I was ready to head out for a short spin with Mariko after airing down her tires to 20 PSI from the regular 30 PSI both for traction and ride comfort.

She did fine on the sandy trail I took out to get a picture of the nearby unnamed mountain:

Heading back towards the campground, I did a brief recon of an area where UTVs had carved out lots of trails among the small hills and low spots:

Back at camp, I discovered the radiator coolant reservoir was completely empty!  What I had mistakenly thought was the fluid level was really an inner coating of crud on the inside walls.  Dammit.

Still, the temperature gauge hadn't registered hot conditions so enough coolant must be in the radiator to keep things cool for now.  I'll drive the 30 miles to the town of Safford tomorrow to get coolant, some more 10W30 oil and hopefully an air filter Mariko can use.

I'm hoping ensuring sufficient radiator coolant will cut down on the engine oil she's burning through over the last few weeks.  There's a small chance that not enough coolant could have caused high oil burning....at least, I hope that is the issue causing the oil consumption.

I also have to crawl under her tomorrow and ensure no oil leaks which could also be causing the high oil consumption.  So far, I've not spotted oil drops/pools under her after being parked overnight.