Wyoming Boondocking - Near Six Mile Campground: Routt National Forest

 July 27, Monday

 A long first day for this camping trip!  I'd planned on boondocking within the North Park Valley which has Walden, CO as its county seat (Jackson County).  More info on this area here: LINK

Got to the planned campsite at the North Sand Hills Recreation Area.  The main “road “ was very sandy which should have been a clue.

I spotted a spot for a likely campsite and while driving around it got stuck I. Some loose deep sand!

Panic!

The scenario of an expensive tow out of this sandy spot ran immediately through my head as I tried moving the URRV back and forth to try and get forward momentum.  No joy.

I stopped trying, unloaded Scarlett from the trailer to lessen the load on Uma the URRV. 

I also cleared the sand away from the front of the rear dually tires.  I got back in and hallelujah she started moving and gaining speed.

Soon I was back on the main trail whiting thought sandy before but now saw it nice and firm!

Walked back the Scarlett, engaged 2WD, and slip and slid out of that trap of a campsite!

Checked out further on and the good spots were taken already so I ride Scarlett back to the waiting URRV and loaded her back on the trailer.

Oh, also noticed I’d lost the right side tail/brake light assembly on the trailer somewhere between there and home!  Dammit.

Anyways, I drove the five miles back to Colorado Highway 125 and checked out the nearby Cowdrey SWA.  Small area for rigs and it was already too crowded for me!  Also, really big flies clustered on the windshield as I sat there.  Nope, not for me.

So I got back on Colorado Highway 125 now heading north and soon crossed the state border Into Wyoming.  My new destination the Six Mile Campground run by the US Forest Service.  

I found the campground with no problems and even a nice pull through spot.  Paid the overnight fee of $5 and then decided to unload Yagi and do some exploring before setting up camp.

It’s good that I did!  While meandering a trail south of the campsite I found a better one with no one nearby!

I rode back to Uma, loaded up Yagi and got everything ready to move.  Drove out of the campground, my neighbor must have wondered what happened!

Got to the new site, a bit higher altitude than the campground and no one here but me! 

Only minus?  Best signal is Extended 3G, and that's

with weBoost!

The sunset wasn't bad:

Tuesday July 28

Did some riding in the morning, found some nice rock formations.

Late morning afternoon I had returned to camp, it started raining so I took a nap.

Things cleared up nicely in mid-afternoon so I went down to the trailhead for the Platte River Wilderness.

Heaven to fly fishermen

Decided to ride back to this mornings rock formations....the riding started out under nice blue skies and I got to the location after some nice meandering riding.

                                             

                           

The storms around here move fast apparently because all of a sudden I was surprised with rapidly darkening skies!

It started raining as I hastily rode back to camp, then it started hailing smaller than pea size ice particles!  Any exposed skin stung in pain when hit by this hail.  I guess I should be thankful it wasn’t bigger stuff!

Yagi got me back to the URRV just fine, soaked to the skin as I didn’t have my rain gear.  Oh well.

Some more rain forecast for tomorrow as well but then the rest of the week should be sunny and highs in the low 80s!

Prepping for more camping

Some tasks prior to going camping again.

To hopefully remedy the weird engine performance behavior when trying to do steep highways and not being able to hold 55 mph when above 10,000 ft (3028 meters); I swapped out the main jet in my 2006 TW200's carburetor.

Based on info I found on the tw200 forum, I had bought Keihin Jets from carbjetkits.com:

1 x Main Jet 99101-393-105

1 x Main Jet 99101-393-110

1 x Main Jet 99101-393-115

The last number is the size of the jet.  The stock jet the TW200 came with is size 125 and the theory is its too much fuel above 10,000 ft where there's less air for the air/fuel mixture.  (Thanks RichardM for the reminder)

You have to remove the fuel bowl at the bottom of the carburetor to access the jets so I had to loosen the worm gear hose clamps, unhook the fuel line, and also unhook an air line going into the exhaust side manifold of the carburetor.

Then, I could rotate the carburetor's bottom side to the left so I could access the fuel bowl screws:

Once I had the bowl off, I also checked the size of the idle jet:

Idle Jet

Then, using an 8mm wrench to loosen the main jet assembly, using same wrench and I think a 6mm wrench, I removed the 125 jet and replaced it with a 110 jet:

#110 Keihin Jet now in place

Putting everything back together went smoothly, made sure the carburetor was as level as possible, reinstalled all removed hoses....went for a test ride and she ran as normal.  Hopefully I'll find some high altitude riding during this coming camping trip to see if it helps or hinders.

I geared up and rode to the RV storage yard to pick up Umarang and Yagi held 55 mph just fine.  In fact, I had to throttle back at one point because I was inadvertently doing almost 60 in a 40 mph zone!

The above speed could have been a result of one of three DAC*s trying to kill me with their cars though.

Retrieved the URRV, trailering Yagi back using the Pitbull Restrain System.

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Water notes:  Overflow tubes started at 30 gallons per the water meter as expected.  Put 6 gallons in the water heater tank and an additional 17 gallons in three containers for washing; 5 gallons in separate jub for flushing the toilet.

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Got 12 replacement caps for the ends of the steps of the RV ladder for $24 from here: LINK, some of the original ones are cracking and falling apart so I'll be replacing the ones that need to be replaced.

Changing my preconceptions of Preload Settings

Preload:  Preemptively adding a load, in this case compressing the spring  on a Ural's shock absorber to "stiffen" or "harden" the ride.

Background:  When I first got Scarlett, my 2014 Patrol, she wallowed like a old Cadillac and didn't feel safe to ride her home from the dealer.  I stopped shortly after leaving Fort Collins and using the pin wrench in the assigned tool kit, turned the preload to the full position.

The "new to me" Scarlett rode much better with stiffer settings!  And so, I would forget about it and always set the preloads on all my Ural rigs to the max setting, not wanting to "wallow".

Present:

I'd been messing about with the shock absorbers on both my rigs, the 2014 with the German Sachs Shock Absorbers and the 1999 rig with the old style shocks made by Ural (I think).

Most if not all had displayed signs of seal failure and oil leakage, and the Sachs shocks showed the springs compressed more than normal while just parked.

 Scarlett's rear shock absorbers, from a rig that was parted out,

showing what I think is "good" spring separation distance.

Scarlett's front Sachs shock absorbers, showing the

narrower spring separation gap of what I believe are

failed or worn shock absorbers.

In the last few weeks, I've replaced all the seals on the "rebuildable" shock absorbers for Fiona, the '99 Patrol.  Of course, you know, the two front shock absorber pistons on her broke during the last camping trip.  So now, Fiona is sporting the "used" and believed failed Sachs shock absorbers from Scarlet's pusher wheel position.

 Scarlett's rear shock absorbers, now used on Fiona's

front wheel's suspension.

Old style shock absorbers with new seals on

Fiona's pusher wheel's suspension.

Note the spring separation gap is wider.

I've got two supposedly new shocks, old style, coming from Belarus....they'll get put on Scarlett's front wheel and I'll see how they work out:

image source: ebay

Today:

I set the preload on all the shocks but the sidecar shock on Fiona to lowest setting.  A test ride revealed NO wallowing behavior and a more comfortable ride.  Hmmmm.

Then, I thought I'd do the same for Scarlett's shocks and a test ride revealed only a slight wallowing behavior.  Upon returning home, I adjusted the preload to the first position and will test that for the next few rides.

Amidst all these changes, I realized that one the combo pin wrench in the tool kit isn't suitable for the sidecar shock absorber.  No room to turn the wrench you see.  Previously, it had led to frustration and even removal of the shock absorber in order to change the dang preload settings!

In the picture above, the rightmost pin wrench or spanner is the combo wrench I thought was meant for all the shock absorbers.  I was, as usual, wrong.

The left most wrench is the one that came with the 2014 rig's toolkit.

The center wrench is the one that came with the 1999 rig's toolkit.

Why the difference?  The center one is also used to loosen/tighten the center piston's cap within the shock absorber's body.  The Sachs shocks not being rebuildable, no provision is made for their being taken apart.

Turns out, the center or leftmost wrench is the only one suitable to adjust the sidecar's shock absorber's preload within the tight confines involved!  I was trying to do it all with the rightmost combination wrench and failing miserably when it came to the sidecar's shock absorber!  Doh!

Going forward:

The day's of my Ural rigs being used to attack rough mountain trails and passes are over.  It's forest roads only when not on pavement I think.  Yagi, my 2006 TW200 Dualsport will get me to the top of mountain passes and down the rough stuff.

Depending on how the "new" shock absorbers do on Scarlett, I might get a similar pair for Fiona.

Also exploring finding shock absorbers of similar specifications on Aliexpress, perhaps finding a cheaper alternative for future use.

I might even explore the use of "heavier" or "stiffer" springs, but some research needed on that.

Found: GoPro 4 Session Camera

If you're feeling like a bit of a helpful Samaritan, please spread the word:

Recently, I found, near the junction of FR811.B and FR123 in the Pike National Forest, a GoPro Hero 4 Session camera.

Camera will not power on, I think it's toast.

It was underwater and apparently has been that way since September 3, 2017....the date of the newest file.  The red arrow in the screen capture above shows where it was found.

Here's what I believe is the camera's serial number in case someone can use it to trace the owner:

I checked the videos and here's some Snip App captures of whom I think is the owner and his GMC Pickup Truck's license plate, that might help identify the owner:

Colorado Plate

506-IQD? or 506-IOD?

If you're the owner, contact me at info@pmdnetworks.com for retrieval of the camera and 64GB MicroSD card.  I'll put the camera away until the end of the year at least.  I repeat, the camera is toast...tried charging it and it did warm up a bit but couldn't get it to power on.  The 64GB MicroSD card is viable however and contains videos.