Ben Hedrick
Supporter
Wow! Quite impressive!! Well done!!
Ben
Ben
Adventure RV
- Thread starter ckouba
- Start date
Chris Kouba
Supporter
The wife and I were up at the mountain this weekend. Another successful shakedown run.
Chris Kouba
Supporter
I've been ignoring my GT and this project continues to consume all my spare time, but for good reason...
On Halloween night last year, I entered the lottery process for a permit to The Wave on a whim. It was a spontaneous decision for which I had the lowest of expectations as we've applied a number of times since our first visit and haven't scored an entry since. The lottery process is computer-run and at midnight on the first of any given month, the results are emailed out for dates four months out. I left work the following morning thinking it was weird that I didn't get my rejection email. Within 5 minutes of that thought, I did get an email- I got a permit for Friday, Feb 16th! Happy Valentines Day to the wife!!
This type of trip is quite literally the mission statement of this build. Go anywhere to see anything. There was no way we weren't taking the rig.
I had quite a bit of work to do to get it (wifey-approved) winter camping rated. Quite happily, it all worked out. We got out once or twice again to see how things ran under the NW's cloudy winter skies, and happily, we were still pulling in more power through the solar than we consumed. In addition, I enlarged the fuel tank to support the diesel powered glycol heater in addition to improving my operational range and the heater was able to keep things nice and comfortable. Had a bunch of other stuff that I also did along the way, but it's all a bit of a blur in the mirror at this point.
We left town a day early, trying to avoid a storm coming into the NW. We managed to stay ahead of it on the way out, and it didn't bother heading far enough south to trouble us once we got beyond Salt Lake City. Roads were clear from an earlier storm and we made excellent progress. With wanting to beat the weather and ensure we were in Kanab to meet friends on Thurs, I let the rig run as it wanted. At times, I would look down to see mid- to high-70's on the speedo, even getting to 80's. It's kind of crazy...
We had friends (Jeff and Jill) fly into Vegas and meet us in Kanab, UT for lunch on Thurs (the permit was for 4 people + dog). We headed out into the wilderness that evening and they stayed at a hotel in town that night, meeting us early the next morning at the trailhead. We had a fantastic day on the rock- retracing the route the ranger guided us into the area in 2018 and catching the neat places to see along the way. The BLM has more than tripled the amount of people who are allowed in the permit area since we first went (from 20 to 64 per day), but we managed to have the actual Wave to ourselves for ~40 minutes when we arrived. We took all the pics we wanted and then sat down to have a snack... which is when people started to stream in every ~5-10 minutes. We really lucked out and enjoyed the time- and we knew it was special while still in the moment.
Since it was getting "crowded", we went on our walkabout to the other scenic attractions in the area. We had a lovely time, and I was very happy for B, who missed out on this portion of the experience on our first visit. This time, we were able to hike it together at our pace.
This took us 3-4 hours (we weren't really watching or caring, still had plenty of daylight), and it brought us back to the top of the Wave again. And it was empty for us, again. We took a bunch more pics and then headed over to another set of flowing features which was basically a mini-Wave and had it to ourselves. After more pics there, we were ready to call it a day.
We hiked out and Jeff and Jill came back to where we were camping and B and I prepared a lovely pan-seared cajun salmon on rice with veggies dinner with some refreshing adult beverages. It was a FANTASTIC way to wrap up the day!!
Saturday we were going to continue with the fun itinerary we planned for the rest of the week, but while transiting through deep sand, the truck went into limp mode, turned on its check engine light, and made things interesting for getting out of the sand with minimal hp's. We managed to get back to a solid dirt road, and since the rig was still running, we took ran it all the way out to the pavement. Upon reaching the pavement, something told the computer that things were OK and it shut off limp mode and the CEL. I figured we'd be ~2h trying to get back to Kanab but we were there in ~40m.
I have diagnostic gear and sorted through things. It was now Sat evening, so there weren't any places which could really help us, so we caught back up with Jeff and Jill for dinner and hunkered down in Kanab til Monday. Checking in with my big truck addict support group, I found a shop in Cedar City which could help us out. We got there without a CEL or code again, including climbing over a pass just shy of 10k(!). Things seemed stable but an oil change helped. We made the decision to head home at that point and really fix it though, instead of wing it and see what happens in the wild.
We had originally planned a 2w trip at the end of April/beginning of May, which is the next outing for the rig. I have a definite timeline to get it remedied as we have other friends who also scored a Wave permit for that trip. I don't want to miss it.
On the way:
Glamor shot:
Getting closer:
Heading in:
Scenery!
More scenery on the way in
Looking down into the Wave
Glamor shot II
The Wave
Later in the day
The highlight pics album:
On Halloween night last year, I entered the lottery process for a permit to The Wave on a whim. It was a spontaneous decision for which I had the lowest of expectations as we've applied a number of times since our first visit and haven't scored an entry since. The lottery process is computer-run and at midnight on the first of any given month, the results are emailed out for dates four months out. I left work the following morning thinking it was weird that I didn't get my rejection email. Within 5 minutes of that thought, I did get an email- I got a permit for Friday, Feb 16th! Happy Valentines Day to the wife!!
This type of trip is quite literally the mission statement of this build. Go anywhere to see anything. There was no way we weren't taking the rig.
I had quite a bit of work to do to get it (wifey-approved) winter camping rated. Quite happily, it all worked out. We got out once or twice again to see how things ran under the NW's cloudy winter skies, and happily, we were still pulling in more power through the solar than we consumed. In addition, I enlarged the fuel tank to support the diesel powered glycol heater in addition to improving my operational range and the heater was able to keep things nice and comfortable. Had a bunch of other stuff that I also did along the way, but it's all a bit of a blur in the mirror at this point.
We left town a day early, trying to avoid a storm coming into the NW. We managed to stay ahead of it on the way out, and it didn't bother heading far enough south to trouble us once we got beyond Salt Lake City. Roads were clear from an earlier storm and we made excellent progress. With wanting to beat the weather and ensure we were in Kanab to meet friends on Thurs, I let the rig run as it wanted. At times, I would look down to see mid- to high-70's on the speedo, even getting to 80's. It's kind of crazy...
We had friends (Jeff and Jill) fly into Vegas and meet us in Kanab, UT for lunch on Thurs (the permit was for 4 people + dog). We headed out into the wilderness that evening and they stayed at a hotel in town that night, meeting us early the next morning at the trailhead. We had a fantastic day on the rock- retracing the route the ranger guided us into the area in 2018 and catching the neat places to see along the way. The BLM has more than tripled the amount of people who are allowed in the permit area since we first went (from 20 to 64 per day), but we managed to have the actual Wave to ourselves for ~40 minutes when we arrived. We took all the pics we wanted and then sat down to have a snack... which is when people started to stream in every ~5-10 minutes. We really lucked out and enjoyed the time- and we knew it was special while still in the moment.
Since it was getting "crowded", we went on our walkabout to the other scenic attractions in the area. We had a lovely time, and I was very happy for B, who missed out on this portion of the experience on our first visit. This time, we were able to hike it together at our pace.
This took us 3-4 hours (we weren't really watching or caring, still had plenty of daylight), and it brought us back to the top of the Wave again. And it was empty for us, again. We took a bunch more pics and then headed over to another set of flowing features which was basically a mini-Wave and had it to ourselves. After more pics there, we were ready to call it a day.
We hiked out and Jeff and Jill came back to where we were camping and B and I prepared a lovely pan-seared cajun salmon on rice with veggies dinner with some refreshing adult beverages. It was a FANTASTIC way to wrap up the day!!
Saturday we were going to continue with the fun itinerary we planned for the rest of the week, but while transiting through deep sand, the truck went into limp mode, turned on its check engine light, and made things interesting for getting out of the sand with minimal hp's. We managed to get back to a solid dirt road, and since the rig was still running, we took ran it all the way out to the pavement. Upon reaching the pavement, something told the computer that things were OK and it shut off limp mode and the CEL. I figured we'd be ~2h trying to get back to Kanab but we were there in ~40m.
I have diagnostic gear and sorted through things. It was now Sat evening, so there weren't any places which could really help us, so we caught back up with Jeff and Jill for dinner and hunkered down in Kanab til Monday. Checking in with my big truck addict support group, I found a shop in Cedar City which could help us out. We got there without a CEL or code again, including climbing over a pass just shy of 10k(!). Things seemed stable but an oil change helped. We made the decision to head home at that point and really fix it though, instead of wing it and see what happens in the wild.
We had originally planned a 2w trip at the end of April/beginning of May, which is the next outing for the rig. I have a definite timeline to get it remedied as we have other friends who also scored a Wave permit for that trip. I don't want to miss it.
On the way:
Glamor shot:
Getting closer:
Heading in:
Scenery!
More scenery on the way in
Looking down into the Wave
Glamor shot II
The Wave
Later in the day
The highlight pics album:
Last edited:
Wonderful journey & beautiful photos!
I’d really love to photograph that area, but wonder if it’s wise for me since I’m in my 70‘s… I’m pretty stabile as a flatland hiker - I can do some climbing, but descents are murder on my back and other lower extremity joints..
I’d really love to photograph that area, but wonder if it’s wise for me since I’m in my 70‘s… I’m pretty stabile as a flatland hiker - I can do some climbing, but descents are murder on my back and other lower extremity joints..
Chris Kouba
Supporter
Quick update on this project- it runs again!!
I've had it torn down extensively to address the motor issue we had in UT. If you're familiar with diesel injection, I had to replace the HEUI pump. It's the pump which supplies high pressure engine oil (~4,000 psi) to run the injectors hydraulically. In addition, I decided to do a bit of extra investigation and bulletproofing. It made a bit more work, but will be worth it for peace of mind in the backcountry.
What's not here? The HEUI pump is supposed to live in the oily, messy area:
Lots of missing pieces:
Fresh, new oil pump:
Overall, it went pretty well. I took my time with it and went methodically. I had it on the open road again yesterday and it felt very smooth, noticeably smoother than prior to the pump swap. No additional power (not the intention either), but it ran very well.
It needs a few other little things to truly wrap it up, and then I need to get the bathroom back together quickly- we leave again on 4/24! Very nervously looking forward to it.
I've had it torn down extensively to address the motor issue we had in UT. If you're familiar with diesel injection, I had to replace the HEUI pump. It's the pump which supplies high pressure engine oil (~4,000 psi) to run the injectors hydraulically. In addition, I decided to do a bit of extra investigation and bulletproofing. It made a bit more work, but will be worth it for peace of mind in the backcountry.
What's not here? The HEUI pump is supposed to live in the oily, messy area:
Lots of missing pieces:
Fresh, new oil pump:
Overall, it went pretty well. I took my time with it and went methodically. I had it on the open road again yesterday and it felt very smooth, noticeably smoother than prior to the pump swap. No additional power (not the intention either), but it ran very well.
It needs a few other little things to truly wrap it up, and then I need to get the bathroom back together quickly- we leave again on 4/24! Very nervously looking forward to it.
Bill Kearley
Supporter
200 hour oil changes are the key to on highway Cat engines especially with HEUI pumps. My first 3406B I rebuilt at 20000 hr. and 1.5 mil. miles. as it turned out I could have gone 2 mil. And we wont talk about the failed ACERT systems !!!!!
Chris Kouba
Supporter
UT/AZ, Take 2 is underway!
Truck is running well, took 2 days to get to Wellington, UT, after seeing friends in Boise Thurs night. Ran in the low 60's for the most part on the highway and have been managing mid-8's for mpg. It's cruising strong and smooth...
Hit the dirt yesterday evening and will spend the next 2w exploring more of the SW.
Pulling up to camp
Camp
Weather is supposed to shape up starting tomorrow, but who cares? We're not at work!
Truck is running well, took 2 days to get to Wellington, UT, after seeing friends in Boise Thurs night. Ran in the low 60's for the most part on the highway and have been managing mid-8's for mpg. It's cruising strong and smooth...
Hit the dirt yesterday evening and will spend the next 2w exploring more of the SW.
Pulling up to camp
Camp
Weather is supposed to shape up starting tomorrow, but who cares? We're not at work!
Neil
Supporter
If you are anywhere near Wendover, UT. take a short drive out to the Bonneville Salt Flats. There is an upcoming Test & Tune event scheduled for June 28th and 29th.
Chris Kouba
Supporter
It was pretty soggy in SLC when we went through. Pretty sure there'd be standing water on it, but yes, it's on "the List", maybe even with some sort of streamliner to run.
Chris Kouba
Supporter
We moved camp today, now at Cedar Mountain at the north end of San Rafael Swell. The scenery is fantastic...
The truck is a monster!
Sun is trying to poke through. Should be clearing up over the next 24h.
The truck is a monster!
Sun is trying to poke through. Should be clearing up over the next 24h.
Chris Kouba
Supporter
Sun's out...
Chris Kouba
Supporter
One last post while I still have internet to share it... Threw the drone up this afternoon too. Still fairly amateur with it, but it gives an idea of the neighborhood:
It seems to default to 720p for resolution. Hopefully it's just processing the data for the higher res versions. I manually bumped it to 1080 and it looked much better.
It seems to default to 720p for resolution. Hopefully it's just processing the data for the higher res versions. I manually bumped it to 1080 and it looked much better.
Chris: If your trip comes to the Prescott, AZ area, give me a shout. It would be great to meet you in person and there's plenty of space for you to "camp out" with your RV here.
Chris Kouba
Supporter
Thanks Joel. Would love to stop by at some point but not likely to swing that far south on this trip. My in-laws are in PHX, so maybe connect separately, albeit without the camper in that case.
We hiked around yesterday. Scenery was tolerable.
And also yesterday, this happened:
We hiked around yesterday. Scenery was tolerable.
And also yesterday, this happened:
"...descents are murder on my back and other lower extremity joints..."
Then obviously it wouldn't be worth the risk, would it.
If you were to SLIP, TRIP or FALL you could be kicking your self in the butt for quite a while.
Fergidabowtdit. ;-)
(Buuuut you COULD arrange for a helicopter to pick you up for the return trip, I suppose!
)
