Time to Air Down
September 21, 2022 - We had friends traveling in Wyoming. And since we were in northern Colorado with nothing else to do, we decided to meet them at the Green River. The Green River lies in a high valley, around 7,000 ft, between the Gros Ventre Range and the Wind River Range, southeast of Jackson, Wyoming.
The high plains this time of year don’t change much from summer. Sage brush is sage green for fall. No big surprise there.
Fall looks exactly like Summer
But once we entered the mountains, we saw the aspens were just starting to change color. It’s interesting that from a distance you can see the distribution of various species of trees. In some locations, aspens grow on the south side of the mountain while conifers prefer the north side.
Which way is North
Green River Early Fall
We arrived the day before our friends so we took some time to select a camp site. We needed a site that was level and large enough for two campers. We prefer to be off the main road to cut down on noise, and dust, as well as provide privacy. But the spot needed to be accessible to our friend’s RV which has a ground clearance of 9”.
Camp at Green River
The roads in this area are gravel so they are really rocky, muddy, and because it’s open range, cow ‘decorated.’ If you have been following our travels, you may remember back in May we installed a compressor. On these rough roads we finally decided it was time to air-down. What a difference! Airing down from 37 to 20 psi really smoothed out the ride. We have been hesitant to air-down because we don’t really trust that we can air back up when we leave. So we tested the compressor before we lowered the tire pressure. Also you have to have a good place to pull off the road to stop, then pull out the valves to release air. Then repeat the procedure in reverse to air up. All this takes time. There was plenty of space here to pull off the road and we were not in a hurry.
We stayed at Green River three nights. We took photos of the fall color, did some very light hiking, ate lunch overlooking the Lower Green River Lake, and enjoyed the company of our friends.
Strawberries in Fall Color
Lower Green River Lake
We have visited this area before. When we were in graduate school, we started a two week hike from this location. Actually we started the hike twice, once in late June and the following year a week later. That was an adventure, flooded rivers, a dead horse, bear, an abandoned backpack, cornices and snow bridges.
Green River always gives us an interesting story.
The day after we left took us to the ER with an overnight stay.
Update:
A good psi to start with is the diameter of your wheel. A 17" wheel should be able to handle 17 psi. Alternatively, air down to 75% of your full-pressure sidewall height. These two number should be close.
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