Trailer Service

July 21-23 — Our first trailer warranty service was due at 600 miles. They just want to check the suspension, tires, heater, etc to make sure there are no problems before anyone gets too far off grid. We were way over the 600 miles! We had seen some coolant dripping from the Wabasto heater so it was good to have someone check it.

Wabasto Heater in a Patriot Camper

On our way to SLC for servicing, we camped near the Strawberry reservoir. The sign at the entrance to the State Forest had “wanted” posters for spotted knapweed (an invasive plant native to Eurasia.) The sign unfortunately did not provide a good description of the plant. It just looked like a thistle to me. As we drove along the trails we saw two forms of thistle. A tall very spiny version with dark green foliage and red flowers. The second was shorter, only a couple of feet tall, with gray green foliage and pink flowers. I think the pink one was a native, wavyleaf thistle, Cirsium undulatum. The one I took a photo of was not very healthy. You can see spots on the stem and leaves. There are also a few bugs just below the flower on the right.

We looked up spotted knapweed when we got home. It turns out that spotted knapweed is not a thistle, but it looks a lot like one. As far as we know, we didn’t encounter any knapweed so you’ll have to click this link to see it.

The encounter made me curious about thistle so I looked into that as well. Colorado has 15 species of native thistle and 5 foreign species. The native forms are not aggressive spreaders and provide nectar, seeds, and foliage for native species to eat. Some are rare, found only in a few counties in a narrower range of elevation. The foreign species are vigorous spreaders. They easily adapt to many environments and elevations choking out native vegetation.

Luckily our camp was not in a thistle patch native or foreign.

The next morning, we left camp heading north toward the Strawberry Reservoir and highway 40. The drive was rough and slow but beautiful. We didn’t pass a single vehicle. Around noon we spotted the reservoir. A few minutes later, we came to a stop in front of a gate with a sign saying “private property no trespassing”. We would have to go back the way we came in. I guess I should have turned on the private property layer on our Gaia GPS map. Oops! Lesson learned. (In the last few weeks, Gaia has added an overlanding layer which shows public and private land along with the trails. This makes it much easier. Thanks Gaia!)

Less than a mile back down the trail we came to a stop again. This time we were admiring the purple wildflowers. They were only visible when headed south. If we had not turned around we would missed them.

Penstemon

After a quick scramble down the hill for a photo stop, we continued on to our next destination just north of Sundance ski resort. We arrived much later than we had planned but it was still hot so we spent the evening sitting in the shade listening to the radio.

In the morning we dropped the trailer at RVs of America. They inspected our trailer and found no problems. They think the coolant in the Webasto might have been overfilled. It worked correctly and they saw no more leaks. The trailer should be good until July 2023.

It was too late to get home, so we spent another night camping south of route 6. Then we headed home in the morning. We stopped in Grand Junction, CO for gas. As we were getting back on the highway, a light on the dash started flashing. It was the rear locker light. After a stop at the local Jeep dealership, we determined it was probably only a bad sensor and safe to drive. Soon we were back on the road with an appointment at our local dealership for service.

We investigated the problem on several Jeep forums. It’s a known problem. The sensor thinks the locker is trying to engage but can’t. Trying to turn the locker on or off does nothing to the constant blinking. If you continue to drive, another light comes on just above the fuel gauge and on starting the engine, you get a “Service Axle Locker System” warning. It appears the fix is to replace the rear axel even though it’s just a bad sensor. I’m sure Jeep has some reason for replacing the rear axel for just a small electronic part. I hope the old axles are going to a good use. Yes, it’s 102F today. If only we could head to the mountains.

Funny how you take one thing in for service but it’s the other thing that actually needs the service.