My Journey

[BigDawwg]

Jerry,,,,, I'll 2nd that comment that "Able-Guy" made about those Coleman Canoes, the BEST place for that Canoe,,,,, is right where it's at, on the Jeep, get rid of it Quick like a "Bunny" 1st chance you get.
Also, are you still going to get that "Hip" work done..... ?
Anyway, Best to you and the Dogs, Murphy says hey....

 

[chet6.7]

Yet there was still the issue with the truck (the Service Engine Soon light), and now things began to get even worse. Now I was getting warnings that my diesel exhaust filter was full.....and things continued to get worse from there.....

Will your truck go into limp mode if not serviced?
I just had to buy a NOX sensor, these newer diesel have expensive emissions systems.

 

[Riversdad]

Are the dogs happy to be off the couch and back on the road or did they prefer the pampered life?

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

BigDawwg.....I'm scheduled for surgery April, 2023. The surgeon is still advising me not to do it & I'm on the fence. I'm back to climbing small mountains & having high mileage days so who knows ultimately what I will do. It sure sucks about that damn canoe.....

chet6.7.....I guess the definitive answer is yes maybe but maybe not.....read below.....and yep, emissions stuff is outrageously expensive.....

riversdad.....if you'd ask that question week one I'd have said nope. But now almost two weeks back on the road, I'd say they're thrilled to be on the road again.....



As I had mentioned things went downhill quite quickly.....as we departed the petroglyphs the little wrench symbol was next to appear on my trucks' screen. I called the Ford dealership in Rock Springs, Wyoming and they said that means get to a Ford shop immediately (oddly that symbol is not shown in my Owners Manual). I was certainly nervous with 15 miles of off-road travel and 15 more miles of paved roads.....



The following morning Ford got right to it.....we spent the entire day there.....they updated the trucks' software and forced 2 regens and ended the day with yet another oil change. Finally the Service Engine Soon light was off and the Ford mechanic said we should be good to go.....



After 2 nights camped in the Ford dealership parking lot we were super excited to have finally solved the riddle.....we headed south down Highway 191.....



Everything was so beautiful that day.....we had escaped the upcoming cold front & the snow storm that accompanied it.....we took our time going south.....stopped for a long walk to stretch the legs.....





Soon enough we left soon to be frigid Wyoming behind.....



The three of us.....we were so ready to explore.....



We were sixty seven miles south of Rock Springs, Wyoming when that Service Engine Soon light came back on.....the only choice was a U-turn and then it was right back to Rock Springs, Wyoming .The following day the truck was back at Ford, another forced regen, another attempt to leave town, another Service Engine Soon light.....next we headed over to Addicted Diesel where we once again set up camp in Rock Springs, Wyoming.....



Ford had finally determined that the DPF had gone bad (not quite 63,000 on the truck). A replacement would be nearly $5,000 and even worse was that the part is not available from Ford.....and best case scenario would be a minimum of a 30 day wait for the part if the part even became available.....



At this point there really seemed to be no other option (even the Ford shop agreed).....delete.....and that's what I did. I don't know.....am I happy with it ? Way more power and there's maybe a 3 miles per gallon improvement.....it is what is. One thing is for sure.....many truck owners (not just Ford) are being faced with the exact same decision.....

 

[Riversdad]

Really sucks not to be able to trust your truck, when it is essentially your home. Hopefully this will resolve the issue and the trip will continue without problems.
By the way, did you get a new camera? Your recent pictures seem much better than in the past.

 

[wyowandering]

I wouldn't think twice about doing a delete. If mileage goes up then you are using less which is probably better environmentally in the long run then all the heavy metals mined for the SCR/DPF system, DEF and the plastic jugs it comes in ect.
I thought anything emissions related was federally mandated to be warrantied for 100k by all manufacturers independently of the engine/drivetrain warranty from the manufacturer.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Riversdad.....same camera.....probably just got lucky. Yea the past 2 months with the vehicles has been a real strain. I'm well over $10,000 in repairs which sucks but honestly I'm just grateful that I can absorb the costs and move on down the road. So long as I'm healthy (or near healthy) I've got no good reason to complain.....

wyowandering.....a friend & I were just having that exact conversation about the trade offs. I guess that I'm in complete agreement. Regarding the warranty, the parts manager & the service manager both told me that it was not covered with the warranty. I just did a Google search and the best I can tell is that it's 50,000 miles or 5 years. And even if it was covered, what was I to do ? I wasn't going to camp in their parking lot until who knows when.....a rock & hard spot for sure.....



After 5 nights camped in Rock Springs, Wyoming I was certainly ready to get back on the road.....but I had one last thing to do before we left town.....Les Schwab for my tire rotation. And just as we were leaving town I thought to grab a hot shower at the aquatic center.....and then we were gone.....finally.....and yes, the Service Engine Soon light was finally gone forever.....



Originally my plan had been to stay in the area & explore the Greater Sand Dunes northeast of town for a week or so but now temperatures had plummeted and the snows had fallen.....so Highway 191 south to Vernal, Utah was too dangerous (per every local I spoke with) to drive so another change in plans was made.....we drove west along Interstate 80.....







.....and soon enough we were right back in Utah.....







We spent that night in a Home Depot parking lot.....



.....and oh man was it cold.....as I haven't even mentioned the fact that the camper batteries have been dead / near dead this entire trip.....which of course means no heat.....

 

[Trailboss]

Good call on the delete. My F250 with only 120K miles had the same symptoms and diagnosis back in July and is still stranded 430 miles from home waiting on a new DPF. There is a nationwide backlog order of over 850 DPFs, and I still don't have an estimated delivery date now waiting almost 4 months.

 

[chet6.7]

Good call on the delete. My F250 with only 120K miles had the same symptoms and diagnosis back in July and is still stranded 430 miles from home waiting on a new DPF. There is a nationwide backlog order of over 850 DPFs, and I still don't have an estimated delivery date now waiting almost 4 months.

Have you thought about cleaning the DPF? There are a bunch of youtube videos using pressure washers and/or chemical cleaners. Amazon has some chemical cleaners.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

chet6.7.....FWIW, I talked to my Montana diesel mechanic, the Ford diesel mechanic, and 3 diesel mechanics at Addicted Diesel and it was unanimous.....that's a temporary fix to a long term problem. None of them thought that it was a good idea.....I guess this was more directed to Trailboss.....



Wandering is kind of an unusual way of traveling.....you start out with an idea of where you are going.....at a minimum a direction at the least. When I left Montana two weeks ago, I would never in a thousand years guessed that I would be where I am today doing what I am doing right now.....

We followed the interstate west and eventually connected with Interstate 15 and then began to once again drive south.....at some point along Interstate 15 we departed the interstate and ended up in Ephraim, Utah.....



I've been here several times over the past years and this really is one of my favorite small Utah towns.....we stayed 2 nights camped in town.....





I believe this is called Pioneer Park.....I wouldn't swear to it (edit: actually I'll swear to it as I now see that name in one of my posted photographs).....





It's located right along Main Street.....a street that we walked too many times.....





Now it was time to make new plans.....the mountains were calling again.....





So we unhooked the Jeep, climbed the mountains, and left the city behind.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I had been on Google and on my Utah maps looking for something beyond the town limits to explore and I came up with the Ephraim Canyon Heritage Tour.....



For nearly the entire duration of this trip we have been cold and knowing that there was plenty of snow up high, I had no expectations to actually complete the entire tour.....



The ATV's had no problem but others certainly did.....



As we drove up into the clouds I felt as though I was entering a dream world (one of my favorite places to be).....





We'd pass through breaks in the clouds.....and would see glimpses of the entire valley below.....





.....and then we'd drive right back into the cloud cover.....into that dream world once again.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Eventually the paved road took us well above the cloud cover and now the ground which was dotted with patches of snow had become covered completely in many inches of snow.....







I decided to drop the Jeep where the paved road ended and from here on as we traveled upwards the stone road was completely covered in snow.....



Traffic was nearly non existent from this point on.....now it was near complete silence.....





I've always thought the only way to truly become one with nature is to travel by foot.....



I could hear the trickle of a nearby stream.....the fluttering of the Aspen trees in the mountain winds.....



Sometimes I thought that I could even hear the falling of the leaves.....the forest and the mountains and the streams are my home.....



Our new goal for this day was simply to hike to the Great Basin Station.....

 

[Riversdad]

Great pictures, Jerry. You have given me another place that the wife and I will have to visit.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Riversdad.....thanks.....I would think that the fall colors in those mountains in that area would be sensational. Past years I've spent on the eastern side of those mountains and caught some of those colors. Phenomenal ! This year I spent the past week exploring & climbing on the west side.....Phenomenal (even without the fall colors) !



As best I recall we hiked maybe 2 miles up that snow covered road to see what we could see.....



In less than an hour of hiking we reached the driveway to the Great Basin Station.....



Right there were the 3 informative signs that I've posted here.....



And below those signs were snow covered boulders.....I'm not sure what possessed me to wipe the snow from the boulders but this particular one sure did intrigue me.....I thought it beautiful.....



We hiked on down to the station.....not a single footprint to be found.....





I decided not to walk around.....it was just so perfect without our footprints.....then I proceeded to photograph a few of the outbuildings.....





And then we hiked back down the mountain.....with the spirit of adventure reignited in my blood.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We continued south now looking for a nearby mountain to climb.....an internet search came up with Black Cap Mountain (6,597') .....we dropped the truck / camper off at the city park in Salina, Utah and headed up into the mountains in the Jeep once again.....



There was no actual trailhead here.....actually there was no trail here.....this was complete bushwacking and without GPS I'll admit it was a real struggle to find this mountain peak.....



There were just too many false summits that blocked my view of Black Cap Mountain but eventually I got things figured out and up we went.....



Fitbit tells me that we hiked 3.5 miles with 470' of elevation gain.....perfect mountain to begin our training on (take note of Tanners' fur blowing in the wind.....it was nearly blow the dog off the mountain type winds).....



Nice views from the summit.....







.....and a great day in the mountains climbing & four wheeling.....



This place was crawling with mule deer & elk.....



and a couple of happy dogs.....