AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Hidden Valley's Secret Tinaja - Mojave East #5

Even with earplugs, sleep was hard to come by with 20mph winds buffeting the tent and shaking the truck. That meant that as the light outside started to change, we were both already awake and it was no trouble at all to hop out of the tent to capture what turned out to be a colorful - if distant - sunrise!

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With this being our last morning to explore - a 20-hour drive home mandating that we leave the area by mid-day, we promptly retreated back under our comforters for a few minutes to soak up a little more warmth before dressing and taking care of breakfast. By 7:30am - our earliest morning by far - we were fed, watered, camera'd, sunscreened, and ready to go!

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Muddy Mountain road closure sign. Quite the list of organizations worked to close this road.​

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@mrs.turbodb climbs a 1 mile long, 25° trail that serves as a gatekeeper to Hidden Valley.​

The first mile of our seven mile loop was one of the more difficult. Aptly named, Hidden Valley is accessed only with a bit of work, climbing up and over a ridge that hides it from unknowing passers-by. As we climbed, the perspective changed dramatically - the truck quickly shrinking in the distance below us, early spring flowers (Indian Paintbrush) dotting the trail at our feet.

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Warm and a little short of breath, we reached the ridge and were greeted by the splendor of what we were about to explore - the colorful outcroppings of Hidden Valley, revealing themselves before us, beckoning us onward.

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Following the faint remnants of an old road, soon found ourselves wandering through these majestic mounds of sand, their alternating light and dark layers so intriguing in their pattern and construction.

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We had two real destinations in Hidden Valley, both near the apex of our loop. The first was an arch high above the valley floor and we arrived just as the sun and clouds were showing off on a bit of sandstone nearby.

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From there, it was a short jaunt to the arch and I must admit that I was initially a little bummed to see that we'd be photographing it from the "wrong" direction - the accessible side of the arch in the morning shade. In retrospect, the lighting adds a cool touch which I actually appreciate, and is a great reminder to always be thankful in these situations, as they tend to work themselves out.

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But - as I mentioned - in the moment what I was really thinking about was, how can I get a good photo from the other side?, and since we had to head that direction anyway on our loop, we didn't spend much time admiring the arch before getting underway again - the light still playing with the mountain-sized bread loaves in the distance.

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Well, it turns out that views of the arch from the sunny-in-the-morning-side are reasonably difficult to get - requiring a good amount of class 3 climbing and careful route selection. All I could think was... challenge accepted!

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I eventually found myself above the arch, on the sunny side.​

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And then with some down-climbing, a shot through the arch.​

Ultimately, I think I actually like the "shady" photos better, but the journey to the sunny side was more than enough fun to have done even if there'd bee no photo to chase, and I'll be doing it again if I visit in the future, maybe spending even more time hopping around the glorious pile of rocks!

The climb also revealed a couple of spectacular wind-hewn sandstone walls along the way.

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From the arch, we continued our cross-country journey along a route I'd scoped out on Google Earth. I had no idea if it was passable in real life, but online it appeared to route us through some of the more amazing formations in the valley. And so, when we discovered that for once, real life matched our research, we were giddy. Especially my associate.

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Soon, we crested the final rise between us and our next destination - a tinaja that I hoped could be the highlight of our entire trip! As it rose up in the near distance, I started to get excited - you know, that feeling you get a day or two before you leave on what will be an epic adventure.

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As we approached, even @mrs.turbodb was getting excited. I don't know if I built it up too much or if it was just the anticipation that was getting to her as well, but as we approached the base, I quickly scurried up while she took in the candy cane colored stripes from below.

"Well that's weird," I thought as I reached the basin, and I called down to @mrs.turbodb, "There's a dead sheep in here!" Because there was. But the weird part was that the tinaja looked nothing like what I'd been expecting.

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As we both looked down at the carcass, I realized what was going on. I looked at @mrs.turbodb, who was of course curious about the goofy grin that had spread across my face. "We're in the wrong spot," I said.

What I'd realized was that the monolith didn't end at the edge of the basin containing the sheep. In fact, the upper wall at the far end of the depression was the highest point of the monolith, and the tinaja was still hidden from our current vantage point. Hidden in plain sight, for anyone who doesn't give up or stop exploring too early!

As we skirted the depression and headed to the crest of the mound, the rock fell away and rose again - revealing the tinaja for which we'd been searching.

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Twice hidden in plain sight.​

We spent half an hour in this special place. As the sun danced across the tinaja and valley floor, the colors of the rock, water and sky changed before our eyes, mesmerizing even the 5th, 6th, and 7th times. Having made good time on our hike to this point - it was not yet 10:30am - we allowed ourselves some extra time to enjoy this amazing destination, happy to unknowingly have saved the best for last.

Eventually we found our way back down from the tinaja and around its eastern escarpment, expecting the colorful stripes to be most dramatic on the side bathed in morning sun. We were right.

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And then, it was back - approximately - the way we'd come. Sure, there was a bit more trailblazing across the floor of the valley to get to the trail, but once we did, we were able to pick up the pace - with frequent stops to look back and take in this very cool place while we still could.

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By 11:00 we were back on the ridge that keeps Hidden Valley hidden, the sun now high enough that much of the valley was bathed in its glow, distance still obscuring the true pleasure that awaits anyone who opts for the 7 mile hike through this wonderland.

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And there, tiny in the distance below us - our ticket home, parked at the end of a lonely road in the middle of nowhere. Perfect.

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Back in the truck, and with a small snack in our bellies, we headed north - back the way we'd come the previous evening. A bit sunnier this time, we stopped here and there on our way to the highway - doing our best to prolong the inevitable - going home.

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Pavement came a few hundred feet from the Valley of Fire highway and we set about the familiar exercise of airing up. To full pressure this time - a 20 hour, 2 day, drive ahead of us before we'd reach home. We'd head into the outskirts of Las Vegas for a quick bite to eat and then north on US-93 until the sun disappeared to our west, and then even a bit further than that.

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It had been an amazing trip. We'd accomplished nearly everything we'd planned, but not at all as we'd planned. And that is what makes it an adventure!

 

Spectacular. Thanks so much for sharing this. I love it.

 

Sweet trip and photos! Definitely will be following this thread now.

 

Rig Review - Mojave East - What worked and what didn't?
March 17, 2020

Back from the eastern Mojave, it's time for another look at how the truck performed over the course of the last 5 day's adventures. If you haven't read those - and want to - go right ahead, I'll wait.

Mojave East (Mar 2020)​

Front ADS Coilover Spherical Bearings (again)
TL;DR - I think I need to replace the spherical bearings again. Already. They are squeaky and I've only put 14K miles on the new set.

From the moment we set out on this trip, I could hear the front suspension. In the past, I've thought this might be the springs, but I was educated in Colorado last year that the squeaking is the spherical bearings... and when they stop squeaking, that's when you know things have gotten really bad. Mine are squeaking again after just two trips (and only maybe 300 - 500 offroad miles), which I don't love. I'll need to check into their condition - and the condition of the misalignment spacers and lower shock bolts - before the next trip.

What they looked like last time.​

Second (House) Battery Seems to be Low
TL;DR - Even with relatively cool days and nights, something was wrong with my house battery. Need to investigate.

I have a confession to make - a few days before departure, I left the ignition on in the truck overnight, and that meant that the radio, clock, and maybe a few other little things were on for ~24-36 hours. My batteries didn't love it, and the draw was low enough that the Blue Sea ML-ACR (automatic charging relay/battery controller) did not isolate the batteries at any point. When I discovered my mistake, the voltage of both batteries was at something like 12.1 volts, and I let the truck idle for 30 minutes or so just to get things back to a happier place.

I figured that the 18 hour drive south would be plenty of time for the alternator - which hums away at 14.5-14.7V - to get both batteries back into primo condition for the remainder of the trip. But that was not the case. The starting battery seemed to recondition well, but the house battery didn't. I would get up to a full charge, but it also seemed to lose that charge more quickly than usual.

I plan to get a CTEK 56-959 battery conditioner/charger and see if I can recondition it properly. If not, it's still under warranty, so I'll need to look into that.

On the plus side, having two batteries meant that I could still isolate the starting battery in camp at night, and not have to worry that I wouldn't be able to start the truck in the morning, so that was a huge plus!

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Propane Bottle is Leaking
TL;DR - It's time to get a new 1lb propane bottle; the current one has a slow leak through the valve.

I've been using the same 1lb propane bottle for something like 15 years. For the first 12 of those, I used it in my shop for my propane torch - mostly for household plumbing, heating up the branding iron I use to mark my woodworking projects, etc. The last few years it has been a staple in the kitchen box, where it has seemed to last about a week or so - usually a whole trip - before needing to be refilled with an adapter from my 20lb tank when I come home.

This time however, when we'd disconnect the 1lb bottle from the Coleman Camp Stove/Grill, there was a slow leak that I couldn't get to stop by shaking or blowing into the valve. Likely the valve spring has simply worn out (finally), so I'll be switching to a new bottle.

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Mobilinkd TNC 2 failure (APRS)
TL;DR - My APRS stopped working, because my Mobilinkd TNC 2 died early in the trip.

The Mobilinkd TNC 2 has been a great little APRS TNC and I highly recommend it. Its weak spot - like so many battery powered devices - lies in its battery. I leave it plugged in to USB (for charging) at all times, and that means the battery is either fully charged - when I'm plugging away on a trip, or basically dead - when the truck sits for a week or two at home between trips.

This is terrible for LiIon batteries, and my Mobilinkd is essentially at the point where it doesn't hold a charge. And that means, each time I turn on the truck, the TNC comes on; and each time I turn off the truck, it shuts down. Or really, it crashes, because the power just stops.

This happened when we were getting lunch on our way through Oregon on this latest trip, and the result was that the TNC somehow lost some of its programming. It still seemed to be functioning when I looked at APRSDroid, and beacons were being received correctly, but it wasn't actually broadcasting any beacons - so no one knew where we were.

The indicator that something was wrong, was that when I connected to the TNC with the Mobilinkd Android Configuration app, it was unable to read the firmware version from the device.

I discovered that I could flash Mobilinkd TNC 2 with the current firmware to fix the problem - which I did - but I need to come up with a better, more long-term solution. I don't know if this means getting a replacement battery or what, but it's something to look into.

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Removed from previous Rig Reviews

1. The Swing-Out Table - I still don't have one and the truth of the matter is that I've been getting along fine without by using the tailgate. Adding a table would be a nicety, but would also add weight - even if only a small amount - so for now it's off the list of things to fix on the truck.

Unchanged / Still an issue from previous Rig Reviews

There are some things that have been featured in Rig Reviews that are - as yet - unchanged from when I originally reviewed them. Rather than highlight those things again, I'll simply link to them here.

1. The Ham Radio Antenna - continues to have the shortcoming mentioned.
2. Oil Leaking from Transfer Case - I haven't done anything about this yet, though I seem to be getting less leakage.
3. Relentless Skid Plate Attachment - continues to need the modification mentioned.
4. The Windshield Has Seen Better Days - I plan to wait until summer to fix this, just so winter rocks, sand, etc. don't immediately destroy the new one.

 

Why not add a USB / Cig adapter combo power source to the aux batt. so that the Mobilinkd can get power even when the truck is not operating?

Do you park the truck outside most days? A small solar panel and controller might help keep the secondary battery charged on those long intervals between trips. Just a thought.

Also, been meaning to ask, have you ever considered one of those digital watches that displays altitude? Seems that would be a cool thing to have on some of your hikes.

 

The mobilink should have a user serviceable battery if I remember correctly.

 

So, turns out the battery in the Mobilinkd is still OK. Unclear why it's losing the bios info, but it wouldn't surprise me if it has to do with the fact that it's hooked into my Android head unit, and the power coming from there is wonky. At any rate, I'm going to monitor it for a while longer and see if I can figure out what's going on.

I've kept it off the aux battery because I don't actually want it drawing power there - I want it to turn off eventually (when the TNC battery dies) rather than continue to drain the aux.

Never considered one. Actually, I'm not really a fan of watches or stuff worn on my wrist. I have a fitbit that's like 8 years old because the new ones are all wrist-worn. Bleh. For elevation though, I just use my phone. Its GPS works great, and I've got it on me for GPX recording on hikes anyway.

 

I would check that ML-ACR out. It should isolate batteries soon after the charging voltage is lost. Mine does in about 10 seconds or less. Not sure on your model though. I have the 7622. From the instructions:
The ML-Series ACR automatically combines batteries during charging, and isolates batteries when there is no charging sensed on either battery bank.

 

Yea, I use the MyAltitude app for a quick glance at altitude on my phone. And not to derail the thread, but since phone apps came up, have you checked out PeakVisor? I thought it was a pretty fun app to use w/ some neat features.

 

Thanks Glen.

The ML-ACR only works "sort of" like that. Right below the line you quoted, the table is actually a better description of how it's designed to work:



So, if you're seeing the ACR isolate in 10 seconds or less, then you've got a battery that's under 12.35V (or so), and so it's isolating them to protect the other battery.

The way it works - or at least the way it's designed to work when the manual switch is in the "automatic" position (not forced link or forced isolate) - is that it keeps the batteries connected if their voltages are similar and above the lower threshold, which looks to be about 12.35V. That can be for quite a long time - for me (and others I've travelled with) - even until morning on nights that are reasonably cold and so the fridge only comes on once or twice.

Still, you're point of checking it is a good one. I did actually do that (which is part of why I can say how it should work, lol), and quite a few other things in the last couple of weeks and I've got it all written up to post here in the near future. Just a couple final pieces to fall into place, and a couple other posts to come first .

Haven't ever heard of PeakVisor, but I just downloaded it to check it out!

 

Awesome. Hopefully you like it.

 

My Northstar batteries have an open circuit voltage of 12.65 when 100% charged at 80 degrees and should disconnect in about 30 seconds, but it is colder here and in the winter and they disconnect faster as their fully charged voltage is less than the 12.35. If they stay connected longer than 30 seconds they would be over the 12.65 threshold and these batteries wont do that unless there is some serious overheating. Maybe these Northstars have a lower full charge voltage level. What is the full charge voltage of your batteries. These are AGMs so maybe that is why mine disconnect faster.

Glad you brought this up though, I needed to discounted my batteries and run them through a charge cycle. Wish I could bump up the voltage on my 3rd gen to 14.7 or so.

Glenn

 

Gotcha. The resting voltage for the Northstars is in the 12.7-13.0 range, or at least has been for me, so does sound a little higher. Not that it's too meaningful without more context, but even this battery that I am having issues with was at 12.76V after sitting (completely disconnected) for a week after a full charge.

 

Is There a Problem with My Second (House) Battery?
On our last trip to the Eastern Mojave, one of the things I noted early in the trip - actually, before the trip even started really - was that the battery in the cab seemed low. I chalked it up to an error on my side and figured that the long 20-hour drive from home to our first hike would be enough to get it back up and kicking.

It sort of did, but the battery seemed weak the entire trip, dropping below 12V reasonably quickly - much more quickly than it has in the past.

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Initially I figured that I'd just warranty the battery, but as I thought about it, I realized that before jumping to that point, I really needed a bit more information about what was happening. Replacing the battery would do no good - in the long run - if I had a parasitic drain somewhere that was causing it to run down.

The first step then, was to get the battery back in tip-top shape. To do that, I turned to a CTEK 56-959 MUS 4.3 Charger/Conditioner/Tester. I don't know if the CTEK is better than any other similar product, but it was recommended by Mike @Digiratus as something he's been using for the last few years. I've been wanting one for a while, so I used this as an excuse to finally pick one up from Amazon.

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More than just a charger, the CTEK 56-959 has a couple extra functions that - at least according to the manufacturer - can help to keep a battery in better shape than just a run-of-the-mill charger.

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I don't know if these things are real or just marketing but here's what they say. Steps 1 and 6 are the ones that seem like benefits over a simple charger.

• Step 1 detects sulphated batteries. Pulsing current and voltage removes sulphate from the lead plates of the battery restoring battery capacity.
• Step 2 tests if the battery can accept charge. This step prevents charging of a (seriously) defective battery.
• Steps 3 and 4 charge the battery with differing current levels to maximize charge.
• Step 5 makes sure the battery actually holds the charge from previous steps.
• Step 6 reconditions the battery. By increasing the voltage to the battery, the device creates controlled gassing inside the battery, thereby mixing the acid in the battery which increases its efficiency.
• Steps 7 and 8 keep the battery at a full charge by varying voltage and current as needed.

Super-charger-thingy in hand, I headed to the truck and set it up. It comes with two adapters to connect it to batteries, so I decided to use the one with round terminals for the house battery, and just leave it connected at all times. That was easy enough - I just connected it to the positive and negative poles of the Blue Sea 12-Circuit Fuse Block, the device that sits between the house battery and all the devices connected to it. I also manually disconnected the house battery from the starting battery using the Blue Sea ML-ACR that I installed when I added MOAR Power, More Redundancy - Dual AGM Battery Install.

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I let the charger do it's thing for 72 hours or so - approximately 60 hours of which were simply keeping the battery at full charge (steps 7 and 8), and then headed out to see how things were.

When I'd started the charging process, the battery was at 11.8V - the lowest reading on the monitor scale. I should note here that I didn't actually test the battery voltage with a multimeter, as I assumed the monitor was correct, though I don't know that to be the case for sure. After charging, the monitor read 13.0V, and my multimeter put it at 13.04V - pretty close!

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My next step was to check for parasitic drains. To do this, I disconnected the positive lead from the Bussmann 80A Circuit Breaker that sits between the battery and Blue Sea 12-circuit fuse box, and inserted the multimeter in series, resulting in a reading of 12.34mA.

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Curious if any of the circuits on the Blue Sea fuse box were drawing more current than others, I removed each fuse - one at a time - to check the results:

• Blue Sea ML-ACR override switch - 2A fuse - no change.
• USB power - 5A fuse - no change.
• 12V power to the bed - 15A fuse - no change.
• CB Radio - 15A fuse - no change.
• Ham Radio - 15A fuse - current through the meter dropped to 0mA!

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0mA stock photo.​

So, the only item drawing power when "off" was the ham radio. I was a bit surprised given that it was the most expensive component, but at the same time, it was barely drawing anything. So, that was good news - it meant that I didn't have any real parasitic drains on the battery. On the other, it meant I wasn't done chasing down the root cause.

My next step was to let the battery sit for a week - with all accessories disconnected - to see what the voltage drop was over that time. Over the course of the week, here's what I found:

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The drop over the week seemed reasonable - or at least nothing that indicated a battery that was completely incapable of holding a charge. So I proceeded with my next experiment - reconnecting the accessories and going for another week.

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Clearly there was a problem - a 12-13mA load overnight should not cause a voltage drop of that amount, so I was reasonably sure that I had a bad battery. A quick trip to my locall O-Reilly Auto Parts for a battery load test confirmed my suspicion - though, I've got to say that the printout of the load test leaves a little to be desired, at least for a data nerd like me...

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With that information in hand, I contacted the distributor that I'd purchased the batteries from originally. After a couple emails back and forth so that they had the serial number, current voltage, and results of the load test, I've got to say I was very happy. The good folks - Mike specifically - at GP Audio had warranty replacement on its way.

With a customer experience like that, I totally recommend buying your batteries from them - especially since you can get them with free shipping on amazon. And a group 24F works great in a 1st gen Tacoma.

Time will tell, but I suspect I just had a bad luck and got a bad battery - and this new one will solve the problem!

 

For some reason, I thought you had purchased your Northstar's through a TW group buy through Ramon. I am confused.

 

I did; but they come from someone besides Ramon you know . GP Audio has been the supplier for all the Northstar group buys on TW.

 

Of course. Mine were purchased through Ramon too but they weren't from GP Audio. At least I never saw that name in the transaction documentation.

Vernon Samoorian is the name on the paypal invoice, Samoorian Supply

Maybe, as you say, all of his GBs were through the same place, but I think they are not. I can't find anything that says Samoorian and GP Audio are the same. And it doesn't matter really. Just hadn't seen that name before.

 

Fun fact: same place.

 

Well there you go....

 

Why did both batteries go dead, or did I miss understand?