The Disparity in Ping Duration

 

My first thought Saturday morning was, “I get to leave on my epic Beagle trip tomorrow!”, and my second thought was, “Why not leave today?”

It felt like I had been preparing for this departure for weeks, after all, planning to be gone for over two months takes some preparation. But when I realized that all I had left to do was to unplug my refrigerator, turn off my water heater, and pack some clothes and food into Beagle, I figured I could be gone in about three hours.

And did that light up my day!  I set about my tasks thinking about my trip, how much fun it will be to discover new (to me) mountains and see old (to me) friends and (hopefully) even make my way back to my homeland (come on Canada, let me back in!)  Then I reminded myself that the trip would also have its obstacles; all trips do.  So I coached myself that mostly what I needed to bring along was my sense of humor. 

And that was tested a mere hour later.

After shutting down my house and packing up Beagle, it was time to hitch her up.  Imagine my dismay when, during my last step of plugging in my brake controller, it did not register Beagle’s presence.  Usually it will display, “connected” or “not connected” or some series of numbers indicating the amount of brake pressure Wurzig is sending to Beagle.  But I had nothing. 

I went through my normal tech support; turn everything off, turn everything back on, try again.  (Back in my computer support days, we would charge $37.50 for that advice.)  But, unlike my computer support days, this did not work.  I called one mobile RV person and received their voice mail.  I drove to a local RV park and asked if there was someone who might be able to help.  They provided a number for a second mobile RV person.  Not only was he readily available, he could meet me in an hour.

OK Kit, just write this next part even though it makes you look really unintelligent.

It took him about three minutes to diagnose my issue:  The part of the controller that plugs into my cigarette lighter was missing its top and out of that top had fallen the fuse.  We eventually located all the missing parts, reassembled the unit, plugged it in and were rewarded with “connected.”  My first of two interactions with an RV repairman in two days, but I am getting ahead of myself.

The dogs and I were on our way! 

And yes, River is aboard.  She is still doing her dog business at appropriate moments and still such a warm and comforting companion, I am happy to have her along.  Opus has no comment.

At that point, my ETA into Bass Lake was after five; a rookie mistake when you are hoping to grab a first-come site on a sunny, warm Saturday next to a California lake.  But the Kitness was alive and well!

Having learned to take the long way to Bass Lake rather than the back-roads recommended by Google, I ended up reaching my favorite campground first and was surprised to see them open.  I was warmly greeted by the camp host who remembered me from last year (one of the many benefits of The Beagle—she does make a lasting impression on most people.)   I was welcomed to select any open spot so I chose the one pictured above—who wouldn’t?

After an intense leveling job, a short walk with two noses and a longer one with one, we settled into Beagle around eight o’clock.  And that’s when I first heard the “Thunk/Ping!”  The campground was near full so I thought it was someone playing cornhole, I should have paid closer attention to the ping portion. 

Darkness arrived, people settled down around their fires and the “ping!” continued.  It was on the left side of Beagle.  I grabbed a flashlight and went outside.  The sound was definitely coming from somewhere behind Beagle’s wheel.  “Ping!”…“Ping!”  every four seconds or so, sounding louder now that the campground had quieted.

My fellow Basecampers know that all of Beagle’s systems are located near that wheel well, so my first thought was something was wrong with my water pump or heater.  I went back inside, moved Opus & River to one side of the bed (it being after 9:30 PM, they were intent on sleeping) stacked the remaining cushions in the kitchen and opened up the service compartment.  But the noise sounded further away; it had to be something with my wheel or brakes.  Nothing more to do that night but at least I was rewarded with some lovely stars:

Eventually I fell asleep to the rhythmic ping, woke somewhere in the night and realized it had stopped.  But it had been pinging for at least six hours.

The next day I had to move to my reserved spot about two miles down the road but not until noon.  So Opus and I spent the morning hiking Goat Trail, a delightful trail that beings right from Forks Campground.  The sun was shining, the wild flowers were blooming and we were jumping for joy at our good fortune.

But, after the short drive to the new campground, the ping was back.  On the bright side, it did not sound as loud and stopped within an hour of being parked.  This led me to believe it had something to do with metal getting too hot when I drove.  The ping did sound a lot like metal cooling down and the long drive Saturday versus the short drive Sunday explained the disparity in ping duration.

At this point I had contacted everyone I knew who might be able to shed some light on the issue and determined that what I needed was someone local.  So back to an RV park for a recommendation.

The local mobile repairman didn’t actually visit, he listened to my video, gave his opinion that it was a wheel and/or brake issue (something he did not work on) and recommended a mechanic about ten miles away in Oakhurst.

I knew three things at that point:  (1) It was a gorgeous, sunny, warm Sunday; (2) It was due to rain all day on Monday; and (3) the garage wasn’t open.  All of which led me to take Opus on another hike, this time up Angel Falls.

Today, Monday, bright and early I drove to The Rusty Piston—some things are better explained in person and I figured this was one of them.  I left Beagle at camp since I didn’t want to tow her through town unless I knew someone was going to be able to help me. 

The guys inspired confidence with their busy, efficient, multi-bay garage and friendly owner who, after hearing my story, listening to my video, and learning that I was hoping to leave town on Wednesday, booked me an appointment for tomorrow.

After breakfast and coffee in town I drove through the rain up to the snowline with the dogs and let them race around for a bit.  Now we are tucked back in Beagle, warm and toasty, the rain is coming down (should end tonight), and feeling very fortunate to have my lithium batteries.

Stay tuned!

-K