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I was up around 6,000 feet on Mt. Charleston yesterday, partway up the trail to Angel Peak, exploring a side trail (there were pictographs!)
I had some time to kill, and decided to try siphoning gas from my jerrycan into the tank. I'd done it once before, but wanted to try again. Plus, the gas had been in the can for awhile (I'd added stabilizer to it), and I was below half a tank, so why not.
Apparently, the combination of warm temperatures and high elevation were enough to create a most amazing sight. I took the lid off the can, carefully, since it always spits a little, then something made me take a glance inside the can. The gas was boiling! It looked just like a pan on a stove top, at a nice rolling simmer.
"Well!" thought I, "That's quite amazing, and just a bit disturbing."
I waited a while, to see if it would stop, Perhaps it wasn't actually boiling, but just de-gassing. What with all the bouncing around, perhaps it was just all shook up with air. Nope, it kept right on bubbling away. So, I finally decided to go ahead with my original plan. I stuck the end of my siphon hose in, and got another surprise. Ever seen Mentos added to soda? It wasn't nearly that bad, but I did get about a second of boil over, out the top of the can. Exciting, to say the least. Luckily there were no sparks around. It would have been a real shame if my Jeep burned up. I think I would have earned more than one cowbell for that.
Still undeterred, I tried siphoning. But, the gas just kept bubbling up in the hose, too much to get a siphon going. Vapor lock in a siphon hose, basically.
Just thought I would share, and pass on the warning: high altitude + high temp = leave the lid on your gas can!
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