Sunday Aug 5th
Greetings from Grand Junction, CO. I'm on my way through here seeking high mountain meadows that are still cool! After today online access will not be close to where I'm heading so now is a good time to update the adventure. When checking out new photo albums look for Yosemite;Red Canyon; Cedar Breaks; Kodachrome Basin SP and Bryce Canyon.
July 22 thru 24
Travel day but a hard goodbye day after breakfast with Ken
and Lyn. We headed for Yosemite and many hours
and 1 Goodyear Marathon trailer tire later we arrived. The site I had reserved
was a pleasant surprise and we settled in for night and Linda read the Park
info and suggested a plan of attack, a normal thing she would do when we
arrived at a new area. By the way, that’s 4 trailer tires now with 1 Goodyear
to go. It’s only 2 years old but I wouldn’t bet on it. The latest to blow
happened at about 30 miles an hour on a 2 lane curvy highway climbing into the
Sierras and chance had a large pullover right there.
Since our 2nd day here is a Monday we will go to
the Valley early and hope to beat the main crowd. The Park has a free Shuttle
bus system in the Valley and in the summer time you should use it to avoid
traffic and parking issues. Their system works GREAT. The views here are hard
to describe, it’s sort of a religious thing. 20 years ago Yosemite Falls
was going with a big flow but this year’s lower snow totals resulted in a
trickle of water. Going on Monday seemed a good plan, the crowds weren’t bad.
We had a very ambitious plan for day 3 but we didn’t role
out early after our Valley day. We headed out to Glacier Point that overlooks
the Valley and WOW what a view.
Roads in the Park are steep and curvy and slow so it takes
awhile to get there so last nights plan is chopped eliminating an old growth
Sequoia grove in favor of Tuolumne Meadows and the high country. The drive was
beautiful and the meadows made us think of Yellowstone and Grand
Canyon.
After the drive to the high country I decided I would rather
not subject the truck and trailer to the high country passes and roads. So we
modified our path and headed for Las Vegas via Bakersfield and
ultimately I-15.
July 25 thru 26
We left Yosemite after 3
very nice days there but my right foot problem damn near eliminated hiking so
we missed some things. This morning Linda got out early and hiked to a nearby
grove of Sequoias while I packed things up.
Our goal for a one night stand was a little lake in the
southern Sierras where there are very few trees. We had a brief but nice stop
at a KOA and headed out bright and early for Las Vegas where we would be staying at Sams
Town RV park on the west side. The park has full hookups for $20 a night with a
casino and the food was cheap and ok. The Vegas airport is hopping and a long
walk but Linda got off as planned and she had a good trip to Va. I will finish the rest of the trip
myself as it was planned but it will be difficult at times. The next day was
fix things day, I got the trailer tire that blew replaced at a Discount Tire
and cleaned a few months and many thousands of miles of dirt off the truck. I
closed up the big bed and hooked up to the truck so with just a few things I
could leave very early and got away at 6am.
July 28 thru August 3
My goal upon leaving Las Vegas is to get a
campsite at Red Canyon CG in the Dixie National forest of Southwestern Utah. We
passed through here with the kids but I always wanted to see more of the area,
its geology is amazing. Linda and I were about 5 miles from Red Canyon
back in May as we headed for Yellowstone from the Grand
Canyon. When you go through the same little towns a few months
apart you know you’re covering some ground. I arrived just in time to get a
very nice campsite where I have a great view and privacy. 15 minutes later and
a number of people arrived that would have occupied this site. Even though I
got here early I was up at 4:30am so I’m not doing crap the rest of the day.
There is a visitor center within walking distance I can get info tomorrow and
plan for the area.
I’m using this campground as my base to see numerous sights
within driving distance. I’m also going to enjoy sitting on my big rear and
enjoying the site. The only negative to the campground is highway noise but
shortly after dark that really quiets down. Now that Linda has gone home I’m
changing my style a bit. I’m ok with enjoying camping but Linda got bored with
that and as a result we were on the go a lot. I’ll still explore but the rest
of the trip will focus on locations where I can really enjoy the camping. Let’s
call it the Quest for the Perfect Campsite which of course doesn’t exist.
Sunday July 29
I got some good touring information from the visitor center
right by the campground. There is a trail from the campground to the top of the
canyon that I’d like to do. There are plenty of sights, Bryce Canyon NP, Cedar
Breaks NM, Zion NP, Kodachrome Basin SP and numerous other sides trips. I took a brief drive into Bryce just to pickup
a map and visitor guide for planning purposes. Bryce is only about 8 miles from
here and as you climb out of this canyon on the highway you round a curve and
bam! You’re suddenly on top of a plateau at about 7800 feet and it’s relatively
flat for miles and miles. Mule deer and Pronghorn Antelope are common.
July 30
Today I’m heading for Cedar Breaks
National Monument about
35 miles west of here. The drive to there goes through beautiful forests and
meadows as the road climbs from 6500 to 10000 feet. The entire park is above
10000 feet. On the way there I took a side drive to a lava flow. The area has
numerous flows only about 2000 years old that flowed from cracks in the earths
crust versus from an active volcano.
July 31
Another slow start this morning, headed for Bryce Canyon
to catch some morning light and beat the crowds for the limited parking. Bryce Canyon
wasn’t built with large parking areas for the overlooks so they now have a free
shuttle system to try and limit traffic. From what I witnessed the parking
areas are full by noon and since the park stretches for 18 miles north to south
you can end up driving a long way for no parking space. The lighting was quite
nice and I got some good shots. I’m heading east from here to the town of
Boulder, Utah to drive the Burr Trail Road that goes east thru some awesome red
rock canyon country and turns to gravel as it reaches the southern area of
Capital Reef NP. When we visited Capital Reef back in May we didn’t get down to
this area, too bad Linda would really have loved the Burr Trail Road. The drive there was
quite scenic and was 75 miles one way.
Aug 1
Today I went to Kodachrome
State Park, about a 55
miles roundtrip drive. I also hope to go see Grosvenor’s Arch, a double arch
another 15 miles passed the State Park on red dirt roads that become impassable
when wet. At the park I decided to keep going for the Arch but after about 5
miles of dirt road and watching rain clouds build I turned around and headed
for Kodachrome SP and enjoyed its unique formations. After about an hour there
it began to rain so I made the right choice. As I was leaving there in the
summer thundershowers I witnessed a dry creek bed become a raging stream in
less than 10 minutes as a heavy shower was occurring just upstream of where I
was.
Aug 2
I’ve made the decision not to take a day trip to Zion NP, it
is over 150 miles roundtrip. We were there 20 years ago and I was not committed
to another visit. Instead I headed back to Bryce to do a short hike. I’m icing
my right heel bone spur 2 to 3 times a day to try and get it somewhat useable.
I didn’t do much over a mile but I did get some nice photos. I had planned to
hike below the rim to get a different view of the formations but my heel won’t
allow a hike like that right now. I am hoping for a little stargazing tonight.
The moon is full and rises not long after sunset so there won’t be much time. A
nice campfire goes with the full moon.
Aug 3
After lots more icing of my heel I’m going to attempt a hike
here in the campground to the canyon top. It’s only a mile each way but 500
feet up and that works out to almost a 10% grade.
I made it with a lot of foot pain thrown in but the view was
amazing and the air was clearer than previous days. I was the only one on the
trail in my time there. I’m leaving here tomorrow after 7 days, the most of any
stop of our trip, and heading for a KOA in Grand Junction, Colorado.
That’s extreme western Colorado
along I-70. From there I hope to find a high elevation National Forest
site.
Aug 4
Said goodbye to Red
Canyon and headed east,
well sort of after a bit of north to get to
I-70. I drove through the town of Panguitch for the 4th time on this
trip! I spent almost the entire day on the Interstate, a boring and rare day
but I’d better get used to driving on them as I get closer to home. The scenery
on I-70 wasn’t bad but the further east I got the higher the temp went. By the
time I got to Grand Junction, Co it was 102. I’m glad to be at the KOA where I
have AC for the A/C. Tomorrow I’m heading up into the Rockies
just east of Montrose and hope to get a campsite at a National Forest site at
9200 feet by a lake where I hope it to be a bit cooler.
Thanks for following our adventure and as usual look for the
new photos at https://picasaweb.google.com/103943218564105837637
