Zion Is A Bust

Five years ago when we came to Zion at the same time of year. We drove right in and got a camping spot. There were visitors but nothing to write home about. Not so in 2009. Coming into the town of Springdale just outside of the park, there were people everywhere. As we approached the park entrance there were vehicles parked outside the entrance and a line at the entrance gate. That was not a good sign. Tom said, “It was like the Dells, Branson and Gatlinburg all rolled into one.” The campground was full. This is a time when not making a reservation failed us.

We tried to call Cedar Breaks from the motorhome but we were in a dead zone. So we drove on a little further and I made an executive decision, make reservations at the nearest campground and regroup.

We are at the Quality Inn and Camping Resort just outside of Zion. I asked the clerk at the desk is it always like this and she indicated that September, October and November were the busiest month as adults come when the kids have gone to school.

Out our motorhome window I can see the beautiful craggy peaks of Zion National Park. The colors range from white to varying shades of red. There is also some kind of silo and a tank truck on the opposite side of the fence directly in front of us. These unsightly bits of industrialization mar our view of a truly magnificent site.

In the morning we will arrange to be guided through the tunnel on the east end of Zion and head to Bryce Canyon Pines for 2 nights and then to Escalante State Park for 3 nights. We did make reservations this time. Will use both of these as bases for our touring with the car.

We thought we could relive the excitement we experienced five years ago.

Heber City-Jordanelle State Park

Jordanalle State Park is our campground near Heber City, UT. It is an excellent facility. But, what you can't tell from this photo is that the campground is tiered and there is barely a level site to be had. That is fine if you have levelers, we don't. So the back of the motorhome is lower than the front. The good news is that the bathtub/shower drains really well. The bad news is that the only things holding 14,000 lbs. of us in place are the brakes, a board and a rock. A bit unsettling.

Click lick on the photo enlarge it and you will see a red oval, which is our campsite; a red rectangle, which is the WiFi and a red arrow, indicating wind direction.

When we arrived the wind was strong. I liken it to downtown Chicago, or I guess any other big city, where the wind is funneled through the canyon walls created by the tall buildings. Well, the wind seemed to increase during the evening and into the night hitting us broadside and rocking the motorhome with incredible force. I had a difficult time getting to sleep as I thought we would tip over. I must have fallen asleep finally, because when I woke up at midnight and the winds had died down.

We have a beautiful view of the reservoir and dam. That is a really nice feature of this campground--you can't have a bad view. Mountains are all around and the reservoir, too. We could probably see Mel and Tom in their campground (less than 2 miles from us as the crow flies) but they are hidden from view by the dam.

The view from our motorhome window. In the center of the picture is the dam.

Mel and Tom in their backyard.

When Bunny Ears Are Not Bunny Ears

Here are some of the locals at the Lucerne Valley Campground at Flaming Gorge. They may look tame but they are definitely wild.

As you can see Tom is standing very still and the pronghorns (mother and two young ones) grazed their way right by him. What you can't see and Tom didn't see was the ram approaching from the left through the trees, while I am having visions of Tom being gored. So I am gesturing with both arms close to my head and up in the air, then pointing to the left in the direction of the ram. While I am frantically doing this Tom is nodding his head and pointing in what is obviously the wrong direction. So I repeat the gesturing.

Only when the ram emerged from the trees and headed toward his family did Tom realize what I was all about. Later I find out that he was pointing at a bunny all this time.

I wonder if anyone in the campground saw what was going on. I bet they would have thought we were pretty funny.

I Bought a Book the Other Day

The book, The Bassett Women, by Grace McClure. I always like to buy books about the area I'm visiting. The book relates the story of three very strong-willed women in the NW Colorado/NE Utah area called Browns Park. The first day I had half of the book read and could hardly put it down to get some sleep.

Elizabeth, the mother, marries a Civil War veteran 20-years her senior. The family moves from Arkansas to Browns Park in the 1870s. Elizabeth builds up a ranch in spite of the cattle barons who are trying to put her and others small ranchers out of business. The daughters Josie and Ann gain notoriety of their own.

Well, we took the auto tour of the Utah portion of Dinosaur National Monument. We purchased the guide book for $.50 and as we drove along we discovered at the very end the homestead of Josie Bassett Morris, the Josie Bassett from the book. It was exciting to come across a character you had just been reading about just by dumb luck.

Flatlander in the Mountains

I am a flatlander through and through. We've done a lot of mountain driving in the past three days. Of course some might say that we had not really been in the mountains yet, as we were in the Flaming Gorge area. I say, if there are switchbacks they are mountains.

We drove down to Vernal, Utah yesterday and the road had 10 switchbacks and 5-8% grades. All of the switchbacks had signs displaying the recommended speed, some as slow as 15 mph. Other signs indicated how many switchbacks remained.

Oddly enough I feel more comfortable driving through the mountains. Upon returning to the campground as we approached Manila, UT. I looked in my rear view mirror to see the grille of a semi. Even if there was a turnout, there was no way I could get on to the turnout with out slowing down and slowing down was not an option with that grille bearing down on us. There was not much left but to careen down the mountain until there was a place he could pass us.

Flaming Gorge

Flaming Gorge 9-10-2009

As I sit looking out the window of our motorhome, I see the reservoir, which is the heart of the Flaming Gorge National recreation area. It was created from damming the Green River that winds through the gorge. We were told today that you could travel 91 miles by boat end to end. That is some lake. As you can imagine it is a fishermen’s and boater’s paradise.

As we arrived at the campground a family of pronghorn greeted us. We were amazed how tame they appeared. They aren’t tame though; they must know that they are safe in the campground. Later they were very near our campsite. It was warm today—about 86. About 6 p.m, or so, the temperature starts to fall, and the nights are cool. We are told that the past couple of days were a rarity, as the lake was as calm as glass.

The plan for tomorrow is to get up early and head for the visitor’s center by car. We heard the sunrise hitting the rocks is what gave Flaming Gorge its name. The visitor’s center is perched on the edge of the gorge and has a glass wall overlooking the gorge.

9-11-2009 Flaming Gorge Day 2

We didn’t get up early. We took the car and headed out around 8 a.m. We stopped at the Ashley National Forest Visitor Center in Manila, seven miles from our campground. The lady there was very helpful, suggesting where to stop for the best views and to be sure to take the Sheep Creek Loop where there may be some bighorn sheep to see. She did inform us that the Red Canyon Visitor Center was only open weekends after Labor Day but the views from the trail were great anyway. Next we headed to the dam near Dutch John. We went from sagebrush in the lower elevations to forests of Rocky Mountain Cedar, Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir in the higher elevations. The variety of scenery was spectacular. But the deep blue-green color of the lake in contrast with the gorge walls, varying in color from a cream to deep red was amazing.

It Ain't the Ritz

Yesterday was long and hard. We usually only try to travel 4-5 hours a day when driving the motorhome. Yesterday was twice that. We were going to go to Laramie but as we spent time having the fridge checked we opted for Cheyenne.

The campground has all the amenities but lacks aesthetics. Most RVs roll in for the night on their way to somewhere else.