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Fall Gap Ride

Every fall, when the leaves peak, we take our motorcycles and do our ‘Gap Ride’. We ride north, cross Brandon Gap, north and cross Middlebury Gap, north then Lincoln Gap, and finish with Appalachian Gap. A spectacular, if long day, of criss-crossing the spine of the Green Mountains.

Well, it’s fall here in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the range that divides Nevada and California, and we are working our way to Yosemite. Let’s do a west coast version of the ‘Gap Ride’. Up and over, and back again we went taking every pass from Route 49 down to Yosemite (except Route 80…way too many fast cars for us). We even had lunch at Lake Tahoe.

It was absolutely beautiful!

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4 Wheel Camper

While up north last summer we kept seeing truck campers with tops that popped up like the old Starcraft campers. We saw them everywhere and they seemed like a great alternative to the heavy rigid ‘rolly polly’ ones you seeing weighing down the back of trucks.

So, we looked at the map (this is becoming a really bad habit) and their manufacturing plant was just outside Sacramento…that’s not too far! Let’s go check them out.

Flat bed version which gives a larger living footprint.
Popped open, the bed can expand to king size with storage underneath.
Inside kitchen area. The fridge is a wee bit small compared to our ARB fridge, but an inside cooking area sounds luxurious.
Sitting area with table, we don’t have this in the Wee Rover, it would be nice in the next version. More storage under the seats…what would I do with all of this storage room?

Something to consider for the future. It would be a 4 wheel drive truck which lets us go to the remote places we like, but a separate driving and living space seems a waste? Too far in the future to think about too much…back to the Wee Rover! I can hear Puppy saying ‘Let’s go!!!!!’.

Buddha says patience Puppy…ohmmmmmmm.
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Wild Horses couldn’t drag me away! Apologizes to the Rolling Stones!

If you look at the map of southeastern Oregon you see an empty quarter with one significant geological formation: Steens Mountain. We kept hearing about The Steens while travelling around Oregon. ‘You have to see The Steens’, people would say. Then we camped with a guy who said you need to see the wild horses on The Steens! Cool, wild horses!

It turns out, one of the few remaining herds of wild horses left in North America are there. But, it just looked too empty, too hot, and too distant, so we wrote it off for another day or another trip. Fast forward and we are poking around northern Nevada and we see Steens Mountain is only a jump north (a couple of hundred miles jump). We have to go!

On the way there, we wild camp at a remote hot springs in northern Nevada after driving over the mountains and through a snow squall (see previous blog). In the morning we set off through the beautiful snow ringed mountains north into the empty quarter, and up Steens Mountain to see the wild horses!

We were not disappointed! To see something so wild living in its natural state is always a gift. We have been lucky in our travels to see many such creatures but for me, this was by far the most majestic. The independent, free spirit of these magnificent souls was clearly evident in their eyes.

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Be Careful What You Wish For

The high 90 degree heat of summer broke a couple of weeks ago and now it’s snowing! We are exploring northern Nevada and it is snowing as we travel over the passes. Fortunately we are heading for a camping spot at a wild hot springs! The snow was beautiful, but we had hoped for a bit of a longer transition from summer to winter!

Driving up and over
Gorgeous!
We camped right next to this hot spring. It warmed our bones before the low 20 degree night’s sleep. Good thing we bought extra blankets in town!
Another hot spring down the road. This one would boil the skin right off your bones! As a matter of fact, there were some animal bones in the bottom.
Sun through the snow storm.
What a gorgeous, if chilly, view to wake up to.
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Salt Lake City

We have been dreading Salt Lake City, Utah. We were told stories of horrendous traffic, extreme heat and religious zealots who would constantly try to convert us, but the old Wee Rover needs a bit of TLC and Great Basin Rovers is along our route south, so to Salt Lake City we go.

We checked into our hotel and immediately walked the 6 blocks up town to the Temple Square, home of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What we found was a beautiful busy city of tree lined streets, gorgeous architecture and really nice people. Our short stay has been a pleasant surprise.

The Temple of the Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints built by the original settlers of Salt Lake City.
Original assembly Hall of the Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints.
We found the members of the Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints to be kind welcoming people who answered our questions, but did not try to sway us towards their beliefs.
Beautifully preserved architecture from an era gone by.
The old carefully preserved and still in use today. I bet the inside was gorgeous.
The city center is a combination of old and new, commercial and nature, hectic and serene. We enjoyed our wanderings.
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Crystal Hot Springs

After a summer of finding places to hide from the heat, the weather has turned! Fall is in the air and snow is on the Utah peaks! We are headed south towards Salt Lake City and found a campground at Crystal Hot Springs. It is now “off season” and the park is virtually empty. Of the 70 odd sites there are only a few other campers. We set up the Wee Rover and head over to soak. Ahhhhh…just what we needed.

The springs have a long history, from Native Americans, to WWII vets returning to recuperate from injuries. Today, the springs draw people from all over the world for the reported healing powers of the water’s high mineral content. Seeing just how ill many of our fellow soakers were reminded us, again, how fortunate we are. We planned on a 1 night pass through, but stayed 3 nights!

Lots of pools of different sizes and temperatures…the waterfall pool was our favorite.
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Oops We Did it Again

At the Utah border we headed south towards Salt Lake City. We quickly tired of the straight, paved road and found an alternate 70 mile dirt road south towards the shore of the Great Salt Lake. We picked up more dust, saw many Pronghorn Antelope, and acres and acres of farmland carved out of the scrub brush. We are still amazed, while driving through this barren landscape, that people traversed it walking behind covered wagons and ox carts.

The dirt ended at a paved intersection with quite a few cars heading west. The little sign said Promontory. We shrugged our shoulders and joined in. We quickly came to a small National Historic Park visitor center with 2 steam locomotives belching smoke, nose to nose. We pulled out our National Park Pass and ventured inside.

It turns out Promontory was where the Golden Spike was driven to join the Central Pacific Railroad coming from the west and the Union Pacific Railroad coming from the east on May 10th, 1869.

What a great oops!

Miles of gravel road through the sage brush.
A bit of occasional heavy traffic.
The Great Salt Lake in the distance.
The flag shows the final railroad tie and placement of the golden spike (now safely stored at Stanford) which completed the transcontinental railroad officially connecting the east and west coasts for the first time.
My little boy checking out the big toys.
There is something in the clickety clack of the rails and the sound of the whistle that makes you want to through your bag over your shoulder and hop a ride.
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California Trail

A 30 mile dirt road from Alma, ID took us through the high desert to the Utah border on a section of the old California Trail. We didn’t see a single vehicle, gold miner heading west for fortune or a family with their covered wagon seeking a better life, but we did pick up a new batch of dust and experience the quiet desolation of the high desert these hardy people walked across.

Miles of sage brush in all directions.
The Wee Rover was very excited to place her wheels where covered wagon wheels had rolled before.
The eerie silence of the high desert. Imagine walking across this hour after hour, day after day…hoping the reports of fresh water and shade ahead were accurate.
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Camp Rock

Camp Rock was a big milestone on the California Trail here on the Idaho Utah border. Travelers, including the ill fated Donner Party, used axle grease from their ox carts to mark their passage. Weather and Time has erased most. Hopefully, they found the better life they were walking to!

Camp Rock (and the City of Rocks) was a welcome sight after miles of scrub and sage across the high desert.
Travelers left their mark here, but time and weather have slowly been erasing them away.
Today we would call this graffiti, but really what difference is there? We all want to leave something of ourselves to mark our passage..
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City of Rocks

A rock climbing place known around the world, a pleasant rest stop for travelers along the California Trail, an area that has its own energy and ethereal beauty. All of this describes the City of Rocks.

Traveling from Oregon to Utah, Darrin looked at the map, found the cool name City of Rocks, and declared we needed to stop there. Five nights later, we finally left.

These pictures do not in any way represent the majestic otherworldly spirit of this place. They are a mere human representation of Mother Nature.

The view from our campsite.
14,000 acres of rock formations creating an ethereal beauty
A peak into the formation of Mother Earth
The Ancient Overseer
Oye…always the ham…but he’s my ham
It is easy to imagine these rocks were once inside Mother Earth…what stories they could tell if only we knew how to listen.
It seems almost sacrilegious of man to dare climb, but how can he not when presented with such a challenge?