Diesel, Utah Style?
Mighty Mouse
Disclaimer: No rocks were harmed in the making of this blog post.
The Wedge: Utah’s Little Grand Canyon
The Wedge is the home of the Little Grand Canyon of Utah! Awesome place! Like its big brother, photos don’t do it justice. Unlike its big brother, it was empty of people! We drove the 40 mile dirt road to the canyon rim and were wowed by the view! You literally drove right up to the edge of the canyon, no chain link fencing, no walkway and no people, just amazing scenery and the sounds of silence.
The free BLM campground at the rim was empty and the weather predicted calm wjnds, so we chose the most remote site and set-up camp for a few nights right by the edge of the wedge.
The next day we drove to the bottom of the canyon, exploring as we went, and camped right on the San Rafael River. Mr. Busy Beaver was our only neighbor.
The Last 48 Hours – Part B
After a great night in our sweet little camping site, the weather forecast was still predicting snow in this area so we decided to continue heading east over the next pass to warmer weather. At the diesel station at the bottom of the pass, a fellow gas purchaser, and local, said we better get going because as soon as the snow started, they would close the pass. So, off we went…up and up and up, and up and up some more, to over 10,000ft and snow on the road. The views were amazing, the road pretty well maintained and filled with friendly hunters on ATVs who stared at us before waving (we get that a lot), but the ominous clouds following us kept us moving up, up, up and over to the other side.
We quickly descended part way down the other side on a steep bumpy road. We are now sitting in a little USFS Campground around 7,600ft in the rain shadow, with the storm brewing above us in the mountains. Dinner is on, down jackets are on, and the new propane heater is prepped and ready!
And then it snowed…we woke up to 23 degrees and ½ an inch of snow/ice on the top of the tent.
What an amazing, nerve wracking, and adventuresome 48 hours. We are hoping for a slightly calmer next 48 hours with slightly warmer temperatures (I know, be careful what you wish for)!
The Last 48 Hours – Part A
It all started very innocently, a beautiful sunny day of hiking around Antelope Island watching the buffalo graze…and then it started!
The wind was the beginning. Unpredicted 30 mph relentless cold wind that blew tents over and would not even give us a break to drop the tent and put up our emergency ground tent (the family next to us finally dropped their tent and made for a motel in town and the guys down the way dropped both their tents and crammedinto a tiny RV). Hours and hours of 30 mph wind with hours and hours of sitting inside holding the tent poles up, hoping we didn’t fly to Kansas or flop over. Thank goodness Darrin had devised our new anti-wind, keep the heat in, elastics. The night was long, sleepless, and nerve wracking …but we came out the other side with absolutely no damage of any kind thanks to Darrin’s amazingly designed tent! Phewwww!
The next morning dawned bright and cheery, if a bit cold. Our time at Antelope Island was at an end, so we wandered down a back road to Maple Canyon, a well known rock climbing place. There were no spots available at the tiny canyon campground, so after consulting a group of local hunters, up the canyon we went to 7,600 ft, snow on the ground and a beautiful aspen grove. We made dinner and snuggled in to a night that dipped to 25 degrees. We were toasty warm all snuggled under our layers of down with our new propane heater blasting (Luckily, I said we should buy it even though Darrin didn’t want to 😎!)
The next morning was quite cool and crisp with snow in the forecast, so we packed up and headed further up the canyon to the ridge we were told was a nice drive…2 hours later, a bazillion switchbacks, a few hairy go arounds with vehicles going the other way, and lots of rocks and drop offs, we made it back down to the valley floor. We cleaned out our shorts, decided it was a grand adventure…the Wee Rover did awesome…and continued on.
Antelope Island
Treeless Antelope Island sits out in the Great Salt Lake. A mere bay away from bustling Salt Lake City, it is an wide open serene place of roaming herds of buffalo and smaller darting groups of pronghorn antelope. Several small roads and hiking trails around the island give way to great views and animal watching. This time of year the weather was an ideal warm and sunny during the day with cooler temps at night, and then the wind started to blow!
Utah Traffic Jam
Bryce Canyon National Park
Another park, more crowds, beautiful scenery, I am loving the red rocks. The highlight was meeting some great people from England at one of the view points.
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.
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!
