Disclaimer: No rocks were harmed in the making of this blog post.
Mighty Mouse
Disclaimer: No rocks were harmed in the making of this blog post.
Disclaimer: No rocks were harmed in the making of this blog post.
Lag time
Hi Everyone,
We just wanted to remind everyone that our blog is always at least 2 weeks behind us, a lot of times even more. We do this for 2 reasons: 1) It takes time to process they bazillion pictures and videos I take, and 2) Our blog is public and as much as we want to believe the world is a safe place, we know that isn’t always so…so for our safety we keep our present location a mystery to all but a few.
We also want to thank those who have been following along on our journey. We are officially three quarters of the way through, with the home stretch in view (which brings up too many mixed emotions to contemplate). Thanks for being a part of this amazing Voyage of Discovery.
Most importantly, today we would like to thank all who have served our country. We have a much deeper appreciation of the amazing country we live in.
THANK YOU!!!!!
I’ll leave you with a few pictures of our great country.
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.
Grand Canyon
I’ll let the video do the talking…even though it won’t do it justice.
One Big Ass Party – Vegas Baby!
Las Vegas isn’t our usual cup of tea, but Death Valley basically dumps you right into the city, so we said ‘why not’ and made reservations at the MGM Grand right on the strip for one night. We even up graded to a suite with a view! Oh my, what a study in contrast after being in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Death Valley.
We joined the crowds and walked the strip for hours. We saw The Bellagio fountain show, botanical garden display and beautiful glass ceiling, the Flamingo where it all started, and of course the old Vegas sign as you drive up the strip.
We also saw young girls in feathers and super heroes in costume all looking to make a penny in exchange for a picture. There were families on vacation, and couples strolling hand in hand speaking a variety of languages. There were bachelorette parties, and brides and grooms; some getting married for the first time and others renewing their vows Elvis style.
But, there were also crowds of people sitting at automated slot machines that reminded us of video games, blackjack tables, and roulette wheels gambling away their savings (the house isn’t in your favor), and homeless strangers looking for a dime. There was pot and alcohol, and everything else, for sale on every sidewalk, corner and store.
We gawked and took pictures. We were sensory overloaded by the lights and constant loud music. For a one night visit, it was all light and fun for us, a big ass party, but looking around one could easily see the depressing gross overindulgence the lights and music hide, perhaps an escape from reality some were seeking.
We enjoyed ourselves, but definitely felt out of our natural element and probably looked like country bumpkins (maybe not since someone actually asked if we were from Vegas). We we’re glad we came, everything, well almost everything, should be experienced once.
Back to our simple back country camping life!
