09-20-2021 Baker Nevada to Torrey Utah

I enjoyed driving on this gorgeous clear day

Traveling east through Utah on Highway 50 is pleasant enough, but not nearly as lonely and dramatic as the Nevada portions of the historic highway.  Still, there are some lovely views.  The highway crosses a large flat basin, with many large farms and ranches dotting the landscape.  Highway 50 merges with I-15 for a few miles before continuing east at Scipio.  The mountains were beautiful and crystal clear.

Once we were on Highway 24 the signs for Capitol Reef National Park were posted every few miles.  This is the main route to Capitol Reef from the west. 

We saw what appeared to be a nice rest area on the north side of the highway and were delighted to find plenty of parking for both our rigs, a beautiful view, and a nice picnic table in the shade.  However, the wind made the weather a bit nippy we didn’t linger long.

When approaching Torrey from the west on Highway 24 it is always thrilling to see the first views of Thousand Lakes Mountain.  The mountain looms from 7,000 feet, where the terrain is craggy and rugged, to alpine meadows and forests at its peak elevation of 11,306 feet.  Thousand Lakes Mountain is notably flat at the summit, which offers up expansive views of the Henry and Tushar mountain ranges, Capitol Reef National Park and the Aquarius Plateau.  When the Fremont River crossing that accesses the back roads to Cathedral Valley in Capitol Reef NP, there is another way to get there.  We hope to travel across this mountain sometime during our week in Torrey to see Cathedral Valley.

The first views of red rock cliffs appear a few miles west of Torrey, and while they are beautiful, they are just a tiny taste of what we will see in the next few days as we explore the park.

Dan had made reservations for two sites at Thousand Lakes RV Park many months in advance, and even then there were no sites with full hookups with 50 amp power available.  We were assigned two great sites on the north edge of the park with a gorgeous view and 30 amp power.  We don’t have sewer at our sites, but there are two dumps in the campground. 

The park is quite nice, well maintained and clean, although the sites along this north edge are quite close together.  No matter, since our entry door is very close to our neighbor’s slide, and our neighbors happen to be Dan and Chere

The sites may be close together, but the view from the back of the sites where there are picnic tables and camp fire rings is gorgeous.

Taking Mattie for a short walk around the perimeter of the park I found this lovely desert globe mallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua. Sadly, most of the open land just north of the park is privately owned and walking freely requires driving north to get to BLM land.

We settled in to our sites with plenty of time for me to prepare dinner to share at our table.  I made green chile chicken enchiladas back at home so supper was quick and easy.  Chere and I have discussed sharing responsibility for evening meals on this trip, taking turns and sometimes simply eating on our own.  The plan seems to be working well, and it is nice to have a break from dinner cooking sometimes.

It is great to have a chance to share this place with family and we are all looking forward to the next few days here in Torrey as we explore Capitol Reef National Park.

09-19-2021 Fallon to Baker Nevada Highway 50

The sun is shining brilliantly into  the east windows as I write this on Monday morning.  Such a delight.  To the west, the magnificent island of mountains of Great Basin National Park rise from the desert reflecting the morning sun. 

Last night when we settled in here at the Border Inn RV Park we had no idea whether the skies would clear for us.  The smoke from the fires near Sequoia National Park in California was thick and the air quality was over 150 throughout half of Nevada and almost all of Utah.  It was a sobering moment when we topped a pass west of Ely to see the thick brown cloud filling the valleys and obscuring the mountains.

The day started in Fallon on a positive note. The smoke had cleared and the sky was mostly clear except for a few high clouds.  The high winds of the previous day had dissipated by the time we got on the road at 9.  Highway 50 officially begins in California going through Carson City and intercepts Interstate 80  at Fallon.  Traveling east from Fallon we were officially on the Loneliest Road in America.

I love Highway 50.  We have traveled this route several times over the years and it has never been disappointing.  On this day the skies were dramatic as always, with big puffy clouds racing across the brilliant blue sky.  The morning sun made the mountain shadows dark against the horizon.  The rabbitbrush was in bloom most noticeably along the roadsides, lighting up the landscape with brilliant yellows.

As we continued east toward Austin and Eureka I texted Dan and Chere to see how they were doing.  All was well, and they had departed Winnemucca at 9 as well.  We had 181 miles to go to Eureka and they had 191 miles.  Funny thing, they arrived at the intersection of highway 278 and Highway 50 just ten minutes after we did.

The stretch of the highway between Fallon and Eureka is especially gorgeous. The pavement stretches for long distances, with sometimes miles of straight road without another vehicle visible.  Traffic was minimal all day, with a few RV’s on the road and more than a few souped up, stripped down, very tough looking back road vehicles heading for the wide open spaces and sand dunes perfect for ATVs.

Basin and Range is just that.  The ranges trend north and south and if one is traveling east or west the drive includes many long basins, and many steep, winding ranges.  Traveling Highway 50 is all about ups and downs.  Austin is such a charming little town, nestled into the side of the mountain on one of those “ups”.  We have traveled through Austin, but never stopped for more than a quick photo before continuing.  I made a note on our calendar that on the way home in a couple of weeks we need to plan to actually stop in Austin and explore some of the charm.  It is an historic mining town with a cemetery that even from the road looked like it would be a great visit.

We were communicating the Chere and Dan as they neared Eureka and decided that it would be a good place for a lunch spot.  The road through downtown is two lanes wide with a large parking lane as well.  The town was quiet, and an entire block of parking lane was open right in front of the town Senior Center.  We parked and Dan and Chere were parked behind us within minutes.  The skies were so blue and the sun so bright it was blinding.

We took the dogs for a short walk in an open area between buildings and discovered a group of picnic tables behind the closed Senior Center.  Perfect! It was the official beginning of our shared trip to Utah and we all feeling happy about the good weather.  Seems as though Dan and Chere had encountered some serious storms and narrow roads on highway 278 that connected Interstate 80 to the north with Highway 50.  They were happy to be in the sunshine.

We continued east with a plan to fuel at the Love’s station in Ely,  easy for us and for Dan with his big diesel rig. The uhoh moment came as we got closer to Ely when the thick smoke blanketing everything to the east appeared.  I checked the smoke map to discover that the thick stuff was emanating mainly from the huge fires in California and extended all the way east to Colorado, with an especially dark plume covering the area along the Colorado River.

I had been checking for smoke over and over before we left for this trip, encouraged that it hadn’t reached the far southeastern corner of Utah where we were headed.  It was a sad moment.  After we fueled up and continued south toward Baker, the gorgeous mountain ranges around us were completely invisible.  When we stopped for lunch, the four of us agreed that it might be nice to unhook after we settled in and take a side trip up the roads of Big Basin National Park.  When we got to our spot for the night, the smoke was so thick I had to get out my Big Basin NP book to show Dan and Chere what the view was to our west.  Not a good day for a side trip to high mountains completely shrouded in smoke.

Dan and Chere insisted that we join them in their rig for supper, even though we had each planned our own meal.  Chere contributed home made sweet n sour for our pre dinner cocktails, and we enjoyed visiting and catching up with them, talking about our plans for the next ten days.  Dan agreed, that smoke or not, he wasn’t missing out on his long awaited trip to Southern Utah.

We went to bed in high winds, but during the night the winds dissipated and a couple of times when I woke I could see the nearly full moon shining into the rig.

Morning came with another wonderful surprise.  The smoke was gone.  Not just a little bit, but completely gone!  The mountain range of Big Basin NP to the west was gorgeous.  I checked the smoke map again, and while there is still a long plume heading into southeastern Utah, we have mostly clear skies ahead of us as we travel the last leg of our trip toward Torrey.  Amazing how clear skies can shift my mood.  I am really looking forward to this day and to once again arriving in one of my favorite little towns in the west.  I do love Torrey, ever since my first trip through there in 1991, it has been a special place for me.

09-27-2019 Traveling To Albuquerque for the Balloon Festival

We pulled out of our Grants Pass driveway at exactly 8:45 AM, just as planned, in excellent weather.  We felt well prepared for the trip and there wasn’t a single last minute glitch to handle.  Love it when that happens. 

Dropping down the grade toward Susanville on Highway 44

Deciding on the shortest route over the mountains, we traveled Interstate 5 south as far as Mt Shasta and then turned east toward McCloud on Highway 89.  The two lane road meanders through the beautiful mixed conifer forests of this southernmost portion of the Cascade Mountains, with views of Mt Shasta and Mt Lassen peaking through the slight overcast as we traveled east.  The road was quiet and gorgeous, with very little traffic.  We stopped at the beautiful Bogard Visitor Center on Highway 44.  It is a great rest area, and we discovered that in a pinch we could park there for 8 hours if we needed a break or the weather turned iffy. 

Just under 400 miles in a day takes us closer to 8 hours in the MoHo rather than the google estimate

I have to admit I wasn’t quite up to snuff due to a tough head cold and sore throat that attacked me on the day before we left.  I had been to Urgent Care to be sure it wasn’t a strep infection, but that surely didn’t make traveling or driving with a stuffed up head much fun.  Mo had to do a lot of the driving during the early days of this trip.

Using Gas Buddy we tracked down the cheapest gas we could find in Susanville, CA. Mo had driven all the way to Susanville, and we did a bit of meandering before we managed to find lower priced fuel with an accessible driveway and overhang.  After fueling, I took over and drove for just two hours before Mo took over once again and drove through Reno afternoon traffic while I navigated.  The route through Reno was fast and easy, and within a few minutes we were heading east on Highway 50 toward Fallon.

We had planned to boondock in the free parking lot at the Bonanza Casino in Fallon, NV, listed in the AllStays app, but it turned out to be crowded and tight, and didn’t look the least bit inviting or accessible.  On our way through Fallon looking for the casino, we saw that the WalMart on the west end of town had some RV’s parked, and decided to return there for the night. 

Best little travel dog ever!

I talked to a couple of the people parked right under the signs that said “no overnight parking”, and they said it wasn’t a problem.  I did go inside and attempt to speak with the management, but got three different stories about whether or not we could overnight in the lot.  Bought some Robitussin and a few other items and decided that it would be fine to spend the night between the other two rigs parked on the west side of the lot.  There were lots of lights, but our shades keep the interior dark and the night was beautifully quiet.

09-28-2019 Crossing Nevada on Highway 50, the Loneliest Road in America

After a good night’s sleep for Mo and a rather awful night for me, in spite of the Robitussin and Extra Strength Tylenol, we woke at sunrise around 7 and were on the road by 8:15.  Once again we realized how very much we love traveling Highway 50 through Nevada.  Eastern Nevada is no doubt the very best example of Basin and Range topography in the country, and the road climbs over countless mountain ranges before descending  onto open playas and stick straight stretches of highway.  Nevada must be doing something right because the pavement on Highway 50 was in great shape, smooth as butter. 

Huge rain clouds were all around us, but we only got hit a couple of times with raindrops big enough to clean the windshield. We passed through the tiny towns of Austin and Eureka without taking time to stop for photos.  We have traveled this road in the past, several times, and while the towns are cute and historic, they are no match for the magnificent vistas that open up around each curve in the road.

Once again, our plans shifted with timing and weather.  We fueled up in Ely, to be sure that we had gas for boondocking if needed and continued past our original destination of the Ely KOA.  We have camped there in the past, but it is expensive, right on the highway, and we still had some driving time in us so continued east toward Baker.

AllStays was helpful again and we decided to camp with full hookups for a mere $25 bucks at the Border Inn RV Park.  The clouds were darkening, the winds were increasing and we were happy to be indoors enjoying warmed up leftover enchiladas and cozy warmth. Only funny part of the evening was that neither of us could hear each other because of our stopped up ears thanks to all the Basin and Range ups and downs.

Easy day for us, just over 300 miles

09-29-2019 Continuing on US 50 toward Capitol Reef National Park

The winds blew hard most of the night, and when we woke, it was very cold.  Nice to have hookups so we were cozy without having to use up propane.  We knew that we would be without hookups for the next few days and planned to be sure we had water and empty tanks before arriving in Capitol Reef.

Unknown to us until I stepped outside, was that the water hose was leaking from the inlet point and there was water puddled all over the place under the rig…right where we needed to hookup the sewer line to dump.  Not fun!  We managed to get the tanks dumped, although for some reason unknown to us, there was effluent in the pipe and it ran all over the ground.  We didn’t realize at the time that it was a hint of what was to come later, but that story will be saved for the end of our trip. 

We managed to get it all cleaned up and the tank dumped and water filled in spite of the cold winds.  Mattie wasn’t very interested in her walk and when I turned back to head for the rig she was in a BIG hurry to get back to a warm place.  She also wanted to visit with the very sweet little tabby kitty who visited us at our site, but Mattie isn’t very polite around cats, and her idea of play isn’t nice so the cat stayed away from her.

We left by 9, knowing that our 233 mile day ahead of us would be easy and enjoyable.  Continuing east on US 50 we had many miles of open rangeland, passing large saline lakes and playas before we did the meandering route where Highway 50 crosses over I-15, follows it for a bit, and then takes off east toward Scipio. 

I was feeling much better this day and drove as far as Aurora, Utah.  On the far end of town we found a beautiful city park with plenty of parking space, lots of open grass, and not a single “no dogs allowed” sign anywhere.  Mattie loved running on the soft grass and I loved the warm sunshine.

Once again checking in with Gas Buddy, we decided to fuel up in Loa, Utah rather than paying the much higher gas prices closer to the National Park.  I picked up a few groceries at the surprisingly well stocked grocery store and we continued east, arriving at our campground by 4pm.

The Fruita Campground in the heart of the Capitol Reef National Park, in Utah, just a mile east of the Visitor Center is lovely, although there are no hookups and now it is reservation only.  I’m glad I made our reservations several months ago since everything was completely full each day we were in Capitol Reef.

Mo was a bit frustrated because it was obvious that the campground was laid out before RV’s were popular, and the sites are angled such that your door opens on the opposite side of your table and fire pit.  Kinda dumb.  We did discover that the newer Loop C has sites angled correctly.  We were in Loop B

I do love Capitol Reef so much, and couldn’t believe that it had been 5 years since our last visit.  For many years I spent most of my time in this national park in the wild outskirts, but this time I was looking forward to the simplicity of a “real” campground, and exploring the local sights around the Visitor Center.

We settled in for the evening, took a short lovely walk to the nearby historic Gifford House, and enjoyed the gorgeous setting sun on the cliffs.  Time for a favorite soup, Martina McBride’s Bowl of Comfort, pulled from the freezer. We didn’t need to worry about the fire pit and picnic table location, and were perfectly happy to sit inside at our comfy dinette.

As we knew beforehand, there wasn’t any sign of a cell signal to be found.  I warned my kids and friends that I would be out of touch for a few days so it wasn’t a problem.  Funny how often I go to google to answer a question that one or the other of us has raised.  No google for a few days is an eye opener for sure.

No Bears! Great Basin National Park

Current Location: Lower Lehman Creek Campground GBNP sunny and 78F predicted high today

I worked in the mountains of the west for a bazillion years.  I lived in the mountains of the west for a bazillion years.  Mountains and bears seem synonymous to me.  Imagine my surprise when we arrived at Great Basin National Park and there are shabby tin garbage cans, and not a bear warning anywhere.  There are no bears here!  I couldn’t figure it out for the longest time.  I came up with all sorts of reasons, maybe they were hunted out and the great deserts that lie between the mountain islands kept them from coming back.

Well, the last bear was here about 30,000 years ago, and not only are there no bears in Great Basin National Park, there are no bears anywhere in the Great Basin!  Looking at a map of black bear distribution in the US, even the historic range of the black bear leaves a giant conspicuous hole in the map of the US encompassing almost all of Nevada and all of the Great Basin. 

When our June calendar showed no plans for a camping trip, we knew something must be done.  Where to go.  June is often full of mosquitos in our local mountains, and our home place is so convenient to kayaking and hiking, but we wanted to be sure to get somewhere new.  That is getting more and more difficult it seems.

Great Basin National Park came to mind.  We have traveled in the vicinity several times, looking up at the great mountains of the Snake Range and thinking, “We need to get there someday”.  We came really close on our way home last March from our three month trip east, but storms and wind and snow convinced us to reroute south toward the Mojave instead of north into the wilds of Nevada.

The trip to Great Basin NP requires commitment.  It isn’t near anything or on the way to anywhere.  We traveled a gorgeous route down 395 taking an easy day and spending our first night out at the Desert Rose RV Park in Fernley.  It is a nice little Passport America park, clean and tidy, with “the best TV east of the Mississippi”.  All that has changed, however, with the advent of Charter Cable requirements for individual receiver boxes for each site, and the owner said, Nope, no more TV here.  We had our little satellite, but TV wasn’t high on the agenda for only one night, so we didn’t bother to set it up.

The next morning we headed west on Highway 50, and once beyond Fallon, the route lived up to its reputation as the “Loneliest Road in America”.  That title was a bit more apt when it was first declared a few decades ago, but it still is one of the few places in the country where you can drive for miles without seeing another vehicle.  Actually, the stretch between Alturas and Susanville on 395 was almost as empty of traffic.  Daughter Deanna warned me when we left that school was out, vacationers were on the road, and traffic was completely crazy.  Not in the world we have traveled this week.  Lucky us.

We decided to take the old Route 50 between White Rock Springs and Austin, a beautiful route with some serious curves and climbs but nothing too difficult, and again, no traffic. 

By the time we reached the park, it was mid afternoon, early enough to hopefully find a campsite in the first come/first serve campgrounds.  There are four listed campgrounds in the park, and another couple of locations for what they call “overflow camping”, with picnic tables and fire grills but no water.  The camp at the lowest elevation, just a couple of miles from the Lehman Caves Visitor Center, is Lower Lehman Creek, with a few pull-through sites, water in the campground, and pit toilets. 

With most sites filled, we opted for the remaining pull through site #3, in spite of the fact that it was listed on the camp information sign as ‘extremely unlevel’.  Most sites were listed as ‘unlevel’ except for the one accessible site at the entrance to the campground.  No biggy, at least I thought so until I tried to sleep that first night with my head down from my feet in spite of all our work at leveling as much as possible.

We spent the first evening enjoying the sound of the creek, and I took a walk up the trail toward the Upper Lehman Creek campground to check things out.  I got a serious reality check trying to hike up the steep trail at 7500 feet elevation.  I have obviously been sitting around too much for the last couple of months.  My lungs were aching after just a mile or so.  sheesh!  I am glad we gave ourselves a couple of days to acclimate to the elevation before trying the main park hikes that all start at the Wheeler Peak campground at about 10,000 feet elevation.

The next morning we decided to seek out a lead on a young woman who might watch Abby for us while hiking, but as we were leaving, site 3 came open, and we nixed all plans and moved across the road to a lovely, almost level site right by the creek,  with an open sky for the satellite.  Perfect.  With a bit of jockeying, I had the rig leveled, Mo had the solar panel out and the TV hooked up.  We can run the inverter for the TV, satellite, and Direct TV box without taxing our batteries too much.  Each day we do run the generator for a couple of hours to charge things up, but so far all is good.

Did I mention no bears?  It just seems crazy to be in the mountains and not have to worry about critters getting into your stuff.  There aren’t even raccoons or skunks around here either.

Once we settled into the new spot, we decided to go to the visitor centers.  There are two of them for this park, the Lehman Caves center is within the park boundary, and the Great Basin visitor center is down in Baker.  We wanted to tour Lehman Caves, and the tours do sell out, so getting tickets was first on our agenda.  Later we found Rachel in the T and D Café in Baker, who agreed to watch Abby for us so we could do the tour together.  Lucky find, if a bit expensive at $10. per hour.  Rachel’s husband is the IT person for the park, and heard us at the visitor center asking about dog care in the vicinity.  Rachel was a sweetheart and Abby enjoyed her two hour stay at her home with her two dogs.

A slogan for Great Basin NP is that “half the park is after dark”.  They have great night sky programs, and as one of the ten darkest night sky locations in the US, there is much to see.  It would be great to be here during the dark of the moon, with views of the Milky Way that many of us only remember from childhood. 

Instead, we were here during the full moon, another perfect time, because the park has ranger guided full moon hikes each month during the season unless weather interferes. Free tickets for the hike are passed out only on the day of the full moon, beginning at 8 in the morning.  The location of the hike is kept secret, and you are requested to bring your hiking shoes for inspection when signing up.  In spite of the hard core rules about tough boots with ankle support, we saw several folks in tennis shoes, and Mo’s Keen sandals passed without a problem.  We were afraid she might be denied a ticket at first, but it seems that the only real problem would be open toed sandals or flip flops.

Both our Cave Tour and Full Moon hike were scheduled for Thursday, so we spent Wednesday exploring the area a bit in the Tracker.  We explored the Baker Creek Road, and the other campgrounds in the vicinity of Pole Creek and the Grey Cliffs.  The road was steep, graveled, but without a serious washboard problem at least, so in a pinch, we could have managed a campsite along Baker Creek at a few locations.

By the time we visited the Great Basin Visitor Center, the sun was high and hot and Mo and I took turns going inside.   As is usually the case, the visitor center was wonderful, with beautiful exhibits and I learned not only about Great Basin National Park, but the Great Basin in general. The term “Great Basin” was coined by one of my favorite guys, John C Fremont, the Pathfinder, back in the mid 1800’s. I’ll write more about that in my next post. 

We also traveled back through Baker and north to the Baker Archaeological Site. Although there isn’t a lot to see at the site, there are great interpretive signs explaining about the major dig here in the mid 90’s that discovered a complex community of what is now called the Fremont Culture, estimated to have been around 1300 AD.  The best part about the site is the vastness of the view, and the gorgeous skyline in the west dominated by the Snake Range and Wheeler Peak.

There are several dirt roads leading into the park, but the most traveled route is the paved Wheeler Peak Scenic Route that leads to the Summit Trailhead, and the trailheads for the Bristlecone Forest Hike, and several other high mountain hikes in that vicinity.  The Wheeler Peak campground is gorgeous, but at 10,000 feet elevation, the weather up there was COLD.  We saw folks in down coats and wool caps in the afternoon in their beautiful fir and aspen campsites.  The campground was gorgeous, but the length limit for driving the road is 24 feet and we are 26.  The level paved pads for camping were amazing, just too bad you can’t take a bigger rig up that road! Even so, it was nice to come back down the mountain to our warm campground.

Clouds were thick around Wheeler Peak on that first visit, but even with the cloud cover, the magnificence of the limestone mountains were evident.  With more than 13 peaks over 11,000 feet high in the Snake Range that dominates most of the Great Basin National Park, there is no shortage of hiking opportunities for the hardy souls who can manage high elevation hiking.

I do actually have a Verizon signal here at the campground, not always fast, but it is much better than the weak “out of area” signal that I get on my ATT iPhone. Between TV and occasional internet, we haven’t been too far out of touch while camping here.  More to come in the next post but it is time to go explore Snake Creek and the Johnson Lake trail.