Rainbow II

This morning, (31 May) we made the second "ZAG" which turns us generally towards home.  So procrastination and sloth have set in and I'll start rationalizing double, or slower, (if not completely missing) posts.

So yesterday Saturday 29 May, we "sat" around all morning nursing our backsides from the previous day's trail ride.  Mostly recovered by about noon we packed up and moved all of about 20 miles down the road to Red Canyon Campground which is located in a ..... RED CANYON!  Here we decided to stretch our legs out on a short late afternoon hike.

So who's brilliant idea was this?

OK, nice view.

Lets go take a nap.

Then today, (Sunday 31 May), we turn north to gain some elevation and stay ahead of the forecasted warming trend. Its a scenic byway, great for diving (3 small towns in 60 miles) with almost no traffic and nice broad vistas, and even some wildlife, (which we haven't seen that much of).

Ok.  It's only an over-sized squirrel, (Marmot actually), but we hadn't seen one
of these yet so PHOTO OP.

And a zillion pelicans.

Real open range-cowboys.

 Arrived at Millsite State Park late afternoon and served with nice view out the bedroom window.

Followed by a post sunset, full rainbow as a small rain squall passed through.  Who would have thought a pre-sunrise and post sunset full rainbow all in the same trip.

It was actually a weak double.

So good night from Millsite.  Tomorrow has some good stuff planned.

Brad and Val

And            HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY JULIA!

Whooaaaa Geraldine

Friday 29 May

First of all, no, there is no post from yesterday.  Took most of the day to drive to Cedar City for the emergency software retrieval.  Happy to say the trip planner is back on line so I know where I'm going again.  Nice drive, but I'm too lazy to do a post.

Today was a treat.  We took a half day "horseback" ride down into Bryce Canyon.  If you've been around horse places, you know they are usually populated with colorful people.  Here was no exception. Stereotype cowboy/girl wranglers, although probably for real,  and the paying customers a broad swath from people who looked like they knew what they were doing, to greenhorns like me. Not to mention the chippie in daisy dukes and black tights who mysteriously found her place second in line behind the trail guide, Tim, (in aviator glasses).

My horse, Geraldine was actually a mule, as were 80% of the other "horses".   (Or is it 40% since a mule is half horse.)  Anyway, I was a bit off-put being assigned a mule since we were paying for a horse.  (Should'a been 1/2 price.)  Didn't seem very cowboy-like.

Never having ridden a mule I wasn't sure what to expect, but shortly into the ride I realized I was 100% putting my life into the hands hooves of an ass descending 1,000 feet down a very narrow trail with precipitous drop-offs.  I also quickly found out that mules prefer to hug the outside edge of the trail and swing their head out over the abyss as they make hairpin turns.  The trail guide gave some inane reason for that, but I'm convinced it was just to scare the ju-ju-bees out of the rider. Lastly, a mule doesn't trot, it hops, (if and when it decides to go faster).

Once I got used to knowing that I had little (actually no) control over the transport, (and thus my life), it was great to just sit back and enjoy the incredible scenery unfolding at every bend as shown below.

I got the hottie in red.  The geezer in blue is yours.

That's Val in front.
(Geraldine in foreground.)

A little more to the right would be nice!

If I had just passed on that last apple....

You are going to wait for us... RIGHT?

No outing is complete without a little rain.

Back at the park campground and tucked in for the evening.

Good night from Brice Canyon

Brad and Val

Eroded Red Dirt on Steroids

Wednesday 27 May

Moved from Kodachrome SP over to Bryce Canyon National Park this morning.  Snagged one of the few remaining campsites inside the park.

As a side note, the Feds do offer at least one very nice perk.  For 10$, the OPP (Old Peoples Pass, aka Senior Pass) gives you free access to almost all US Federal Access Fee locations in the world. It also gets you campground sites at 1/2 price, typically $5 - $7.50 per night.  There aren't a lot of advantages to getting old, but that's one of them.

This afternoon we did a scouting trip out to the end of the 18 mile road through the park to see what we want to do for a couple of days.  Tomorrow will be a morning walk along the rim of the main canyon since we need to drive 1.5 hrs to UPS center in Cedar City UT to retrieve routing software backup discs Blaine sent out to us yesterday.  Thanks to her we don't have to shut down the trip early.  (Just kidding.)

The next day we'll do some more intensive hiking down to the canyon floor and back.

Resident Pronghorn

Friday's planned hike.

Good night from Bryce Canyon

Brad and Val

Ho Hum

Tuesday 26 May 2015 

Nothing special happening today.  Took a nice hike in red rock (aka eroded dirt) country of Kodachrome Basin SP.  Started off a little on the cool side with scattered clouds.   Trail moist, but not sloppy from yesterday’s downpour.  Good hiking weather. 

Basically no one on the trail but a couple of mountain bikers.  Guy in the lead happily cruising down the hill into the dry (not) wash yelling back disapprovingly to the trailing girl,   “Don’t dismount, it’s not that muddy.”  Girl dismounting, obviously struggling on the steep trail and staring daggers at the guy’s back.  This is a relationship doomed to be a short one.  (Met her again about 10 minutes later, returning to the trailhead, alone and none too happy looking.  Never saw him again.  Even shorter relationship than expected?)

Clouding up after a couple of hours.  One storm cell in the distance to the SW and pouring out rain.  CBDR (an old sailor’s term meaning constant bearing - decreasing range, and also meaning imminent collision unless somebody changes course).

The trail ends at “Cool Cave” where we plan to wait out the storm and eat lunch.  Except the last 100 feet is up a deep wash, which if it fills with water, we could be spending the night in the cave.  Not the end of the world, but not my first choice either.

Turn around and head back in what turns out to be a fairly gentle rain but boomers nearby.

A little rain is fun as long as you're dressed for it.

 Spent about an hour cleaning that "eroded red dirt" off our boots.

Back at camp after a trip into “town” to do some laundry and check out the grocery store.  Val, not happy with the food selections, questions, “What do people eat around  here???”

Good night again from Kodachrome SP campground.

Brad and Val

Happy Memorial Day

Monday 25 May 2015  -  

First of all we wish everyone a wonderful Memorial Day.  Although a serious day of rembrance, it is also a day for families to step back from the craziness of day-to-day career-making and home-making and enjoy just being family.  Since we’ve been off the grid since last Thursday, no one is likely to get this message for a few more days.  But wishing you a good day never-the-less. Wish our family was with us to enjoy this experience.

Since we’ve had nothing BUT good days recently, we were overdue for a “crisis”.  Second only to my coffee maker, the most important piece of technology is the route planning software I used to pin-point all of the interesting, off the beaten track, places to visit.  Well it crashed last night!  For me, that’s like driving with a paper bag over my head.  (Ignoring that I still have 5 other GPS capable devices.  They know where I am, but not where I want to go.)  Working on a solution to that issue.

Today’s route took us across more “slick-rock” country to Escalante UT and then down to Kodachrome Basin State Park.  It was here that we encountered another one of those intense SW afternoon thunderstorms with really heavy hail.  Fortunately we had not gone out for an afternoon hike so we just watched the mini-flash flood running down both sides of the funmobile while the hail accumulated.  Good fun.

And the sun comes out for a short walk on the nature trail.

And the cactus are liking the moisture.

We're tucked in for two nights and will hopefully hike tomorrow if it dries out a little bit.

Good night from Kodachrome SP UT

Brad and Val

"It's A Wonderful Day In the Neighborhood" (Music symbol)

Sunday 24 May 2015 

Another good start to the day as I went out to find that we had NOT sunk (sank?) up to our axils in the by now infamous Utah red clay/mud.  The four inch thick plastic leveling blocks however, did sink under the weight of the 10,000 lb Funmobile.  So the morning fun was to dig them out.  The sky is mostly bright blue, and what clouds there are, are the puffy friendly kind.

Back tracking the remaining 10 miles of the Burr Trail into Boulder and then on to Calf Creek Falls Campground and trailhead.  This is a REALLY popular hike in the area so on a Memorial Day we expect a full parking lot.

Calf Creek Canyon from the road in.

On the way through the campground to the trail, we spot one VACANT campsite!  We cash in the lucky rainbow chip and guarantee a place to sleep tonight.  Then off to the trail for the rest of the day.

SHE made me so it again.
Woulda been her fault if I got scorpion or snake bit.

Ghost Dancers?

Trout in Calf Creek
(No calves though)

Almost there.

An EXCELLENT triple drop waterfall.

If you think I'm wading through that COLD water, you're nuts.
CARRY ME

Apparently the lucky rainbow had enough left over change to grant us excellent hiking weather for the whole hike.  So we are back in the Funmobile just as a cloud rolls in and rains for the rest of the evening.

Good night from a good day at Calf Creek Falls and Campground.

Brad And Val

"Some Day Over The Rainbow...." (Music Symbol)

Saturday 23 May

This morning’s reward for opening one eye at about 6:15 am was a pre-dawn, full rainbow.  I’ve never seen a rainbow before sunrise.  (Probably because I try not to wake up before sunrise, especially when on the road.)  I grabbed the camera and jumped out of the Funmobile to be further rewarded with a VERY cold drizzle down my neck.

If a lucky penny can result in a flat tire, or  a busted Kuerig,
what do you suppose a lucky rainbow can do!

Since it was raining, we took a slow start and topped off with fresh water back at the Park campground. The guy in front of us had one of those 50 foot bus RV’s with what must have been a 100 gallon water tank.  By the time we got our turn, filled up, and made it to the next town it was lunch time.

It was at lunch when I was wining about the crowds we were finding at the park and in town, it dawned on me that this was Memorial day weekend, (which I thought was next weekend).  It was going to be a bear finding a campsite tonight.

Left the lunch place and it was sleeting which promised much fun climbing over the 9,600 pass between where we are and where we wanted to be.  (Jess and Blaine – We drove through 2-Flat-Tires campground for old time’s sake.)  Hit a little sleet up on top, but not bad, then back down to the 5500 ft valley.

The Burr Trail that I mentioned in an earlier blog actually ends near Boulder UT (where we are headed).  The north 30 miles of it is paved so we decide to head down it to find a place to camp, figuring what idiots are willing to drive 30 miles down an effectively dead-end road just to find a campsite.  Well turns out there are lots if idiots (including me) who would do just that.  Most of the dispersed sites were occupied.

Eroded red dirt eroding.

End of pavement.

Hmmm.  Time to turn around.

Yes.  That is my foot.
(Nobody's perfect.)

  

We got to the end of the paved section, plus a little, (do not go on dirt roads around here in the rain), and turned around with hopes the reverse route would reveal something missed on the way in.  We did find a empty site and despite the slightly mushy ground, we set up or the night.  We’ll see just how lucky that rainbow was.  Better than the lucky pennies Val continues to pick up every few days or so I hope.

Good night from 10 miles down the Burr Trail.

Brad and Val

PS - Despite my "occasional" grumbling about this-that-or the other thing, be assured that I'm having the retirement trip I've always dreamed of and am mentally planning a rerun.  (Don't tell Val yet.)

Whoooaaa! Time Warp!

Note - Although prepared and dated 22 May, (the last date we had an internet connection), I'm actually posting today the 27th.  The good news for me is that I will be able to keep track of where we were and when.  The good news for the reader is that I probably (though no promises) won't blather on as much as I try to actually catch up.

Anyway,

 Friday 22 May 2015

Got up “early” to backtrack to Hanksville from Goblin Valley.  Woulda’ stayed for some of what looked to be good hiking possibilities, but its Friday and getting tonight’s campsite at Capital Reef will be a challenge at best.

Last Night's Campsite
(A little short on services, but a great view.)

The view is decent, but no place to set up for quilting.
And it would be impossible to keep the floors clean.

Arrived at Capital Reef and sure enough, by 10:30 am, the campground was already full.  No Plan B, so we’ll just go take a hike and figure it out later.  The hike is Called Grand wash and runs 3 miles or so down a (currently) dry canyon.  Sky is full of puffy white clouds so no immediate rain likelihood.

Guy at trailhead "4-wheeling" in slick-rock country.
Something for everyone.

Tourist!  Etchhhh.

That little spec on the trail next to the big rock is Val

Hope it stays up there til we get through.

Makes you feel a little insignificant.

Really nice hike through the canyon and even though clouds were thickening for the return trip, there a plenty of routes to high ground.  In the worst case, you might spend a few hours for the water to recede, or even an overnight.  No matter how short the hike, I plan for an overnight.  It means hauling around way too much water and clothing layers, and granola bars, but lugging a pack is good exercise I suppose.

Anyway, the CG was still full on the way out so we located a nice dispersed site about 20 miles away.

So good night from N38.1655°, W111.0901° (Cottonwood Wash)

Brad and Val