2018-17
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| Rock Springs Wyoming prong horn Antelope |
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Utah/Wyoming
Rock Springs Wyoming
Holy Smoking Brakes Batman we’re heading down some pretty long 8% grades today
Campground: Ashley
Forest, hwy 191 & Forest Road 217. 8,400 ft elevation, dispersed
camping. Many sites available throughout the forest. I was able to
pick a spot close to the main highway through the forest with a nice
grassy area to turn the camper around in.
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| Ashley Forest, dispersed camping |
Campground:
Sweetwater Events Complex, Rock Springs Wy. $23.80 after discount,
regular price $25.00 Full hookups. Rodeo, Fairgrounds type
location.
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| Sweetwater Events Complex |
Ending the weekend
at Steinaker State Park having met a cool couple, Pauline and Jim.
Two full time campers along with their two handsome dogs. After
sharing insights about the camping lifestyle, I got them to play
Mexican Train. They had never played it before but sure did pick it
up quickly. I was in last place (yes Kathy and Ruth-Ann, last
Place!) for the entire game, when Pauline said lets play the final
hand of 0/0 (the blank tile). And wouldn’t you know it, I was able
to move up to 2nd place.
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| new friends, Pauline and Jim |
Distance traveled: 28 miles
Pack it up, hitch up
the camper and I was off up the road. And up the road I went. 10
switch backs and many miles of 8 and 10% grades uphill. Needless to
say, I was traveling very sloooowly up to the top of Ashley National
Forest. To an elevation of 8,400 feet.
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| Aspen's surrounding my site |
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| many dispersed campsites down forest roads |
Temperatures in the
75/56 degree range. I’m using my solar panels and running the
generator when needed, like this morning, when I needed to boost the
batteries before the sun was able to charge the batteries after using
up all the battery power to run the furnace. I also wanted to use
the coffee pot and toaster. The generator sure comes in handy.
Generator Note:
- The new Champion generator is working well. It starts up easily, using the battery/electric start feature. Running on propane should keep it running cleanly for a good long time. By keeping the generator in the back of the truck with the truck facing towards the front of the camper, (nose to nose) I’m able to dissipate the noise away from the camper. Although it is a bit more noisy than the previous unit I had tried, with the windows currently closed and the radio on, I don’t hear the generator at all.
Aspen trees surround
my campsite, with their white bark trunks. The older trees have a
crown of green at the tops and some with bare branches having
completed their life cycle, new young trees mingle below those tall
white trunks. Alpine meadows where I’ve already seen a couple Elk
and mule deer. All surrounded by pine covered mountain tops complete
the high altitude experience.
1909 keeps coming up
when talking about the history of the area as that was when much of
the land became available with Government land grants etc. Bringing
the settlers west. A little research and one discovers that the
Native Peoples lived in the area for 8,000 years and going much
further back, the dinosaur populated the region 150 to 200 million
years ago. Making modern European settlers going back less than 150
years seem insignificant at first. Until you realize that within
that short time, they decimated the wildlife, almost wiping out the
Elk, Moose, bear, et-all. Fortunately two presidents, Grover
Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt created the Forest reserve expanding
it between 1897 and 1908. Reducing cattle and man’s influence
(timber cutting, mining and hunting) and eventually restoring much of
the area. Seems like we make many mistakes along the way only to
finally restore the natural balance on down the road. (mini history
lesson complete)
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| 10 switch backs to the top of Ashley Forest are just beyond this curve |
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| truck broke down in front of my campsite |
RV TIP: As you may
know, I occasionally lead a Travel Club and one of the features
people enjoy are my Rv Tips. Today’s is one that can be used in an
Rv or at home. For anyone trying to clean blinds, which I have a ton
of wood blinds in my camper, keeping them clean can be a challenge.
I’ve found the easiest way to dust and clean them in minutes.
Step 1: Using a
Washing Mitt that is designed to be used for washing a vehicle, I
instead spray a light amount of either Endust or Furniture polish on
the Mitt. Then I wipe each blind in a straight downward motion doing
the front side first.
Stept 2: Now anyone
who has blinds knows that a narrow strip of dust remains on the top
of each blind blade because it is covered by the next blind. Reverse
the blind chord, hold the blind out from the window and once again
draw the mitt from the top of the blind down to the bottom on the
back side of the blind. You will now have cleaned the little edge of
dust that always remains after cleaning the front.
Takes only minutes
to clean all your blinds. When done, toss the mitt in the wash for
your next cleaning. Oh, you can also do a quick dusting on your
furniture with the mitt in hand before tossing it in the wash.
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| deep into the forest along dirt/clay roads |
I’ve taken a few
tours through the forest, including a rather long route on a clay
based dirt road. It was surprisingly a smooth ride, albeit a very
dusty one. I was in search of Spirit lake. I had a couple of maps
of the area, but none provided distance nor were there any mile
markers showing the distance to each lake or destination in the
forest. Without the use of my GPS, as there is no cell phone
coverage up here, I ended up driving for many miles back deep into
the forest. Seeing large meadows with spring flowers in bloom, snow
capped mountains in the distance but that’s about it. No wildlife
or lakes, though I’m sure they were down any number of dirt roads
leading off in various directions from the main dirt/clay route I was
on. Not wanting to go any further, I finally turned around and
returned to the campsite. I did go to one of the large visitor
centers overlooking Flaming Gorge, only to find out the two new
Volunteers had only been there for two days and had been left alone
to do their best. Oddly it is very quite up here during the week.
The lodge closest to the Visitor center is only partially open and
won’t have full service until another couple of weeks and here we
are into June already.
Again, their
brochures for the area are very poorly written and definitely need to
be edited or completely rewritten.
Distance Traveled: 88 miles.
My last day in
Ashley Forest, I decided to drive back into Vernal. After lunch and
a few errands, I headed on back up the 10 switchbacks leading to the
top of Ashley Forest. But my travels would be delayed as a large
semi-tanker truck overturned on one of those switchbacks. A few
hours later, as I was permitted to get back up into the forest, I
passed the truck, lying on it’s side, right at one of the sharp
switchbacks. When they say 25 mph, they really mean it. Tried to
get a picture, but this is all I caught….Leaving Ashley Forest
The next day I
headed out down off the mountain meadows and forests in the opposite
direction heading towards the Wyoming boarder. More steep grades as
I navigated all those switchbacks and curving routes descending down
the famous Flaming Gorge pass.
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| My view as I waited for the truck brakes to cool off |
Holly smoking
brakes, I thought I smelled burning rubber. A line of vehicles and
trucks following behind me as I’m slowly descending the gorge.
Shifting down into 3rd gear and tapping the brakes lightly
as I continue my downward decent. After pulling off at a wayside
stop, I noticed one of the front brakes was Smoking. Okay, deep
breaths. Calming thoughts, need to have the brakes checked once I
get into a town…. Wait a while to let them cool off a bit, I make
it to the bottom of the mountain, crossed the dam, wound my way along
what I’m sure was a scenic view of the dam and overflow, but with
the narrow road appearing to be hugging the rock cliff, somehow
suspended and attached to that solid stone wall, I hardly had the
opportunity to enjoy any “stunning” views.
Once again climbing
up the other side of the gorge and being welcomed by my voice
activated GPS into Wyoming, I again stopped at a pull-out and checked
on the brakes…. Deciding to test the trailer brakes manually….
Hmmm, appears I have no brakes, or seems they aren’t doing
anything. Ohhhh kay, I guess something must be wrong with the
trailer brakes, no wonder the truck brakes were smoking, heart skips
a beat thinking how I’d just come down miles of dangerous steep
grades off of a mountain without any Frickin Da### brakes on the
trailer! I check the trailer wire connections to the truck, they’re
ok. I check the trailer brake device in the truck and discover that
somehow both knob settings have been turned all the way off. How
that occurred is beyond my brain cells at the moment. I readjust
them, backing up, pulling forward in the relatively small space I
have on the side of the road testing them until they are finally
working as best as can be for the duration of my journey today. A
deep sigh of relief as I continue my journey into Wyoming.
- side note: After arriving in Rock Springs Wy, I've made an appt. to have a new brake controller installed in the truck. It has a digital readout to easily verify brake settings.
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| snow fences, I don't think I need to be here in the winter time |
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| top of plateau, wide open spaces, big skies |
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| thanks for making my morning drive even more exciting |
Well if that isn’t
enough excitement for one day, I don’t know what is. The scenery
as I continue to climb to the top of the mesa plateau overlooking the
Flaming Gorge area is the hallmark for the phrase “wide open
spaces”. Vast fields of sage and grasses cover this rugged land.
Deep ravines and snow fences appear on the sides of the roadway with
signs indicating drifting snow could be in the area. A pronghorn
antelope checks me out as I drive by. Up a head, I see something in
the roadway…. A grizzly bear is loping across the road, turns to
look at me as I of course stop to hopefully get a picture. Success,
and oh by the way, yes I stopped in the middle of the road, as there
was no traffic in either direction. This is a little used highway.
And darn it, I wanted that picture.
Have a great day
everyone, I hope your week ISN’T quiet as eventful as mine has
been.
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