2020-14 Otter Creek Res to Vernal UTAH

2020-14

Otter Creek Reservoir Utah
to
Vernal Utah

Campground: Otter Creek Reservoir. Free camping. Also a State Park nearby. Sites are situated along individual dirt roads leading down to the reservoir. Many are considered only suitable for one camper or as a group site. I got lucky and have a site to myself at this point. No water, sewer, or electric as it is dry camping. No cell phone coverage, but I get 38 over-the-air TV channels and two radio stations.

Otter Creek Reservoir

with individual roads leading
to each camp site, many can handle
a couple of campers 

 

Campground: Price Utah, Walmart. Free camping. I’ve stayed overnight here in the past, off to the side and out of the way. Even though I will admit, I have no plans to go inside the store. Actually, I’ve only gone in one Walmart in the past 4 months. Having ordered groceries for curb site pick up a couple of times.

Walmart Parking lot for the night

Campground: Steinaker State Park, Vernal Utah. 7 miles from town. $20 elect/water, #30 for full hookups. $400 for a monthly site (they have a couple). No Tv reception, no Verizon cell/internet. Nice paved sites, half are pull-thru’s. Lake access.

Campground: Ashely National Forest, Flaming Gorge Utah. Dispersed camping. 8900 ft elevation. Wonderful open grassy sites, surrounded by Aspen and pine trees.

stayed at two different sites
in Ashley National Forest

forest road camping... just about any dirt road
in the forest is ok for dispersed camping

Distance Traveled: 116 miles
Leaving Kanab Utah

As you can tell from my previous reports, I enjoyed my stay in the Kanab area very much. It was a safe location, pandemic wise, and there was more than enough to see. Temperatures ranged from the 70’s, 80’s to 90’s with sunny days. I would definitely come back to this area again.

But it was time to move on after a months stay in Kanab. So I headed out with a few quick stops at the grocery store, gas station, and McDonald's. Love being able to use the phone app to order a quick meal and coffee and then have it delivered right to the camper sitting in the parking lot.

Traveling north on hwy 89, past the exit to Bryce NP, continuing on, I stopped at the historic home where Butch Cassidy lived for a couple of years during his teen years. It’s in the small town of Circleville Utah. Butch Cassidy, real name George Parker became a real outlaw, robbing banks, trains and along the way survived many a report of his demise. Then it was a short hop to the Otter Creek Reservoir where I plan on staying for a day or two.

Circleville Utah. Butch Cassidy,

I should mention that the drive from Kanab north to Kingston Junction was really quite interesting. Not far out of Kanab the terrain became more wooded, with Cedar trees in abundance. As I continued to climb a bit in elevation, I passed many ranches that looked like Alpine meadows, rivers and streams with their icy cold waters tumbling over rocks and winding through pastures and meadows. Further on up, the highway (really a well maintained two lane road), there were bare rock formations on the left, a green valley to the right with large mountain ranges increasing in size the further I headed north. There was even a stretch where I was surrounded by a pine forest. Talk about a diverse landscape.

views from the road

changing scenery

distant vistas

Temperatures today are in the 50’s and 60’s. I doubt it will even reach 70 degrees today. But the sun is shining and the fresh are feels good. The pungent aroma of sage brush and cedar is in the air.

I’ve ordered my mail to be delivered to Vernal Utah which should take 5 or 6 days to arrive there, so I have plenty of time before I need to arrive at that destination. Gosh it feels good to be back on the open road. Going from being pampered with full hookups, you’d think it would be somehow a downgrade doing dispersed camping without any amenities, but with the Class C camper, I have water in my holding tanks, solar for my electric needs for both day and night use. As well as a good generator to provide any additional power I may need. And imagine, out here pretty much away from civilization, I’m getting 38 over-the-air TV stations. Not bad for roughing it.

The only thing I really miss is internet and cell phone signals way out here in the middle of nowhere. I would probably stay a bit longer, but without internet, I feel just a tad too disconnected. Though it is giving me more time to read as well as watch a bit more TV.

And lots more time to reflect on our current Government state of affairs, Covid 19 concerns as well as reflecting on my own past errors in judgment and mistakes made along the way. I’m not beating my head over the dumb things I’ve done in the past, as I do accept life for what it is. Just trying to be the best version of myself I can be right now. Overall I’m amazed that I’ve come this far and cherish the friendships I’ve made along the way.

Another reason I’ll be moving on tomorrow is that I’m getting low on propane and will need to fill up fairly soon, as the refrigerator runs on propane while I’m boondocking. As well as needing to run the furnace occasionally at night. Yes it can get that cold out here in Utah at night. Though I do have a backup in case I need heat. I’m able to run the generator and turn on the heat-pump as my secondary source of heat or a/c as needed as they use diesel fuel. Nice to have that option.

Distance traveled: Anther 100 miles
Price Utah

Price Utah. I’ve passed through this area and they do have a wonderful canyon called 9 mile canyon that has quite an impressive set of pictographs and petrographs. Not sure I’ll tour them this time around.

Distance Traveled: 107 miles.

Vernal Utah

Vernal Utah. Close to Dinosaur National Monument, nice dinosaur museum in town. I’m here to pick up my mail and get a new power cord plug installed on the camper. I have some separation with the cord connection to the plug. Cosmedic at this point but could cause issues in the near future.

I planned on either staying on dispersed land or at the Walmart's, which was super busy. With it being kind of warm today, I decided to get a spot at Steinaker State park before heading up into the National Forest land. It works and it’s close to town for my in-town projects. A nice park, just no internet or Tv signals. They do have WiFi service for a fee. I just couldn’t get connected.

The county that Vernal is in is now considered Green, safe. Unfortunately, no one is wearing a mask, not the servers in the restaurants, shops and virtually all the customers don’t wear masks. Maybe one in 25+ might wear a mask. I was one of them. And of course, I use hand sanitizer constantly. I talked to a waitress, and she admitted she is concerned that she might get it and infect her children. Yes I went to a favorite place of mine for a steak and eggs breakfast. At least I was in a room almost completely by myself and well separated from other diners. Best Hash browns I’ve ever had. The gal told me they use their baked potatoes, mashed up and add dehydrated hash browns, nicely browned and just awesome tasting. Something I rarely have on a low carb diet, but gosh were they good.

Distance Traveled: 40 miles
Ashley National Forest

views from Ashley Forest, tons of dispersed camping

Aspen 

Note:  many locals park their campers
in the forest and only come up on weekends

heading up to approx 8,900 ft elevation

Aspen, always reminds me of birch trees in N Mich.

Traveling north on hwy 191 north of Vernal Utah, over 10 switchbacks and tight curves ascending a couple thousand feet in elevation, I’ve arrived in the Ashely national forest and the Flaming Gorge region. This is my second time camping in this national forest. I checked out two promising sites, staying only one night at a location I’d previously camped at. The next day, I drove to a large alpine meadow that may or may not have elk sightings. A forest road on the north end provided me with an awesome view of the meadow and I hope to be able to see some elk in the next day or so.

Before arriving at this awesome site, back in Vernal, I took care of a couple chores, needing to install a new 30 amp plug on my camper. The previous one had come somewhat separated from the cord. And I had a couple of signs made up (SITE OCCUPIED) for when I find a good boondocking site and need to go back into town for supplies, I can put out the sign attached to a chair, to hold my campsite.

Dinosaur National Monument

Along with getting propane and diesel fuel, it was time for a bit of exploring don’t you know. The Dinosaur national monument was partially opened to visitors and is only a 20 minute drive from Vernal. The main dinosaur bone museum and visitor center were not open. Which is a shame but there is so much else to see in the park. Doing a driving tour I was able to stop at a couple awesome Petroglyphs sites, some with original paint still on them after over a 1,000 years. The descriptions were very basic as it is often difficult to even attempt to decipher their true meaning. Then it was onto Josie’s cabin. A log cabin that she built homesteaded with her three children. Raising cattle, chickens and fruit trees.

Turtle Rock

The drive just getting to Josie’s cabin, built around 1900, in itself is part of the adventure. The pavement ends and a dirt road leads deep into the canyon, past a small bridge where the creek flows under it. The dirt road jogs around a few rock outcroppings and eventually become very narrow. The last stretch being one lane traffic only. And of course I’m using the Class C camper for transportation. But I arrive at the end of the road and the box canyon and hog canyon where Josie would corral her cattle.

I open up the slide on the camper, turn on the generator and a/c unit as the day is starting to heat up. Make myself a quick lunch before touring the homestead. Coming out of the camper, other tourists remark on how much they would love to have a camper like mine. I get this so often now that I’m traveling with Zippy. Many folks have the dream that I’ve made into reality.

Chicken Coop

Josie's 4 room cabin

Pioneer Woman raising her 3 children in isolation 

but had many friends and relatives visit

looking off at the box canyon where
Josie kept her cattle

Josie’s homestead is a favorite place of mine. it’s quiet, peaceful, and easy to imagine what life must have been life back then. A simple life, hard at times, but seeing the accomplishment with each effort made. The natural spring fed stream bubbling up out of the ground making it all possible.

I’ll let you know if I see any of those elk in my next report. Closing out for the time being, from Ashley Forest.

most of Dinosaur National Monument is
designated Wilderness, where no motorized vehicles are permitted 

More photos:

Road Shots to Vernal Utah

Dinosaur National Monument 

Ashley National Forest

2020-13 Last few Days in Kanab Utah, with a Grand Adventure ZION

2020-13

Kanab Utah (Part 3)

Campground: Crazy Horse Rv Park. Kanab Ut. $475 per month (30 amp site). $50 deposit for electric. 3 Blocks from the main street in town. Good Verizon signal, Good over-the-air TV. Owners of this park also own Rv parks in Show-Lo and Yuma and I’m told 300 other Rv parks! Some issues with weak electric and clogged sewers. I see them working on various sections of water/sewer lines throughout the park.

Caution:  Use a volt meter to determine if power being provided is within an acceptable range.  it was as low as 108 volts at two sites

I had checked out.

THE BIG ADVENTURE

it’s been a very enjoyable stay here in Kanab. My month’s stay is just about at the end and I’ll be heading out in the next day or two. This has been a safe place to stay, as they only had three Covid 19 cases in the past couple of months and is the only county in Utah to go Green. Meaning the stores are all permitted to open within the New Normal guidelines. Though I will tell you, some have already ignored those guidelines. Making it, to my way of thinking, once again unsafe to go in a number of shops and restaurants. One restaurant had no space between table/customers. A couple of shops had employees not wearing face masks, etc.

What I have been able to do, is head to the deli department in the two local grocery stores, pick up supplies for picnic type lunches, leave and go to the local park and enjoy a most enjoyable lunch at a picnic table outdoors and away from non social distance folks. It’s been a good compromise and one that I will continue to do throughout my travels.

my view as I get ready to post this blog
Kanab's public park

As I’ve mentioned before, Kanab is a surprisingly well maintained town. I have not seen any homes that are not well maintained and many of the newer homes are quite large, indicating that there is a migration of folks to this area for business or retirement. The towns businesses while many have been closed until just recently, all seem to be well maintained as well, and the infrastructure like a small convention center, senior center, library, large multipurpose park, with swimming pool, tennis courts and splash pads for kids are all new. The Jackson Flat reservoir with it’s 3 plus miles of newly paved walking and biking trails is just the beginning of a planned bike path.

An Adventure Worthy of Sharing:
Zion National Park

entering Zion National Park
North entrance, including two tunnels, one over 2 miles long

descending down thousands of feet into the canyon below

the checkerboard formation at the north entrance

I had not initially considered going to any of the wonderful national parks in Utah, since most were just opening. The north Rim of the Grand Canyon was a possibility, but just when I started to make plans, they ended up closing it, due to multiple forest fires around Jacobs Lake. I had initially decided against going to Zion, as in the recent past, it has been so busy that the entrances were closed by early morning. But with the new soft opening of many of the national parks, Zion included. I did a bit for research and decided it might actually make for an awesome day trip. Zion is only 35 miles from Kanab via the north entrance. The shuttle buses are not running and they are limiting the number of visitors daily. Which to my way of thinking is perfect. So by taking Zippy and little Zippy (my class C camper and E-bike) I arrived at the north entrance by 8am. Rv’s are only permitted to go through the tunnels from 8am to 8pm. I arrived just a few minutes early and had enough time to take a few awesome picture of the entrance before heading towards the two tunnels, one is over two miles in length and they close it to oncoming traffic for those of us with large campers so that we can drive down the middle of the tunnel without damaging our roofs.

The north entrance along with the tunnels is to me, the most exciting way to enter the park, as there are multiple switchbacks and winding roads leading down to the bottom of the steep canyon. Thousands of feel below. What spectacular views during that decent. Fortunately there are enough pull-outs to stop and take in the scenery for all those photo opportunities and a chance to ewe and ahh over the views. I arrived finally at the visitor center, just inside the south entrance to the park. It’s closed but has a large parking lot, where I was able to use the Rv parking lot, right next to the bike and pedestrian paved path leading into the park itself.

Don’t you know, that using the E-bike would make my visit for enjoyable but also helped me keep a safe distance for others. Only needing to wear a mask a couple of times. Riding a bike through the 6 to 8 miles scenic drive is definitely the way to go. Even though once arriving at the main scenic drive and having to ride on the actual road instead of a separate bike path, with the park having limits on the number of vehicles permitted in the park proper, the road was virtually empty of vehicles except for hikers and bikers for the first half of my visit.

the scenic road leading through Zion.
no shuttles and only 300 cars permitted at a time
since they had arrived before I did, the parking lots were
full and no more vehicles were permitted into this section 

virtually no traffic during the early morning ride

along the first two miles of paved bike trails

my neck got sore from constantly looking up, but so worth it.

Unlike having to take the shuttle bus in previous years, I was able to stop often on the bike for those all important photo ops. What an awesome advantage. Loved being able to stop just about anywhere along the road, enjoying the scenery, capture as many pictures as my little heart desired before going what seemed like only a few yards further, before having to stop and take a dozen more shots.

The road, even though at the bottom of the canyon, with it’s thousand plus feet shear cliff walls reaching ever higher to the sky, that road did have quite a few elevation changes. The E-bike really made for a most pleasant and effortless ride through the canyons. Talk about zipping along. I was having a blast. One would have to be comatose not to feel the majesty of this place and I certainly felt quite inspired and just a bit closer to God, looking around and up at those magnificent walls and mountain peaks of sandstone all reaching higher and higher as if trying to reach the heavenly sky above.

at the end of the scenic road,
super nice walk along the river,
but too crowded for me.... 

the Patriarchs 

the two mile bike path from the visitors center

Zippy, descending the switchbacks and winding road leading
down into Zion National Park

Perhaps a bit over the top on my description of the park, but it sure filled me with much joy and happiness. And being that it’s a one way in, one way out kind of road, I was able to view everything a second time around on my way back out. The traffic was a bit more on the way out with tour vans and private vehicles exiting as it was getting closer to the noon hour. More hikers, bikers and vehicles were on the scenic road as the temperatures quickly rose as the sun was finally able to reach deep into the canyon.

Arriving back at the visitors parking lot, I was really glad to have completed my tour as the heat was quickly building. Couldn’t imagine what the afternoon would be like in the park. Tons of families with many kids (Mormons perhaps) were just arriving and starting their hike into the park. Personally, I folded the bike back up, put it in the basement storage of the camper having already turned on the generator and a/c. Got inside to a now cool camper, made myself one of those picnic/deli lunches and enjoyed watching a hoard of visitors stream past my camper and into the park. Couldn’t imagine trying to enjoy a hike in the park with temperatures already at 90 degree and rising.

Wow, what an awesome tour. So glad I was able to see this wonderful park again. This time on an E-bike.

Hope your able to have an outdoor adventure as well. It’s good to be able to breath in some fresh air and sunshine.

More photos:

Last week in Kanab

Zion National Park, the Big Adventure