TR: Utah, parks, friends and a few weeks with my wife
Wife and I had a decent year despite the stupid stuff going on. Had several trips, this one this past fall. I had an undetermined amount of time available in front of us, waiting on a commitment from a city utility for a job we were on. At the time, we couldn’t get a start time for their portion of the next stage of work… Anyhow, we knew we had 2, 3, maybe even 5 or 6 weeks available. So we left.
Headed to an open State. We have traveled enough this year to know that hanging around a bunch of people who’s version of reality was different than ours, was not fun. So, no big cities, and limited time in National Parks (tend to draw city folks who’ve been locked up for far too long).
Loaded up the camper and trailer. Stuffed with fish, steaks, produce and water. Took only one motorcycle..her’s had just hit the shop. Headed south via Ontario, eastern Oregon and to the Salt flats. Camping was on the side of the road..or wherever.
Hit an ‘open’ museum in Winnemucca. It was nice to find something not shut down just because. I have a dozen stories about how stupid some of this is, the complete lack of common sense at parks, museums, points of interest. LOL, last summer we were camping outside of Crater Lake in a Sno Park; the bathrooms were shut due to Covid and safety because of cleaning. And then they had sani cans delivered instead. Oh yea, that makes sense…
West of Elko..nice camp spot. How we so often do, take a less traveled road and find something acceptable and park. After darkness fell, we had exactly two vehicles pass by the rest of the night. And the price was right;
Quick drive to the flats. Arrived to find that speed week, the “World Finals” was in progress. We of course bought our ticket and drove out. Who would have thought it was so blindlingly bright? Lol, sunglasses and sun screen under your chin. Watched a couple of 300mph passes while we were there. Spent several hours walking around, getting the wife wedged into a motorcycle rocket…she wasn’t to keen on the seat and confined quarters. Oh well, so much for her speed career.
A relaxed day we had for sure, and then we headed up the hill from the flats and found a gravel pit to park in for the night. Just beautiful, warm, and quiet.
I had noticed that the engine temperature was fluctuating more than normal, so we made the call to head towards a dealer and get the truck looked at. I just couldn’t figure out what was going on. We really weren’t that heavy (26k total) and the outside temps were not high..just didn’t make sense to me. I found a small county campground outside of Grantsville (west of Salt Lake area). We dropped the camper and took the truck in the next day. Left it and toured on the bike.
Saw a museum on the way in and swung back to look. Hours of operation: Friday and Saturday, 11-4, or something similar. Doors were locked. Hmmmm, I thought as I checked my watch, knowing it was Friday. A phone call was made. LOL, guy answers, says “yep, it’s open, I’m just not there. Go to ‘this door’ over there and go on in”. Love this part of our country. Spent a few hours looking around, reading, the entire place to ourselves, and eventually meeting the man in charge and talking. Great place.
Turns out the coolant cap was not holding pressure. Needs to hold 22psi I believe, and ours was down at 12-14. Picked up the truck, paid my $80 bill and headed to the camp site. Which by the way, has quiet hours from 10pm -6am, no genny’s. But, when in Rome.. much to our amusement, the campground filled up completely with locals, every spot filled. This was not a spread out campground, this was 4 circles and parking pads around each one, probably 32 + spots in a 2 acre spot. I’m pretty sure we’re the only ones that didn’t run our genny all night. It was clearly an acceptable practice. Kinda like sleeping at an interstate rest spot..only louder.
Headed south, ended up staying with some new friends in Goshen..that’s a story by itself for sure! Open bar in that neighborhood garage for sure… Rode the bike into Nebo Canyon. Wow, absolutely beautiful.
There is dry camping all over the route. Goes up to about 9000 ft, lots of horse areas, hiking trails and awesome views and colors (fall…great time to travel). We returned the next day and went on a couple of hikes. File the area under a place to return to for further exploration and time to sit.
Headed south towards Zion, as the wife had never been there. A few good camp spots along the way and outside of the park..
And of course, Zion. Beautiful as always and crowded. A couple of hikes on regular trails, and then a “had enough of the crowds, let’s do the ‘3 miles, turn left’ plan”. Works everytime:
We don’t fit through the tunnel, about 2 feet to long or something. So we pulled in each day to the main parking, unloaded the bike and went about out business. It’s a better plan for sure, as parking is never an issue with the bike. The only part that was not bad or good, when it was time to head out, we had to drop south to go around the park (into AZ, then back north). If you were short on time, it would matter.
After coming up through Kanab, we found a great spot right off the hwy at the junction to the east entrance of Zion. Something about it made it really fun. The group next to us perhaps, the view and proximity to the junction and facilities (had a dump there at the gas station too), and the price. BLM and us get along great.
We meandered up to Bryce, where we met up with my BIL and his wife who were coming back from eastern Wyoming. Red Canyon deserved more time. The colors were so vibrant, similar to the drastic effects at Zion. We would have parked and stayed, but had agreed to meet.
Headed to an open State. We have traveled enough this year to know that hanging around a bunch of people who’s version of reality was different than ours, was not fun. So, no big cities, and limited time in National Parks (tend to draw city folks who’ve been locked up for far too long).
Loaded up the camper and trailer. Stuffed with fish, steaks, produce and water. Took only one motorcycle..her’s had just hit the shop. Headed south via Ontario, eastern Oregon and to the Salt flats. Camping was on the side of the road..or wherever.
Hit an ‘open’ museum in Winnemucca. It was nice to find something not shut down just because. I have a dozen stories about how stupid some of this is, the complete lack of common sense at parks, museums, points of interest. LOL, last summer we were camping outside of Crater Lake in a Sno Park; the bathrooms were shut due to Covid and safety because of cleaning. And then they had sani cans delivered instead. Oh yea, that makes sense…
West of Elko..nice camp spot. How we so often do, take a less traveled road and find something acceptable and park. After darkness fell, we had exactly two vehicles pass by the rest of the night. And the price was right;
Quick drive to the flats. Arrived to find that speed week, the “World Finals” was in progress. We of course bought our ticket and drove out. Who would have thought it was so blindlingly bright? Lol, sunglasses and sun screen under your chin. Watched a couple of 300mph passes while we were there. Spent several hours walking around, getting the wife wedged into a motorcycle rocket…she wasn’t to keen on the seat and confined quarters. Oh well, so much for her speed career.
A relaxed day we had for sure, and then we headed up the hill from the flats and found a gravel pit to park in for the night. Just beautiful, warm, and quiet.
I had noticed that the engine temperature was fluctuating more than normal, so we made the call to head towards a dealer and get the truck looked at. I just couldn’t figure out what was going on. We really weren’t that heavy (26k total) and the outside temps were not high..just didn’t make sense to me. I found a small county campground outside of Grantsville (west of Salt Lake area). We dropped the camper and took the truck in the next day. Left it and toured on the bike.
Saw a museum on the way in and swung back to look. Hours of operation: Friday and Saturday, 11-4, or something similar. Doors were locked. Hmmmm, I thought as I checked my watch, knowing it was Friday. A phone call was made. LOL, guy answers, says “yep, it’s open, I’m just not there. Go to ‘this door’ over there and go on in”. Love this part of our country. Spent a few hours looking around, reading, the entire place to ourselves, and eventually meeting the man in charge and talking. Great place.
Turns out the coolant cap was not holding pressure. Needs to hold 22psi I believe, and ours was down at 12-14. Picked up the truck, paid my $80 bill and headed to the camp site. Which by the way, has quiet hours from 10pm -6am, no genny’s. But, when in Rome.. much to our amusement, the campground filled up completely with locals, every spot filled. This was not a spread out campground, this was 4 circles and parking pads around each one, probably 32 + spots in a 2 acre spot. I’m pretty sure we’re the only ones that didn’t run our genny all night. It was clearly an acceptable practice. Kinda like sleeping at an interstate rest spot..only louder.
Headed south, ended up staying with some new friends in Goshen..that’s a story by itself for sure! Open bar in that neighborhood garage for sure… Rode the bike into Nebo Canyon. Wow, absolutely beautiful.
There is dry camping all over the route. Goes up to about 9000 ft, lots of horse areas, hiking trails and awesome views and colors (fall…great time to travel). We returned the next day and went on a couple of hikes. File the area under a place to return to for further exploration and time to sit.
Headed south towards Zion, as the wife had never been there. A few good camp spots along the way and outside of the park..
And of course, Zion. Beautiful as always and crowded. A couple of hikes on regular trails, and then a “had enough of the crowds, let’s do the ‘3 miles, turn left’ plan”. Works everytime:
We don’t fit through the tunnel, about 2 feet to long or something. So we pulled in each day to the main parking, unloaded the bike and went about out business. It’s a better plan for sure, as parking is never an issue with the bike. The only part that was not bad or good, when it was time to head out, we had to drop south to go around the park (into AZ, then back north). If you were short on time, it would matter.
After coming up through Kanab, we found a great spot right off the hwy at the junction to the east entrance of Zion. Something about it made it really fun. The group next to us perhaps, the view and proximity to the junction and facilities (had a dump there at the gas station too), and the price. BLM and us get along great.
We meandered up to Bryce, where we met up with my BIL and his wife who were coming back from eastern Wyoming. Red Canyon deserved more time. The colors were so vibrant, similar to the drastic effects at Zion. We would have parked and stayed, but had agreed to meet.
