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First Time Seeing the Hole in the Rock

Last year when we were touring Monument Valley, we stopped at the Fort Bluff visitors center and learned about the Hole in the Rock.  Essentially, a group of Mormon pioneers were sent to colonize a new area of Utah and because of terrain and hostile natives ended up traveling through an enlarged crevasse in a rock wall.  This was a big deal for a couple of reasons.  First they had to use dynamite to enlarge the hole and second they had to lower their covered wagons down a steep slope to get through the hole.  Still doesn’t sound like that big of a deal?  Check this picture out.

 

Fort Bluff visitors center is a recreation of the little community the pioneers settled in and every cabin has actual heirlooms provided by their ancestors.  When we were touring the cabins we discovered a Perkins cabin.  Turns out the dynamite work on the hole was done by the Perkins’ brothers from Wales.  The leader of the group met them while doing mission work in the mines of Wales and talked them into the expedition.  Since some of Lee’s family is from that area, we were really interested in the connection and it made the story even more interesting.

 

View of the hole from the water (south) side.

 

Memorial to all the settlers

 

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Unfortunately the only way to see the hole from the south is by boat, so we made a vow to see it from the north when we returned to Utah.  When we were exploring Utah we ran across another small museum/visitors center and learned more about the expedition.

This map shows Bluff to the south and Escalante to the north. The road to Hole in the Rock is 57 miles and requires 4WD for the last 7 miles.

The visitors center had numerous stories, but this picture shows my favorite. The very last wagon was the caravan leader and through an over site he was the only man left at the top with his wagon. His wife put her babies on a blanket and helped her husband start to lower it down. Seriously badass.

After those two visitor center we knew this was a Must-Do on our list but we weren’t really sure how to accomplish it without a four wheel drive vehicle.  Luckily Cori, who had initially recommended Fort Bluff to us, was also captivated by the story and she wanted to go.  Since the Chinook has 4WD capability it was an easy decision and the four of us planned a day trip.  One of the best parts of traveling in the Chinook is that the dogs can come as well, and because it was a really long day we brought Jack along.

Jack was excited for an adventure

Lee giving Jack a biscuit

Hobie wants some Lee time.

And Jack wanted to help Greg drive.

One thing I should mention about this road is it is long and dusty.  I mean keep your windows rolled up dusty.  It also has numerous attractions along the route, BUT you need to be very careful about what you do along the way if you want to make it to the end before dark. It simply cannot all be done in one day.  We chose to drive to the end and then stop on the way back, but I am going to show you the stops as they occur from Route 12. In the first ten miles there are several turnoffs and two of those go to slot canyons.   Before going on any side roads I would absolutely do your research and make sure that the canyons themselves are passable.

In contrast Devils Garden at MM 13 is right off the road and easily accessible.  It is also a gem of a place with fantastic rock formation and easy to walk short trails.  There is so much packed into this one tiny area, it is an absolute must see and best of all no 4WD is required as it is relatively close to Route 12. It’s also dog friendly and we let our dogs explore off leash.

Lee’s pic

Lee’s pic

The dogs got so sandy they blended in, but it was worth it as they had a great time.

It even had a small natural bridge

From left: Greg, Cori, me, and Lee

I took this one. It was my favorite of mine of the day.

After Devils Garden there are two VERY cool slot canyons.  Spooky and Peek-a-Boo are both really great but we didn’t have time to do those and hole in the wall.  Next time we will definitely do those and Devils Garden again and the great thing is that is all 2WD accessible.  One thing I should mention is Spooky and Peek-A-Boo are both tight and require some climbing.  They are only recommended for those who are physically fit and should not be undertaken lightly.

After the slot canyons, it is a long 15 miles to Dance Hall Rock historic site.  The pioneers used this natural amphitheater for celebrations and although it doesn’t look like much from the road it is definitely worth the short walk to see it up close.  This area also has a pit toilet, which was the only one I saw on the entire route.

Jack for some perspective. It is a huge area.

These water holes were really neat

There are places we visit where you can feel the weight of history and this was one of those for me. As I placed my hand on the wall, I was fully aware that it was likely a pioneer had done the same over 100 years ago.

Fair warning, after MM 40 the road gets much rougher.  There are switchbacks and hills and sections of slip rock.  Personally I wouldn’t go any farther than Dance Hall Rock without 4WD, but of course it is your call.  At MM 41.5 there is a Boy Scout memorial dedicated to 10 troop members who died in an automobile accident on one of the switchbacks.

These cute signs are all along the road showing you are following the original pioneers path.

You can see that the road was cut through the sliprock. The pioneers had to bring their wagons over it without a road.

The boy scout memorial.

 

Around MM 50 we came upon a plaque on a large rock.  This is the place they recommend you stop without 4WD and gotta say I don’t see the point of going this far if you aren’t going to complete it.  The plaque was pretty lame and ultimately confusing, because this was NOT the spot the pioneers traveled.  Again, without 4WD I would stop at the Dance Hall and turn around.  It’s also worth mentioning that the last 7 miles took 1 hour and 15 minutes to traverse.  As rough as the road could be prior to that, it definitely requires 4WD.  We actually saw lots of ATV’s in that area and that seems like a great way to travel.

We didn’t see any arch.

Thankfully when we finally arrived at the end it was clearly marked and it was everything we had hoped.  The idea that people traveled through this was was amazing to all of us and we just stood their with our mouths open.  The tunnel was blocked a few years after it was opened by a landslide, but it can be traversed by climbing.  Lee and I were both really tempted but when he saw a 10 years old huffing and puffing he decided it was probably best not to try.  If you have time though we were told it was really great.  You can see rings in the walls they used to hold the wagons and you can go all the way down to the water. I wouldn’t mind going back to just do that and I absolutely am going back to do some of the slot canyons.

The end of the road.

You walk up to the opening

To the left is this plaque

And straight ahead this is what you see,

The “path” is blocked by boulders, but we were comfortable with climbing down a little.

With the long lens.

Jack was really brave. I was nervous but he was more sure footed than I was.

 

Lee couldn’t go down so he went up

 

All four of us really felt it was worth it, but honestly you really have to want this.  The last 7 miles is really rough and the entire trip (with stops at Devils Garden, Dance Hall,m and Hole in the rock) took us 8 hours and 20 minutes round trip.  What made it worth it to us was that is was both historically significant and beautiful.  We also realized how special the day was because many people would never get to experience it.  It is highly unlikely that anyone on vacation would take a day to do this and we are always grateful for sites that we know we would never have seen in our old lives.   One last though I would like to share.  This route was hard for us and I can’t even imagine how the pioneers did it.  A six week journey turned into six months but ultimately they made it through.  I think it is worth noting that it is unlikely it would have been accomplished if it wasn’t for the Mormon religion.  The entire state of Utah is full of pioneer settlements that started in the most inhospitable places.

 

If you are still interested, Lee found a couple of YouTube videos about the journey.  They are old but interesting if you want to check them out.

 

 

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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Jack Turns One

In the middle of our Utah travels, I realized that Jack had turned one.  I wanted to take a moment to write a blog about that and talk about the impact he has had on our lives.  It’s been 7 months now, and things have definitely been different.   I would say that I was surprised by how much of an impact he has made.  Emotionally our lives feel fuller with a dog.  He is a lovely little guy with a great personality and has brought me lots of pure joy.  He lifts my spirits, is a great snuggler, and has lots of energy, which has encouraged me to get out and walk more.  I also really like taking pictures of him and am already planning on next years calendar being Jack-centric!

He has also required some lifestyle adjustment.  We haven’t had to completely turn our lives upside down by any means, but many things we used to take for granted now require some additional thought.  Cori and Greg have been great resources for us since we like the way Hobie handles the full time life.  Here are some examples of changes we have made.

  • Travel Days –  Probably the biggest change has been travel days.  Complicated already, with the puppy things were initially much worse.  He wouldn’t go to the bathroom, he had lots of general anxiety, and riding in the truck was difficult.  Thankfully he has acclimated and now manages travel days with barely a pause.  We have a car bed that he lays in on top of our center console and Lee removed his tool box from the back so he could build a platform for him like Deb and Steve have for Hurley. He finally is going to the bathroom in some places on travel days, and even goes prior to us getting in the truck now.  The worst part for him is probably the hitching process, so I generally take him for a final walk while Lee is doing that so he is away from the noise.
  • Day trips – We used to jump in the truck and be gone for hours but now we need to think about how hot it will be, and how long he will be in the car alone.  If we decide to leave him alone in the rig we need to make sure it won’t get too hot in the rig and how long can he go without needing to go to the bathroom.  From the beginning we have both left him and taken him in the truck and gradually built up the amount of hours in each situation. We also used a crate in the beginning although once I got comfortable I let him have the front of the coach and now we let him have the entire coach.  I really think that is the right approach and it paid off when we recently had a training class for our new jobs and unexpectedly were gone for 12 hours.  He didn’t pee in the RV and also didn’t appear traumatized which was a good thing, although those 12 hour days should be few and far between.
  • Work Days – One of the best parts of working is most of the jobs are pet friendly.  We did run into an issue however when we were looking at pipeline jobs because we would have been away from our rig for 12 hours a day every day.  Ultimately we decided to not take those jobs and stuck with traditional gate guarding from our rig, but that brought its own challenges.  Initially with the truck traffic we were very concerned about Jack slipping out through the door.  Over time he became used to the trucks but constant vigilance was always required.  In our camphosting jobs we have more flexibility, but we have realized that Jack’s manners are a little lacking.  We just signed him up for a 5 week dog training course to help with that.
  • Dog Food and Treats – This is kind of a weird one; not every store carries every dog food.  Despite picking common brands we actually had to order dog food from Amazon once already, and availability is a big factor in my selection of his adult food.  It’s important that his food stays consistent so this is one more thing to worry about.  It’s also been tough to feed him on travel days.  We have a water carrier for the truck but no great way to feed him, so he usually eats at night.  We love our dog dish for travel days but water and food do need removed and then replaced at the beginning and end of each day.
  • Sleeping – Another major change for us has been him sleeping with us.  This was a conscious choice on our part, and one you certainly don’t have to make.  Since our bed is a Queen it’s pretty crowded in the bed, but he has found a spot at the foot, between our feet.  Initially he wanted to be higher up, but his furry self was playing havoc with my hot flashes, so this position works better.  He has woke us up a few times in the middle of the night for bathroom breaks, but as long as I take him out right before bed it’s not too bad.  This is probably Lee’s biggest complaint.  He loves snuggling with him but hates being woken up by him in the middle of the night, which is fair.  Unfortunately you can’t have one without the other.

Overall, despite the adjustments, I am very happy with the decision. I am particularly happy that we bought a five month old dog, because I really think we skipped the worst of the potty training.  Because he is fixed and micro chipped we also have had minimal vet bills and have mostly been doing our own grooming  I think Lee would be fine without a dog, but he has been really helpful with walks, training, grooming etc.  As I mentioned we are taking advantage of being in the same place all summer to get him some additional training, and I am hoping to take him on some more hikes.  He loves being off leash, but I need to be more careful about that since we are in a National forest with large predators.  Ultimately I would love a dog that was comfortable on or off leash so will continue to work on both.  Best of all he is incredibly happy and photogenic, so to celebrate his birthday I want to share some of my favorite Jack pictures.  Seriously, how can you look at that face and not love him?  I know that I do!

The day we picked him up.

 

Getting used to everything

 

Hanging out with his buddy Hobie

 

Gate Guarding Dog!

 

Jack’s first Christmas

 

Zoomies

 

Happy boy

 

Facing down the cows

 

Seriously how cute am I??

 

Who is going to win?

 

Hanging out with my best buddy.

 

Playing in the dog park.

 

I’m smarter than the average puppy!!

 

Lone Rock Beach is Jack’s favorite place

 

Enjoying our first hike.

 

Playing with my friend Hurley.

 

 

Love this picture Deb took!

 

Lee giving Jack a biscuit.  

 

Lee took this picture!  There’s definitely some love in it.

 

Campground Dog!!

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.

 

 

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A Day Off And How I Keep Up With The Posts

I wanted to take a moment and write about how I keep up with posts when we are traveling.  As you may have noticed, these posts are in the past, and currently as I write this we are in Oregon.  As a general rule I much prefer writing in the moment and find the posts lose something if too much time passes between the events and when they are written.  When we first started out this used to drive me absolutely crazy and I put tons of pressure on myself to post in a timely manner.  Lee hated the self imposed schedule and we had some conflict over how I was using my time.

Later though, as the blog became more ingrained in our life, he understood my need to write about events.  The balance has always been to make sure I didn’t miss out on living my life so that I could write about it.  While we are working, this has rarely been an issue because we are in one place and have solid internet connections.  When we are traveling it is more problematic and it’s not always possible to write about things as they occur.  To be fair it’s not the writing that is so time consuming, but the pictures.  We easily take 300 plus pictures on a hiking day and every one needs to be looked at.  Once I select the “winners” those need to be fine tuned, sized, and uploaded.  That process can easily take a couple of hours and must be done before the first word is written.  In the cases where Lee takes pictures also he needs time to look at his and see if he wants any added.

Posts with videos are even worse because videos need to be cut, scored with music, and uploaded.  Every video, no matter how short, takes Lee at least 2 hours and generally much more.  So really there is no way to do stuff and process the media from it every day without getting up super early in the mornings.  In the beginning I used to do that, but not anymore.  I do take a chunk of my “day off” and write though because it is an opportunity to get caught up.  Physically I am getting the rest I need and it’s fun to look at the pictures.  Lee rarely wants to spend his days off on those activities though, instead preferring to work on pictures and videos early in the morning.

In order to make all this work I have learned I absolutely need to do two things same day.  First and foremost is to take notes of the experience.  My memory is not as good as it used to be and certainly not when many days have passed.  I use the note feature on my phone and capture thoughts as they occur.  I don’t always use those notes, but I have them in case I want to add them. More than anything it helps me feel I am not missing anything which in turn makes me feel OK about waiting to write about it.  The second thing I have to do is put the pictures in the computer.  Let’s face it, geography can all start to look the same in certain areas and sometimes I have no idea which “red rock” picture belongs to which post.  This is even more important for the posts where the pictures are the star and I use them to tell the story.  Lee and I have worked really hard to find a compromise in this area and now we have one folder for his pictures and a second one for mine.  In general I tend to use my pictures to tell the basic story and use his to add additional beauty to the post.  Not every post I write has pictures from Lee but the most beautiful places almost always do.

You may or may not be interested in all of that, but I thought some of you might find it helpful.  Even if you don’t write a blog I would recommend having a good way to organize your pictures, because I can’t tell you how many times I have had to go back and find a picture of something.  Having them in folders by date makes this MUCH easier, and having them grouped by event even more so.

That’s not all I did on the day off though, I also walked around a bit with Jack and took some more pictures in our boondocking spot.  It was a beautiful day, and for once the wind wasn’t that bad.  We also got together as a group and ran two air fryers and enjoyed some chicken wings with multiple sauces.  Huge fan of the air fryer for making chicken wings, and we all had a nice, relaxed day.  We were also saying goodbye to Steve and Deb who were heading out to their next spot, so it was great to just be able to hang out.

Then we went outside and walked around a bit.  Nice view 🙂

 

Jack was sniffing everything.

 

Our Site

 

Steve and Deb’s

 

Lee and Cori were in charge of making wings

 

Most of them we dredged in potato starch then fried.  After they cooked Cori tossed them with sauce.

 

This has been really hard to find while traveling but Lee found five bags at the little country store nearby. Crazy and tasted really good.

 

Munching on wings

 

And a nice fire in the evening!

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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First Time Hiking Calf Creek Falls Trail

When we were exploring Highway 12 we learned about a hike called Calf Creek Falls.  It was a six mile roundtrip hike with 126 feet high waterfall at the end.  As much as I love waterfalls I am generally cautious of hikes that are that long, especially those that involve waterfalls because there is usually elevation change.  Coming off our successful 850 yard elevation hike in Bryce and our successful 10 mile hike in Goblin Valley, I thought how bad could it be.  We scheduled a day to complete it.  Greg decided to take the day off though so the five of us went in two cars.

The campground where the trail head is, is pretty cool.  Only RV’s less than 25 feet can stay there though, so completely out for us. I tried to talk Cori into camping their in the Chinook though, but there is unfortunately no cell coverage at all in the canyon.

You can see the campground from Route 12

It’s nestled right at the base of the most beautiful red rocks

It costs $5 to park and then you hit the trail

According the the research this was a moderate hike with 250 foot elevation change.  The problem was the elevation change was net and in actually there was much more climbing than that.  I knew better, having learned from Nancy and Bill that elevation changes can be deceiving and as we walked up and then down and up again along the trail I knew I should have done more research.  It was also much hotter than we expected down in the canyon.  It was 20 degrees cooler in Torrey than at Calf’s Creek and despite stripping off layers we were all over dressed.  Lastly, despite being marked as a moderate hike the terrain was difficult.  It was either pretty rocky, requiring careful footing or worse sandy which none of us like.  Walking on sandy trails takes a ton more effort especially on a hot day.

We started at ground level.

Then headed up and then back down multiple times.

The trail was clearly marked except in this rocky section. We weren’t the only ones to go the wrong way and we had trouble both going out and coming back.

as you can see we climbed quite a bit above ground level and I was really wishing for a straight trail along the base of the cliffs by the end.

As hard as the trail was, and I do consider it hard, the sites along the way were beautiful, plus there was a nice guide pamphlet with marked places along the way.  I really like when we are on trails with markers and this one was clearly marked.

These are Gambel Oaks which I found interesting.

The dark vertical lines on the walls result from living organisms. The black lines are caused by humid conditions and the orange are caused by arid conditions which help scientists know what the weather was like. Fascinating.

The very best stop was at a cliff wall with three huge painted figures. They didn’t look huge because they were far away but they must have been life sized. We never would have seen those without the signpost to point them out.

They are in the upper left.

 

What they look like from the pamphlet.

The landmarks had the added benefit of helping us know how far we had to go because several of us were struggling.  For some reason this hike was much worse than any of the ones we had done prior and Cori and I in particular were struggling.  Finally we made our last descent into the valley though and that helped.  It was cooler for one thing, and there was a pretty stream running beside us.

Largish pond

I loved the horsetail all along the path. Really cool. We learned that pioneers used to use it to scrub pots and pans.

Deb was fascinated by the different kinds of trout in the streams. She saw three of the four different kinds in the area.

Finally we saw the waterfall and it was a beauty.  There were a ton of people down near it, but it was relatively easy to get good pictures.  The water was REALLY cold and my plans to soak my feet were abandoned although lots of the younger kids got in.

The four boys on the left stripped down and jumped in for about 1 minute before running out. Like I said cold!

Despite the people we got some nice pics

Deb, Cori and I. Gotta say I feel a little frumpy standing next to them 🙂

Overall, I liked the waterfall and was glad I got to see it, but to be honest I wouldn’t want to hike this again.  Going out was worse than coming in and with full afternoon sun in sections was even hotter. I felt like a whiner though when once again I saw young people carrying babies on their backs.  I can’t even imagine doing that as a young person and good for them.  We took lots of extra breaks on the way out just to make it and it was a struggle.   We were all relieved when the parking lot was sited and on the way home I told Lee I absolutely needed a day off.  We had been doing something every single day and it finally caught up to me, so I was taking a day off.  We both learned something from last years pace and Lee agreed.  That was nice.

Hiking with a baby!

At one of our many breaks Deb showed me this lizard, but when she let it go it jumped onto my breast and then jumped off of me. I screamed REALLY loud. Scared the crap out of me.

Lots of full sun on the way out.

On the way home we were able to get a clear picture of the valley from Route 12. Absolutely gorgeous.

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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First Time on Burr Trail Switchbacks

We could have stayed much longer near Goblin Valley, but not having internet for more than four days was a challenge for all of us.  After taking a look at the weather, we decided to head back to the boondocking spot in Torrey in the hopes that it would be clear. We knew it would be windier and colder there, but it was also the perfect jumping off point to explore Capitol Reef and Route 12.  We had a long list of things we wanted to do in the area, and were looking forward to being able to explore with Deb and Steve.  Thankfully the spots were open ,and we were able to all fit in, but unfortunately it was cold and overcast.  Since it didn’t look like the weather would improve all day on Tuesday we decided to take one of the scenic drives.   Cori and Greg volunteered to take us all in their Chinook, so we set out for Burr Trail Road which we knew would ultimately lead us to Anasazi State Park in Boulder.

Going in Style in the Chinook

 

Deb and Steve on one side

 

And Lee and I on the other. It was nice not to have to drive for a change!

 

Greg did all the hard work, with Hobie as his copilot!

 

Initially the views were a little bland

 

Although we did come across this really cool small town war memorial

When the pavement ended the scenery got much better

 

Lots of different colored rock formations.

 

And gorgeous fields of flowers

 

Greg was an awesome tour bus driver. Anytime we wanted to get out we just told him and we took some pictures.

 

Eventually we hit some construction which led up into the switchbacks.

 

We had read about these but nothing did them justice. Super cool drive and there were so many of them. Amazing.

 

 

After the switchbacks there were some beautiful rock formations

Finally, and it took a while, we just ended up on the backside of Boulder. We were all starving so we checked out the restaurants in town.

 

For a small town they had surprisingly good menus although they were pricey and somewhat limited. We ultimately chose Burr Trail Grill.

 

My pulled pork sandwich was so so.

 

But they had beautiful pies in the desert case. We ordered this piece for $7.

 

And Lee had his very first piece of pie post heart attack. As you can see it was a good piece of pie and he was happy.

(Speaking of Lee, I should probably take a moment and give you an update.  By this point he had completely stopped smoking and lost about 17 pounds.  I had completely quit as well, but had put on some weight in the process.  We were both looking forward to some hiking to help with the cravings.   The Chantix was still working well with minimal side effects, although I still get nauseous from it.)  Anyway, after eating lunch we headed over to the small state park which only cost $5 to get in.  It was a small site where ancient Pueblans used to be, and although the museum wasn’t anything special it was reasonably priced, and a good rainy day activity. Thankfully the rain had held off until we got there, but it was starting to drizzle.

This was a cool display it showed how they made jugs from ropes of clay

This was a really great display as it showed the four different tribes of pueblans in the area. They lived in different types of homes.

 

I also liked this which showed artifacts found in the area at different times.

 

The actual area itself was very small, especially compared to other places we have been, plus it was cold and raining so we didn’t spend much time there.

The gift shop was very nice and had this beautiful display of Navajo rugs.

After the state park we headed back to Torrey and unfortunately Greg had to drive us over the mountain to get there.  It was snowing on our drive through the mountains between Boulder and Torrey which made a long drive day even longer.  He was a trooper though, and we all really appreciated him driving us.  The next day we were all headed to Calf’s Creek  for a 6 mile hike to a waterfall.  Lots to do in the area!

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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First Time Hiking Little Wild Horse Canyon

Every time we are with Deb we end up doing a hike that we normally wouldn’t try.  This time since it was Deb’s birthday we decided to hike two canyons near Goblin Valley State Park.  We all love slot canyons and the only way we learned about this one was when we went into the visitors center and saw T-Shirts for it.  Turns out there was a slot canyon nearby and a second canyon as well.  The only downside was there was a 1-1/2 mile stretch of dirt ATV road between them so to do both it was a 10 mile hike.   Most of us hadn’t hiked that far before, but we were all game to try it and headed out pretty early on Sunday morning. the starting point was the parking area at the bottom of the map, and the dirt ATV road was the section of black dots between the two arrows at the top of the map. The two canyon hikes are the red dots on either side.

The map sign shows the loop we were planning on making.

 

The entrance was a dry creek bed

 

With really pretty rock formations

 

Gorgeous colors

 

And there were a couple of really cool, old trees that I just loved.

 

Deb chose to do Wild Horse Canyon first and in retrospect we are glad we did it that way.  Turns out there would have been more uphill if we would have done Bell Canyon first so I am glad we did it.  Also if you don’t feel up to the full 10 miles you can hike Wild Horse up and back.  That canyon is pretty special and well worth just hiking that if you don’t want to do the whole thing.

Pretty quickly we got into the slot portion of the canyon and it was spectacular,

 

It was really good being with a group because we could help each other over the rougher sections.

 

The farther we went the tighter it got, but claustrophobia didn’t bother me at all.  The ceiling was clear, which really helped and I loved the challenge of scrambling over the rocks.  It was also almost completely flat, which made a world of difference to me.  I can hike pretty far as long as there is no incline, and really enjoyed myself.

I used my foot so you can see how narrow it was in some places!

 

 

There was also some beautiful rock formations along the way.  That is what I like so much about canyons is the water has carved great shapes into the rocks.

Some really cool marks in the stones

 

Fossilized wood in a hole in the rock.

 

Loved the multiple layers of rocks

 

We took absolutely amazing pictures, but I did want to mention one thing.  I have seen canyon pictures that are all warm and glowing and as cool as the canyon was it did NOT look like that.  I could get that effect by selecting Vivid Warm on my Iphone and took several pictures with that setting because they look so cool.  I am going to show those here, but please keep in mind the rocks just weren’t that color.  Didn’t matter to me though because of the shape of them.

Picture as it was

 

Picture with Vivid Warm filter

I took so many pictures, but here some of my favorites from the canyon.

Lee had to turn sideways a bit to get his pack through. We all wore hydration packs and were glad of the extra water.

 

We reached the end of the canyon and decided to stop for lunch.

After lunch we headed over to Bell Canyon.  This canyon had less slot features and I found the trail much harder.  The worst part though was walking 1-1/2 miles in full sun, mostly uphill, on a road to get to it. There was a slight incline and we all were struggling with it, although the canyon itself was also nice.  If I had to choose just one though, definitely Wild Horse canyon but we all felt great about meeting the challenge of hiking both.

This one had more climbing and maybe because we were getting tired it seemed harder.

 

Thank heavens for this sign or we would have kept going.

There actually were a couple of cars on the road which was surprising

 

This particular section was the worst as we all slipped down it a bit.

 

Here are some of Lee’s favorite pictures from what he took, and of course there’s a video!!!

From Left in front : Tracy, Lee, Cori. From Left back row: Deb, Steve, and Greg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was an amazing day but we were all really glad to finally see the parking lot and be done.  It was the perfect way to celebrate Deb’s birthday and I know it is a memory we will all treasure.

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.

 

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Boondocking Outside of Goblin Valley

We had so much fun at Goblin Valley that we definitely didn’t want to leave the area, but we also knew we wouldn’t be able to extend our stay in the campground.  Thankfully Lee learned that there are VAST amounts of BLM land surrounding the State park and we could boondock anywhere we wanted.  We also learned there was a long hike in a canyon close by, which seemed like the perfect thing to do for Deb’s birthday.  Over the years we have been really lucky to celebrate birthdays with our friends and although we rarely plan to be together during those times, it often turns out we are.  It’s pretty easy to make a birthday special on the road.  Cook a nice meal and plan an excursion that works with your friend’s interests.  In Deb’s case that is definitely hiking and the Wild Horse Canyon hike seemed perfect.

First we had to find a place and that turned out to be a little more challenging than expected.  Yes, there are tons and tons of spots in the area, but there were also a surprising number of people boondocking.  We also needed a spot that was big enough for three rigs, and relatively flat, which was a little more challenging.  Ultimately we just started driving down the road out of Goblin Valley and turned left at the first dirt route after the sign that tells you you have left the state park.  Once we were on that road we kept going until we found a spot that would work for us.  In retrospect after exploring the area, I would actually recommend going father on the paved road rather than turning off on the first dirt road. But that’s personal preference, it’s pretty wide open and there are lots of places to go.

Right outside of the state Park boundaries we turned down a dirt road

 

Little conference when Lee’s preferred spot was already full

 

We thought this spot might work.  GPS coordinates 38.567311,-110.748183

 

Nice!!

 

We set up our chairs and enjoyed some warm temps.

 

And Jack enjoyed this dog rug Steve and Deb bought him

 

After a while the dogs took advantage of this shady spot.

After a while Lee got bored and went exploring and found a fantastic hollow back in the rocks.  It was perfect for a campfire at night and we all took our chairs and our portable fire pit up there.  It provided some nice wind break in the evenings and was a really cool vibe.

Lee walking up to the cave.

 

How cool is that!

Goblin Valley is one of the darkest places in the US. I stink at taking night photos but managed to get this shot through the cave opening.

We knew we were staying Saturday and Sunday and weren’t sure which day to do the hike.  Ultimately we decided Sunday would be the best day based on weather, so I took Saturday to make a pot roast dinner for Deb.  Because we were boondocking and I was using the Instant Pot I needed to stay with the rig, so we all took a day to chill and folks did their own thing until dinner time.  What I have found while boondocking is I have to run the generator until the Instant Pot comes to pressure.  Once it starts counting down I turn off the generator and run the rest on our batteries, because while the Instant Pot is a high wattage device, once it’s at pressure it doesn’t use the high wattage continuously, it cycles on and off, so it doesn’t completely kill the batteries. Plus with all that fabulous Utah sun we were making more power than we were using!  Thankfully the pot roast was a big hit and I even had some Ghirardelli brownie mix for desert.  Steve found a candle and we sang Happy birthday to Deb for her birthday under the big sky.  Doesn’t get much better than that!

Lee spent some time offering tech support in our RV. The lack of internet made it a little difficult.

 

Deb, Cori, and Steve have Verizon so they took a short ride up a hill to get signal and check in. No ATT to be found anywhere so we didn’t bother.

 

Steve gave us this door grill from his RV which he couldn’t use because he got new stairs. It was perfect for us because we need to stop Jack from scratching the screen.

 

Functional and looks great. So sweet of Steve to think of us!

 

Yummy brownie sundaes with low-fat syrup and ice cream provided by Cori. The brownies were all fat though but DEE-licious!

 

Nice view!

 

And another fire as a perfect end to a birthday celebration!

 

 

 

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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First Time Hiking in Goblin Valley

A few things you should know about Goblin Valley before I show you the pictures.  First, the  “Goblins” are actually hoodoos, they are just called something different by the locals.  Second, this whole valley was near an ancient sea which may account why there are so many of them in a concentrated area.  Third, you simply cannot take a bad picture here.  It was amazing and other wordly.

Did I mention part of the 1999 movie Galaxy Quest was filmed here, because it looks like an alien planet? (It’s actually surprising that more movies haven’t been filmed here, considering the unique look. Prior to the film, access to the park from the nearest highway was a dirt road. The fees the production paid for filming at the park paid for paving the entire access road. If you’ve never seen the film, it’s really a lot of fun, especially if you grew up in the 60’s or 70’s, or are a Sci-Fi fan. Useless trivia; it was the film debut for Rainn Wilson of The Office, and Justin Long, of the “I’m a Mac/I’m a PC commercials. – Lee) Here’s a quick edit that Lee did of the best shots from the movie that were filmed in the same valley that we walked in –

Lastly, it’s not so much a hike as a “wander”.  There are no set trails, and you can get up close and personal with the goblins.  We loved it, the dogs loved it, and kids would love it.  It’s a special place and I highly recommend visiting, despite it’s remote location.

View from the parking lot

As you walk down into the first valley (there are actually three) there is so much to see

 

Lee’s pic

Initially we kept the dogs on leashes but when we got further back we just let them go.

 

And they had a blast

 

 

Even Hobie got into the action

 

We had fun too especially with the rocks that looked like other things. Like this shark.

 

A frog

Brontosauraus

 

And a turtle.

 

And whatever this was!  A duck with an Adam’s apple??

Lee saw this spooky one

Creepy …looks like a guy is stuck in the rocks.

 

I was super jealous of how Deb got Hurley to pose for her. Jack was way too excited.

This was the best we could do.  He didn’t want to sit he just wanted to run and run.

 

Thankfully Deb captured this shot of Jack which is one of my favorite pictures ever.

 

So we just focused on people shots.

The best part was probably when we climbed the hill and entered the second valley and had it all to ourselves.  We just had to be careful to keep an eye on landmarks to find our way back out, because you can’t climb out just anywhere.

Climbing into the next valley

 

Hobie was ready to explore!! He had more energy than I have seen in a long time.

Lee’s pic

 

We used this huge white and red rock as a landmark to find our way back out.

 

Lee loved exploring all the little caves and Hurley was right there with him.

 

I just loved wandering and looking at all the rock formations.

 

Jack and Hobie stayed right with me when I wandered and it was a great off leash lesson for Jack.

 

Probably the funnest part of the day was when Deb decided to climb up on a Hoodoo.  She picked a tall one which was crazy and none of the rest of us was willing to do, but we were more than willing to pose on the little tiny ones.

Deb being super brave.

 

Met not so much

 

Cori

 

Greg

 

Steve

 

Even Lee got into the act, It was that kind of place!

We all had a wonderful time, but it was more tiring than I thought.  In the afternoon the group went on a rim hike but Greg and I bowed out.  I still think the hike along the bottom was the best but I am glad they got to do two hikes.

(Added bonus for those who made it all the way to the end, the entire unedited scene from Galaxy Quest that was shot in Goblin Valley. – Lee) 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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Driving to Goblin Valley

We spent our couple of days in Torrey fighting the wind and exploring the other half of Route 12.  As windy and cold as it was where we were, we felt lucky that we weren’t farther east.  We looked around for other boondocking spots that might be better, but the weather was pretty bad everywhere, and ultimately decided to just stay where we were.  Thankfully on Thursday it was time to move on to Goblin Valley and we were hoping the lower elevation would bring higher temperatures.

We rarely make campground reservations in advance, but occasionally there are parks where you have to.  Deb had visited Goblin Valley State Park 20 years before with her kids and she was anxious to return.  I had never even heard of it, but was game and she, Cori, and I all got online right when the campsites opened several months ago and snagged three spots.  We knew there wouldn’t be any cell coverage in that remote area, so Steve had taken some vacation days.  Goblin Valley isn’t really close to anything else, so again we had to plan our route.  We ended up going Route 24 right through Capitol Reef which was an absolutely beautiful drive.  Generally I don’t like to blow through national parks, but since our plan was to return and spend more time there, I just sat back and enjoyed the drive.  It was spectacular.

 

During the drive we did run into a couple of 8 percent grades, but nothing we couldn’t handle, and once we left the national park the landscape flattened out quite a bit.  We saw lots of farmland with the occasional stunning outcropping of rock.

Utah is full of remote spaces, but Goblin Valley is on a whole other level.  The closest town was Hanksville, which was 32 miles away, and we stopped to gas up and buy some ice.   What was great about the stop was we got to see a gas station built into the side of a rock and I really loved it. It’s not only super cool, but they had a great selection and the restrooms were very clean.

If you go here grab some popcorn that they make fresh daily. Yummy!

 

When you walk back to the restrooms you go through rock. Fantastic.

 

They just dry walled around the rock and left some of it bare.

Once we stocked up we headed towards the park and eventually made it.  Despite it’s remote location, the park is not cheap, costing $30 to camp (no hookups) and $15 for a day use fee. There is a reason for this though, because the goblins are pretty unique rock formations and the campground is really close to them.  We checked in, and made our way to our spot excited to see what the park had to offer.

Long, lonesome road to get there.

 

The campground is pretty small, which is part of the reason it is hard to get into.

 

It does have a dump station and nice restrooms.

 

And every site has a great pavilion which was nice.

 

And the views were pretty spectacular.

 

The sites closest to the rocks were all tent sites and despite the chilly temps were all full.

 

Jack liked it because more sand and the center section was big enough for him to run around in.

Eventually we all arrived, including Steve and Deb who had a much longer drive from Bryce.  While we were waiting Lee took the truck and drove outside of the park checking out the boondocking opportunities.  After dinner, we called it an early night, excited about going on a hike the next day.  We only had two nights inside the park and definitely wanted to make the most of it.

Gorgeous sunsets.

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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Driving to Torrey

After an amazing weekend with Deb and Steve we had two choices.  We could either stay in Bryce with Deb and Steve, or head to Torrey and meet up with Cori and Greg. Ultimately we were all ending up in goblin Valley, but since Cori and Steve are still working they couldn’t travel until later in the week.  We weren’t sure what we wanted to do, so we checked the weather.  It’s pretty common that all things being equal, weather is a big factor in our travel plans, and this was no different.  A huge storm was due on Tuesday (it was the storm that blanketed the entire midwest) and high winds and snow were forecasted for Bryce.  Torrey on the other hand was at lower elevation and was only supposed to get high winds.  Fair enough.  Off to Torrey with Steve and Deb following behind in a few days.

First we had to figure out how to get there which required some research.  Utah more than any other place we have been (except maybe Alaska) requires some research on which roads to travel.  There aren’t many interstates, and many of the smaller roads have significant grades.  I also like whenever possible to travel on roads we have never been on and carry a marked up Atlas Map in the truck so I can see where we have been.  Every year is a different color and it’s always exciting to me when I get to fill in a new section. After looking at the map we had three major choices.

 

Since we had already established that we didn’t want to go on Route 12, we decided to take Route 89 to Route 62 to Route 24 instead.  Even though it was a longer route it took less time, and when I checked our Mountain Directory I didn’t see any bad grades.  Speaking of which, we use the Mountain Directory guide to research whenever we are on road where we are concerned about the grades.  It was written by a truck driver who also RV’s.  That information has consistently been helpful to us when deciding whether we can handle a road, and although it is not cheap it has absolutely been worth it. Lee was happy with the roads and I was happy that it was a road we had never been on and a scenic drive. Win-Win.

Before we even got started, we had a bit of excitement.  Because the dump station at Bryce wasn’t open yet we had to stop and dump and chose a place right outside of the park.  We also filled up on propane, because we had gone through quite a bit and in the middle of all the excitement Jack threw up in the truck.  He’s been much better about this, rarely throwing up when we travel, but today he did and it all landed on my hiking hat.  That was much better than on the carpet for sure, but I love that hat and thankfully was able to clean it all off quickly.

My poor hat

 

Jack looking sad

 

Lee said this is only the second time he has seen a dump station like this. Not the most sanitary.

Once all of that was taken care of though we headed down the road, excited about what was around the next corner.

Several small towns along the route.

 

I love these combination stores which have a little bit of everything in order to survive.

 

This one had a working piano on the outside which was a first.

 

Considering the size of the town these are decently stocked, but with the nearest chain grocery store well over two hours away these are the fruits and vegetables people have ready access to. People who don’t live in remote areas take that sort of thing for granted, but we see it a lot in our travels.

 

Almost every town has an LDS church though.

 

And some small business although these vary from town to town in an interesting way.

One of my favorite parts of taking the road less traveled is those unexpected scenic or historic finds we stumble across along the way.  These roads were no different, and thankfully we had the time to actually stop and check a few of them out.  The first one we came across was the childhood home of Butch Cassidy, and thankfully it had a big enough parking lot that we were able to swing in.  I love the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and it was very interesting to see where Butch spent his formative years.  He lived there from age 14-16 and according to the census bureau he lived in this small home with his mother, father, and 5 siblings.

 

The information they provided on the signs was very good. I found the picture of him as a young man and then as an adult particularly interesting.

 

Plexiglass blocked the inside, which was mostly interesting because of how small it was.

 

These trees in the backyard were huge as you can see from the 4 foot fence next to them.  I had never seen any quite like them.

While we were traveling we also ran across Otter Creek Reservoir. It was a very long body of water, and we saw several people camping down there.  Unfortunately there was zero cell signal during that portion of the drive, so it wouldn’t work for us.

One of my favorite stops was a rest area we stumbled across that had absolutely beautiful views of the mountains.  Jack enjoyed that stop as well and we got some great pictures of him and the rig.

Lee called this a hangman’s tree.

 

The river running next to the rest area sounded really pretty.

 

It’s hard to accurately portray how remote these roads are but I will say this.  At one point we were out in the middle of nowhere and stumbled across a surprisingly large facility. I wondered out loud if this was one of the troubled youth camps I had heard about in Utah, and sure enough later when I was back in cell coverage I looked it up and it is for troubled teens. Although the facility itself looked very nice I personally found its remote location troubling.  No cell, no major roads, and surrounded by a whole lot of nothing.  There wasn’t even a small town close by.

As pleasant as the drive was, we were excited about seeing Cori and Greg and were glad when we finally pulled into our boondocking spot.  They had scouted ahead and found a nice spot on Beas Lewis Flat Road.  We had read some mixed reviews because there is a ton of glass at the entrance, but Greg and Cori found a great spot up amongst the rocks.  It was an absolutely gorgeous view, but it was a little windy, but thankfully it was mostly glass free.  Jack was thrilled to see Hobie again and we were glad to see Cori and Greg.

turning into the boondocking road

 

You can’t see it but there is a ton of glass to the right. Really a shame since its a beautiful spot.

 

Pulling into our spot.

 

Greg and Cori purchased a Chinook which they are using to take some trips. They still have their Class A but this gives them more flexibility.

 

Hobie was happy to see me!

 

And Jack was happy to see him!

 

Jack also loved exploring the big rocks.

 

Greg and Lee looking manly 🙂

 

Absolutely gorgeous views

 

The only downside to the site was it was windy, especially since we were getting the tail end of the storm hitting the Midwest.  That was OK because there was lots to explore in the area, the cell coverage was strong, and it was totally free.  It was a good place to hang out for a couple of days before going to Goblin Valley. Oh, and the GPS coordinates for those who would like to try the spot are 38.297900, -111.388864.   There are also more spots farther down past the cattle guard that we saw several people staying in, but we didn’t do much exploring down there.

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.