Boondocking In Dixie National Forest
Bryce Canyon National Park has a campground, but for boondockers like us, we were delighted to find campsites off a forest road in Dixie National Forest.
Tag Utah
Read MoreBoondocking In Dixie National Forest
Shafer Trail
Driving the Shafer Trail between Canyonlands National Park and Moab is absolutely hair raising. The descent from the park's visitors center to the canyon floor is a heart stopping collection of narrow switchbacks. Better yet, the narrow trail is flanked by a sheer, 1,000-foot cliff on one side and a rock wall on the other. And if that is not enough disincentive, there is little between you and a precipitous drop other than a few tenacious sage brush.
Rimrocker Trail
The Rimrocker Trail is an off-road and OHV route from Montrose, Colorado to Moab, Utah. The trail traverses terrain from pine and aspen forests to rolling hills of sage and cactus. The road condition varies from regularly graded gravel to rutted dirt roads and one high water crossing. The trail winds through federal and private land so be conscious of signs along the road when selecting a campsite or taking side adventures on other trails.
Arches
We wing things. That's what we do. I've made a map of places we would like to go to and then base our routes on our final destination and what mapped points fall between our current location and destination. Exactly how our trip plays out each time is something we play by ear. In this case, we had ten days to travel to Oregon. Half way in, we discovered that we would be swinging by Arches National Park. Arches ranks as one of the most exciting National Parks that neither of us has ever visited. So, of course, we went.
PUMPNIT
For your consideration, we present: PUMPNIT—a vanity license plate we encountered at a pungent rest stop in Utah. It took a heavy foot on the accelerator to keep pace with the truck in order to preserve this moment for posterity in photographic form.
Utah
I'll be frank, we rushed through Utah. When we left Elko in the morning, we had nothing but visions of Park City dancing in our head—home to the 2002 Winter Olympics and at an elevation that it must provide some respite from the summer heat. Little did we think of the salt flats between us and Park City. Like the Fellowship of the Ring on their way to Mt. Doom (except a nice Mt. Doom with trees and flowers and ski lifts) we faced overwhelming trials. Lacking air conditioning, we rolled down our windows and were treated to what I can only imagine a chicken must experience in a convection oven. Fortunately, growing up in a family that did not believe in air conditioning, I knew the drill. We had bought a spray bottle during our stay at Walmart and now I let the convection heat evaporate misted water from our skin. It's like sweating but ten times more effective.