CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK

We left Duck Creek Campground on Thursday, June 12, and drove 95 miles to the Broken Bow RV Camp in Escalante. This is a Good Sam park which cost $16.65 for a full hookup site after the GS discount. We did laundry at the laundromat in the park, and then went out to dinner at the Prospector Restaurant.

The next day we continued our trip on SR-12 (which starts at its junction with US-89 south of Panguitch and ends at its junction with SR-24 at Torrey). The part of SR-12 from Escalante to Torrey has some of most awesome scenery of almost any road we've driven! If you drive this road, be sure to stop at the viewpoints, particularly the Head of Rocks overlook, and the Homestead overlook. The pictures below simply do not do the views justice. From the Homestead overlook at an elevation of more than 9,400 feet, you can see the Waterpocket Fold of Capitol Reef and the northern part of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument -- fabulous! The Head of Rocks overlook is interesting for its stark, moonscape appearance.

Head of Rocks Overlook:

Another view along SR-12











Homestead Overlook:











We stopped to have lunch at the Burr Trail Grill in Boulder -- we would recommend this restaurant to anyone!

From Boulder, you can take the Burr Trail east to the Waterpocket Fold, descend the Fold, and either go north on the Notom-Bullfrog Road to Capitol Reef, or south to Bullfrog on Bullfrog Bay which is part of Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. DO NOT, however, take a trailer, fifth wheel, or large RV on this road, particularly if you are planning on descending the Waterpocket Fold -- an automobile or a SMALL Class B or Class C is the largest vehicle that should make this trip! We will describe the trip we made from Capitol Reef down the Notom-Bullfrog Road and up the Waterpocket fold below.

We spent the night at the Singletree Campground in the Dixie National Forest -- $5 per night with the Golden Age Passport. No hookups, but water is available. This campground is north of the Homestead Overlook, and also has a view of Capitol Reef and Grand Staircase Escalante.

The next day, we continued on to Capitol Reef, staying at the Fruita Campground within the park -- $5.00 per day with the Golden Age Passport. No hookups, but water and a dump are available. This campground is located in the Fruita Historic District. Fruita was a Mormon settlement dating from the 19th century. There are apple, peach, cherry, pear, and apricot trees growing in and around the campground which were planted by the original Mormon settlers. You may pick and eat the fruit at no charge while visiting; however, there is a fee for fruit you take with you. Of course, we weren't there at the right time for any fruit to be ripe. There were quite a few deer wandering in the park -- we had some that were right outside the RV, which kept Maxx entertained!

After setting up, we took the Scenic Drive, a 25-mile round trip which follows the west face of the Fold, and leads into Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge, two deep, twisting, water-carved, sheer-walled canyons.

The Waterpocket Fold is made of many layers of sedimentary rock formed over hundreds of millions of years from sediment in seas, tidal flats, deserts, and other ancient environments. Then it was uplifted by the same forces that later uplifted the Colorado Plateau. Many of the uppermost layers of the ancient fold have been completely eroded away, leaving only a hint of the enormity of the Waterpocket Fold in its earlier days.

Capitol Reef National Park:


















On Sunday, we drove the Notom-Bullfrog Road to, and up, the Burr Trail switchbacks. This is the portion of the road that you would not want to take anything larger than an automobile up or down (maybe a very small Class B or Class C). This portion of the road is steep and the switchbacks are about 180 degree turns -- plus its a gravel road. We had lunch at the top and then turned around and came back to the campground. The views on this road are spectacular!

Views along Notom-Bullfrog Road:

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

On Tuesday, June 10, we visited Bryce Canyon National Park.

Bryce Canyon was named after Ebenezer & Mary Bryce, Mormons who were sent by the church to help settle the Paria Valley (in which the park is located).

CEDAR BREAKS NATIONAL MONUMENT

We left Hurricane on Sunday, June 8, and drove to Duck Creek Campground in the Dixie National Forest on SR-14 east of Cedar City ($5 per night with the Golden Age Passport card, no hookups, but water and a dump are available). On our way, we stopped at the viewpoint near Milepost 19 from which we could see the northern part of Zion National Park.

On Monday we visited Cedar Breaks National Monument. Cedar Breaks, together with Bryce Canyon National Park to the east, started out as sediment laid down in an ancient fresh water lake that once covered southwestern Utah. About 10-15 million years ago, a large region of the southwest known as the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. During this time, the Colorado Plateau was stretched and fractured to form a series of smaller plateaus. Cedar Breaks is located on the western side of the Markagunt Plateau, Bryce on the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Erosion has since carved these immense, colorful amphitheaters in the rocks of the two plateaus. Studies of the growth rings of trees along the rims show that the canyon rims of both parks are receding at 9-48 inches per century.

ZION NATIONAL PARK

The Invasion of the Moths. When we arrived in Delta, Utah on Saturday, we'd noticed a few moths flying around. On Sunday, June 1, we noticed a lot of moths flying around, which was okay because they were all outside...except they finally found a way into the RV! We never did figure out exactly where they were finding their way inside, but we must have gotten rid of at least a dozen moths, if not more.

The next day, the numbers outside decreased markedly, but days later, we were still finding moths inside...just when we thought we'd seen the last of them, another one would appear. We don't care if we never see another moth as long as we live!

Earl got some golfing in at Sunset View Golf Course and we did laundry and grocery shopping before leaving Delta.

On Tuesday, June 3, we headed south on I-15 and spent the night at Little Cottonwood Campground in the Fish Lake National Forest, east of Beaver on SR-153 ($6 with the Golden Age Card; no hookups, but drinking water available). This is a very nice, small campground -- all the sites are level and paved, and the Beaver River runs through it.

In the evening, we were taking Maxx for a walk, and we stopped to talk to a fellow camper, an older gentlemen who had grown up in Baker, Nevada at the foothills of Great Basin National Park (of course, it wasn't a national park back then). He told us of exploring Lehman Caves when he was a kid -- going down the natural entrance (which is now closed off) with only a lantern (this was way before the government got hold of the land and charged to take a tour of the caves). He was a very interesting man to talk with.

Our rig at Little Cottonwood Campground:











The next day we continued south to Hurricane, Utah, where we checked in at Brentwood RV Resort, another of our RPI parks. After setting up, we drove into St. George where we had a late lunch/early dinner at IHOP and did some grocery shopping at the Albertsons next door.

What a beautiful drive down here! The scenery changes from forested mountains, to the stark red and pink landscape around Zion National Park. Of course, the temperature changed, too -- we went from almost 6,000 feet in elevation to a little over 3,000 feet and from cool temperatures to hot (104 degrees)!

We explored Zion National Park on two separate days. The first day, we drove up the Kolob Terrace Road which overlooks the cliffs of the Left and Right Forks of North Creek. After the heat of Hurricane, it was nice and cool as we climbed up onto the Kolob Terrace to 8,100 feet in elevation into forests of pinyon, juniper, ponderosa pine, fir, and quaking aspen.

The next day we drove to Zion and took the shuttle into the park (the only way you can see the park from April through October). We took the shuttle all the way to the end of the road and hiked the Riverside Walk. This is an easy walk...it's all paved and is fairly level. On the way back, we got off at a couple of stops to take pictures and hike up to Weeping Rock where water drips out of the porous Navajo Sandstone.

There's no way of really describing the park..."awesome", "magnificent," and "beautiful" don't really do justice to the scenery as you stand at the bottom of Zion Canyon and look up at the sheer red walls which tower 2,000 to 3,000 feet above you. Zion began millions of years ago as a vast desert where winds piled sand dune upon sand dune. About one million years ago, the Virgin River started carving its way through these sand dunes -- known as Navajo Sandstone -- creating the magnificent cliffs of the park.

Views from Kolob Terrace Road:
















Views in Zion National Park:

MAY 2003

We left Joshua Tree National Park on Saturday, the 3rd, and headed to Boron via SR-62/SR-247/SR-18/US-396/SR-58. We made the stop in Boron so that we could have a late lunch/early dinner at Domingo's, a Mexican restaurant we'd eaten at on a previous trip in March 2001. If you like Mexican food, and are ever close to Boron (west of Barstow on SR-58), stop by and eat at Domingo's -- they have excellent food! After eating, we headed for Red Rock Canyon State Park, north of Mojave on SR-14, where we spent the night ($7/night with senior citizens discount; no hookups, dump available).

Our rig at Red Rock State Park:










The next day, we stopped at the Camping World in Bakersfield to pick up a few items. This is the smallest Camping World we've ever been to -- it was so small, it would be hard to change your mind in it! After that stop, we headed north on SR-65 and spent the night at the Elks Club in Visalia ($8/night for dry camping, dump available).

In the morning, we had breakfast at the I-Hop and then bought a DVD player at Circuit City and a 140-watt portable inverter at Radio Shack. We stopped at the Pets Mart in Fresno to pick up dog food for Maxx and then drove on to Park Sierra, the Escapees' park in Coarsegold (north of Fresno on SR-41, not too far from the south entrance to Yosemite National Park) where we got a space for a week ($90/week). This park is probably the prettiest park of all the Escapees' parks we've been to (we've been to all of them in the western half of the U.S., except for Jojoba Hills in Aguanga, California).

The reason we'd stopped at Coarsegold was to visit with friends, Gus and Judy, who own a lot at Park Sierra. But, since they both work, we wouldn't see them until the weekend, so we took it pretty easy during the week. We were going to take a day trip to Yosemite, but it rained on the day we had chosen, so didn't make it. On Friday, we did laundry, and in the evening Gus and Judy arrived and came over with a couple of pizzas.

Saturday morning we went into Coarsegold to have breakfast at a restaurant with Gus and Judy, and that evening we had dinner with them at the Crab Cakes in Oakhurst. Sunday morning, before they had to leave, Gus made his special breakfast -- homemade flour tortillas with scrambled eggs, bacon, guacamole, and salsa. We really enjoyed seeing Gus and Judy again -- the last time we'd visited with them was back in March 2001.

We left Coarsegold on Monday morning and stopped in Oakhurst to do grocery shopping. We then drove north on SR-49, stopping in Mariposa to have lunch at the Happy Burger Diner. After lunch, we continued north and spent the night at the Elks Club in Sonora (free, but we left a donation of $5; dry camping only).

The next day, we drove to Placerville where we did grocery shopping and had lunch. Then we continued on to Ghost Mountain Ranch in Pollock Pines (east of Placerville on US-50), one of our RPI parks ($5/night; water and electric, dump available). There are many interesting places along SR-49 -- old mining towns -- and we've decided that we'll drive that road again someday, taking more time to explore all the little towns.

On Wednesday, we drove back to Placerville and then north to the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park in Coloma, the site of the famous gold discovery at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848. A full-size working replica of Sutter's Mill has been constructed in the park and downstream from this replica is a monument that marks the spot where the original mill stood. We spent most of the day walking around the town, stopping to have lunch at the Argonant Refreshment Saloon where we split a sandwich and then each had a piece of homemade pie a la mode (Earl had apple, I had peach).

Sutter Mill Monument:

Wildflowers:










On Friday, we headed east on US-50, stopping in Carson City, Nevada to do shopping at Costco and having lunch. While we had lunch in our rig, I downloaded e-mail since we were in a place where I had a good signal on the cell phone. After lunch, we drove to Dayton State Park in Dayton ($10/night; water available, dump was closed).

Bridal View Falls:

First view of Lake Tahoe:










The next day, we drove up to Virginia City and spent the day exploring that old mining town, stopping to have lunch at the Firehouse BBQ and touring the Fourth Ward School, which has been turned into a museum. Included among the other exhibits in this museum is the Mark Twain Exhibit that tells the history of Samuel Clemens who lived in Virginia City for about 20 months and worked for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper.

Fourth Ward School & Museum:

Typewriter:










(Note the separate rows on the typewriter for capital and small letters)

Main Street, Virginia City:

View leaving Virginia City:










On Sunday, we drove back to Carson City where we spent the night in the RV lot at the Nugget Casino (free; dry camping only). The reason we'd come back to Carson City was because I had a strong signal on the cell phone and could get online and do some surfing (weekends are the only time I can surf, since we have over 3,300 weekend minutes during the month, but just have 150 minutes during the week). When we arrived at the Nugget, we noticed a New Horizons parked there, too. The owner wasn't home, so I wrote a note on the back of our calling card and taped it to the door. Later, the owner, Bonnie Doone, came over and we had a nice visit. It turns out we'd met each other at one of the New Horizons rallies.

On Monday, we had breakfast at the casino and then continued east on US-50, stopping at the Churchill County Fairgrounds in Fallon where we dry camped for a couple of nights ($5/night for dry camping, $12/night for water and electric hookups, dump available). We were going to stay at the Elks Club since our Elks Travel Guide said they had RV parking here; however, the parking lot was quite small -- maybe OK for a truck camper or very small Class C, but not for our 25' fifth wheel and truck. The next day we toured the Churchill County Museum and drove out to Grimes Point-Hidden Cave Archaeological Site where we took the walking tour to look at all the petroglyphs. These petroglyphs weren't as interesting as the ones we'd seen in Petrified Forest National Park last fall -- these were mainly just wavy lines and circles, although there was one rock up by the caves that had a recognizable picture. Grimes Point is one of the oldest petroglyph sites in the Great Basin -- evidence suggests that humans have occupied this area for some 10,000 years, when this area was on the shores of the prehistoric Lake Lahontan (at its maximum, Lake Lahontan covered 8,570 square miles -- larger than Lake Ontario).

Petroglyphs at Grimes Point-Hidden Cave Archaeological Site:











We left Fallon on Wednesday and headed to the Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park east of Gabbs on SR-844 ($11/night, including the $3 entrance fee; dry camping with water and dump available). The park sits at 7,000 feet on the western slope of the Shoshone Mountain Range and has a wonderful view west of the Ione Valley and the Paradise Range. We took a walking tour of Berlin, a mining town that was in existence from 1896 to 1911. The total production of the Berlin mine's three miles of tunnels is estimated to have been $849,000 at a time when gold was $20 per ounce.

Sand Mountain:

Dry remnant of Lake Lahontan:










(Sand Mountain, east of Fallon, is 1.6 miles long, .3 miles wide, and 370 feet high.)

Berlin:












Crushing Mill at Berlin:










We also went up to the fossil shelter, but weren't able to get inside since they don't open until Memorial Day. We were able to look in the windows and see where they've uncovered many Ichthyosaurs (ICK-thee-o-sors). A total of about 40 Ichthyosaurs have been discovered in various locations throughout the park, and of all the Ichthyosaurs discovered, the ones at this park are the largest specimens known with most being about 50 feet long. Ichthyosaurs were prehistoric marine reptiles and resembled modern day whales and dolphins (to which they are not related) in that they bore their young alive and breathed air. Living at about the same time as the dinosaurs, fossils are found on all continents except Antarctica.

Site of the Ichthyosaur dig and frieze showing
reconstruction based on remains found:












View from our campsite:










On Friday, we continued our drive east on US-50, stopping in Austin to have lunch at the Toiyabe Cafe and pick up our mail. We then drove on to Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area, about 20-25 miles east of Austin (free; dry camping only, no water or dump). We took the self-guided walking tour once it got cooler in the evening.

Besides the petroglyphs found here, there are numerous prehistoric hunting and living sites in the area dating back as far as 10,000 BC. At that time, many of the valleys in the Great Basin supported large lakes and it appears that people were living around these lakes exploiting the abundant plants and animals dependent upon the lakes.

View of Toiyabe Range:

Rocks with petroglyphs:










The next night we spent at Illipah Reservoir Recreation Area about 30 miles east of Ely (free, no water or dump available). The campground sits up above the small reservoir with a great view of the Moorman Ridge, part of the White Pine Range. We had a thunderstorm while we were taking a nap; Maxx jumped up on the bed and got under the covers as he normally does when it thunders (to protect us, of course).

Illipah Reservoir:










On Sunday, we drove into Ely and parked at the Holiday Inn Prospector Casino (free the first night, then $9.96/night with a maximum stay of 5 days; full hookups). We had lunch at the Prospector Cafe and then did grocery shopping. The next day we did laundry and visited with a very nice couple, Bob & Jeanne Hawk, who are staying at the same park and have a New Horizons fifth wheel. On Tuesday, Earl went golfing -- the first time he's done any golfing since we left Goodyear.

Wednesday we headed to Great Basin National Park and the Lower Lehman Creek Campground ($5 per night with the Golden Age Passport; no hookups, but dump and fresh water available). This is a beautiful park in the Snake Range at the base of Wheeler Peak (13,068 feet).

We took the one-hour tour of Lehman Caves (the 90-minute tour was filled). Lehman Caves is actually one large limestone cavern that extends 1/4 mile into the mountain. Some of the nation's most highly decorated, unique formations are found within the cave -- in addition to the normal stalactites and stalagmites that one sees in most caves, there are some very rare structures known as shields. Shields consist of two roughly circular halves, almost like flattened clam shells. We were told that we couldn't take cameras into the cave, but that wasn't the case as there was a person there taking pictures, so next time, we'll take our camera!

We also drove the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive which winds its way 12 miles to the 10,000 foot elevation on the flank of Wheeler Peak providing spectacular scenery. One can take a trail leading to the top of Wheeler Peak where one will have amazing view for hundreds of miles in all directions (we didn't take the hike!).

Wheeler Peak:

View from the scenic drive:










Great Basin National Park extends from the upper Sonoran sagebrush life zone to the Arctic Alpine tundra life zone. At our campground (at a little over 7,000 feet of elevation), we saw deer, mice, chipmunks (all of which Maxx would have loved to chase!), and we watched a Red-Naped Sapsucker make the rounds of the trees he'd carved little pieces of bark out of. Not only did he eat the sap, but the sap would attract bugs which he'd come and eat, too! We also saw a Rufous-sided Towhee and some hummingbirds which were probably either the Broad-tailed or the Black-chinned (we weren't really sure which ones we were seeing, but both of their habitats are in the area.

Deer:

Red-naped Sapsucker:










Saturday we left the park and drove to Delta, Utah, where we checked into the Antelope Valley RV Park, one of our RPI parks ($5 per night). After setting up, we drove into town and had lunch at the Pizza House then went by Delta Sports Center to buy a Yamaha EF3000iSE generator. We're going to be boondocking in some hot weather and our little 1000-watt Honda generator will not run the air conditioner, so we need something bigger. Delta Sports Center gave us what we considered to be a very generous trade-in on our Honda, so the final price of the Yamaha was less than we thought we'd have to pay.