Category: 2022

On to Nevada

Our four-night stay in Grass Valley was scheduled so Dianne could visit with her mother.  That gave me plenty of on-my-own time.

While Dianne and her parents were heading to/from Redding on Tuesday to see their dying brother/son, I decided to go out for a hike, or at least that’s how it turned out. 

My initial goal was to wander around and photograph the Empire Mine Historic State Park.  As I drove up the road to the park, I passed a lot with a sign that said, “Empire Mine parking.”  So, I parked there.

It was parking for the park but getting to the visitor center would require a 1.4-mile hike up the Hardrock Trail.  I wanted some exercise anyway, so I grabbed my camera and started up the trail. 

There were several unmarked forks in the trail along the way, and following the advice of Yogi Berra, I took them.  Unfortunately, most of the forks I opted for did not lead to the visitor center.  Instead, I ended up with a 6½-mile round-trip hike through the woods. I passed the remains of old mines but only once touched the VC.

On Wednesday, Dianne and her 91-year-old mother went on a hike up a paved trail not far from the campground.  I hung out at the trailer and attended to bill paying and finances.  We had a delicious clam chowder lunch/dinner at her parents’ home later that afternoon. 

Dianne wanted to spend Thursday, our last full day in Grass Valley, with her mother doing laundry.  I decided to go on a morning walk along a creek in the woods. 

The trailhead for the paved trail that mother and daughter took the day before was a mile’s walk down the road from the campground, so I thought I’d go hike that.  It starts near the site of the North Star Mine Powerhouse and Pelton Wheel Museum.

The trail follows Wolf Creek through the forest.  Being paved and lacking much altitude gain, it’s a favorite with old people. 

The first part of the trail ended at the county animal shelter, perhaps a mile from the start.  A second leg continues up Little Wolf Creek for another mile or so.  Here, some alternative, unpaved hiking paths drop down and follow the creek.  It was a joy to get off the blacktop.

On the way back, I stopped in the museum.  I was the only guest, and one of the docents offered to give me a free tour.  I’m not big on mining, but it was fascinating.  Several of the exhibits such as the huge Pelton waterwheel…

…and an 1897-vintage, five-head stamp mill…

…were hooked up to show them in operation.  Only the need to get back to camp to meet the wife and parents kept me from staying longer. 

That afternoon, we took Dianne’s parents out to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant in town.  Then it was back to camp for one last evening at the fairgrounds RV park.

Friday morning, we had a leisurely breakfast and then got the trailer ready for the three-hour trip to Reno.  California has a maximum speed of 55 mph for those of us pulling trailers, so we were tailgated and eventually passed by every vehicle on the highway.  We took Interstate 80 over Donner Pass and eventually dropped into Nevada and the Truckee River Valley.  We had reservations at the KOA Boomtown.

Now, this is Nevada and Boomtown is a casino development in Verdi, a few miles west of Reno.  I expected the KOA to be a parking lot RV resort behind the casino, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that it’s a separate area about a half-mile beyond the gambling hall.  We have a shady patio site with a grill and grass.  While we can hear the freeway, the noise is not overwhelming.

After getting our trailer hookups hooked up, we went over to see some old friends from back in the old days when we lived in Reno.  Dinner at one of our old favorite Mexican restaurants (new location) followed.

Heading toward Home

We spent four wonderful days in Reno.  Dianne attended her 50th high school reunion and got to reconnect with a lot of old classmates. 

We spent some time with an old hiking buddy and his wife, and we had lunch with an old workmate of mine from back when I was serving time as a bank officer in Reno.

Then, after more than a month on the road, it was time to head toward home and cheaper gas prices.

Pulling the trailer, we get 10 miles per gallon on a good day (downhill with a tailwind).  Filling the tank in California became a three-digit expense.  The farther we got away from the Golden State, the more gold we got to keep in our bank account.

From Reno, we cut across Nevada on I-80, possibly the most boring stretch of interstate highway this side of Kansas.  After 400+ miles of being passed by every car, truck, motorcycle, motorhome and bus on the highway, we “camped” for the night at a nice KOA in West Wendover, Nevada. 

We’re generally not fans of RV parks, but as it is with Super 8 motels, when you just need a place to bunk down for the night, they’re a good option.  They even gave us imported koozies for our beer.

The next morning, we entered Utah and drove 300 miles south and east to Fremont Indian State Park near Richfield. 

The Fremont Indians were contemporaries of the cliff-dwelling Anasazi Ancestral Puebloans to the south. While they didn’t give us ruins in the rocks to admire, they are responsible for some of the impressive pictograph and petroglyph rock art that decorates the Utah and Colorado canyon country.

After two nights at Fremont Indian, we’ll head east down Interstate 70 to Green River.  There, we’ll meet up with some Colorado Mountain Clubbers to hike some slot canyons in the San Rafael Swell.

Petroglyphs and Pictographs

The Fremont Indians were great rock artists. We spent yesterday, our full day in Fremont Indian State Park, photographing their works.

Today, Friday, we hooked up and drove to Green River State Park, which is surprisingly located in Green River, Utah.  We’re camping with 16 other members of the Colorado Mountain Club out here in 3.2 beer country to do some hiking in the San Rafael Swell. 

Our first trip with the group was a one-mile jaunt out to see some petroglyphs in Coal Canyon.

Damn, it’s good to finally be back hiking in Dianne’s ancestral homeland. Out in this colorful landscape, trees don’t block the view and the art hangs on rocks.

Doing Crack

On Friday evening, we met with our group of fellow Colorado Mountain Club members and discussed the following day’s hiking plans. Dianne and I decided to do a seven-mile hike down Crack Canyon, which is located not far from Goblin Valley State Park.

Progressing downstream, the canyon walls rose and things started to get pretty.

In places, rock slabs overhung the narrows.

We experienced a few easy challenges along the way. Our first involved down climbing some boulders blocking the canyon bottom.

Another challenge involving balancing down a long, narrow log that provided a skinny ramp past some more chockstone boulders.

The next problem involved a pool of water that as some hikers ahead of us discovered was crotch deep. Fortunately, with a little backtracking, we bypassed it by traversing some wide ledges above the obstacle.

We continued down the canyon until it was time for lunch.

It was just as pretty on the way back as it was going down.

That night, about a dozen of us went to Ray’s Tavern in Green River, a place famous for their burgers. Utah now serves real beer, and I had a nice IPA from Squatters Brewery in Salt Lake City.

Back Home Again

Most of our Colorado Mountain Club buddies left for home on Monday morning, so we decided to forego our last reserved night in Green River and do the same. Since we had paid for the extra day, we didn’t have to leave by the noon checkout time.

After a leisurely bacon-and-egg breakfast, we drove out to Green River’s geyser, which lies beside the river south of town.

Unlike most geysers, Crystal Geyser shoots up cold water powered by carbon dioxide. It erupts twice a day, they claim, shooting 30-60 feet into the air. I witnessed a major eruption on a float trip down the Green River in 1978.

Unfortunately, the geyser only sputtered while we were there…

…but it was fun to just explore around and photograph the travertine terraces below the geyser.

After our geyser gawking, we headed back into town. stopping at Dunham’s melon stand for some of Green River’s famous melons.

And then it was off to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Green River…

…for a lunch consisting of a carnitas burrito (Dan) and a carnitas quesadilla (Dianne).

Back at the campground, we hitched up the trailer and headed for home. No more trailer trips this year.

Stagecoach Getaway

After three weeks into our new house, it was time to take a break and go on a four-night camping excursion.  Our destination was Stagecoach State Park, which lies a few miles south of Steamboat Springs.  We would be joining a pair of fellow Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) members on an unofficial social outing sponsored by the CMC’s Western Slope Group.

Our original plan was to take the trailer, so we booked an electrical-hookup site.  After spending almost eight months in the trailer since September 1st, we thought it might be more fun to camp in the tent and try out our new inflatable mattress.  A look at the predicted temperatures (lows in the 20s) changed that plan.  So, we loaded our trusty domicile on wheels and headed up.

Like most Colorado State Parks, Stagecoach surrounds a reservoir, this one the result of a dam plugging the Yampa River.  The reservoir is large enough to allow motorboats and waterskiing, none of which was happening in the cool, pre-Memorial Day time we were up there.  We saw only anglers, kayakers and stand-up paddleboarders out on the water.

Even though this was not an official CMC trip, I anticipated it would involve three days of peak bagging.  Fortunately, the other couple were not gung-ho peak baggers, which left us pretty much free to do what we wanted. We started by checking out some of the more affordable properties in the area.  

The first day, Dianne and I drove up through Steamboat Springs, gagging on all the new development that is (to borrow a phrase from Utah writer Jim Stiles) morphing the Steamboat at the speed of greed. 

After trying to spot the ski area from behind all the new condos, we headed north through the ranching town of Clark and on to check out Pearl and Steamboat Lake State Parks for future trips.  Pearl was closed, but we did get a glimpse of Steamboat Lake and surveyed several attractive campsites there.

The next day, Dianne and I along with fellow CMC member Becky Gray hiked the five-mile Elk Run Trail along the southeastern side of the reservoir.  We saw nary an elk running or otherwise.  Becky’s husband, Chuck, provided Uber service for us, driving us back to the dam where we parked our truck.

On our final full day, we wandered around the park capturing photos of the reservoir and the tailwaters below the dam.  It’s quite possible that this trip will hit the pages of a springtime edition of Colorado Life Magazine.

Driving back to Fruita on Interstate 70, it hit us that this was the first time we were actually heading home by driving west on this portion of the highway.  Traffic was relatively light.  I can only imagine what it would been like heading into Denver at the start of this three-day holiday weekend.

Getting ready

Hallelujah! We’ll soon be Arizona bound.

You would think that after spending 165 of the past 177 nights bunking in our trailer, all we would have to do to leave is simply hook up and go.  It’s proving to be not so simple.

For example, we’ve got to remove all of our “winterizing” modifications.  The skirting has to be taken off and pitched into the trash.  The cover over the air conditioner needs to be removed.  The heated water hose needs to be packed away in our storage unit. 

The freshwater tank needs to be sanitized with bleach. The water heater anode needs to be replaced and water in the water lines needs to be blown out so the pipes don’t freeze up in transit.

Since we’re going to Arizona where it’s warm, we’ll need to ditch our cold weather clothing and pack up shorts, t-shirts and Tevas.  We’ll need to stock up on beer, wine, food and toiletries to last until we get to the Phoenix area.  Both propane tanks need to be topped up. Did I mention we’ll need to stock up on beer and wine?

We’ll be doing all that with great big smiles this weekend.  After months stuck at an RV park, we’re finally going to go “camping” again.

First Stop – Monument Valley

Years ago, my favorite motel chain was Motel 6.  Besides Magic Finger beds, they had cheap rooms where a night’s stay came cheaply.  Since then, my favorite motels still have numbers as part of their name.  My preferred motels now are Four Seasons and Super 8 – Four Seasons when traveling on OPM (Other People’s Money) and Super 8 when paying with my own dimes. 

Since we don’t have a Four Seasons in Fruita (and we’re not traveling on OPM), we opted to spend the night before our Great Arizona Escape Trip at the local Super 8.  The idea was to have the truck gassed and the trailer ready to go with hoses detached, slide out in, beer in the fridge and plumbing blown out before our departure. 

We got up early, enjoyed a fantastic Super 8 waffle, picked up coffee at Starbucks and hit the road by the crack of 9:00.  By then, rush hour traffic had cleared, and we didn’t even have to wait for anyone in either of the two round-abouts separating us from the Interstate.

Nineteen miles later, we entered Utah, hightailed it to the Cisco cutoff and followed the former Grand River toward Moab.  Clearing the town made famous in Jim Stiles book “Brave New West: Morphing Moab at the Speed of Greed” we headed south through Monticello and Blanding and on to Bluff. 

There we made our obligatory stop at Twin Rocks Trading Post and Café for Navajo Tacos, which consists of chili, cheese,salad and salsa on top of a huge patty of Navajo fry bread. That was washed down with some good Utah brews, which now real beers and not that 3.2% near-beer they used to serve in the Beehive State.

We got to Monument Valley early in the afternoon. In spite of enthusiastic directions screamed by someone who I believe is Wrong Way Corrigan’s distant relative, I took the correct turn to Goulding’s campground. 

After spending the winter in cold, cold Fruita, it was nice to walk around in a sweatshirt and watch as the sun bathed the nearby cliffs in warm afternoon light. 

Since we had a large lunch and would be going on a thought-provoking tour the next day, we dined on a bag of Smart Food that evening.

All Day, Two-Valley Tour

When we booked our campsite, we were given the opportunity to book a Monument Valley tour at a slightly discounted price.  To maximize the amount we’d save, we booked the most expensive tour available – an eight-hour, all-day drive through both Monument Valley and neighboring Mystery Valley. 

At 9:00 a.m. in the morning, we met our driver at the campground office.

“How many do you have on this tour?” I asked.

“Two,” our Navajo guide, Art Nelson, replied.  “Just you two.”

Our private tour began with an inside visit of an unoccupied Navajo hogan, this one built to educate us tourists.  We learned how they were built with stripped juniper logs and found out there’s a difference between female hogans and male hogans.  Dianne was happy to learn there are no transgender hogans.

From there, we drove around the backcountry on trails that would hardly qualify to be called roads anywhere else in the country.  Our van, Art assured us, was all-wheel drive. 

We spent the morning in Mystery Valley, which lies south of Monument Valley.  We visited natural arches, gazed at Anasazi ruins and admired pictograph and petroglyph panels of rock art.  Our driver was gracious about stopping frequently and giving us time to waste digits photographing landscapes in the cloudless, midday lighting.

After a box lunch devoured in the wild and a stop at the Navajo-owned View Hotel gift shop (Dianne spent less than $50 there buying things for our new house), we started down the famous 17-mile loop road. 

Partway along, we turned off on a, tour-groups-only, two-track trail into the Monument Valley backcountry.  There we observed more arches, more ruins and more rock art along with sites where scenes from John Wayne movies were filmed.

Returning to the 17-mile loop, we made a few final stops before returning to the campground.  We said goodbye to our tour guide with a couple of $20 bills and headed up to the trailer for well-deserved brews.  After showers and a change of clothes (“You’re not going to wear those Levi’s are you?” my wife informed me.  “They’re GROSS!”) we headed up to the Goulding’s resort restaurant for dinner. 

Of course, we ordered Navajo tacos.