Fall 2017
Arizona by way of Wisconsin,
Minnesota, back through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Utah – what a Spectacular
fall tour.
October 19th – The visitor center guy told us
about Fish Lake – the highest deep water lake in Utah. He went on and on about
how beautiful it was. It was 50 miles and a climb to almost 9000 feet and we
found out we missed the fall colors and the bare aspen trees are less than
spectacular. We did a few miles on the trail and called it a day. We stopped in
Loa for a few groceries, came back to do some cleaning and made plans to exit
Utah tomorrow.
October 18th – today we will actually be in Capitol Reef NP and a few sites close to the entrance. We started at Chimney Rock, then a 1 mile drive to Gooseneck where Sulfur creek makes sharp turns that look like a goose neck and a 1/3 mile hike to Sunset Point. Stopped at the visitor center and then headed down scenic drive. The campground was full. The great find was Gifford House – homemade pies, bread and cinnamon rolls. We split a small strawberry/rhubarb pie with ice cream – great. Next was a gravel road down Grand Wash looking for Cassidy Arch. The signs were confusing, and we hiked over a mile looking for it, then kicked back out and there it was. The light must have been different enough I could see it. Supposed to be an old hideout of Butch Cassidy. We went as far as Slickrock divide before turning back. Next stop – more pie – sadly the peach was not as good. Then we stopped at the Petroglyphs – not many of them left with the rocks spalding and the fading. The next hike to Hickman Natural Bridge – sign said 1 mile – turned out to be 1.2 each way.
October 17th – We saw the sprinklers running when
we got up and even though it was 37 degrees there were icicles on the fence and
bushes, another day of mid 30’s morning and mid 70’s in the afternoon. Made a
big loop drive with so many overlooks to fantastic vistas and rock formations
it was hard to believe. After Escalante Staircase we stopped in Boulder at the
Trading Post. Their little café had some great pie. The mail was still
delivered by horseback until 1935. Mules brought milk in but sometimes it
turned to butter because of the rough ride. We took the Burr Trail to see the
Waterpocket Fold section of the San Rafael Swell. Almost seven hours and almost
200 miles – some of them nasty gravel and sand roads. One gravel section was
barely one lane with a 14% grade and six very tight switchbacks. Saw mule deer.
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Ice from the sprinkler
38 degrees 12 dewpoint
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See the Mummy?
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October 16th – We woke up cold and still in
really dark skies. We had made some coffee the night before when the generator
was on – excellent choice. Turns out that our batteries were not up to
boondocking with temps dipping into the upper 20’s. We bundled up and went for
a hike until we could run the generator again at 8 o’clock. I cleaned the
batteries and added some water and they seemed to charge up. We got ready to
move and left the motorhome at the Rangers Station while we went to hike some “Slot
Canyons” at Wild Horse Canyon. It was amazing to see how water and wind can
reshape rocks. We decided to turn around when we got to an area we would have
had to wade through water to continue. On a warmer day with better hiking gear
– maybe…
Moved on to Capitol Reef National Park. We were beat by the
time we got to a campground and almost on “rock” overload. Bent the steps while
parking – nuff said.
October 15th – Another short walk at 30 degrees.
Packed up and filled LP tank before leaving the campground and fuel at Flying J
where we helped some people who said they lost everything in the Texas
hurricane by filling their tank too. Decided to check our Goblin State Park
which is in the middle of nowhere but in the San Rafael Swell. No phone, cell
or even electricity. But great scenery and hiking. We hiked to the Valley of
the Goblins and saw many unique rock formations. The park is also designated a
“Dark Sky” area so no lights and fantastic star gazing.
+++The San Rafael Swell is a large
geologic feature located in south-central Utah about 30 miles (48 km) west
of Green River, Utah. The San Rafael Swell, approximately 75 by 40 miles (121
by 64 km), consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale,
and limestone that was pushed up during the Paleocene Laramide Orogeny 60-40
million years ago. Since that time, infrequent but powerful flash floods have
eroded the sedimentary rocks into numerous valleys, canyons, gorges, mesas and
buttes. The swell is part of the Colorado Plateau physiographic region.
October 14th – 34 degrees but we bundled up to
hike Tabegauche. Nice hike for a couple hours with about 1200 ft. elevation
gain. After lunch we met with Matt, Ashley, Liam and Roger at their RV park and
had a nice visit. After church we picked up supplies at Walmart, grocery and
liquor store. Didn’t get to eat until 7:30 but the rotisserie chicken we picked
up was really good.
October 13th – short and cold walk before we set
out to see Colorado National Monument. 24 mile drive that took 3 hours with awesome
rock formations, saw Dessert Bighorn sheep. Found a remote picnic area for
lunch just before leaving the park – 68 and sunny. We found a mountain biking
and hiking area just outside the Monument where Lexi can hike with us.
October 12th – traveled through Denver (always a
joy) and struggled up to the 11,016 foot Eisenhower tunnel. Then the long
descent, fall scenery was great. We saw magpies near the lake where we stopped
for lunch and a herd of Elk near DeBeque, CO. We stopped at Grand Junction and
spent a few days exploring – 78 degrees and very windy.
October 11th – Fort Morgan, CO. free camp at a
city park by the river. Old Rainbow bridge there built in 1922 and designed by
a Des Moines, IA firm. Now just a pedestrian bridge restored in… saw snow geese
on the pond in the park
October 10th – Made it to York, NE. drove through
heavy rain from Ames and Des Moines. Rick had another SVT event during the
night – not much good sleep.
October 9th – Heading west… made it to Rochester
MN. Camp near the airport.
October 8th – Bagels and Schmear at Kathy &
Ross’s at 10. When everyone started heading home we headed to Door County. We
ran into a big festival at Egg Harbor so we didn’t even get out but headed over
to Bailey’s Harbor. Not much open but we walked out on the jetty, found the ice
cream place “closed” for the season. The coffee shop had cookies and a great
sandwich – tomato, mozzarella, arugula and balsamic on a fresh baguette.
October 7th – we did get a damp walk in and
nothing on the schedule until our Tour of a 5000 plus dairy farm. We met at
Kathy’s and rode with Juan and Juana from Columbia – he was an exchange student
with them 20 years ago. Then the reception at 4:00 at the Ski Chalet. Brats,
slaw and homemade chicken soup with cupcakes for desert. After that the music
and dancing were at Steve’s Old Church – a friend had bought an old school and
church with the idea of hosting events.
October 6th – Took a nice walk around the park
before heading to Kewaunee for the weekend festivities. Visited with Kathy and
Ross before heading to the Thumbknuckle Brewing Co. Luxemberg, WI. where we me
quite a few relatives of Aaron & Olivia. They had the Ethiopian Food Truck
providing delicious food. We tried the nachos – combination of pulled pork and
lentils – so good we tried the lentil tacos next. Both had a great slaw and
unique flavor of Ethiopian spices. The beers were good too – Linda even tried a
combination of their cola and one of the beers because they had no wine...
Started raining about 8:30 and continued most of the night – another 7 tenths
in the gauge.
October 5th – after packing the motorhome and
closing the condo down for the winter we headed to Wisconsin. First night in
Beaver Dam – nice little County park but it took a lot of direction from the
camp host on the phone to find the “G” road from the “D” road exit. Old
fashioned thunderstorm that night – three quarters of an inch. We were awakened
up by gunfire – some waterfowl season opened a half hour before sunrise.
