Sat, 8/1/09

Singletree Na Forest CG to Slick Rock CG,Moab, UT: Left this morning at about 9:45 with me driving. Drove north on Rt. 12 back to Torrey and then east on SR 24 which goes right through Capital Reef National Park. So we got to see it once more before leaving. A few miles after leaving the park we traveled through an area of drab grey sandstone hills and buttes. Looked like a nuclear winter. Stopped in Hanksville, got something to drink and switched drivers. Continued on Rt. 24 through an arid desert landscape. Eventually came to a bunch of sandstone formations on our left called the San Rafael Swell which looked like this whole ridge had been pushed up at an odd angle thousands of years ago. On our right was the San Rafael Valley—desert and sage. About 24 miles north of Hanksville we hit Rt. 70 and headed east on that for about 30 miles. This 30 miles was a real moonscape. Didn’t see a living thing. Got off Rt. 70 on Rt. 191 south to Moab. Just outside of Moab we started down into a beautiful red sandstone canyon. We’re staying at the Slick Rock RV Park 2 miles north of Moab. We pulled into our site and tore up our roof and one of the vents on a tree branch. Jeeze! We wanted a site with some shade and we got it—but at a price. Not sure what the roof will cost to fix. After we got set up we watched Tiger play golf for a while. Then drove into Moab to see what’s what. This is the biggest town we’ve been in since Tucson—and it’s a lot smaller than Tucson. The older part of Main Street is cute, but very touristy. Came back and the temperature outside was 100. The air conditioner is going to get a workout. Salads for dinner tonight.

Hiking trail along the Fremont River

Fri, 7/31/09

Singletree Na Forest CG, Near Torrey, UT: We planned on just kicking back today and enjoy this pretty campground. After showering and then filling the fresh water tank, we did just that. I sat outside reading/dozing and all of a sudden there’s a chipmunk trying to get up in my lap. Scared the crap outta me! So I went in and got some raw peanuts in the shell and put a bunch on the ground. Watched him filling his little pouches with peanuts and watched the hummers dive bombing each other over the feeder. They zip all over the place. Anyway, it kept me amused. Later in the afternoon we drove back down into the pretty valley and Torrey for dinner. There are some really nice homes in the hills outside of Torrey and a beautiful ranch--Shooting Star Ranch. This place has acres and acres of beautiful, lush pastures (kept that way because of a sprinkling system) enclosed with these rustic, zig-zag fencing. They keep horses. And this whole valley is surrounded by the most spectacular scenery. We had dinner again at the Kiva Café and then drove around the little town of Torrey. There are some old, abandoned homesteads—some of them about to collapse. Very historic though. Drove back up into the high country and our campground. We noticed a four-wheel drive dirt road going up further into the mountain. Forget four-wheel drive! How about eight-wheel drive—or better yet, as Mike said, maybe a M1-A1 Abrahams! Back home and finished off our pies we bought yesterday. Mine was the best strawberry-rhubarb pie I’ve ever had. Tomorrow we leave for Moab, UT, with full hook-ups, wi-fi, and cable. High in the mid-80s. No rain today.

Mule deer doe and fawn--historic Fruita

Fri, 7/31/09

Singletree Na Forest CG, Near Torrey, UT: We planned on just kicking back today and enjoy this pretty campground. After showering and then filling the fresh water tank, we did just that. I sat outside reading/dozing and all of a sudden there’s a chipmunk trying to get up in my lap. Scared the crap outta me! So I went in and got some raw peanuts in the shell and put a bunch on the ground. Watched him filling his little pouches with peanuts and watched the hummers dive bombing each other over the feeder. They zip all over the place. Anyway, it kept me amused. Later in the afternoon we drove back down into the pretty valley and Torrey for dinner. There are some really nice homes in the hills outside of Torrey and a beautiful ranch--Shooting Star Ranch. This place has acres and acres of beautiful, lush pastures (kept that way because of a sprinkling system) enclosed with these rustic, zig-zag fencing. They keep horses. And this whole valley is surrounded by the most spectacular scenery. We had dinner again at the Kiva Café and then drove around the little town of Torrey. There are some old, abandoned homesteads—some of them about to collapse. Very historic though. Drove back up into the high country and our campground. We noticed a four-wheel drive dirt road going up further into the mountain. Forget four-wheel drive! How about eight-wheel drive—or better yet, as Mike said, maybe a M1-A1 Abrahams! Back home and finished off our pies we bought yesterday. Mine was the best strawberry-rhubarb pie I’ve ever had. Tomorrow we leave for Moab, UT, with full hook-ups, wi-fi, and cable. High in the mid-80s. No rain today.

Dry wash trail through capital gorge

Early pioneers in the area etched their names on the canyon wall

This little cabin was home to a family of 10...the mother, father, and two youngest slept in the four-poster bed which took up half the cabin, the older girls slept in the wagon box, and the boys slept in little hollows in the cliff face...

Fruita School House--used until WWII

Petroglyphs

Thu, 7/30/09

Singletree Na Forest CG, near Torrey, UT: After filling the water tank up we drove in to Torrey and had breakfast at the Kiva Café there. Torrey is a cute little town with several historic buildings, several restaurants, and a really nice art gallery. After breakfast we drove through Capital Reef National Park. Rt. 24 runs right through the park. Again, it is a rugged, beautiful, but inhospitable place. The Mormons settled in a pretty little valley along the Fremont River around 1880. They planted several orchards (22 spread out over several miles) along this river valley. They grew apples, cherries, pears, peaches, and apricots as well as plums, mulberry, almond and walnut trees. The park still maintains the orchards (approximately 2700 trees) and when ripe you can go in and pick them. This little community was known as Fruita. Usually no more than 10 families lived here at any one time, and the last resident moved away in 1969. The little one-room school in this little community was used until WWII. We stopped at the Gifford farm which was part of the Fruita community. It’s now a museum and gift shop. We bought a couple of (small) homemade pies and enjoyed some homemade ice cream there. Left there and drove through the beautiful Capital Gorge—a very narrow road at the bottom of the gorge with shear canyon walls. At the end of the drive where it was too narrow for a road we got out and hiked up the dry wash where the canyon narrowed even more. Really pretty. Drove back to Torrey and had dinner at the Kiva Café again. Mike had steak and I had a 10 vegetable salad which was really good. Drove back to our camp site in the rain and wind. Temperature was 59 when we got back.

On the trail--Henry Mts. in background

Tiny waterfall

Wed, 7/29/09

Singletree Na Forest CG, near Torrey, UT: Up this morning and did a few chores. Filled the water tank. Mike made a modification to his transfer pump system and it worked really well. Decided to hike the little trail to the waterfall. The trail starts right in the campground. Fortunately, I took my trekking poles because the trail was a lot more rugged than we thought. Was pretty flat for a while but then started down a pretty steep slope via a series of switchbacks. Lots of loose gravel and we both started losing our footing. A beautiful view of the valley below and the Henry Mountains in the distance. The waterfall flowed over a large sandstone hill. We headed back when we started hearing thunder and noticed the sky was pretty threatening. This was not a good place to be out in a thunder storm. Hurried back mostly up hill huffing and puffing—not being used to the elevation change yet. It stormed pretty good for a while. Mike grilled pork chops for dinner and we got rid of a bunch of left-overs in the refrigerator. Some mashed potatoes had been in there for a while, but they weren’t green yet and they tasted pretty good. Had a fire after dinner.

Tue, 7/28/09

Escalante State Park, Escalante, UT, to Singletree Na Forest CG, near Torrey, UT: Went to our little western restaurant for breakfast this morning. Love this little town of Escalante. Nothing fancy, but really friendly people. Back to our site and started getting ready to leave. Left Escalante at 11:30, drove over that scary part of Rt. 12 and then up into Dixie National Forest. We’re at about 9000 ft. in a pretty pine forest. No hook-ups, but our site will get full sun so the solar panels will do well. We’re across from water and the restroom. A threatening storm followed us all the way up into the mountains. Shortly after we got set up it rained a little. Put up our hummingbird feeder and watched them fighting over the thing. Will probably get down into the 50s up here tonight. There’s a little trail out of the campground that goes up to a water fall. Plan to do that. We’re only here four nights. One day we plan to go down to Capital Reef National Monument. Hate to leave here though. It’s so pretty. Mike grilled up some hot dogs and we had baked beans and corn with it. Played rummy later on. Mike won one and I won one.