Another Visit to Capitol Reef National Park – October 2018

October 12, 2018March 26, 2019 Carol Carnicom1 Comment

Friday October 12: The low last night was 32 degrees, but the morning is calm with some puffy little clouds against a blue sky, a nice day for an outing.

I make sandwiches and thermoses of tea, and then we – Clifford, Rollie, Ninja, and I – head off to Capitol Reef for another day of sight-seeing there. First stop is Twin Rocks, right alongside the highway, then Chimney Rock where we hike up the trail a ways. Photos can’t do justice to the enormous size of the mesas here.

Photos can’t do justice to the enormous size of the mesas here. If you look closely, you can see Clifford where the path drops off.

Panoramic Point is next and we walk out onto the rocks for the panoramic view of the colorful striated mesas, imagining the tremendous geological activity that took place eons ago to create such a landscape.

At the Visitor Center we sit on a bench to enjoy our sandwiches and fruit cups. While we are there, I cross the highway to get a better shot of the iconic rock formation.

Iconic rock formations near the Visitor Center

After lunch, we visit Gifford House, once part of the original farm settlement, now renovated and operating as a living demonstration of the life of the early Mormon settlers. Pies, candles, soaps, and such are made and sold at this “home.” We visit the nearby orchards, 200 acres of fruit trees. One orchard has been designated as available for tourists to pick an apple. We walk through the orchard, but it has long since been thoroughly picked over, so my thoughts of eating a freshly picked apple do not come to fruition, so to speak.

Gifford House
Orchards

As we head back to camp, I am able to get a few more photos of the scenic landscape through the open window, but no more stops.

Mesa near west entrance to Capitol Reef National Park

Back at camp, dinner is sloppy joes. Cribbage with Rollie, dishes, and journal round out a very full day for me.

Camp Days at Beas Lewis Flat – October 2018

October 11, 2018March 24, 2019 Carol Carnicom1 Comment

is Wednesday October 10: A very windy and rather chilly day here at Beas Lewis Flat west of Capitol Reef National Park. Too chilly for this early in October, in my opinion. Big hurricane, Michael, is in the gulf and hitting Florida, so guess I don’t have much call to complain.

Beautiful first light renders the landscape to the west an awesome rich golden color, but soon the moment passes and usual daytime color returns. I make my French press coffee and then go over to my brother Rollie’s rig where it is warmer while Clifford is still sleeping.

Later, Clifford and I go to the nearby town of Torrey for errands and the laundromat. Back at camp, I do some editing before starting dinner. After winning a game of cribbage with Rollie, I do dishes and then play viola for a bit. Start putting away clean clothes until I reach our pj’s, and then off to bed. The rest of the clean clothes can wait until tomorrow.

Thursday October 11: There was some rain in the night and this morning is overcast and calm. After breakfast, Rollie gets out his fire pit and we have a little campfire, but being outdoors is still kind of chilly. Some sun broke through for a bit, followed by more clouds and a little rain. Definitely a fall-ish kind of day.

Light on the mesa to the west near sunset

In the afternoon we all go to Red Cliff Cafe in Torrey and have pizza, a fun thing to do on a chilly day. Back at camp, I continue with a reorganizing project that I started this morning. Rollie and I play music at his rig in the later afternoon before having a light dinner, since we had a big lunch today. Cribbage, dishes, and journal writing finish out the day for me.

Visit to Capitol Reef National Park – October 2018

October 9, 2018March 22, 2019 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

Tuesday October 9: It is 32 degrees this morning here at Beas Lewis Flat Road outside Capitol Reef National Park, but it is not snowing and the blue sky shows off yesterday’s snow on the mesas. I make coffee and then go visit my brother Rollie for a few minutes.

After breakfast, Clifford and I make a trip to the nearby town of Torrey to pick up our mail. We stop at the market; it doesn’t have much, even for a small town, but there is a bakery in the back, so the bread is good and fresh. We get water and propane, and then we stop at the Visitor Center to use their wifi to check email and post photos on FB.

Back at camp, I make tuna sandwiches for a picnic and clear a seat in the Suburban for Rollie and Ninja, and then off we go to Capitol Reef National Park.

After a stop at the Capitol Reef Visitor Center, we drive through the campground, reminiscing about camping here in December of 1997. The scenic drive takes us to several view points…

Rollie takes photos along the scenic drive in Capitol Reef National Park

and then we rush back for the ranger program at the Fremont Petroglyph Site. We learn about the Fremonts, the Native Americans of the area who began incorporating farming into their hunter and gatherer lifestyles about 1,300 years ago.

We then drive to the east side of the park to explore BLM dispersed camping outside the park boundaries. Although we find several places that could be used, we like our spot on the west side of the park the best.

Driving to the east side of Capitol Reef Park

Formations on the east side of Capitol Reef

Back at camp, I make “breakfast” for dinner, play cribbage with Rollie, do the dishes, and then tidy up. Keeping tiny homes (RV’s) neat and organized makes living in a small space comfortable, especially when being full-time or nearly full-time nomads as we are.

Snow at Capitol Reef – October 2018

October 8, 2018March 21, 2019 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

Monday October 8: The overnight low is 36, but it gets colder and begins to snow by 9:00 this morning.

I go have coffee with Rollie, as his rig is warm, and then walkabout to take photos of the snow. Coat, hat, and gloves are thoroughly wet by time I return.

After breakfast, Clifford and I go over to Rollie’s to play music – a good day for it. Later I go for a longer walk up to the big rock feature on the north side of the road, and to the highway, to the rock quarry that is further in on the road, and back to camp. Quite muddy, but I picked my way carefully.

Rollie wants to get out, so I walk the road with him, again picking our way carefully so as not to get too deep into the mud.

We have homemade soup and rice for dinner, taking it over to Rollie’s so he doesn’t have to come out again. This chilly weather is hard on him. After we eat, we play music again. When Clifford and I get back to Cougar, we discover that the propane ran out while we were at Rollie’s. The burners were on low to keep the place warm, so now it smells bad in here and we have to leave the door open for fresh air in spite of the chill outside. Not he best way to end the evening!

Boondocking near Capitol Reef – October 2018

October 7, 2018March 21, 2019 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

Thursday October 4: Today is a settling in day. I take a few photos even though it is cloudy and windy. Clifford gets his ham radio antennas up.

In the afternoon I do some editing for Ang and make applesauce with the wild apples before Rollie and I play bluegrass music at his rig.

After dinner, I get skunked playing cribbage with Rollie and get a blog written before heading to bed.

Friday October 5: I am up in time for photos at sunrise, which is always a delight to me.

Same mesa, but different day, different camera, and a different effect

We go to Torrey today to pick up mail sent General Delivery only to find that the post office is already closed. The market in Torrey is very small, but has a good bakery. Editing and blog writing are my main activities of the day, and this evening I win at cribbage.

Saturday October 6: I am up earlier than usual, making coffee as quietly as possible so as not to wake Clifford, going over to Rollie’s rig, as he is always up early and his rig is already warm. It is overcast this morning with a forecast for rain. A neighbor from further in stops by to tell us that when the rain comes, it will turn the ground to ankle-deep gumbo. He has been here for awhile and has seen it first-hand. Rigs trying to get out get stuck and tow trucks won’t even come in to rescue them. So, in preparation for the possibility, I find the biggest flattest rocks I can carry and put them under Cougar’s stabilizer jacks, make a rock pathway to the Suburban and a longer pathway from Cougar over to Rollie’s rig.

Preparing for rain. Rig on left is Cougar; rig to the far upper right is Rollie’s FR3

It does indeed rain in the afternoon and into the evening, so I am glad I did the work.

Sunday October 7: It is overcast this morning and I take photos of the mesa shrouded in mist.

I carry on with the rock work since it appears that the rain is going to continue and the high is only 46 degrees. In the afternoon I do some editing. Cell service is very weak here, so no time is spent with cell or internet related activities. More time for editing (until the laptop battery goes dead) and music. I make spaghetti dinner tonight and play cribbage with Rollie before washing up the dishes. Clifford and I go to bed earlier tonight, as it is too chilly to stay up, and we are both tired.

Montana to Utah – October 2018

October 3, 2018March 12, 2019 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

Monday October 1: I am up by 7:30 and chat with the neighbors at their campfire before making tea for our thermoses. Today is a travel day and we plan to leave from our brief stay here at Divide Bridge Campground and make it as far as the Walmart in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Mist rising in the morning at Divide Bridge Campground

Traveling south through southwestern Montana

It is very windy and we are glad to pull off the highway when we reach Idaho Falls. We park along the grass on the back parking lot and then spend a few minutes picking up trash. It is too bad that some people abuse the privilege of overnight stays at Walmart, and because of that fewer Walmarts are allowing overnighters. There are many RV coming in this afternoon, perhaps because of the wind. We go to Panda for a late lunch and then pick up the groceries and sundries we will need for the next leg of the trip.

Tuesday October 2: We are on our way after making thermoses and tidying up. It is very windy, worse than yesterday, causing slower travel and poor gas mileage.

We stop at the rest stop before the Utah border, the rest stop that I call the Apple Tree Stop. It is a relief to get off the highway for awhile and just walk about. I check out the apple tree, an untended giant of a tree, and see that it is bountiful this year. I poke among the apples that have fallen and gather a bagful that will be made into applesauce.

We reach the Perry, Utah, Walmart in late afternoon and park along the edge of the lot. We can see a huge storm to the west, and we learn from my brother Rollie that he is in the midst of it on his parallel route through Nevada. Eventually the storm moves over us and I’m glad we are parked and not trying to drive through the downpour.

Last sunlight on the hills at Perry, Utah

Wednesday October 3: We leave Perry and begin the journey through Salt Lake City, and even though part of it is on a bypass that we have discovered, the rest of it is the main I-15 corridor made worse by construction. I am ever so grateful when we come out on the south end of this huge city complex and stop for lunch at Cracker Barrel in Springfield.

After lunch, we continue south of I-15, new country for us, a day of clouds and rain storms. We leave the interstate at the junction to Utah State Hwy 50, then take Hwy 24 to the small town of Loa where we are meeting Rollie.

A day …
of clouds …
and …
rain storms…
and more clouds.

Rollie arrives before us and as soon as we get there, we all decide to head onto our intended destination outside Torrey, Utah, near Capitol Reef National Park. Arriving at the BLM road, Beas Lewis Flat, where we plan to stay, we park and scout on foot, finding a couple of pullouts that will accommodate both rigs. We will have lots of privacy here, as well as great views.

Scouting out places to park the rigs
End of day

After we get set up, I make chili for dinner for all of us, glad to have the driving over for awhile and happy to have found such a scenic place to call home for the next couple of weeks.

Divide Bridge Heading South – September 2018

September 30, 2018March 11, 2019 Carol Carnicom1 Comment

Saturday September 29: We get up a little earlier than usual and I get tea made for the thermoses. We have a quick breakfast of yogurt and fruit before we finish packing, and we are on our way before 10:00. We are leaving the Bass Creek Recreation Area in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana where we have been camped for the last couple of weeks. Our destination today is Divide Bridge campground in southwestern Montana.

The wind is fierce as we go through Hellgate Canyon on the east side of Missoula. We are relieved that it lets up some as we head further east, but even so, stopping for gas at Deer Lodge, we are surprised at how cold the wind is.

Reaching Divide Bridge Campground, we find a spot with grass still green and shrubs showing autumn colors. Our set-up is minimal, as we won’t be staying long.

Of course, I visit the river right away.

In the evening, we work on our projects – dulcimer and CI Legacy for Clifford, while I continue editing Princes and Priests and prepare another blog of our travels. We have nachos for dinner, as that is easy and tasty, and head to bed earlier than usual. Travel days are tiring, but at least we have a pretty place to stay.

Sunday September 30: I am up early to use the restroom and see that it is a drizzly morning The neighbors have a nice big campfire, so I go over to say “hi.” We have a nice visit before I go back to Cougar to make tea for the thermoses, as we are planning on leaving to meet Tye and Tammy at Lewis&Clark Caverns.

Saying “Hi” to the neighbors who are set up by the river

However, the drizzle turns to sleet, which turns to snow. Since we don’t have a current weather report, we are a bit undecided about the wisdom of driving over Pipestone pass to meet them, not knowing what the weather is on the pass or on their side of the mountain. In the end, we drive out to the highway where there is cell service and cancel our plans to meet them. I am very disappointed, but again, discretion is wise.

By afternoon, the weather clears up and had we had communication, we might have been able to still pull off a get-together, but oh well, sometimes things don’t work out the way I’d like them to. At least it is pretty here and I spend time walking about, taking photos of the snow on autumn colored leaves in the morning and photos of the river in the river in the afternoon.

We are short on power today; I edit until the laptop battery is dead, then play viola for awhile. Dinner is cooked and eaten by lantern light. Even though we normally use our electronic devices a lot, there are always things that can be done without power. Tomorrow we will be continuing south and we will see what the weather brings our way.

Last Days at Bass Creek – September 2018

September 28, 2018March 1, 2019 Carol Carnicom1 Comment

Wednesday September 26: I go down to the creek first thing this morning; I will miss being here. Back at camp, I make a campfire and sit outside to write in the journal.

Today we take care of little projects like hanging towel racks, stuffing steel wool in any openings we can find underneath, and spraying the gasket around the slide-out. Then I clean out my car and pack it with the tubs of music and books that will remain in Montana. Nancy and her husband Dick will be babysitting my Forester this winter.

Thursday September 27: Text a happy birthday message to my youngest son, the nomad. Then Clifford and I head to Missoula for a last day of errands, shopping, and laundromat. We have quite a few things to take care of, as well enjoying a stop at Book Exchange, so it is late by time we arrive back at camp.

Friday September 28: This morning I put the clean clothes and sundries away before heading out to see Ang one last time. My grandson Oden is there, and it is wonderful to see what a great young man he is becoming. We have lunch and I’m happy that I get to see them again before leaving Montana.

On the way back to camp, I drop my car off at my sister Nancy’s place and Clifford picks me up there. Back at camp, we pack up all the outside stuff in preparation for leaving tomorrow. We have a ways to go, so hope to get an early start. It has been good being here in Montana with its rivers, lakes, and mountains, great seeing my kids and their families, my siblings, and long-time friends. I wish we could stay longer, but weather considerations indicate that it is time to move on.

Sister Hike – September 2018

September 25, 2018February 26, 2019 Carol Carnicom3 Comments

Tuesday September 25: One of the best things about camping here in the Bitterroot Valley is that I get to see my sisters, Lillian and Nancy. Both sisters have come out a couple of times and we have visited with our brother Rollie who is also camped here. I had planned to meet Nancy for another visit and hike, but that is being cut out by our leaving early. However, I do get to see Lillian one more time before Clifford and I leave Montana for the season.

Lillian and I meet for lunch at a nice place in the nearby small town of Florence and sit outside in the sunshine in the enclosed patio, protected from the breeze. So nice to have the time to visit with no rush to be somewhere else.

After lunch, she comes back to our campground and we hike up the Bass Creek Trail to the quiet spot on the creek where I hiked earlier this week with friends. We both take photo of the waterfall that is usually hidden and then continue on up the trail, taking photos of each other. What a fun day!

Lillian Taking a Photo
Hidden Waterfall

Lillian
Bass Creek Trail

Clifford went on a cross-country hike by himself today. It is good that we are both getting out and hiking some. He also made progress on the CI Legacy Project. After dinner, while I did the dishes, he played the dulcimer, which is always nice to hear. Most days I play the viola, but not today. Sister visits are more important!

Kootenai Creek Hike – September 2018

September 24, 2018February 25, 2019 Carol Carnicom5 Comments

Monday September 24: The low last night was in the mid-30’s and the high today is only 59 degrees with a cumulus cloud cover. In looking at the map and the forecast for cooler weather in Montana with rain and possibly early snow, we decide that we will have to leave Bass Creek earlier than planned and begin the journey south. I am not so happy about this, as it means a change of plans as far as seeing family goes, but I do understand the wisdom of the decision.

In the afternoon, Clifford and I drive to one of the other main drainages in the Bitterroot Range, Kootenai Creek, just a few miles further south in the Bitterroot Valley. It is a lovely hike with lots of autumn color and the creek seems especially lively as it tumbles around boulders and over rocks that form the creek bed. We left camp a little late for getting sunlight on the foliage, but at least we are here and have the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful scenic trail before we leave this area.