Fall 2020

[Sleddog]

We consider ourselves very lucky to have gotten in almost 2 months of camping in January and February before the world went bonkers. We didn't camp nearly as much as we would have liked this summer, partly due to the obvious disruption courtesy of COVID-19, but mostly because our schedule taking care of the elderly mother-in-law didn't leave much free time for wandering.

We did manage to escape into the out of doors on three occasions this fall. Each trip was limited to 2 weeks or slightly less because of our caretaking schedule. The first was a super short, but much needed, trip to Glacier National Park. We could have easily made it there in a day, but we wanted to turn it into a scenic loop through areas we haven't seen before. So on Day 1 we left home and headed north to catch I-90 west. We decided to camp the first night off I-90 at Exit 5 on the Montana side of the border with Idaho. The Forest Service road here goes to the Hiawatha Bike Trail and has several scattered campsites, we had been here before and stayed at a favorite campsite about 5 miles up the road.

The idea was to approach Glacier from the west via Highway 2. On Day 2, we got back on 90 to Spokane then headed north towards Lake Pend Orielle. We stayed on 2 all the way across Idaho, through Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry and on into Montana. At Libby, we decided to skip the congestion of Kalispell and Whitefish and took a detour on highway 37 north along the shore of Lake Koocanusa. At Eureka, we briefly went south on highway 93 before turning east on Grave Creek Road. Grave Creek turned into Forest Road 114 in both the Kootenai and Flathead National Forests. We camped for the night at a primitive site near a trailhead on the Flathead side of 114, even had time for a short hike after a long driving day.

 

[Sleddog]

On Day 3 we followed Forest Road 114 to Trail Creek Road which ran into the Outside North Fork Road. We arrived in Polebridge around 9am, the store there was packed with people so went on into the park and decided to take a hike at Kintla Lake. There were many more cars on the bumpy dirt road than we expected due to the closure of the east side of the park, but only a few people ventured beyond the photo op near the parking lot. We hiked for a few miles out and back and only saw maybe a half dozen other people. The day started mostly cloudy but cleared just enough to catch the views. After the hike, we headed back out to Polebridge and spent the night at a primitive site a few miles south and up a random Forest Service road, positioning ourselves for easy access to the Camas Creek entrance the next day.

 

[Sleddog]

We got an early start on Day 4 hoping to make it up Going to the Sun road in time to get a parking spot. Unfortunately it snowed just enough overnight to close the road and we were quickly turned around. We headed back out the way we came in along Camas Road, saw a trailhead sign along the way and stopped for a hike to Huckleberry Lookout. The lingering clouds burned off by noon and it turned out to be a beautiful day.

We didn't make it all the way to the lookout, but we did make it to a saddle with beautiful views. And true to the trail name, we found lots of ripe huckleberries and picked several handfuls for trail snacks along the way. We had one more day available for this trip, but the weather was forecast to take an ugly turn in less than 24 hours, so we made the 6 hour drive home after the hike.

 

[Sleddog]

It would be almost 2 months before we could leave again, but we managed to take our second and third trips in November. Indian summer was holding on so for our second trip we chose to make a quick run to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, our first trip to the area.

We left for the Black Canyon on October 31, Halloween, and made it to Brown's Park National Wildlife Refuge in time for a nice sunset on Day 1.

This was meant to be a one night stay on the way to Black Canyon. On Day 2 we took a short walk up the hill before hitting the road. That's our truck all alone at the campground.

Once again, we are avoiding the most direct route and checking out some scenic drives on our way to the Black Canyon. So after our walk, we set out towards Steamboat Springs via highway 318 to US 40, past Steamboat on 131 to Yampa, then across the Flat Tops Trail National Scenic Byway to Meeker. We really enjoyed the scenery along the Flat Tops Trail and plan to return in time to catch the changing color next fall. We camped at East Marvine Campground just before Meeker. It was a slightly higher elevation campground that we had all to ourselves, likely because there was a little snow on the ground. We took a walk up the road and found a lot more snow.

On Day 3 we continued on through Meeker and stopped at Rifle Falls State Park to stretch our legs and go for a short hike.

After Rifle Falls, we continued on I-70 towards Grand Junction, turned south across Grand Mesa on 65, then took 92 to Crawford. We drove to the North Rim Campground to get a campsite before things got too crowded. After choosing a site, we took a hike to Exclamation Point followed by a drive along the North Rim Road. It was an unseasonal 61 degrees and sunny, perfect compared to the snow we left at home.

On Day 4, we drove to the South Rim and down to East Portal to check out the campsites. Found out there is a wicked 16% grade getting there. We didn't care for the campsites and decided to camp for the night at South Rim Campground, getting there in time to hike part of the Rim Rock trail before dark.

On Day 5 we hiked the rest of the Rim Rock Trail and all of the Oak Flat Trail before driving the South Rim Road. We had stopped at all of the scenic pullouts and walked the short trails to the viewpoints by lunchtime and were ready to head elsewhere. Our window of good weather was closing, below freezing temperatures and snow were in the forecast for the next morning into the foreseeable future. We checked the forecast for several locations and decided to go to Death Valley next, we still had a week to travel and felt there was enough time to get there and take a good look around before heading back to Idaho to take our next shift with the mother-in-law. We hightailed it west and spent the night just outside Valley of Fire State Park near Overton. Holy cow, RVs and campers everywhere! We found a quiet spot away from everyone near some sort of mine, not ideal but good enough for the night.

We arrived at Furnace Creek around noon on Day 6, it was a perfect 71 degrees. We drove on towards Stovepipe Wells to find a primitive site for the night, both of us were beat after the 700 mile drive from Colorado.

On Day 7 we hit the touristy highlights along 190 and camped bear Stovepipe Wells again so we could hike Mosaic Canyon in the morning.

On Day 8 we hiked Mosaic Canyon then drove to Badwater and back hitting all the attractions in between. We drove on to spend the night at Panamint Springs campground to catch a shower.

We took a hike to Darwin Falls before leaving Panamint on Day 9. After the hike to Darwin Falls, we drove to the Charcoal Kilns, then over to the Keene Wonder Mine for a walk about. We found a primitive site nearby for the night.

On Day 10 we went up towards Grapevine and spent the night in the backcountry on the road to the Racetrack. There was something loose and banging around on the truck that seemed to be getting worse, so we were reluctant to go any farther into the backcountry on this trip.

On Day 11 we started towards home, stopping for a visit at Rhyolite ghost town. We camped nearby and drove to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho on Day 12. We got a room with a private tub and enjoyed a couple of soaks before heading on home to start our next caregiving shift.

 

[Sleddog]

We spent 5 days caring for the mother-in-law before heading out again for our third camping trip of the fall, and our final camping trip of the year. Most of the last trip was scenic driving with a few short hikes scattered in between, this time we were going to Moab and I wanted to do more hiking than driving.

On Day 1 we made it to Swasey's Beach Campground just a few miles north of Green River, Utah. During summer this BLM campground is full of river runners, but it is mostly deserted late fall and we like it for a quiet overnight stop.

On Day 2 we took I-70 to highway 128. We wanted to avoid Moab itself with all the people and road construction and there were three trails we wanted to hike on this section of road. We camped at Hittle Bottom Campground after taking a short hiking trail just across the road. Sunset was quite nice.

We hiked Fisher Towers on Day 3 and camped at one of the less crowded BLM campgrounds along 128.

On Day 4 we hiked Grandstaff Canyon and camped off of 128 again.

We have been wanting to drive the La Sal loop for years, but it has always been covered in snow while we were in the area. This time it worked out and on Day 5 we drove the La Sal Mountain loop, and camped along 128 on more time.

On Day 6 we went to Deadhorse Point State Park. It was fairly early so we hiked out to Bighorn Overlook then spent the night in the park campground. The campground was full, but we were able to get the camp host site that was vacant for the winter season.

On Day 7 we hiked the East Rim and West Rim trails then found a primitive campsite for the night off of 313.

On Day 8 we did a short hike to Gemini Bridges then went over to the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail. Camping was at a dispersed site north of Moab about 2 miles off 191.

Time was running short, so on Day 9 we drove back to Swasey's Campground and on Day 10 we drove to Lava Hot Springs for a couple more soaks before heading back home on Day 11.

Even with all of the disruptions to our everyday life, we still managed to camp a total of about 80 nights this year. It wasn't as many nights out as we wanted, but under the circumstances we are grateful for what we got.

 

[ski3pin]

Very nice! That was fun. You did very well getting in 80 nights. Thanks for sharing your adventures.

 

[craig333]

Much nicer trips than I've been able to do!

 

[Cottonww]

I'm surprised you let that 16% grade down to the Gunnison river/canyon bottom bother you with your rig. I liked the campsites down there because they get less use and are quieter than on top.No Land Whales down there!

We often camp at Hittle Bottom on our way to Canyonlands/Needles or south to our winter home in Tucson. You missed the nice hike around Fischers Tower south of Hittle Bottom. Also further east of Hittle Bottom at the bridge crossing the Colorado there is a gravel Forest Service road that makes its way to a rising escarpment that one can walk or 4-wheel to the summit and look down at Fischer Tower. At the turn off to the climb there are several boondocking sites.

BTW we have a. cabin near Gore Pass about 40min south of Steamboat Springs. If any of you want info about the Flattops or boondocking in that area contact me. Same with our winter home near Tucson.

Bill

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Really enjoyed your trips.
Thanks for posting.
Frank

 

[LuckyDan]

Really enjoyed your trips.
Thanks for posting.
Frank

Me too....

Dan

 

[searching for nowhere]

Thanks. This was nice to read on a rainy, windy, and all around yucky day outside. Many on the areas you went to, I have been to and I was able to visualize your trip. Yet you also introduced me to new things to see in the areas. It makes me want to go back.