Southern Utah (with a little northern AZ) May 2011

[MarkBC]

Hey Folks!
Just a quick Howdy from ~ 2/3 through my trip, leaching wifi in Torrey, UT, 12 miles west of Capitol Reef National Park.
I met Stew and Tony at Toroweap first thing (May 2), but C.G. was full so we retreated a few miles back to BLM land.

I've had a headache for the past week...possibly from hitting my head on the door frame of the camper...possibly brain worms. Headache is much-lessened now, but I'm still considering the traditional native-American head-boring cure for releasing evil spirits. Also, my refrigerator essentially blew up on day 2 -- there was a catastrophic release of ammonia (the refrigerant) from the system. I breathed in a fair amount of NH3 as I stuck my head in the back of the camper and tried to figure out, "Why is the propane alarm going off?

That doesn't smell like C3H8".

) We'd been driving at the time (as we caravaned to Mt Trumbull, instead of Toroweap, campspot), so maybe rough roads produced the rupture ??. Result is that I bought a cheap ice chest and am doing it old-school until I can get home. So, events have not been ideal, but weather has been nearly so. 10 sunny days out of the past 13 and at least another 5 sunny days forecast.Anyway, despite my near-death from ammonia and swelling brain tumor which have discouraged much hiking so far I have managed to snag a few photos near camps and en route. A sample, with a few more to come when I do a proper trip report.

Photos moved to the full trip report beginning here.

I'll fill in more/details/photos later.See ya, guys!

 

[leadsled9]

Great write up and pics. Keep 'um coming.

 

[Cort]

Sorry to hear about the headache and the fridge.....nonetheless looks like you are having a fantastic time.

Can't wait for the trip report

Cort

 

[Overland Hadley]

The Texaco in Torrey has fast and free wifi.

 

[highz]

Awesome pics, Mark. Sorry about the headache. Maybe it's all the dry air? Instead of drilling a hole in your head, try staying hydrated. Helps with altitude sickness, although I don't think that's your problem.

 

[chnlisle]

Great pix Mark. Banging your head hasn't dampened your eye for beauty. I hope you're feeling better.

 

[ski3pin]

Mark, our friend, stop banging your head and have more fun! It's wonderful country out there, isn't it? Be safe and we can hardly wait for more photos and details! Have to ask, how do you like retirement?

 

[clikrf8]

We were on Hole-In-The-Rock Rd, Burr Trail Rd (slot canyon too, easy to spot once you know where it is) and Capitol Reef last October. Lucky you to be in one of my favorite and most beautiful places anywhere. No fun with a headache but they do disappear. We are looking forward to more pics and a real report. Hope the fridge can be repaired or replaced with something better/cheaper.

 

[Lighthawk]

Nice shots making me remember our trip last May to Escalante (back in the pre-FWC days).
We noticed that slot on Burr Trail also and spent a few nights at the BLM CG there just outside of Boulder. Fantastic country.

Glad you are recovering and looking forward to some more photos.
Nice inspiration too as we are loaded up to leave for our first trip of the year later today.

 

[Desert Rancher]

I will be in that area early next week. Will try to ring you up, also Tuna is poking around there somewhere.

Jeff

 

[MarkBC]

Thanks, all, for the kind words.
I'm camped at a spot on BLM land for the second night just outside the southeast edge of Capitol Reef, near "Halls Overlook".

My headache is 95% gone now, gone enough that I did a short hike today: "Headquarters Canyon" -- only one dose of ibuprofen all day. And I also banged my head again entering the camper this morning...I'm just not used to wearing a hat, so I lose head-clearance awareness when I do!
And I really do miss my fridge, the ability to keep foods cold without ice...and the ability to enjoy ice cream and bring frozen meat, frozen homemade chili, etc. from home! How did I do it for those decades (prior to 5 years ago) without one?!
I plan to be in the same area at dawn tomorrow for photo-ing under better light.

I may spend the rest of my trip at/near Capitol Reef NP...certainly much-more-than-enough here to occupy my feet, eyes, camera for another 6 days. I head home May 20.
Full report with a lot more photos later.
- Mark

 

[Barko1]

I will be in that area early next week. Will try to ring you up, also Tuna is poking around there somewhere.

Jeff

I'm South of Durango right now, going to go pick up another old motorcycle. At Angel Peak, windy as hell! Been blowing all night. Not sure where I will end up tonight, only have a couple of days.

 

[Overland Hadley]

HQ Canyon is a great area.

Glad your head is feeling better.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Neti Pot?

 

[home skillet]

Wow! The photos of your rig parked in those gorgeous open spaces tell a great story. Must have been really relaxing and inspiring. Unfortunately, looking at the pictures while trapping in rainy Bend was enough to give me a headache...off to get some pills now .

Home Skillet

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

MarkBC doing what he does on the edge at Toroweap, AZ.

 

[MarkBC]

Got home last night. A little spaced out now...not accustomed to being in familiar surroundings.

I'll post a report/photos when I get settled...and my bearings. By tomorrow, I expect.
Good trip.

 

[ski3pin]

MarkBC, welcome back home!

 

[MarkBC]

OK...I'm loading up the Galleries with photos from this trip to make it easy to select/include some of them for inclusion in this report -- later today.
Life runs at a slower pace for us retired guys...

 

[MarkBC]

I headed out from Bend late-afternoon Saturday, April 30…just 8 hours later than I’d hoped to do.

Oh well…I still drove half way to Fredonia, UT, that night.

(A departure side-note: Heading east out of Bend on Highway 20, I stopped at a convenience store on Bend’s east edge to stockup on road snacks. When I got back in my rig a guy walked up to me, having seen the WTW stickers on my camper, and introduced himself as “IT Guy” from WTW.)

I spent the first night pulled off from NV 278, ~30 miles south of Carlin, Nevada…just a place in the middle of nowhere to pull over and sleep at 1:30am. Elevation 5313 ft. Getting here I fueled up (gasoline for my V10 F250) in Burns, OR and Winnemucca, NV.

I drove all day Sunday, May 2, fueling in Ely, NV and Cedar City, UT, and spent the night in the Dixie National Forest east of Cedar City, pulled off from UT 14 next to Swain’s Creek, a few miles west of US 89. Elevation 7783 ft. The Forest was very snowy – much more than I expected – almost didn’t find a snow-free place to pull off in that area. The overnight low was 12°!

Monday, May 2 my goal was to meet Stew in Fredonia, UT,at noon, from where we’d head down to Toroweap on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I fueled the truck while passing through Kanab, north of Fredonia. Stew and I connected via phone, rendezvoused in person, then caravanned ~65 miles to Toroweap, Stew leading. The dirt road was mostly high-speed graded on BLM land but degraded a bit with some washboard when we entered the Park…and became kinda bedrock-primitive in spots in the last mile. When we got into the Campground area we found Tony waiting for us – with the sad news that the c.g. was full. After confirming for ourselves that Tony was right about the c.g., Stew and I drove over to the day use area – right next to the brink – and took some photos.

Stew the photographer.

Rejoining patiently-waiting Tony, we followed Tony’s lead to a spot on BLM land at the southwestern base of Mt. Trumbull, where we spent the next two nights. Elevation 6610 ft. Getting there I experienced “an incident”. I got out of the truck when, near our destination, we stopped to confer, and I heard my camper propane alarm alarming. I opened the camper door and was overwhelmed (a little) by the powerful odor of ammonia – the refrigerant that makes the fridge do its thing. Bummer! Was it the bumpy roads that caused this leak/rupture/catastrophic-failure?!? Oh well… I aired out the camper…and kept the fridge closed as much as possible for the next two days to retain cold.

On May 3 Stew and I hiked the trail to the 8028-ft summit of Mt. Trumbull, the trailhead of which was very near our campsite. It was a pleasant hike, in trees until we got to the summit where there was just enough of a clearing to give a bit of a view east and southeast towards The Canyon. The red arrow in the panorama (3 photos, hand-held with my P&S, thanks to “Panorama Factory” software) points towards where Toroweap would be on the far side of the wooded buttes.

The vast majority of my camping has been/is solo – and I usually like it just-fine that way – but it was really enjoyable to spend a couple of days/nights camping with Stew and Tony. Both are interesting guys – guys who know stuff in areas that I’m mostly ignorant, so I learned some new stuff, which is always a good thing. Stew told his bear story.
On May 4, we three WTWers left Mt. Trumbull and caravanned back to Fredonia, where we went our separate ways. On the way there I (leading the pack) came upon this beauty in the middle of the road. He/she was maybe 5 feet long. Snakes are cool.

I headed on back to Kanab and re-stocked some supplies (and truck-fuel) and, most-importantly, bought an ice chest -- one of those ~disposable Styrofoam ones – that’s all that was available in Kanab, and ice. My destination for the night of May 4 was the Escalante Canyons area (of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument), but (after missing the turnoff from 89 to UT 12 and having to double-back) I only made it as far as Red Canyon C.G; elevation 7632 ft, in the Dixie National Forest.

(To Be Continued)