The Ted's Inaugural Trip into the Southwest

Ted

Ted

Magellan
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We did a quick weekend Shakedown in our new Hawk to make sure everything worked. Then shortly after we left for 10 days in our new Hawk. I'm still trying to get caught up at work so Mrs. Ted took over the Trip report duties. A little late but I'm finally getting it posted.

[SIZE=medium]1st[/SIZE] night: Alabama Hills
[SIZE=medium] Found our favorite site open after a leisurely drive from Rocklin. Had a fire up against the rocks that evening and shared it with a rather bold little mouse who kept darting around the rock ring. The rock overhang provided a rather modern interpretation of ancient rock art. While not authentic, we had to give the artist some credit for trying to recreate what might have been. A strong breeze overnight was just a hint of things to come.[/SIZE]

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[SIZE=medium]2nd[/SIZE] night: Falling Man/Gold Butte trailhead
[SIZE=medium] Drove through Death Valley on our way to the Gold Butte area. Stopped at Stovepipe Wells; noticed a Tacoma/FWC off in the distance at the campground. Contemplated driving over to say high but didn’t want to come across as a FWC stalker. Much to our pleasant surprise one of the owners came over to say hi. Had a wonderful chat with a delightful woman from Kentucky who was 4 months into a year-long trip with her husband. We headed off to Gold Butte thinking how lucky they were and wondering where they were off to next….[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] We had heard about the Falling Man petroglyph from other Wander the Wester’s and were excited to finally be checking it out in person. The desert holds many secrets, not only the meanings behind the rock art. We came across pools of water tucked into rock recesses and pondered the many animals that must rely on these.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt](Got there early enough to spend several hours hiking around; came back and relaxed under the awning; stayed the night and moved onto Mud Wash.[/SIZE]

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[SIZE=medium]3rd[/SIZE] night: Mud Wash/Little Finland
[SIZE=medium]Road to Little Finland was slow going but perfectly do-able for the Tundra/Hawk. Unfortunately the campsite we were planning to stay at was already occupied but at least it was occupied by an older Tundra/Hawk combo along with an SUV/tent. Had a nice chat with the occupants and moved on along the wash to find another site. Found one and set up camp; wanted to explore up a road but like many of our off-road adventures, found it occupied by several cows/steers who were rather large and weren’t interested in moving. We decided that letting them be was the wisest choice. Made good use of our new outdoor shower and enjoyed getting cleaned up.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=medium]4th[/SIZE] night: Gold Butte/left for Zion
[SIZE=medium] Drove out to Little Finland and enjoyed exploring the area. Came across more of our bovine friends. Not sure what they were talking about but several were having quite the conversation, immediately between us and the camper so we took a rather circular route back and gave them a wide berth. Drove back to the paved road and found an open campsite. Was a bit of a challenge among all the rather large toy haulers and ATVs. Beautiful night and we went to sleep; woken up after midnight to incredible winds. After feeling the truck/camper literally getting pushed and figuring that since we weren’t getting sleep anyway; we packed up and headed to our next planned destination, Zion NP. Got in a few hours later, just before dawn. Picked an open campsite and tried to get a little sleep. Found out later that it was spring break in Utah and that’s why the campground was more crowded than we were expecting.[/SIZE]

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Except for that bevine quadroped, the pictures were great and a great beggining to a great trip! Soon to be on my own

Enjoy it

Smoke
 
[SIZE=medium]5th[/SIZE] night: Zion NP campground
[SIZE=medium] Spent the day picking up a few supplies, walked around the campground and across the bridge to town.[/SIZE]

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[SIZE=medium]6th[/SIZE] night: Grand Canyon/Thunderbird Lodge
[SIZE=medium] We were in no hurry; packed up and headed out to the Grand Canyon. Ran into road construction that had highway 89 shut down until 11:30 that morning. Not much we could do about it and turning around/alternative routes weren’t an option, so we enjoyed the hospitality of the volunteers (they had water, donuts, porta potties) who were making sure those waiting in line were as comfortable as possible. While unexpected, it was a beautiful spot to be stopped in and Utah was kind enough to have volunteers and supplies. We were there about 90 minutes and walked around looking for petroglyphs one of the road crew thought were in the area and did some reading. At exactly 11:30 the road opened and we were on our way to the Grand Canyon. After almost a week of camping, we decided we’d try and get a room on the South Rim. Took a little bit more effort than planned but then there is no slow time for the Grand Canyon. We enjoyed a beautiful room with a view of the rim, dinner overlooking the rim and a real shower. Another benefit of a national park is meeting the employees from all over the country and world. They are so engaging and love to talk with you about where they’re from and all the places they’ve been too. A small price to pay for spending time in a bit more developed/crowded area than we prefer.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]7th[/SIZE] night: Grand Canyon campground
[SIZE=medium] Had a leisurely morning and headed to the campground. No problem getting a site and we were pleasantly surprised to run into our friends from Kentucky as they drove through the campground! We had another great chat. (Edit - this couple are members on WTW but have not posted. They are the Geotreckers.) We finished up our chat and walked through the campground to the shuttle stop and hopped on. We spent the afternoon hiking around the rim, taking pictures and watching stupid people along the rim edge. Even though it was rather cloudy, and we even got a few snow flurries, the view is still stunning. Spent a quiet night and made plans to head out early, knowing that by spending 2 nights at the GC, we needed to start making tracks for home.[/SIZE]

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8th night: Cathedral Gorge SP
This little but incredibly well-maintained campground is becoming a favorite of ours. We’ve stayed before and loved the rock formations as well as the quiet, well-kept campground. Got in late that afternoon and picked a site. Enjoyed a hot shower and some very territorial jack rabbits in the sagebrush who didn’t seem concerned about the humans, just how close the other jackrabbits were.


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9th night: Toquima Cave
Headed out from CG SP Saturday morning and while we were feeling a bit down as this would be our last evening camping, we were heading to another of our favorite spots, Toquima Cave campground, not too far from the center of Nevada. An easy graded road off of 50 took us through open sagebrush inhabited by wild horses, which we were lucky enough to see. They were cautious of us as we stopped on the road and took pictures. We noticed a small group standing around a horse on the ground; a mare in labor? There was another foal in the group and it was springtime. The group also included a burro. Or is that a Donkey? Beautiful to see regardless and a reminder of who inhabited this area long before there were paved roads and highways. Also saw some antelope. No problem getting a “campsite” at Toquima. It’s quite primitive so calling it a campground might be generous. Only saw one truck go by while we were there, otherwise we had it to ourselves. A fitting place to spend our final night before heading home.

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Hey Ted, the print size on that last down load is real real small-almost can't read it (almost fuzzy), but the pictures are still great!

Smoke
 
Thanks, Smoke. I saw that as soon as i posted it. Give me a few minutes to complete the edit.
 
A well deserved trip! A grand tour of a sorts! You start and finish with familiar camps, but we have yet to make the GC or even Zion in our FWC. It was especially fun following along your Gold Butte adventures, since we were recently there. But you've got to take those cows straight on, by the horns!

Callie says she is available for bovine duty, at a reasonable rate. :giggle:
 
I wouldn't plan on staying in the Gold Butte area until the range war is settled.
The area is currently closed until the feral cattle run by the Bundy's are rounded up.
Google Cliven Bundy for more information, I tried to post a link but for some reason it wouldn't paste to the page. This issue has gotten quite a bit of press in the St. George area lately.
Hopefully the cattle will be gone soon. They really have torn up the area.
Dsrtrat
 
dsrtrat, I did look that up and you are right. It does not seem like a good time to visit Gold Butte right now. I'll start a new thread with the link.

Bil and Craig, looking forward to seeing you at the rally. That is, assuming we have a camper by then. We had some sleepless nights with the oil canning and FWC is going to redo the roof. If it isn't done on time I may just have to show up in a borrowed XP. ;)
 
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