Never Trust Your GPS - Escalante State Park (Labor Day weekend 2011)

September 3-5, 2011 (Labor Day)

Escalante State Park

Dave, Christine, Mike

We left about 5:15 PM on Friday, September 2nd. However, our reservation didn’t start until Saturday. The plan was to stop at the Flying J in Beaver and spend the night in the 5th wheel, but as we traveled south on I-15, we turned on the GPS. The GPS lady said to take the exit by Scipio (a small town), which was an alternate way to go. Feeling adventurous, we decided to go that way, which was a new way for us.

It was getting dark by then, but we faithfully followed the GPS lady’s directions. Twice, she took us on half-loops that went on unpaved roads and then brought us back to the road we’d been on originally. On one of these loops (really more of a U), we saw two deer, so that was fun. Back on the main road we saw something in the road (it was fairly dark by then) and had to swerve to avoid a deer curled up and sitting in our lane. We hope he wasn’t hurt—not sure why he was sitting in the road. We saw another deer on the side of the road earlier too, so we saw 4 deer.

On one of the detours, we drove past a house kind of out in the middle of nowhere. A family was bar-b-quing on their front porch and they stared at us as we drove past, probably wondering what in the world we were doing driving past their house on a seldom-used dirt road pulling a 5th wheel.

Eventually the GPS lady told us to turn off of the highway onto an unpaved road. We did. (Why? You may ask. It was dark and we couldn’t tell it was unpaved until we’d already turned onto it, and it’s difficult to turn around when pulling an RV, so we decided to go forward.) We had to drive about 40 miles. Since we couldn’t go faster than 25 - 30 miles per hour, it took a while (The name of the road turned out to be “The Devil’s Backbone”!) It was about 10:00 PM when we started on this road, so we were getting tired.

Two different times, a rabbit ran across the road in front of us. The drive looked like it would be a pretty during the day, but we were tired and it was dark. The road actually wasn’t too bad for an unpaved road, but it was bumpy at times. As we approached the end (according to the GPS at least), Dave noticed that the light for the trailer brakes wasn’t on (this is a small light near the driver that is green when the trailer brakes are not applied, and turns orange/red when the trailer brakes are applied), and we’d been going downhill. He got out of the truck and we could smell the distinct odor of overused truck brakes. All the bouncing around had caused the brake plug to come out, so we'd been using only the truck brakes to slow the truck AND trailer. Not good. Luckily, Dave just had to plug the cord back in, and we were one our way.

Twice along the way we had to stop and use a flashlight to check a sign to make sure we took the correct fork in the road. Also, a few times we saw RV’s well off the road, camping. We considered doing the same (evidently it was BLM land where you can camp if you want), but it didn’t seem wise to drive off of the road while pulling the trailer when we wouldn’t be able to see where we were going. Plus it was just Dave, me, and Mike and it creeped me out to be away from everyone when who knows who was out there.

At about 11:45 PM, when we reached the end of that leg, the GPS lady told us to “turn right”, but the scenery looked the same. We were expecting to reach a paved road, but didn’t see anything. Then we noticed a  road sharply to the right. We would have to make a U-turn with the 5th wheel to go that way and it seemed to lead off into the darkness.

After stopping in the middle of the road (not that there was ANYONE around), Dave took the flashlight and walked down the road the GPS lady wanted us to take, to see where it led. He discovered that it led to a creek and then seemed to stop. We decided to continue on the way we’d been going and the GPS lady recalculated. Fifteen minutes later we reached the town of Escalante. 

Needless to say, we bought a map of the area the very next day! 

So it was about midnight when we reached Escalante. First we drove to the campground to see if our spot happened to be empty (though we weren't due until later that day). It wasn’t. Then we drove through town, looking for an inconspicuous place to park. There was a large motel (Prospector’s Inn) and we pulled into the parking lot. At the end  of the parking lot was a large gravel area. We pulled in there, got ready for bed, and went to bed. We slept with the slide-out slid in so it wouldn’t be obvious that we were sleeping in there.

We slept without incident. Saturday at 7:00 I woke up and got dressed. Mike and Dave got up too. A short time later we pulled away from the Inn and drove down the main street, looking for a place to eat breakfast (I didn't want to prepare a meal in the trailer until we got to our campsite). We didn’t see any place to eat, so we pulled into a gas station and asked where a place to eat was. Ironically, he sent us back to Prospector’s Inn where there was a restaurant.

We had a good breakfast, then drove back to the campground to see if the people in our spot had left. They hadn’t. It was 8:30 AM. We went back to the Visitor’s Center, which is where we bought the Utah Almanac. Then we  went to the Escalante River Trailhead and began the Escalante Natural bridge hike.

Right at the beginning we had to cross a stream about ten feet across and less than a foot deep. We took off our shoes and socks to cross it. Both banks had deep sand, so it was fun to be barefoot. We put our shoes and socks back on and continued on. 

Mike after we crossed the creek

Apparently we missed the place where you are supposed to cross the creek again, because as we went on, the trail became hard to see and difficult to walk through, but we kept going. 

Mike and me on the Escalante River trail

Eventually we had to stop because the only options were to jump in the river or climb a rock wall. Here is a video of what the area looked like.

Here's a funny video of Mike jumping across a narrow section of the stream. He thought the other side was a little more stable.

We turned around and headed back and saw a group of people crossing the river at the place we missed. We were ready to get to our campsite, so we headed back to the beginning of the trail and got back to our truck. We drove to the campground and arrived just before 1:00 PM. The people had left and we were able to pull in to our spot and get settled.

On Sunday we drove out on the Hole in the Rock road to the Dry Fork Road trailhead. There are several slot canyons there. We hiked three of them:  Dry Fork, Peek-a-boo, and Spooky. There were some extremely narrow areas, but it was fun. 

We also had to do a bit of climbing from time to time. In fact, to even get started on one of the slot canyon hikes, we had to climb up about 25 feet to get into the opening. It’s harder to climb down it (for me) than to climb up. Here's a video of me climbing up. You can judge if my 25 foot guess is accurate. I'm not very good at telling measurements. The rock is sandy, which makes it slippery and I was afraid of slipping and falling!

The hike back to the car was strenuous as we were tired and there were a lot of uphill sections. All told, we were there nearly four hours. Next time we need to bring more water. We had 4 16-ounce bottles and Mike had his Camelback, but we could have used more. It was a fun time.

Here are a few more pictures from that hike:

Mike and me

Mike

Mike

On the drive back we saw this sign and thought it was funny.

Dave in the cat pasture

We came back and showered, had dinner, and watched a movie. (Our campsite had electric and water hookups, which was nice).

NOTE: Soon after, Dave and I invested in Camelbacks for ourselves and have really enjoyed them.

Spruces (August 26-28, 2011)

August 26-28, 2011

Spruces

Dave and Christine

Dave and I arrived at the Spruces campground (up Big Cottonwood Canyon) about 5:20 pm on Friday. We set up camp and started dinner, then Val, Blake, and Bronx arrived about 7:30 to have dinner with us and sit around the campfire. Bronx was excited and had a good time. They left by 9:30 pm.

Bronx - 20 months old, sitting by the campfire

On Saturday, Dave and I walked around the campground, then drove through another campground a little further up Big Cottonwood Canyon—Redman—it's pretty but only has a handful of sites where we could fit our 5^th wheel. And they're all first come/first serve.

We drove further up the canyon to Silver Lake and took the walk around the lake. 

Dave and me at Silver Lake

We came back and showered, then relaxed. 

Mike came up for dinner (Laura was working).

That night there was a big thunderstorm that came through. LOUD thunder, lots of rain, extra bright lightening.

We were up by 7:00 am on Sunday and had a quick breakfast. It is now nearly 8:00 am and we'll be packing up and leaving soon.

Yellowstone (August, 2011)

August 11-16, 2011 (Thursday - Tuesday)

Yellowstone

Dave, Christine, Mike (21 years old), Laura (17 years old)

We left at 5:00 pm on Thursday and drove to Rexburg, ID to a Walmart with the idea that we would spend the night in their parking lot, then get an early start for the rest of the drive the next morning. We arrived just before 10:00 pm, then went into the Walmart to get a few items. Though we were pretty tired, it was fun to go shopping. There were hardly any customers, and the workers were stocking the shelves for the next day. We spent an uneventful night in the fifth wheel, then left the next morning about 9:30. 

We arrived in West Yellowstone about 11:00 am and had lunch at Wild West Pizza--which was delicious--then we drove into Yellowstone. The weather was very pleasant--low 70's--and beautiful. Laura had a cold and was not feeling well. We saw plenty of bison, as they are always a reliable animal in the Hayden Valley.

We stopped by the Canyon Village and took a couple of pictures.

Laura and Dave

Laura and Mike

That evening (Friday) we went “bear-hunting”, which is when you try to spot bears and other wildlife. We've found that our chances are better as dusk approaches. We saw three grizzlies, which were in a group. We think it was two adults and one cub. We watched them for a while, but they were too far to get a picture.

On Saturday Mike, Dave, and I got up at 6:00 am and drove to the look-out point (10 miles north of Fishing Bridge). A ranger was having a program at 7:00. Fog blanketed the valley as we pulled in to a parking space. While waiting for the fog to burn off, we listened to the ranger, Christeal, who was from San Francisco. She had four pelts for us to look at and touch: wolf, coyote, fox, and bear. They were all about the same softness, but the bear pelt had the longest hair.

Wolf pelt

Bear pelt

A short while later the sun burned off the fog and we were able to see two of the grizzlies from the night before. As the night before, they were too far away to photograph.

When we got back to the trailer, Laura was awake but still in bed. Still not feeling well, she declined the offer to hike with us to Natural Bridge. Dave, Mike, and I went on our own. The hike was relatively easy and we had fun.

Mike and Dave

We came back and had lunch, then all four of us drove out to Lamar Valley. We saw lots of bison as we passed through Hayden Valley (as we did all the days we were there), but no other wildlife. We arrived at the Trout Lake trailhead and set off. 

Dave, Mike, and Laura (I guess I need to have them take pictures of me once in a while!)

This was a short hike, which led to Trout Lake, then around the lake. Laura led for a portion as we circled the lake and saw a garter snake in the path. It slithered away before any of the rest of us could see it.

After the hike we retraced our path through Lamar Valley. This time through, we saw a small creature cross the road and clamber up the hillside. We pulled alongside it. We think it was a badger.

We drove on further and finally saw a group of four pronghorn deer. They ran through the meadow, then across the road. Between the hike, the badger, and the pronghorn, we felt satisfied with the long drive out to Lamar Valley.

On Sunday we drove toward the Geyser Basin. We took the easy, but long (5 mile round-trip) hike to Lone Star Geyser. No one was there when we arrived. We sat on a log in the shade and looked through the log book that the rangers had left there. People from all over the world had written in it over the past year. Laura added her contribution. 

Mike and Laura reading the log at Lone Star Geyser

We ate our lunch as a few other people arrived. An hour and a half later the “minor” eruption began, shooting hot water forty-five feet into the air. We watched that for a while, then hiked back to the parking lot.

Next, we drove to the new Old Faithful Visitor's Center and enjoyed the exhibits. We had ice cream, then drove back to camp. 

Me and Laura

After relaxing for a while, we went “bear-hunting” in the Hayden Valley. We saw deer, elk, of course bison, but no bears. Here is a pretty sunset picture that Laura took.

Today is Monday. We plan on going to the Grand Tetons. We've never been there before and are excited to see what it looks like and hope to see some wildlife.

Tuesday—today we'll be going home. It is 7:10 am and everyone but me is asleep. It's 38 degrees outside today.

Yesterday started out overcast. In fact, we drove into Grand Teton park and when we stopped at an overlook to eat our lunch, a thunderstorm with pouring rain rolled through.

Me and Dave

Mike and Laura

Last night we went to our favorite overlook point to watch for the wolves. After about a 30 minute wait (about 7:45), the wolves came out. We saw five of them. Some were dark, others were tan. Through our scope we could see their tails wagging as they played. Very cute!

When we drive home today, we'll go through the Tetons. There has been a grizzly sow and cubs seen along the roadway. We're hoping they'll be out as we come through.

--We didn't see any bears.

Here's a short video of a bison causing what they call a "bison-jam". We love it when the bisons walk right next to our truck.

Goblin Valley (November, 2010)

November 4-7, 2010 (Thursday-Sunday)

Goblin Valley State Park (Our first time here)

Dave, Christine, Mike, Laura

Highs in the 60's, lows in the 30's. Beautiful weather.

Arrived Thursday evening and set up camp. Not many people here.

Friday went to the “Valley of the Goblins”. We climbed on rock formations.

Mike and Laura

Mike, Dave, Laura

Saturday we went to “Little Wild Horse” slot canyon. Lots of narrows. We had to scramble several times. Pretty and fun hike!

Mike and Laura

Laura and Mike

Laura

Saw trillions of stars on the first and second night. The last night was cloudy, so we couldn't see as many stars.

Me

The Camping Adventures of the Dave and Christine Kersey Family - a history and a beginning

Our family loves to camp. When I was a child, my family tent-camped many, many times. We even visited Death Valley. Twice. My husband's family enjoyed camping too, so it was only natural that when we got married, we gravitated toward the same recreational activity.

At first, we tent-camped. But as the children came along, and they would get so dirty when we camped, I really wanted to get up off the ground. In 1991 we bought a small tent trailer.

Though it didn't have a bathroom, and it only had cold water for the sink--which had to be pumped--it seemed luxurious compared to using a tent. It was so nice to be able to bring the children in out of the dirt at the end of a busy day at the campground.

At first we used it a lot, but then we found we weren't using it that much, so we sold it within 2 years of buying it. After that we didn't do a lot of camping for a while, but when we moved to Utah in 1999, we bought a tent and began camping again. However, eventually we decided it would be nicer to use an RV rather than a tent. Though I love to be outdoors, I don't love roughing it. I decided if I could have a place where I could shower, then I would be much more willing to go camping longer than just a couple of days.

In the spring of 2006 we bought our first full-size RV. After that we started going on longer trips: Yellowstone, Grand Staircase Escalante State Park, Arches National Park. However, I didn't start keeping a camping journal until we bought our next RV in 2009. That's where this blog comes in.

I'll post a few entries at a time, and add pictures as I have time. The first few entries were added after the trips, which is why they are so short. I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures!

~Christine

April, 2009

1^st trip in new 5^th wheel

Fillmore, UT at a KOA Campground to make sure everything works properly

Dave, Christine, Mike, Laura

We watched General Conference on Ryan's TV. We visited the old statehouse building. We went up to the third floor, which was a large meeting room. There was a ladder in the room leading up to the attic. Dave and Mike climbed up the ladder.

It snowed most of the weekend.

May, 2009 (Memorial Day Weekend)

Escalante State Park

Dave, Christine, Ryan, Mike, Laura

We went on a hike to Lower Calf Creek. We wanted to hike in a slot canyon, but it was stormy.

August, 2009

Yellowstone National Park

5 day trip

Dave, Christine, Mike, Laura, Bailey Fruit

It was Bailey's first time to go to Yellowstone. We saw lots of wildlife. We went on one hike to Storm Point, which is by Yellowstone Lake and saw a marmot, which waddled away from us.

November, 2009 (Thanksgiving)

St. George, UT

Dave, Christine, Ryan, Mike, Laura

We stayed at an RV park near Mom and Dad's house for Thanksgiving.

May, 2010 (Memorial Day Weekend)

Kodachrome Basin State Park (Our first time here)

Dave, Christine, Mike, Laura

We arrived Saturday afternoon and after setting up camp—which was our first time dry camping in this RV—we went on a nature walk at a nearby trail. Sunday we went on a horseback ride in Bryce Canyon. We had a campfire each night. The view of the night sky was exceptional and the number of stars we saw was more than I had ever seen before.

We went on a hike on Monday, then found a slot canyon and hiked through that. Only bad thing was the biting gnats at the campground. Next time use bug spray!

We had beautiful weather—in the 70's.

June 11-13, 2010

Granite Flat, up the Alpine Loop

Just Dave and Christine went. The kids had to work. When we got to our spot we found out that no water is available. We drove to Mom & Dad's in Cedar Hills as they live minutes from the mouth of the American Fork canyon, which is where the Alpine Loop is. We filled up our tank at their house.

It rained when we arrived Friday night, and all day Saturday.

August 6-10, 2010 (Friday – Tuesday)

Yellowstone

Dave, Christine, Mike, Laura, Grandma Suzanne, Grandpa Bob

We arrived Friday evening, set up, and had dinner.

On Saturday we went to the Geyser basin. We saw Old Faithful, of course. We also saw Riverside go off, which was cool. 

Mike and Laura

Suzanne (Mom) and Christine

That evening Grandpa made yummy tacos. Afterwards we went “bear hunting”. For the first time we saw the wolves. We had bought an inexpensive spotting scope which made all the difference in viewing.

After watching the wolves for a while, we drove further south to Trout creek, where we saw a grizzly sow and her 3 cubs. They were moving slowly through the meadow, eating. The scope brought them extremely close, which was fun.

Sunday we headed to Lamar Valley. As we passed through Hayden Valley, the bison were quite active and close to the roadway. One time a bison stood in the middle of the road, in the lane going in the opposite direction of us. Grandma was driving and we wanted her to stop right next to it so that we could get a picture right in its face. She slowed next to it, but then she apparently got a flashback to her childhood where the bears would come right up to the car and hover over it. She sped past the bison to the disappointment of all.

We drove a long time and saw lots of pretty wildflowers. When we got to the Lamar Valley we saw a few pronghorn deer. The highlight was seeing a black bear and her cub up on a hill. Here's a picture of our group:

From left: Dave (my hubby), Laura (16), Mike (20), Christine (me), Dad (Bob White), Mom (Suzanne White).

We left the park through the Northeast entrance and drove through Chief Joseph scenic highway. It was a pretty drive. We met a group of eight motorcyclists who were from the Netherlands on a weeks-long road trip. They had shipped their bikes over to Chicago.

We passed through Cody, WY on our way back to the East entrance of Yellowstone. That night, after a dinner of bbq pork chops, we went to the Fishing Bridge store where a cashier told us about two escaped convicts and their accomplice who were loose in Yellowstone. One of them was serving a life sentence for murder, the other for attempted murder.

Monday we went on a hike to Storm Point. That was a lot of fun. It rained on us off and on. We saw several marmots while on the hike.

Me, Dave, Laura, Mike, Dad (Bob White)

Mom and Dad headed home after we got back from the hike.

Dave, Mike, & Laura threw the frisbee around while I straightened up. Then we all drove to Canyon Village. It had begun raining hard by then. We had dinner at Canyon Village. Laura had trout, which she really liked. After dinner the rain stopped and we did some shopping then drove back to the Hayden Valley to see what wildlife we could see.

By the way, while waiting to be seated for dinner, we heard that the fugitives had been caught that day—in Cody, WY.

On the way to Hayden Valley we saw a large elk with a nice rack. We stopped and took pictures. 

We stopped at the wolf overlook and saw the wolves again. We drove on and saw a number of elk in a meadow and took more pictures.

Tuesday—we are in the process of getting ready to leave. We don't want to leave. Today the weather is beautiful.