Cedar Breaks National Monument - Sunday, October 16, 2011
We ended the last blog talking about finding a nite camp in a field with two other RVers. Sometimes I feel like we're out here on our own taking advantage of the good will of the businesses that provide this service. But in the case of last night, when we were ready for bed, I peeked out the front window and counted 5 Class As, 1 Class C, 1 travel trailer, and 3 car campers parked all around us. So we're obviously not alone. It's great being able to do this when all you want is a place to park for the night and get going the next day.
The Flying J here in Beaver, UT is a really busy place. EJ counted 40 semi trucks parked around the edge of the lot. That didn't included all the traffic at the pumps. Well, this is kind of an oasis in the desert. There is nothing else around for 60 miles or so that caters to the truckers.
We were up at 8AM this morning, that's pretty early for us. We had high hopes of getting on the road early so we could scout out Cedar Breaks National Monument. But I got involved in updating the blog and we didn't get away until 1PM. 5 hours to get underway, that’s about average for us! But we did have a nice spot and there was a babbling brook right next to BG. It was relatively quiet and we had free wifi.
One of the last RVers to leave had a cat that rode on his owners shoulders as he walked about checking on things.
We purchased fuel from Flying J, $3.99 a gallon, and dumped and filled again. Now we're ready to hit the road. No, wait. I'm hungry. I haven't had a Wendy's burger in a while. So we walk over to Wendy's and have lunch. Of course we have to have a Frosty to go. Now we're ready to hit the road.
At the little town of Parowan we finally get off of I-15. It had been really crowded. I think it's all those folks headed for Las Vegas. As we're getting on Utah 143 the first sign we see says trailers not recommended on this road. Hmmm? We're pulling the Element, does that apply to us? Well we find out why. The road is narrow and very curvy. In fact one curve was so sharp, I think we saw our tail end following us. This also was the stretch where we gained 4000 feet in elevation in 10 miles. Several times BG was down to first gear the hill was so steep. This ought to be fun coming back down!
We had read on the NPS website that the Cedar Breaks NM campground was closed earlier than usual because of a snow storm a week or so ago. But I also remember reading somewhere that all that meant was that none of the facilities were available. We will make up our minds after we scope out the situation.
Our first stop on our way to the visitor center was at the North View overlook. The visitors center is closed too, but we're hoping they will have a park map available.
We also stopped at Sunset View overlook. The views so far are pretty amazing.
We pass the campground and go in to check it out. There's a red cone in the road to the camp sites, but it doesn't block the road. It looks nice, and we continue on to the visitor center.
There is a nice trail around the rim with overlooks at 1 mile and 2 miles. We begin hiking to see how far we can go considering the trail has extensive snow covered patches and it's over 10,000 feet high. We make it to the 1 mile overlook, huffing and puffing all the way. There were several times that our feet were sliding and our arms were waving as we tried to keep from falling and landing in the snow or mud. Our arms were waving around so much trying to keep our balance you’d thought we were sending semaphore signals.
The trail was pretty wet and our boots are covered in a really thick slimy clay which is hard to get off. We thought the snow would help remove it , but it just added a layer.
By the time we get back and get our boots clean enough to store, it's already 5:30 and we decide to stay at the park campground even though it's "closed". One nice thing though, the campground won’t be crowded. We even take the host site as it is the best one. After we get all leveled up I go and check the entrance to see if we can still get out if for some reason they lock up the entrance. Our escape route is assured and we get ready to cook out a couple of filet mignons, a from Idaho russet potato and a bottle of Shiraz. Man was that good.
The sky was so clear the moon made it seem like there was a spotlight outside. It’s supposed to be slightly below freezing tonight, but we’ll leave the heat on so nothing freezes. Aside from the altitude adjustment, we really enjoyed our little off the beaten path park. That’s part of what this time in our adventure is being devoted to, finding the lesser known national treasures.
| BG Miles Today | 63 | BG Total Miles | 10696 |
| Eat Out total $ | 1526.77 | BG Total Fuel $ | 6158.58 |
| Entertainment total $ | 1401.63 | Total Camping $ | 1177.03 |
| E Miles Today | 0 | E Total Miles | 3013.31 |
| E Total Fuel $ | 626.44 | Day # of Trip | 138 |
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