Blogs from Utah, United States, North America - page 6

It was late in the afternoon when I got to Torrey, Utah. I turned South on Utah Scenic Hwy 12 for my legal camp in the Boulder Mountains. I could see that the Boulder Mountains were getting heavy rain. About ten miles South of Torrey I entered the Dixie National Forest and uphill to the Boulder Mountains. I drove up to where the Ponderosa Pines were tall and made camp in the dryness of the leeward side of the Boulder Mountains. I have camped at this spot before, and I call this "Pine Camp". I had some trail mix for my dinner and got into the back of of my truck for needed sleep. Within an hour I could hear heavy rain on my camper shell, but I was warm and dry. (In 2017 I camped ... read more

Driving West of Hanksville on Utah Hwy 24 I was riding by the Fremont River on Mostly BLM land. About forty miles West of Hanksville I entered Capitol Reef National Park, where my pics started. Up high in the Fremont River Canyon the Mormons established the settlement of Fruita (in 1880) where the conditions were right for their fruit orchards. I made a stop at the Fruita Schoolhouse built around 1896, and renovated with a new roof around 1912. To get my pics inside the school I held my camera lens directly against the glass windows. Nearby were the fruit orchards (apples, peaches, pears, etc) planted by the Mormons. In contrast to the very strict rules by the National Park Service about taking anything (even a rock or pine cone), they usually keep one marked orchard ... read more

Now this blog is from my 2017 travel camping adventure, but relevant to my current blogs. According to Wikipedia, Comb Ridge is a geologic monocline fault running North-South about 80 miles from the Abajo Mountains in Southern Utah to near Kayenta, Arizona. There is a number of very old Puebloan cliff dwellings and other ruins along that fault. There is also a number of Tritylodont fossils there. Going Westbound on Utah Hwy 95 from Blanding, the East Side of Comb Ridge has white sandstone rising upward above the surrounding area. When they built Utah Hwy 95 they used explosives to blast open that top sandstone to make the highway route possible. The land sunk over 600 feet down (West side) with a switchback going down through the reddish rock. (Note: there are strict "no parking" signs ... read more

The Potash Road includes the paved Utah Hwy. 279 (West of Moab, Utah) to the Potash Mine main facility by the Colorado River. Then the private mine dirt road continues South West where the BLM rough dirt road goes upward through the Colorado River overlook; then up to the Canyonlands National Park. The Potash Road officially ends at the junction of The Shaffer Trail and the White Rim Trail in the National Park. I drove down the steep canyon of the Colorado river then past the Potash Mine land. The dirt road got progressively worse. I drove up past a cattle guard where the BLM land started. About 100 meters into BLM land the BLM sign informed me that there was no legal camping past that sign. So this narrow pie shaped strip was to be ... read more

After getting my gasoline and other supplies in Moab, Utah I drove back NE up the Colorado River canyon on Utah Hwy 128. I turned East on the Castle Valley road and passed Castle rock. When I got to the Manti La Sal National Forest the dirt road led to Colorado, just a few miles away. I took the right turn up the (extinct) volcanic La Sal Mountains. Since my last visit there in 2017 that road is paved up the La Sal Mts. and on to the South side of Moab. I drove up the La Sal Mts. (about 15 miles) watching the trees get progressively larger as I gained altitude. I drove up through the shrubs to the junipers and scrub oaks. I turned left (East) on the narrow dirt trail up to the ... read more