Flaming Gorge

July 21-24, 2015

On Tuesday (7/21) we drove from Duchesne to Flaming Gorge, Utah.  The drive north from Vernal, UT to the Gorge was very pretty but it was an extremely steep road.  We were lucky to find a nice campground in the Lodgepole Forest Service campground just south of the Gorge.  On Wednesday, we took a short hike around the Gorge and a tour of the dam.  Even though the sky was cloudy it was still very pretty.  On Thursday, we spent a perfect morning kayaking on the lake, where we paddled 3 miles.  Friday, we decided to continue heading north, which took us into Wyoming.  The drive north was very pretty with lots of rolling hills, deer, and antelope.  We ended the day at a very nice city park in Lander, WY where we were surprised by some great birding, walking trails.

 

 

A view of the dam before descending to the base. 

At the bottom of the dam looking up…

The power plant inside the dam.  Not as big as Hoover or Glen but still impressive. 

View of the river below the dam

Ready to hit the water…

  

Some beautiful views in Wyoming 

Route:

July 21, 2015

July 24, 2015

Monument Valley and Canyon Lands

July 19 & 20, 2015

Sunday we headed out on our annual summer adventure.  The plan is to spend the next 6 weeks or so exploring northeastern Utah, western Wyoming, and northern Montana.  This year instead of driving 10,000 miles to Alaska (like last year) we will be taking a more leisure trip with a whole lot less miles.  Instead of taking the normal route to Utah via Page AZ and Kanab UT we decided to go across the Navaho Nation and visit Monument Valley and the Canyon Lands in southern UT.  This was a great choice as the scenery was spectacular.  Sunday evening we found a great forest service campground called Devil's Canyon which is just north of Blanding UT.  On Monday we continued the northern trek passing through Moab UT and ending the day at Starvation State Park near Duchesne UT.  The park is nice, but as one would expect from a state park - is crowded and noisy.  Tomorrow we will be heading up to Flaming Gorge on the UT/WY border. 

All ready to roll…

Views of Monument Valley.  Was expecting “The Duke” to come riding along at any time…

 

 

 

This arch was just north of Monticello UT.  

Hiked to the arch and this is the view from under the arch.

Route:

Sunday July 19, 2015

Monday, July 20, 2015 

Flowers in the Desert

This past week spent a week camping in the desert.  With summer fast approaching this will be the last desert camping trip until fall.  For the next six months or so we will be enjoying trips to the mountains plus our major 6-8 week trip this summer (destination is still a secret but it will be North!).  This time of the year the desert is really beautiful with all the plants blooming and lots of fresh green growth.  The Sonoran Desert, this time of the year, is definitely living up to it’s nick name the “green desert”.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Of course while you are looking at all the beauty you have to always keep an eye out for all kinds of desert creatures.  While out bike riding a dirt road came across this guy.  He was about 4’ long diamond back.  I have lived in the desert for over 33 years now and this is only the second time I have encountered a rattler in the wild.  After seeing this guy I noticed lots of snake tracks across the roads so they are definitely out in force this year.

A Day at the Fair

Almost every year we make the short trip down to Coolidge AZ to attend the Pinal County Fair.  This is a really neat fair as it is small and everything is centered around 4-H and the animals. It’s like taking a step back in time to a small town country fair.  We always enjoy looking at the animals and this year we were lucky to be there when they were doing the judging for the 4-H goats.  What a great experience for these kids to participate in something like this.  The world would definitely be a better place of more kids could be a part of 4-H.

No lines or parking hassles at this fair

For a small fair there were a fair number of rides

 

A few day old goats…. sure wish we could have taken them home!

Had to get our fill of grease with a HUGE dish of curly fries….

Deep Fried Peaches??  Guess they will deep fry anything at the fair

On one of the rides…

Who could pass up a “Maple Bacon Donut Burger”?

On the way home we stopped at a small Indian cemetery along Hwy 87 just south of Chandler.  We had driven by this cemetery many times but had never stopped until today.  It’s an amazing cemetery with lots of personal touches on the graves.  No fancy granite markers here as most are home made!

Roosevelt Lake

We have lived in Arizona for nearly 35 years but have never camped at Roosevelt lake which is only a couple hours from our home.  We have driven by the lake several times but always assumed it would be way too busy given that it is so close to the valley.  Since we were looking for a quick trip where we could get our boat wet and our daughter wanted to come along with her kayak we decided to give it a try.  Many of the campgrounds were closed due to low use and the ones that were open were not busy at all.  There were a few more people there on the weekend but all in all it was not busy and was a very pleasant experience.  The weather was just about perfect with nice sunny warm days and cool nights. 

They have a little different payment system for the campground fees then we have ever experienced.  You have to buy a “Tonto Pass” BEFORE you get to the campground as they are not sold at the campground.  The price is reasonable at $6 per night ($3 with  senior pass).  The odd thing thing is there is no distinction between day use and camping as the same pass is used.

 

Wildflowers are everywhere

One of the most important structures in Arizona.  It is wasn’t for this dam the valley would be a very different place.

Getting ready to hit the water

Borrowed the daughters kayak… pretty nice… one of these may be in our future!