A few miscellaneous images from Lovell Canyon, Nevada; Lake Havasu City (LHC), Arizona; and Havasu Lake, California. That is not a typo – On the east side of Lake Havasu, a wide place in the Colorado River, is “Lake Havasu City” in Arizona, population 60,000. By contrast, on the California side of the lake, is the 5000-strong community of “Havasu Lake” which is part of a Native American reservation. Anyway, both of these places, along with Lovell Canyon, sport many dispersed camping opportunities.
After meeting my appointment, I drove up to the Arizona White Mountains where I had camped before. This is a beautiful area closest to the town of Springerville, AZ, that has many dispersed camping opportunities. Next, I went back to visit my friend at Ashurst Lake for a few days. Finally, I moved on to Nevada, because I had to attend an event hosted by the non-profit for which I was working at the time. I camped with several friends at Lovell Canyon between Vegas and Pahrump.
As I continued southward to Arizona , I boondocked at the “Recapture Reservoir” in Utah. No amenities or many places to park but I managed to tuck into a tight spot overlooking the water. The next day, I continued to Ashurst Lake in Arizona to visit with a friend of mine until it was time for my appointment. There are many opportunities for dispersed camping all along the (rough) gravel road leading from “Lake Mary Road” to Ashurst Lake. Two paying campgrounds are also available on the lake with vault toilets and dumpsters. Because of the 7,000ft elevation here, this whole area makes a good summer camping location.
My travels took me from the West Yellowstone area southwards through Idaho and Utah on the way to meeting some good friends for a short visit in a Utah National Forest. After that, I drove through Capitol Reef National Park which I briefly explored. After my hard-learned lesson never to return to camp after dark on a weekend, I learned yet another lesson: Never take Interstate 15 through Ogden, Salt Lake City, & Provo. (My preference since I began nomading has been the more interesting two-lane highways, secondary roads, & rabbit trails–anything but interstates, especially through large cities. True they are sometimes unavoidable but I still try to use them only in small bites). These Utah cities have “grown together” resulting in a very long stretch of very busy traffic. I guess one way to look at it is that I appreciate the quiet, out-of-the-way roads and places even more after these kinds of driving experiences. As usual, this post includes interesting “sights along the way”–from an area through which I had never before driven–in addition to several images from beautiful Capitol Reef NP.
I was slowly making my way south to an appointment in Arizona and became excited when I realized how easy it would be to stop in at Yellowstone on the west side. Yellowstone itself was wonderful, as usual. Unfortunately, however, each of the two dispersed camping spots I chose proved to hold very frustrating situations–for two very different reasons. At the first place, my frustration came with an extremely high biting-fly population plus a problem when I decided to move to a second location. This was one of the very few places I have stayed where I had to drive through a closed gate to reach the site. (Perfectly legal – the gate is just to keep livestock in – usually cattle.) I unlatched the gate to drive out onto a paved road, but to my complete surprise, I couldn’t get up the slightly inclined dirt road to exit through the gate. It proved so difficult and was taking so long, I even thought about staying there another night. Eventually, however, I figured out an approach that worked and was able to make it out. One thing I have learned in the nomad life is that you must expect the unexpected–and that it’s often necessary to be flexible. Generally, I think I’m pretty good at flexibility–with the possible exception of when a situation involves entitled, rude, and/or hateful humans. I had moved to a second camping spot (why I moved, I can’t remember now–maybe the flies) and had gone into the Park. Against my better judgement, I didn’t get back to my camping area until after dark. I discovered that a number of locals had set up their RVs *on the clearly indicated dirt drives leading into the camping area* which meant I could not get back to my campsite. I told them they were blocking the road and they blew me off, saying something very rude. In retrospect, I wish I had just called the sheriff. Instead, I eventually crossed some very deep ditches in the pitch dark which caused me to bottom out but, miraculously, I did not get stuck. Fortunately, I had befriended a family that was camped right next to me and they helped me figure out how to get out the next morning. My decision to cut my visit short and leave the following day was prompted by the events of the previous evening. At my next stop, I discovered my trailer backup camera had been vandalized. Not too difficult to figure out who had done that, so my decision to leave was a good one. It wasn’t the first or the last time I had run into humans like that. Mostly, I just try to be thankful for the ones who aren’t like that – like the nice and helpful family camped beside me. Anyway, I did get to enjoy a few more hours in one of my favorite national parks.
While I concentrate on the 63 main National Parks, I do try to visit any “secondary” NPS sites I may be passing by in my travels. After reading up on “Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS” I thought it sounded like something that would be interest me–and I was right. It is definitely my favorite secondary site, so far. In fact, it was so interesting, I camped down the road and returned for a second day. There are so many interesting stories here. The owners were amazing people. I highly recommend a visit.
Glacier National Park is certainly a beautiful place but, unfortunately, area fires kept me from seeing much of that beauty on this my first trip there. Fires were not the only challenge for me here. I knew ahead of time that the Going-to-the-Sun Road would be tough for me because of my fear of heights–and I was correct. It was a strange mixture of exhilaration at the amazing scenery and paralysis from amazing anxiety. Ultimately, I was able to enjoy myself, however. This visit was mainly characterized by breathtaking mountains, picturesque water features, and my first mountain goats that weren’t just white specks on a mountain side. These were all viewed from drives and short walks. Next visit is to include hiking–lots of hiking–so there will have to be a plan for Miss Sadie while I explore this spectacular Park more thoroughly. For this post, first are a few more images from the route to the Park and then Part 1 of bucket list item “Glacier National Park”.
My Side of the Adventure 