Boondocking in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area's Government Wash

A somewhat short driving day today as we drove to be close to the Las Vegas, NV area.  Since we gained an hour once we were in Nevada, we were setting up camp by Noon.

There's several rigs here but the sites are pretty dispersed so far.  Not enough rig to make for crowded conditions yet.  We got ourselves a pretty good spot with views of the water on Lake Mead:

Close to sunset, which wasn't much of an event, I rode out on Yagi to check out the rest of the area.  

Not much to tell, more rigs to be found, but still good dispersal patterns.  The roads are rocky and rough so slow going for camping rigs and cars, easy stuff for Yagi.

About a 1/2 mile as the crow flies from our campsite, I was accosted by this dog which was running amuck.  He kept circling the motorcycle as I worked to get away from it, barking the whole time.  I finally left it behind and watched as it then decided to hound a couple who were walking their own dog.

The dog, any dog, is supposed to be on a leash but its owner obviously don't believe in "rules".  The owner finally ran up and grabbed the dog's harness and dragged it away to their "camping rig":

It took this incident for me to discover I'd left my Mace dispense in my other pants.  Just as well I guess, it would have been the dog which paid for its stupid owners' lack of control.

I stopped briefly to chat with the couple with the other dog and they too expressed their surprise and disapproval at the dog and his owner's lack of control.

Anyways, I left that area behind me, it wasn't at all scenic anyways.  Returning to my campsite, I got these shots in the golden hour's light:

We'll be here a couple of days or so before moving on.  It was very windy today and hot, with a high of 92 I think.  It's supposed to be a bit cooler tomorrow but we'll see.

Boondocking near the Kolob Canyons, Zion National Park

 Monday, April 22

We left the Torrey, UT area at 8:32 AM and by 1:00 PM or so we were south of Cedar City, UT setting up camp at a BLM dispersed camping area.

Nice spot, and no neighbors which was the best part.  Even the wind, which wasn't that strong, was warm under the bright sunshine once the clouds moved away.

We rested and relaxed the afternoon away, enjoying the warm conditions.  I did take Yagi, the T-Dub for a short ride in the trail loop nearby, but nothing pic-worthy was found.

Tuesday, April 23

Martha and I took Harriet, the CR-V, south on the highway for about ten miles to the exit for the Zion National Park's Kolob Canyons Visitor Center.

pic by Martha

After Martha got her Park Passport stamped, we drove onto the scenic road which takes you to an overlook trail.  It was a mile to the end and not too hard, perhaps 100 feet in elevation change.  

The trail takes you up to some rather nice views of the nearby Kolob Canyons.  You can, pretty much see the canyons from the trailhead parking lot but we needed the exercise, so....

Martha walking back towards the trailhead...

We weren't there at the best time of the day in

terms of sunlight but we made do...

Shuntavi Butte

We returned to camp where Martha dropped me off and she went shopping at nearby Cedar City, for groceries.

Not much got done otherwise in the afternoon, I did a minor repair to the left rear mudflap on the VRRV which had once again been found hanging by one screw!

Escalante National Monument and T-Dub'ing in the Fishlake National Forest, Near Torrey, UT

Saturday, April 20

Martha and I drove the Honda CR-V (Wanda) down UT Highway 12, a designated scenic byway, towards the Escalante National Monument.

A brief stop at "The Hogback" for the above shot.

The rest of the photos for this post are screen captures from the footage shot by the car's dashcam.  Not too bad.  There are some really cool and colorful rock formations as one heads towards and through the Escalante National Monument enroute to its visitor center in the town of Escalante.

I've been in this area on previous trips and rides: LINK1, LINK2

Martha got her Parks Passport stamp at the visitor center and I wandered around reading info placards and admiring the giant lizard:

That'd be something, wouldn't it, 

if they were actually this large.

The drive back was without issue and without success in terms of securing pie at the Burr Trail Grill (they were out) and at the General Store and Bakery in Torrey, UT!

Sunday, April 21

A lazy morning where nothing was accomplished except for shots of nearby rock formations visible from the campsite:

After lunch, I rode out on Yagi, my Yamaha TW200 to explore the forest roads north and west of Torrey, UT which are in the Fishlake National Forest.  A short hop on UT24 and soon I was on dirt and having a good time.

I found a trail which led to the rim of the mesa I was riding on...

I wandered about, checking out trails, finding lone campers and generally enjoying the riding conditions.  Some spots were full of large rocks embedded into the trail but even those weren't too bad or technical.

Let's see, I check out parts of FR 146, 1597 and 1584.  The last trail took me further west to the vicinity of this cool looking rock formation:

Here's the best looking, IMHO, rock formation for this area.  There was a lone camping rig here, a converted FEDEX type panel truck, but I hid it behind the bush.

I made my way back to Torrey with only a couple of wrong turns.  Lots to explore in this area, will have to do more riding of it if ever camping in this area again.

I got back to camp with no issues, saw several rigs moving in trying to find themselves a spot.  Packed away most of the outside gear in preparation for displacing tomorrow.

Petroglyphs and The Temples of the Sun and Moon

This morning we drove down to the vicinity of the visitor center for the Capitol Reef NP and checked out the Petroglyph Panel.

Our view of nearby Torrey and the rock wall overlooking the town:

This is a section of rock wall where petroglyphs are evident.  They're pretty cool, though thoughts of ancient astronauts did briefly fill my head.  The artwork is quite faded now, in fact, Martha had to point the first one below out to me.

The below pics have been enhanced to show the figures better.

There's a wooden walkway to guide you along the wall, and to keep people from actually disturbing the petroglyphs.

We then drove about 25 miles or so to the eastern entrance of Cathedral Valley BLM area.  The western entrance involves a small river ford and not usable by regular vehicles like the Honda CR-V we were driving.

17 miles later on mostly easy dirt roads, we arrived at the turn off for the Temples of the Sun and Moon.  Big, impressive rock formations jutting out in the middle of the valley.

I've been to these formations and valley before:  LINK, LINK2 with my Ural sidecar rigs.  This trip was to introduce Martha to the rock formations.  The rock formations are part of the Capitol Reef NP by the way.

We returned to pavement with no issues save having to deal with a group of bicyclist that had a clueless driver for their SAG wagon.  Guy kept parking the truck with trailer on the trail, blocking traffic!

After a late lunch, we made a shopping run to the small town of Loa.  On the way, we stopped at a auto parts store in Bicknell, UT where I managed to find a suitable bolt to secure the left mirror mount on Yagi, my TW200.  

Surprisingly, it had been impossible to find the OEM bolt at no less than five hardware stores in Moab.  So, I used a longer Hex cap bolt instead, and it works fine.

A short test ride to make sure the mirror was firmly mounted was of course required: