JEEPING AROUND IN CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK & WE EVEN GOT THE JEEP INTO SOME SNOW:))

CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK UTAH

Well, it was a decision making morning so we started off checking comments & emails from readers as well as looking up & finding reviews for garages in Moab.  Kelly had also posted a few questions in various forums & we checked those responses as well.  Couple emails from Chinle about questionable garages in Moab steered us in the direction of Grand Junction Colorado.  Checked out a few places on-line & found Bear Auto had good reviews & specialized in Workhorse 8.1 Chevy engines so we have an appointment with them for first thing Thursday morning.  We will head for Grand Junction Wednesday afternoon & overnight in a gravel parking lot near the their garage.

HEADED NORTH OUT OF MONTICELLO…FEW MEDIUM GRADES & THE RIG RAN FINE

 

FOUND US AN EASY BOONDOCKING SITE FROM WHICH WE CAN DO A FEW DAY TRIPS

In the Escapee ‘Day’s End’ book Kelly found a boondocking site north of Monticello just off highway 191 & that is where we are currently at.  Nice clean long views all around & a good Verizon signal.  A bit of traffic noise on 191 to our west is not a problem.  A big Jeep event coming up in Moab this coming week-end so our timing worked out in our favor in that we will be well clear of Moab by the week-end.  We certainly do not want to get caught up in Moab’s manic madness, Jeeps or no Jeeps.

HEADED UP A ROAD LOOKING FOR FOY LAKE & NO THOSE ARE NOT SKI RUNS

Not wanting to let our coach problems get us down we piled into the Jeep & headed back down highway 191 to highway 211 heading west towards CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK.  We had intentionally looked for a boondocking spot in this area so we could check out Canyonlands & a few other nearby spots.  Rolling west on scenic 211 we saw a sign for a road to Foy’s Lake so decided to go have us a look at what this Foy’s lake was all about.  These kinds of day trips are always scouting missions for future boondocking spots as well.

WASN’T LONG & WE HAD US INTO SOME SNOW

 

JUST WANTED TO SEE HOW THE 4 WHEEL DRIVE WORKED IN SNOW:))

In the direction we were heading we could see a small mountain with snow still on the top & the road we were on took us right up that way.  Foy’s lake was 9 miles in & after a couple 8% grades we rolled into Foy’s snowy campground.  Not open for the season yet but we had the place to ourselves & sure enough there was a small lake which back in Ontario we would call a pond.  Looked like spring water with the lake being crystal clear.  Many Aspen trees & oh how nice this must be especially in the Fall.  A short walk by the pond/lake then we purposely drove the Jeep through a few small snow banks just because we had a Jeep & knew we could.

FOY LAKE

 

CAREFUL PHEEBS CAUSE I KNOW YOU DON’T WANT TO GET ANY WATER ON YOUR PAWS

THERE’S THAT ACE BLACKBERRY PHOTOGRAPHER AGAIN SNAPPING UP SOME FACEBOOK PICS

 

WE DID DRIVE THE JEEP DOWN THAT ROAD TO THE RIGHT BUT HAD TO BACK ALL THE WAY OUT AGAIN BECAUSE OF SOFT MUD

Nine miles back to highway 211 & we once again headed west to see what we could see.  Had heard of a place called NEWSPAPER ROCK so we weren’t long in finding that so stopped to look at the Petroglyphs.  Probably the greatest concentration of Petroglyphs so close together we’ve seen in one single spot. 

 

 

 

The highway 211 drive in from highway 191 is truly scenic as shown on the map & the farther you go towards Canyonlands National Park the more spectacular the scenery becomes.  No wonder Utah has always been my favorite State & I was reminded of that with each mile traveled again today.  Utah’s amazing scenery just never stops & especially here in the eastern & southern side of the State.  We’ve been to Zion, Bryce, & the Arches & today it was Canyonlands.  Not one Park better than the other for each one has it’s own unique stunning beauty.

CAN YOU IMAGINE THE BEAUTY WHEN ALL THESE TREES ARE LEAFED OUT NEXT MONTH

  

Stopped at the Visitor’s Center & picked up a map of the Park then headed off on a driving tour.  Dogs not allowed on trails so we didn’t get ourselves out for any trail hikes.  Checked out a couple campgrounds which of course were full.  Seems to be a lot of tenters.  The couple stops we did make were so awe inspiring we just wanted to stay forever.  This whole southwest just has that affect on so many of we RV folks.

 

One of the small problems I have with myself here in the southwest is allowing myself to become so overwhelmed with photo taking.  By the end of each traveling day it is not unusual for me to end up with a hundred plus photos & oh what a time I have of it each night deciding what photos to put into the blog.  Always too many I know & I’m sure there are folks out there who cannot open my posts because of so many photos just as I am unable to open several of my fellow Blogger’s posts for the very same reason.  At least until we get home where we have no limits on our internet.   In the meantime, so much beauty, so many photos & so little time & space to share them all with everyone.

KELLY’S GETTING TO BE QUITE A PHOTO WHIZ WITH HER BLACKBERRY

 

While on the topic of photos I have noticed for the past couple months something is amiss somewhere with my Picasa photo editing program.  The finished editing & corrections I a make on my photos with Picasa are not the same edits appearing in my published posts many times.  And yes I do remember to ‘Save’ my edits after doing them.  Colors & density are often off not resulting in what I consider to be satisfactory results in my final blog posts.  I saw one of my Grand Canyon photos from 3 days ago totally screwed up & that is not the way I edited & published it.  Sometimes I have to add a lot of density (darken) to some photos just to have them look right on the blog otherwise they come across looking overexposed. (too light)  Anyway if your seeing some strange unnatural colors etc it just means I still have not figured out what is going wrong where yet.  Going back & re-doing photos over & over is beginning to try my patience………..

  

KELLY & PHEEBS ARE IN THIS PHOTO

 

We have some big Borrego type winds going on here at the moment south of Moab Utah so we are doing a bit of rocking & rolling here in the coach tonight.  But that’s Okay, at least we’re not shoveling snow……………………….

Had to cut our Canyonlands wandering a bit short when I realized we were running low on gas.  Had been enjoying ourselves so much I failed to notice our gas gauge slowing edging closer to empty.  We were at the farthest end possible in Canyonlands National Park when I noticed the gauge at only a quarter full.  Jeeps are notorious for poor fuel consumption & it was about 30 miles back through hills & grades to highway 191 then another 15 miles to Monticello so without further ado we headed for a gas station in Monticello making it there with about an eighth of a tank left.  We finally made it back to the rig about 3 this afternoon & what a great day-trip day for the Bayfield Bunch.

Sunny skies with big white puffy clouds stayed with us all the way & temperatures were warm & not hot.  For us that all adds up to a perfect weather day:))

  

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A grade school teacher was grading a science test on the human body, The first question was, "Name one of the major functions of your skin."  One child had written: "To keep people who look at you from throwing up."