Day trip to Leslie Gulch, OR

Last year a camper couple told us we should check out Leslie Gulch just south of Boise and barely into Oregon.
Last Wed the weather was cooler but still pretty nice so we took off. You take Hwy 95 south out of Boise and then turn onto a gravel road at the Leslie Gulch signs. 3 or 4 miles later you cross into Oregon. It's about 15 miles to Leslie past an active one room school in Rockville, OR. The school is the only building in Rockville. This is all ranch country as you wind over big grassy hills and then you see the beginning of LG.

The gulch continues for 9 spectacularly scenic miles and ends at a reservoir on the Owyhee river. The cliffs close in on the road gradually and every curve reveals a new formation.

We weren't aware that there was a natural formation honoring the cartoon character Snoopy but sure as hell there it was.

It was lunch time so we sat on the leeward side of the truck and munched on our sandwiches and thought about Snoopy.

We started driving on toward the reservoir. The formations are unique and they definitely rival the stuff we saw down in southern Utah.

We made it to the reservoir where there is a boat launch and a camp ground. No problem getting a camper in here just be extra careful at the low water crossings and don't try it if there is any threat of bad weather.

We found a side trail up Juniper wash and decided to explore.

We walked in about a mile and the stuff to see was awesome. I went up a narrow little slot canyon that dead ended. You wouldn't want to be in here if there was any chance of thunderstorms.

We didn't know that the area had been a seashore in geologic times. We also didn't know that waves could be petrified but again, sure as hell there one was.

We made it back to the truck and headed out stopping and gawking at the amazing natural rock art.

This was a great day trip. Only 75 miles from our house. We only saw one rancher guy on the road. He was pretty obvious as he was doing at least 60 mph which didn't really bother me but his empty stock trailer was fishtailing like hell and that did get my attention.
Well it may be the last trip of the year but it's a good one to remember.

Every year day trip.

Southern Utah & NV, 12 days & 1825 m. Days 10-12

Day 10
Good sleep and up and rolling by 10:30am (chk out was 11am). We headed out of Zion and west to I-15. Funny thing is there is another part of Zion 45 miles away just off of the interstate. Kolob canyon is beautiful with clear bluebird skies and, oh yeah, all the roads in Zion are paved red. It's really pretty cool.

There is a 5 mile drive to the Kolob Canyons overlook and apparently very little of the tourist crowd bothers to visit.

The hanging valleys were intriguing and there are several hiking trails but we were headed home.

We wanted to skip Salt Lake City so after some map study we saw Great Basin National Park just inside the Nevada border. We headed north on Hwy 130 and turned west on Hwy 21 at Minersville. There is nothing out here. The couple of towns have warning signs that there are no services for the next 1000 miles so we fueled and went looking for a place to fill our fresh water tank. Minersville is a little podunk town with a big ass Mormon church and while I was turning around in the church parking lot I saw a faucet on an exterior wall so we pulled up and filled up. Guess I owe the next pair of 20 yr olds that ring my doorbell in white shirts and ties 5 minutes of listening. 

Pretty long day but we wheeled into Great Basin NP about 6pm and backed into our campsite w/ a stream right behind the camper that we listened to splashing down the mountain. We even had a campfire and enjoyed a nice grilled chicken dinner in the fire light.

That evening we read in the park brochure that there is a cave there and they have tours. Now I have never  been much of a cave person but what the hell, we're here. Lehman cave is a natural cavern formed by a bunch of different erosive forces.

Day 11

Next morning we headed to the visitor's center and signed up for the 90 minute, 0.6 mile guided tour. It was really cool. We were both stunned by the amazing formations. We took a lot of pictures but later when we were editing, the pics looked like stills from someone's colostomy. 

We had a couple of good ones. This formation is called popcorn.

There were all the stalagmites and -tites and shields and a bunch of other ones.

                                                     The coolest one was cave bacon.

After we did the cave tour we took the 12 mile scenic drive up to Wheeler peak. This is high country, the summit on the drive was 10,800' and the surrounding peaks were 13,000'+, beautiful alpine ecosystem.

We broke camp and hit the road heading north. Not much on Hwy 93 through here. A long way between towns but we did find this guy. Guess he's the last pony express rider that never made it to the barn.

We kept heading north on Hwy 93 and on the map we found a forest service CG about 8 miles outside of Wells, NV. It was a bit of a hump driving to it, but Angel Creek CG was gorgeous. We literally backed into and aspen grove and set up for the night.

Day 12
The next morning I took a walk and admired the view. I've never seen aspen with so much orange and red fall color.

The CG is right at the foot of the Ruby Mountains that go up to 10,000 ft. I wanted a couple of more days to explore.

We hooked up and pulled out. West on I-80 and then north on NV Hwy 225 which turns into ID 51 at the border. Not much out here except the Duck Valley Indian Reservation that straddles the NV-ID border. We stopped in Riddle at the reservation store, fueled up and bought some piñones in the shell.
When we were down by Manti, UT we passed a guy set up on the side of the road with a hand painted sign advertising pine nuts. A mile later we wished we had stopped. That was our only regret on the trip; we hadn't stopped at the pine nut guy.
Anyway I'm wandering around the Duck Valley store and I see a sign listing lg and sm bags of pine nuts. They only had sm bags left so I got one and gave it to Jennifer.
Kept going north on 51 and turned west on I-84 and made it home to Eagle by about 6:30pm. Tired and happy.
It was a trip of a lifetime. Loved traveling with my wife and best friend. We were both filled with amazing visions and memories and we had our pine nuts.

Southern Utah & NV, 12 days & 1825 m. Zion NP

Day 8
We broke camp and rolled out of Kodachrome by 10:40. Crack of dawn for us. We headed west on Hwy 12 past Bryce and into Red Canyon. All of this is scenic byway stuff.

After Red Canyon, hwy 12 tees into hwy 89 and we headed south. We stopped in Orderville, UT at a 1950's grocery store and resupplied. We came in the east entry on highway 9 and the senior pass was golden again.
About 2 miles into the park you come to a 1.1 mile tunnel that was built in the 30's. If you are pulling an rv you have to pay $15 and they stop the oncoming traffic and then you drive down the middle of the tunnel. It's really narrow and dark and way cool.

                                           As you emerge the view takes your breath.

We headed to Watchman CG where we had reservations for 2 nights. FYI they only have electric at their hookup sites, no water or sewer. The CG was full and we reserved the last site available next to the bathroom but it had plumbing so it didn't bother us. The drive from the entry was so beautiful we decided to drive back w/out the camper and stop at the viewpoints. Below is a view back toward the tunnel and a view portal that was cut into the side of a 1000' cliff.

Everything there is so vertical we were taking pictures out of the truck's sun roof. The scale is absolutely incredible.

One of the stops was by a formation called Checkerboard Mesa. It was formed by erosion, freezing and thawing, and humic acid leaching from decaying plant material.

What a great day. Each park we have been to has been unique and the awesome size and scale of Zion absolutely blows you away. We ended the day watching the sunset over the camper.

Day 9
Some of the busiest NP's no longer allow private vehicle traffic on their scenic drives. Zion is one of them and has a shuttle system that stops at every viewpoint. You can get off and on as you choose and another shuttle will come by in 10 minutes or less. I thought this sounded cheesey but I really liked it. I didn't have to drive and worry about traffic or a place to park. After morning coffee we walked to the shuttle stop by our CG and off we went.

                                                Every stop, absolutely stunning views.

                                        Even the not-so-grandiose nooks were beautiful.

Our plan was to ride to the end of the 15 mile shuttle route and hike to the "Narrows". The Virgin River runs down the canyon and at the end of the pavement there is a 1 mile trail that takes you to where the canyon narrows.

                       The canyon keeps closing in until it is just cliff walls and the river bed.

          To keep going you have to wade in the river, which we did. The water was really cold.

It was a real life experience. You can keep going for 8 miles but we only went up until our feet were totally numb.

We hiked back to the shuttle stop and sat in the sun and warmed up. Big Bend is a shuttle stop where the Virgin River does a 180° surrounded by 2000' sheer cliffs. Scanning the cliffs we saw these totally crazy people 3/4 of the way up.

At our next stop we took a loop trail to Emerald Pools and then tied into Kayenta trail, about 3 miles total. The foliage and sandstone forms were almost magical.

I'm fairly certain when we get home I am going to need to see a chiropractor and get my neck adjusted. You spend the majority of your time looking up and just gawking.

Couple of miles down the trail you come to an open ended slot canyon.

Pretty cool. Jennifer walked behind a waterfall and I stayed back and a took a picture of her through the mist.

What a magical day. We were pretty weary when we got on the shuttle and headed to our camper.

Southern Utah & NV, 12 days & 1825 m. Days 6 & 7

Day 6
Great sleep and 30° this morning at Kodachrome. Our plan today is to leave the camper parked and take a tour of Bryce Canyon NP about 20 miles to the SE. The senior pass was a score again at the park entry. Bryce is a one sided canyon. You drive along the top on an 18 mile scenic drive and look down into the park at 14 viewpoints. It is recommended that you drive 18 miles to the end at Rainbow Point and stop at the view areas on the way back so you don't have to cross traffic, so that's what we did. We took a hike on the Bristlecone loop trail and stopped at Yovimpa Point. The word scenic used in reference to Bryce Canyon is an immeasurable understatement.

The vertical rock formations are called hoodoos, different from spires due to their varying thicknesses. The scale can't be captured in a photo. The trees in the picture are 40-60' mature spruce.

We had lunch on this sawn log bench with views 1500' down and 100 miles out. Munched our sandwiches and stared in awe. Oh, BTW the weather was perfect as it was for our entire trip.

We stopped at every viewpoint. Bryce is different in that you look down into it. It is much harder to interact with as there are few trails and they drop hundreds of feet into the canyon so the hike out is brutal and more than Jennifer or I wanted to attempt.

                                Inspiration Point is well named and absolutely incredible to see.

We headed out of the main park but we had one more stop on the way back to the camper. Off of Hwy 12 there is a trail to Mossy Cave which is not that special but the waterfall a little farther up the trail is spectacular.

Now sometimes the viewer may not see the effort that goes into a postable picture so here is a little behind the scenes look at "getting the shot."

Jennifer kept saying I was crazy and that it was a 100' drop. I didn't really listen and I was pretty sure the drop wasn't much over 40'. But I got the shot that I wanted showing the water falling.

 

 Day 7

 Great sleep. 30° this morning so I turned the furnace up and made coffee. Our plan for the day was to hike in Kodachrome on a loop trail. It was the type of hike I like because we were constantly in new terrain with different stuff to see around every bend. The spires are almost unbelievable.

It was a great trail about 4 miles total and not much elevation change. A couple of miles in was the spot labeled "Indian Cave". At 1st we thought, "Wow thousand yr old hand prints", but when we placed our hands in the prints we realized the rock was very soft and the prints were made by hikers like us.

A spire is smooth and cylindrical and a hoodoo is like a spire but with varying widths and in Kodachrome there seems to be hybrids.

All of these formations are huge. The juniper in the background is over 30' tall. A loop off the loop we started on took us to the secret passage. It's a really cool slot canyon that dead ends.

On the way back to the main trail we came across the narrowest slot canyon we'd ever seen. The chunk of rock on the left is the size of a 747 and the other side is a solid cliff. The opening is maybe 3" wide by 15' tall. I didn't fit.

We hiked up to Panorama Point and you could see Bryce Canyon to the west and into Arizona to the south. We came across this guy looking south. He was pretty serious looking.

On the way back  we saw different formtions yet. These mounds/ petrified teepees were pretty neat.

We got back to the truck and drove out of Kodachrome and into the GSENM down Cottonwood Canyon road to Grosvenor Arch. Pretty good place to have lunch.

Back at the camper we ate a great spaghetti dinner sitting outside as a full moon rose. The international space station orbited by, brighter than the brightest star and 3 minutes from horizon to horizon. It was a good day.