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Old 06-05-2017, 07:06 PM   #1
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Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Cottonwood Heights, UT
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TR: Utah boondocking June 1-4, 2017

We just got back from 4 days/3 nights of some very diverse camping across Utah.


Yeah, this was on our last night (at Forsyth Reservoir) and not at the beginning of our trip, but I had to make this photo front and center. What a spot!

My DW's aunt and uncle, from near Quebec City, are visiting us in the midst of a multi-month Harley trip across North America. They've been busy seeing the National Parks and everything else in their tourist guide, so we decided to take them with us and show them a bit of what's off the beaten path that makes Utah so special.


Hooked up to the new TV and ready to go.

Uncle and I headed out Thursday morning ahead of DW and aunt riding separately in DW's car. We encountered some heavy thunderstorms shortly after we left pavement near Huntington, and by the time we arrived at the Lower Wedge in the San Rafael Swell the trailer and my new truck were both heavily encased in mud. To add insult to injury, as we were backing into a tight spot on the rim of the canyon, with uncle spotting we were both watching what we anticipated to be the difficult side, and were caught ignoring what we thought would be the easy side. Before we knew it a stray branch of a juniper tree ripped the dump valves to my black water tank and one of my grey water tanks right off the trailer. We'd have to complete the trip without the benefit of a toilet.


Upon arrival at the Little Grand Canyon in The Wedge area of the San Rafael Swell


My trailer is visible along the rim at The Wedge, one of my favorite places to camp.

From there we went to Wild Horse Road outside of Goblin Valley (with a 30-mile detour to Green River to wash the now dried mud off the vehicles), and while camped for our second night at the foot of Wild Horse Butte we hiked Little Wild Horse Canyon and visited Goblin Valley.


DW, uncle and aunt hiking Little Wild Horse Canyon.


Hiking Little Wild Horse Canyon


My girls in Little Wild Horse Canyon.


Camped beneath Wild Horse Butte.


The view from our campsite at Wild Horse Butte.

(to be continued, due to image restrictions)
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Old 06-05-2017, 07:08 PM   #2
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Part II:


Goblin Valley


Sunset at Goblin Valley.

For night #3 we took a chance. Google Earth reconnaissance looked good for Forsyth Reservoir, at 8,000 feet in Fishlake National Forest north of Loa. That turned out to be my new favorite campsite, and we got to enjoy the spectacular UT-24 through Capitol Reef National Park and the sleepy town of Torrey en route. We were the only overnighters at the entire lake.


Zoe swims at Forsyth Reservoir.


Our campsite at Forsyth Reservoir.


Our campsite at Forsyth Reservoir.


Hangin' in camp at Forsyth Reservoir.


Sunset over Forsyth Reservoir from camp.


Looking across Forsyth Reservoir at our camp.

A few observations from this trip:
1. Damn, I'm paying to get something else fixed on the trailer. This sucks. Rookie mistakes to be sure, and I'll eventually learn to not make them, but...damn. Just damn.
2. The new truck tows like a champ, even on steep, unimproved dirt roads.
3. The new truck drinks like a sailor on shore leave -- average 8.5 mpg towing. Maybe if I kept it below 75-80 mph...
4. Forsyth Reservoir is ~15 miles from Loa, the location of the nearest store. It's a straight shot on UT-72. Nevertheless, DW and aunt still found a way to get lost for nearly 3 hours on a quick run to the store. There's no cell service in that neck of the woods and I had to go find them. Sheesh.
5. In the span of 4 days we had thunderstorms, unusually hot mid-90s sunshine for early June in the desert, and a night in the upper 40s. We had a canyon rim, barren desert, a slot canyon and a refreshing mountain lake surrounded by spring greenery, all in one quick long weekend trip. #utahisrad
6. Did I mention that I broke the trailer again? Damn.

Addendum: Well, the estimate is in for the repairs: $800-1000. Not cheap by any means, but a far cry from the $4733 I did on our second trip. It looks like I should be flushing the head again by this weekend.
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Old 06-05-2017, 07:13 PM   #3
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Utah is hard to beat so many things to do. One of my favorite areas to visit and play in. The pictures of your trip are great.
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