Sunday, May 11
It’s 6:40 when the crew and I step outside the Best Little Trailer for the morning potty break. All the camps of our kayak neighbors are quiet.
“Looks like we’re the only ones up,” I say to the wind. Bridget and Spike do their business.
“Hurry up, guys! It’s freezing out here!”
I toss Bridget and Spike back into the BLT. Not that they can’t jump through the door. It’s faster to pitch them inside. The wind blows damp air off the Green River and it chills to the bone.
We don’t go outside again until 10 o’clock.
“Well, well, well. Everybody’s packed up and left. What a shame.” Heh-heh. I love an empty campground.
Not that it makes any difference. We stay inside all day long to keep warm.
Monday, May 12
I pull back the curtain. “Hey, poopies! I see blue sky! Let’s go somewhere.”
Bridget and Spike peek out from the bed covers. “C’mon. We gotta’ get outta’ here. We’re turning into a bunch of bedbugs!”
I trot out to the Perfect Tow Vehicle, start up the engine, and turn on the heater.
A few minutes later we pull out of Lower Gray Canyon Campground, leaving the BLT behind. In town I top off the gas tank at the truck stop ($3.63 a gal.) and stop at Subway for a turkey sandwich. This will make a nice picnic lunch. The crew gets the turkey. I get the lettuce and tomato. Oh well . . .
We roll onto Interstate 70 and shoot west.
About twenty miles from Green River we cross the San Rafael Reef. This is the northern end of the same reef where we boondocked overlooking a canyon not very long ago.
Another twenty miles or so, we get off the interstate at exit 131.
Frontage Road backtracks along the interstate and then becomes Cottonwood Road. Why it’s called Cottonwood, I don’t know. It should be called Juniper Road. Patches of snow lie on the ground between the junipers and sage, and on the higher regions of rocks. A distant mountain range is white with snow.
A fifth wheel sits near this hill (below) to the right of the photo. This is BLM public land.
It’s another 25 miles to the San Rafael Recreation Area.
Besides a scenic drive, this excursion is to see if I want to bring the BLT out here to camp a few days. We cross meadows dotted with junipers.
We’re crossing the northern end of the San Rafael Swell.
Imagine the photo below extended 15 times wider and you’ll have an idea what is seen from this road.
Bridget and Spike stir from their interstate-induced slumber.
“How about a little break?”
Burros roam this area.
Evidence lies on the ground. Bridget and Spike have a quick walk-around and a drink, and we’re back on the road!
“Isn’t this fun, guys?”
It’s good to be out and about under a blue sky after two days of cold, wind, and rain!
In twenty miles we meet a total of three cars.
We should arrive at the campground soon. Here comes a camper. . .
I discover there are two campgrounds on opposite sides of the San Juan River.
A small camping fee is charged, something like $6 regular/$3 with senior pass. I can’t remember exactly, but I know it’s not much. In the photo below you can gain an idea of the height of the rocks by looking for the bridge (left center) and for the white camper among the trees in the center.
The elevation is 5,100 feet. Campsites take RVs up to 35 feet, according to a website.
We drive the loop of the first campground and then cross the narrow San Juan River, (about six feet wide and red with mud), and enter the campground that has horse corrals.
Only a few people are camped here and it doesn’t look like they brought horses. The horse campground has some big sites, probably planned for horse trailers. Here there are cottonwood trees!
If you come here with your RV . . . .
I advise entering from Castle Dale, rather than the way the crew and I came from the south. I read on the RV.net forum that it’s easier that way.
It’s lovely, but we’re not going to camp here. It would be too arduous a journey to haul the BLT from Green River. I doubt there’s any cell phone or internet signal.
I stop at an empty site.
This is a nice spot for our lunch. Bridget waits patiently while Spike scouts the perimeter and I take this photo. That’s the sandwich in front of her. (She hates that I’m taking this picture.)
Spike realizes a sandwich is on the table and joins the Bridge.
“Are you both ready?”
“Okay . . . Let’s eat!”
rvsue
NOTE: In the next post the crew and I continue our excursion, riding through Buckhorn Draw to view a pictograph panel!
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