Goosenecks, Grand Canyon, and Back to the Warmth!

Monday, November 4, 2013


Monday was chore day in Moab. We did laundry, bought groceries, took care of other odds and ends, and spent the night in town at the Slickrock Campground. It was nice to have water and electric. The weather had turned cold and cloudy, and we knew it was time to leave Moab after 10 days.

One of many bike sculptures in Moab

 Tuesday morning the sun was shining and after showers and a stop at the funky Rock Shop we visited last week, we had a quick lunch at the Moab Diner. Chili Verde Cheeseburger for Greg and a Chili Verde Omelet for me. Yummy, and a fun place to eat. Stuffed, we drove south. We wanted to reach Goosenecks State Park for the night.

Chile Verde Everything!

Heading South from Moab - La Sal Mountains

Heading to Goosenecks

Shortly before sundown we arrived at Goosenecks. The San Juan River flows 1,000' below the rim of the canyon. It is the deepest meandering river in the United States. There are four “campsites” with picnic tables and a pit toilet at the parking lot where people drive up to look over the rim. We took a dirt and rock track down the peninsula that juts out into a curve in the river, and found a place to boondock on the rim. That way we were not bothered by the cars stopping by for a quick look. That stopped at dusk.

Gooseneck State Park

No camp sites, just pick a spot as close to the edge as you wish.

See the river far below?

Sunset in the desert

View over the edge from our campsite

The track back out

 This is a popular spot for boondocking in warmer weather. Tuesday night it was just us, and the stars, and the cold! Greg had to start up the generator during the night to run the furnace to keep us warm. If it had been warmer, we would have stayed longer to enjoy sitting on the rim and savoring the amazing view, but I whined enough to convince Greg to move on!

Wednesday we left Goosenecks, drove through Mexican Hat and crossed the San Juan River into the Navajo Nation and Arizona. Our drive took us past scenic Monument Valley with its red mesas and buttes. It took us almost 200 miles to drive out of the reservation. Then we took the road leading in from the east to Grand Canyon National Park. The South Rim road rose into higher elevations and back into pine forests. We stopped at the Watchtower where we could see the beginning of the Grand Canyon to the northeast of us. The tower was built early last century by the railroad, and was made to look like a Native American watchtower. It was not an authentic replica, but a romanticized version of one.

San Juan Bridge at Mexican Hat

Monument Valley

We climbed to the top for the view and the interesting artwork inside. It was cold and getting late, so we drove the rest of the way to Grand Canyon Village and found the full hook-up Trailer Campground. A little bit of luxury after days of water conservation and few days of electric. From there we could walk or take the shuttle bus around the area. We would never have gotten into this campground in the summer without advance reservations, so it was great to have smaller crowds.

Watchtower

We were still surprised by the large number of tourists there in November in cold weather. When we stopped at the Watchtower, it was at least ten minutes before we even heard English spoken. We got all mixed up with a busload of elderly Asian tourists. The women were sitting around on the benches singing. Then we ran into the Europeans. Lots of tourists and lots of languages. A little startling after our quieter Moab area experiences.

We had a colder/warmer night. Colder outside and warmer inside! Kept that electric heater cranking while it got down to 18 degrees. Greg discovered he could walk 2 miles to one of the restaurants for breakfast, so he got up early, while I declined the big skillet breakfast he anticipated. I went back to sleep! He spent a good amount of time wandering along the rim, checking out the geology and the old village and came back at lunchtime. We dressed warmly, put on our hiking boots and caught the shuttle for the rim road.
 
For most of the year, the crowds are so large that cars are not allowed on the rim road and you must ride the shuttle. Even this time of year found them mostly full, but we rode out to the second viewpoint, got off and decided to hike the trail between the road and the rim. It was windy, but sunny, and with a couple layers we were comfortable. Occasionally we caught whiffs of smoke. The park service was conducting a controlled burn to reduce future fire danger by burning off the dry underbrush. Part of the more active approach to fire prevention we are now seeing in the parks in the West.

The views were of course, spectacular! At one viewpoint a volunteer had set up a viewing scope and we were able to see a baby condor way down on the canyon wall. The Grand Canyon has the largest “party” of condors, as a group is called, in the West.

River and condor nest in the far cliff

View of the Colorado 5,000 feet down and 3 miles away

The canyon is so deep that only in a few places can you glimpse the Colorado River far below. The pollution drifting in from Las Vegas, sometimes Los Angeles, and the coal fired power plants in the region, create hazy skies, but this time of year the visibility was greater than in the summer. We could still see the mountains 60 miles away.

We hiked three miles right on the rim and then took the shuttle to the very end to the old stone gift shop. Greg found hot coffee! Happy camper! We spent a few minutes there before boarding the shuttle to return to the Village. Once there we walked along the rim, viewed the Bright Angel Trail, where the hikers and mule trains descend into the canyon, and looked at the old hotels. It was time to catch the shuttle back to the campground.

Fireplace in Hermit's Rest

 While we waited for the bus to come, the traffic down the road from us stopped, and a small herd of elk walked across the road and back up behind the bus stop! There were several females and calves, and after a trumpeting sound, we saw the fully antlered male bringing up the rear and pushing them on. It was twilight as they made their way through the woods, but I quickly took a few telephoto shots of them. I would have liked to get closer, but there are signs all over the park warning visitors to keep their distance, as the males can be violent this time of year while they are in rut.

Elk strolling through the village

A short bus ride took us back to the campground and we decided that we had seen all we needed to of the park and that after another 18 degree night we would leave on Friday morning to seek warmer climes. I had been struggling for two weeks living at 6-7,000' elevations where the oxygen is thinner. It takes weeks for your blood to develop more red blood cells to cope, and two weeks wasn't enough for me. I was constantly short of breath, headachy and slightly nauseous. Hiking was tough on any uphill climbs. So between being tired of dealing with the cold and elevation, it was time to leave. (Greg adjusted better than I did, guess all his aerobic biking and running helped?)

Friday found us driving south out of the park to Williams, AZ and west on I 40 to the turnoff for the old Route 66. We encountered the first Burma Shave signs we have seen since we were young and high speed interstate travel made them obsolete and unable to be read. Passing through some small towns, it was obvious that all they had left to draw people in were a few old restaurants that were playing up the campiness of the old route.

The main industry here in Seligman, AZ is Route 66 Nostalgia

The highway began to descend towards Kingman and the temperature rose into the 80's. Fine by me! It was Greg's turn to whine! I felt myself quickly thawing out! We got back on I 40 and traveled to the Lake Havasu City exit. The city exists because of the dammed up Colorado river that created a large lake. California is on the other side. We had researched boondocking spots and found one on BLM land just before town. There was supposed to be a road traveling farther into Craggy Wash, but all we found was a large relatively flat, cleared area just off the main highway. There were perhaps a dozen RV's already settled here. We checked our phones and wifi, found we had signals, so decided that we would stay here for a few nights. A few hours before, our realtor, Colleen notified us that we finally had a contract on our condo, so we knew we needed to stay connected, even if it meant less boondocking privacy for now.

After looking around a bit, we picked a spot off on a little peninsula looking over the desert and out of the way of the rest of the campers. Shortly afterwards, a man in a pickup drove up. He was the “campground host”, by default. BLM decided to start enforcing the 14 day limit for camping here. He has been coming here for eight years, and we suppose, staying a lot longer than that each time. The BLM people said that there would need to be a host to enforce the limit, and he volunteered. So, surprisingly, we got an official paper to put in our windshield to time our stay. Guess this area is getting too popular with boondockers. After all, we get to stay free. It's public lands, and our tax dollars have been paying for it, so we are not squatters.

At Canyonlands, we paid good money for a camp with no hookups, here it is free!

We slept well the last two nights. The other campers are quiet, mostly seniors, and are camping in everything from ancient vans to $300,000+ motorhomes. We were able to sleep with the windows open and feel the desert breeze. Even though we're very close to the highway, we can't see it, and there's little highway noise. The sunsets were beautiful! Yesterday, we put up the awning, sat outside and just relaxed. Greg took a short walk today to check out the area up the hill. Because this is the weekend we have had some ATV's and dirt bikes passing through the campground. Not many, and the dust, thank goodness is blowing away from us.
We've been using Google Maps to see where else we can boondock. Apparently, the area we are in is not Craggy Wash, so after we settle business, we'll go four miles down the road and check out that area. We would like to be farther back into the hills with more privacy. In between , we can drive into town and dump tanks and get more water, for a small fee, at one of the campgrounds. For now, we are good for a couple more days.

Sunset over the volcanic hand rising from the depths

Chef Greg at the grill. It looks like it was made by Fisher Price toys but it really works!

Ahhhh,, it feels good to be warm!!!