After breaking camp above Green River, Elvis and I backtracked to
Rock Springs to post blogs, download newspapers and podcasts, and gas
up. Then we drove south of Interstate 80 to the Flaming Gorge National
Recreation Area.
The
campgrounds in this area are quite popular and subject to reservation. I
was a little bit worried that the campgrounds would be full, but I had a
boondocking back-up plan. Upon arriving at Firehole Campground, I knew
right away my my concern was misplaced. Not only was the campground
empty of campers, it was closed for the season and gated. Hmmmm.
Time for the back-up plan. There were forest dirt/gravel roads all around the campground, and someone on the Campendium website mentioned camping without any problems at the
beach close to the campground. The beach had several attributes,
including beautiful views, potential swimming opportunities, and pit
toilets.
The beach also had several downsides. Many of the “camping spots”
were on soft, sandy ground. Getting stuck would not have been fun. The
ground was sloping, and the best solid spot that I could find was not
very level. I decided to make the best of it and set up camp anyway.
Elvis and I hiked up and down the beach and across many of the gravel
roads between the beach and the campground. In the process, I found a
couple of other spots that seemed to work also. I noticed that the
original beach area was extremely windy with blowing sand. In the
afternoon, the trailer was already rocking and rolling, promising an
interesting night.
So I bailed on the original site, prepared the Brew Hut for travel
again, and moved about a half mile down a narrow, rutted road to a large
turn-around circle that was gravel and appeared to be used as a
campsite previously (evidence of bonfires). This was much better. Less
windy, I had the Brew Hut situated so that the door was on the opposite
of the direction of the wind, so that it was comfortable to sit outside
and read.
I had already decided that it was going to be hamburger night, so the
patties were sitting out to defrost by the sink. As I prepared dinner, I
noticed that the temperature of the fridge was rising. Now I’ve had
problems in the past regulating the temperature of the fridge, but it
was always on the cold side, freezing food that shouldn’t be frozen.
Hmmm. A half hour later, the temperature was 45, and I knew that
something was wrong. Apparently, the gale-force wind had blown out the
propane flame that keeps the fridge cold. At least, that was my first
theory.
I followed the procedure for relighting the fridge. That process is
not user-friendly. There is a tiny hole at the bottom of the fridge
which is supposed to tell you if the flame is lit or not. The only
problem is that flame is impossible to see during the daylight, leaving
two options. The first option is to wait until it’s dark. The second
option is to check a metal tube in the outside compartment to see if
it’s getting hot. Either option takes time, and I was impatient to find
out whether the fridge flame was out or if it was just dead.
Fortunately, after about 30 minutes, the metal tube was warming up. I
dialed down the fridge to colder. In the morning, it was back to normal,
freezing food that it shouldn’t. I dialed the fridge back to low.
There is only one other camper within sight, and he's about half mile
away. Temperatures fall into the mid 30’s at night and climb up into
the 70’s during the day. Mornings are less windy, and the ample sun
allows me to charge up all of my devices and top off the battery. Unless
weekend partiers arrive, this spot seems like a great place to spend a
few days.
The header shows a herd of pronghorn, I believe. They are
frequent visitors to the nearby water but are very skittish. Unlike deer
in Wisconsin, they stay tightly packed together and move as one when
running. We’ve also seen lots of rabbits, birds and snake skins (but no
snakes yet). The closed campground is accessible by trail. The water
spigots have been turned off, but the convenient dumpsters remain. A
sign indicates that the campground closed on September 15
th. I’ve not smelled any smoke here. The air is clear and clean.
That’s all the news at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area…
Comments