My campsite has been so quiet until this morning that I’ve almost
felt like I’m not supposed to be here. There is a gate leading down to
the beach road that can be closed and locked. I hope that someone lets
me know if the beach season suddenly ended without locking me inside this
little corner of paradise.
I discovered a boat launch about a mile away by road walk and about
one-half mile by a little-used trail. There are heated bathrooms with
flush toilets here, along with a fish cleaning station with the water
still on. I haven’t seen any boats launch from here, but there was a bit
of boat traffic on the water late yesterday afternoon.
After our early morning hike, coffee and breakfast, blogging, and
reading, the temperatures gradually rose throughout the day. I took a
sirloin steak out of the freezer to defrost and decided to take Elvis to
the water to cool off. Now, Elvis is 75% golden retriever and 25%
poodle. You would think such a dog would be a natural swimmer., but
that’s not the case. Elvis will sniff at the water like it’s some kind
of trap, trying to get him. Because he was so hot, I was going to force
the issue a bit. I started throwing sticks into the edge of the water,
and he would tentatively go out and retrieve them—only realizing after
he got back to shore that his legs were wet. How did that happen?
Finally, I started throwing the sticks out further in the water. He
refused to go completely under, letting those sticks float away. But he
did get in far enough to get his legs, underside and chest wet, which
cooled him off and reinvigorated Elvis. He started running up and down
the beach like a greyhound, shaking the water off and acting reborn.
After that excitement, I returned to the Brew Hut for my last beer
(we didn’t bring much with us), reading on my Kindle, and then feeding
Elvis. It was too hot to cook inside and too windy to cook outside, so I
prepared a late dinner after the sun went down, cooling things off. I
dined on sautéed spinach with garlic, mushrooms in butter, and one-third
of a large sirloin steak. I saved the remainder for two more meals.
Early the next day, Elvis was primed to hike. We made a big circle
around the area before coming back to the Brew Hut to brew coffee. As I
went outside with my cup of steaming Brazilian, I walked around the
other side of the Brew Hut and discovered an old, beater car parked less
than 50 yards away. It was parked on a steep angle, and there was no
evidence of condensation on the windows (which would mean someone was
probably sleeping inside. My mind started racing. Stolen car? Hidden
dead bodies? I walked closer, took a quick photo of the license plate,
and then looked inside.
“What the F do you think you are looking at?” shouted a male voice. I
turned around and discovered a young man fishing just below the cliff
on which the Brew Hut was parked. “Oh, sorry, sorry,” I said retreating.
“I didn’t notice you drive up and was surprised that someone parked so
close to my camp.”
He didn’t respond or necessarily seem accepting of my explanation.
The fisherman apparently caught no fish and moved on about twenty
minutes later.
When your closest camping neighbor is one-half mile away,
the sight of a strange car and a profane encounter leaves one a bit
off-balance. Another cup of coffee and morning views of my herd of
pronghorns provided the antidote.
The rest of the day went without incident, and we enjoyed a very
quiet evening. On the next morning, my original plans to drive to Moab
shifted when I discovered one of the truck tires was low. This gave me a
chance to try out the new portable air compressor which attaches to the
battery and reaches long enough for any of the truck’s tires. After a
some trial and error, the small machine worked the way it was supposed
to, although it did heat up markedly. I decided to return to Rock
Springs to resupply at Wal-Mart and do my first Wal-Mart stay-over in
the parking lot. I checked with the manager and he pointed out the
proper part of the lot to park the Brew Hut.
Resupplied with beer, food, and toiletries, we are ready for the next
part of the journey. Hopefully, the truck tire cooperates.
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