Camping in Utah and Colorado

 Craig, CO

Enjoying the calm before the storm that missed us at Elkhead Reservoir State Park CO 

Canyon Rim Campground, Flaming Gorge Utah

The drive from Grand Junction CO to our campsite at Canyon Rim Campground was a really nice drive.  We passed through Northwest Colorado and then North East Utah.  We visited our last county in Utah, Daggett County, and stayed the night.  The campground was really fantastic.  We were far from everyone and a short walk to the canyon rim.  We set up camp and then did the 2 mile loop along the rim, to the visitors center and then back to the campsite.  

Hello from the awesome canyon rim overlook

There were interpretative signs along our walk

The beginnings of a pine cone

Nature is art

The canyon and reservoir are beautiful

Our secluded site

The next morning I got up early to use the restroom and noticed the sun was just rising so I grabbed my camera and went to the overlook to get some sunrise shots.  The sunrise was okay but the views of the Bighorn Sheep were better.  I watched them for a bit as they grazed on the cliffs edge and practiced their headbutting and then went to get my big camera and wake up Donna.  We headed back to the rim and watched the sheep for a bit more before heading back to camp and making coffee and eating breakfast.  While we ate the sheep passed through our site.  It was only fair, we watched them eat and then they watched us eat.  It was a great experience.

The so so sunrise

The adult sat and watched me

The juveniles grazed and practiced head butting and being dominant.

Breakfast and Coffee

The Sheep grazing in our campsite

After packing we drove north out the top of Utah and into Wyoming.  The drive was only somewhat scenic until we cut back down into Colorado.  The Colorado drive was really pretty.  We drove by herds of Pronghorn.  It was our second horned mammal species of the day!  We were expecting our campsite at Elkhorn Reservoir State Park to be just a convenient place to spend the night but when we got there we were pleasantly surprised.

Elkhorn Reservoir State Park, CO

Elkhorn Reservoir ended up being really great.  Our site was off by itself, there was a great shaded cover over the picnic table, and the weather was PERFECT.  After setting up camp we sat and watched 4 species of swallows fly around us.  It was so relaxing.  A breeze to our back kept it from being too hot or too cold.  Dinner was great and the bird show continued until dark.

We drove over this cool bridge leaving Utah

We stopped at a rest stop on I-80 in Wyoming

We passed through 2 areas of roadwork.  Winter has just ended in this area.

Donna and Francis enjoying the weather and the bird show

Donna took glamor shots of Francis on our walk while I was trying to scare up more bird species

More bird show, you can see a swallow just above Donna's head

Impressive clouds just before bed

The next morning we got up and made coffee, packed up, and took a walk.  I ended up getting a Sage Thrasher which was a new bird for me.  The drive to Silverthorne CO was nice.  We closed out the Northwest corner of Colorado and passed over a 9000+ft. pass.

Coffee Coffee Coffeeeee!

Simple rules to follow and yet people still couldn't follow the leash rule

The morning bird show

Donna grabbed a photo of the sign on the way out

Now we are in our hotel room in Silverthorne, CO.  We do a short 1h15m drive to Denver today and check into our Airbnb.  We already have dinner plans with friends, tickets to a day game at Coors Field, and reservations for a tour of the Coors Brewing Facility in Golden, CO.  It's going to be an action packed month.  I can't wait to share it with you all.

Our County Collecting Progress

Utah is complete!

Colorado is just over half done with more to come on this trip

Our US Progress together.  See a larger key for the colors below.  6 State complete and only 2711 counties to go!

The key to the colors

Yesterday we were on the road too. See the photos here.

Capitol Reef National Park

 Capitol Reef National Park, UT

This is as close as we got to Arches National Park.  They recently implemented a reservation system and I wasn't paying attention

Bumming around in Utah

After The Grand Canyon we camped 1 night in Utah on the way to Capitol Reef National Park. Devil's Canyon Campground is just off US191.  It broke up the drive and was a nice stopover.  I got a new life bird there, the Woodhouse's Scrub Jay.  A few years ago they split the Western Scrub Jay into two species, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay and California Scrub Jay.  I also saw a snag filed with Turkey Vultures.  

I made sure to point out cool things to Donna as we drove

They were building a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad right next to the road

Utah State Line (there aren't casinos like Nevada)

Me pointing out more cool things on our drive

US 191 is a nice drive

A really nice drive

We've got your laughing place. Right up here.

  Capitol Reef National Park

The next day we pressed on to Capitol Reef National Park.  The drive to Capitol Reef from the north is AMAZING.  The scenery changes at every turn and each geological feature is different.  Capitol Reef sits in the middle of Wayne County UT and Wayne County UT sits in the middle of nowhere.  

Just in case Donna didn't see it

This part looked like we were entering Mordor

The 100th Red Cliff we have seen this week

The Capitol Reef National Park sign by itself

I forced a smile, Francis did not...

Another amazing drive

The red cliffs outside our campsite

When you book campsites online you have to do your research.  Different agencies call different sites different things.  I booked this tent only site thinking it was a site with no hookups for an RV but it turned out it was a "Walk Up Site".  That means you park your car and lug your stuff about 200 yards to a spot on a field.  Some people like these types of sites but we don't.  We sleep in our van so we ended up basically sleeping in a parking lot in a national park.  It wasn't optimal and I have since done a post mortem on this so it won't happen again.  I did see a Black-throated Sparrow so I got that going for me.

After setting up I went to the Visitors Center and used their Wi-Fi to book a hotel room for the next day.  We didn't want to spend 2 nights in the parking lot. I booked an additional night in Grand Junction, CO.  We will probably use the extra day to take a drive and get extra counties in Colorado that we hadn't counted on getting.

Still need more hot National Park action?  Check out our Grand Canyon visit here.