06 Tuesday May 2014
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When I started planning my trip I kept reading references to the San Rafael Swell. Slot canyons, historical mines, wild horses, pictographs, goblins, BLM land that will allow the dogs to run around, hikes, and lots of land for boondocking. It sounded like my kind of place and it didn’t disappoint me. I had allocated three days of my trip for exploring the area, I could have spent over a week and not seen everything.
View of the San Rafael reef from the Goblin State Park
04 Sunday May 2014
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Off I drove to Utah with my goal of camping at The Wedge that night. To get there I traveled south through the Salt Lake valley on Highway 15. It took me a couple of hours driving to get through the urban setting of a many-lane freeway, lots of traffic, and general unpleasantness. But I knew the results would be worth it and it was. I had read a lot about The Wedge. What I had read was that the canyon located anywhere other than Utah would probably be a national park, but in Utah with so many incredible sights it was just simply BLM land. I turned east off Highway 10 onto the Green River Cutoff at Castle Dale.
Really? There is a big canyon ahead?
03 Saturday May 2014
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I’d planned and researched about everything one can find on the internet regarding visiting Utah and now I’m off starting on my trip. I left work early to get the final loading of the trailer done with the goal of leaving by 7:00 that night. If I left by 7:00 I could make it to a state park in Yakima and not arrive too late in the evening. However, 7:00 came and I wasn’t ready to leave. Although I was still at home, I opened a beer to toast the beginning of my too-cool-to-be-defined vacation. I was going to see some of the coolest geology. Continue reading
25 Wednesday Sep 2013
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My trip plans were turned upside down with an early winter cold front coming through eastern Oregon. Low clouds and three days of rain in the valleys and snow at the top of the Steens. I saw a pickup truck with globs of mud everywhere, a warning to not travel on dirt (now muddy) roads. My planned backroad travels had to be canceled. Unsure of what to do; with choices of staying at the Page Spring Campground or traveling north, south, east or west; I went to eat breakfast at the Frenchglen Hotel. Not surprisingly the restaurant was full of people just like me, mulling over what to do. Swapping stories about where we had been, one couple sang the praise of the Owyhee River and the Lake Owyhee State Park campground. With paved roads the entire way, that was where I chose to go next and I was glad I did.
![OVERALL_VIEW_UPSTREAM_OF_DAM_AND_OWYHEE_RIVER._VIEW_TO_EAST._-_Owyhee_Dam,_Across_Owyhee_River,_Nyssa,_Malheur_County,_OR_HAER_ORE,23-NYS.V,1[1]](https://searchingfor.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/overall_view_upstream_of_dam_and_owyhee_river-_view_to_east-_-_owyhee_dam_across_owyhee_river_nyssa_malheur_county_or_haer_ore23-nys-v11.jpg?w=529)
Owyhee dam Photo credit. Wikimedia Commons Clayton Fraser
23 Monday Sep 2013
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campground, Diamond Crater, Oregon, Page Springs Campground, Riddle Brothers Ranch, Round Barn, steens
I was excited to see the Steens, a fault-block mountain of the basin and range geology, not like the volcanoes of the Cascade Mountains by my home. I had driven from the Hart Mountain Antelope Reserve and when I reached the valley rim above Frenchglen the Steens looked like a huge gentle giant of a hill that just kept going skyward. There was no clue that the backside abruptly drops to the Alvord valley.
I was headed to the BLM Page Springs campground; a campground that my boondocking brother had recommended. It must be nice if he recommended it. It was centrally located for exploring the vast area with a nice amount of space between each campsites. I found the campground a happy place with a comfy camp site that I settled into for a three night stay.
19 Thursday Sep 2013
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During my trip planning I happened upon finding a campground at the northwest base of Hart Mountain and in the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge. The campground wasn’t on most maps and my brother who had been to the area a number of times told me it didn’t exist. But, it showed up on google aerial maps and it would be a convenient location because I wanted to visit the BLM sunstone collection area to the north. I was off to find out the truth and I found that the campground did exist. I don’t remember the name, but it had about 10 sites offering a wide open view. There were no trees, just wide open expansive view.
View from my camp site
18 Wednesday Sep 2013
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boondocking, campground, Crack In the Ground, Oregon, Paisley Caves, Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge
I had heard that camping was allowed in this wildlife refuge. Since I was going to be in the area; south of Bend, Oregon, I put it on my itinerary. Yes, there were picnic tables and pit toilets (no water) like a camping site, but the place had a boondocking feeling. There are no defined camping sites, you just set up in one of three designated areas and make it your home. It couldn’t have been better. The two nights I stayed there I was the only one camping in the refuge. It was a treat to step out of my trailer in the morning and walk through the refuge viewing the birds with a cup of coffee in my hand.
14 Saturday Sep 2013
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East of Bend, Oregon is an observatory that is open to the public in the summer on Friday and Saturday nights. What is especially nice about this observatory is that you can camp across the road and simply stroll to the observatory when it gets dark. Volunteers are there explaining the constellations and aim the telescope at interesting items all in a friendly informal way that pleases.
![Telescope_Dome_at_Pine_Mountain,_Oregon[2].jpg](https://searchingfor.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/telescope_dome_at_pine_mountain_oregon2.jpg?w=529)
Photo credit: Orygun, Wikimedia Commons
08 Saturday Jun 2013
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This was a trip with my mom, so no camping on this trip even though this is the lady that introduced me to camping and coerced my dad into buying a little Siesta travel trailer. Now in her 80s she likes motels. I was a bit concerned about my mom enjoying this trip. Mom’s spry for her age, but she is no spring chicken. But when I asked her if wanted to go, she didn’t hesitate for a nanosecond. So, we were off to Kemmerer, Wyoming eager to find fish fossils in the Green River formation.
Morning at the quarry. Mom clean and eager.
28 Tuesday May 2013
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I wanted to see the Palouse Falls in central Washington and the area around it. I was born and raised in western Washington and somehow I had never visited this area in eastern Washington. Planning my visit, I came across a reference to “camping” at the Little Goose Dam Road boat ramp parking lot. Not finding any other choices except for the Palouse Fall campground, I drove to the parking lot. What I found exceeded all expectations. I had a spot next to the Snake River with a gorgeous view. I sat by a campfire that night visiting with the unofficial parking lot host. A truly enjoyable site for the night. I would return.
![Palouse_Falls_in_Eastern_Washington[1].jpg](https://searchingfor.blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/palouse_falls_in_eastern_washington1.jpg?w=529)
Palouse Falls Photo credit: PJ Blalock
searching for the middle of nowhere 