Monday, May 26, 2008

No Beer Was Consumed

Well, we did go camping this weekend; and as predicted, we froze. When we got home and I emptied the cooler, I put all the icy cold beers and sodas back in the fridge, untouched. The cocoa, spiced cider, tea and coffee were all gone. Still, it was worth it. The House Range is beautiful and so remote that, Memorial Day weekend or no, we only saw 4 or 5 other camps in the whole 30-40 square mile area that we explored.



The land out in the West Desert is mostly owned by the federal government, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (or the Bureau of Livestock and Mining, depending on whom you ask), which means that you can camp anywhere you want. For the sake of lessening our impact, we always look for places where people appear to have camped in the past. So, we followed a dirt road about 30 miles to a smaller dirt road; on which we went 15 miles, to a double track; which took us to a ridge, where we found an old campfire circle sheltered by some cedars.



Here's our camp. The blue shelter is a new addition to our equipment - this was its inaugural trip. It came in handy, too, as it gave us a place to eat when it rained on the first night. In the past, we always had to empty out the back of the truck, stow all the gear underneath and climb in under the shell (food in tents in a big no-no out here.) Simon also made our fabulous camp table out of 2 milk-crates and a hunk of old desk.




Here is where I spent a lot of my time: standing almost on top of the fire. You can see that we are burning our old wheelbarrow. The night before, it was off-cuts from the new hardwood floor. As Si pointed out when I laughed about it - in the old days when we lived at the cabin, we had a wood lot; now, we have to get more creative.



The kids did okay. I worried about them at night, but I brought an extra old quilt that covered both of their sleeping bags. I made them sleep with stocking caps on, too. They thought that was weird at first, but it makes a difference. The back of the truck was a warm place to play when the wind kicked up.



I didn't get very many good photos, cause the light was so flat and grey. This one of our campsite turned out relatively well.


We camped at the base of Swasey Peak, and drove up the double track as far as we could to check out the view. There's no trail to the top of the peak and it's not a bushwhack that would be fun for kids, so we stopped here. This is a good illustration of the West Desert's Basin and Range landscape. We're in the House Range; and behind these guys, you can see the Tule Valley, which is about 20 miles wide. On the other side, the dark grey mountains are the Confusion Range; then the Snake Valley, also about 20 miles wide, is hidden behind them. You can barely see the paler grey Deep Creek mountains on the horizon. I am intrigued by them: they're BIG - still snow-covered on the peaks. I checked them out on the maps, and there's no road access in there at all. And in between us and the Deep Creeks, there's nothing. This is one of the coolest things about Utah.



We stayed warm during the day by descending into the Tule Valley to explore a little. Let's see... what did I say we were looking for in the House Range, besides nothing?
The hermit's house. We found that. It was up in this canyon.

A guy named Bob Stinson came out her after suffering from pretty bad shell-shock after WWI. He made this little hide-out, and lived here from about 1919 until 1945.

I took a photo inside, 'cause I was impressed with the nifty design of his stove, made from a culvert. You can sort of see some wooden shelves on the wall, too.


Fossils were also on the agenda. There is a U-Dig fossil quarry, where for $25 per adult and $15 per child (!!!) (I went in as a non-paying adult and just took pictures. Nate was free 'cause he's so young) (but still!) you get a hammer and a bucket from the guy in the trailer who runs the place, and then you look for trilobites all you want. Predictably, we found a few trilobites, mostly broken and often set in stones too big to break or take with us. If you ever come out there, don't bother with U-Dig....


...because, just a few hundred yards down the double track where we were camped, we found a slope with a bunch of exposed limestone and sat down there to look for a few minutes. After about half an hour, I found all these. And a scorpion. Bonus.
Oh! Mustangs. Well, we saw one. A stallion, all on his own, too far away to photograph. Better luck next time. And there will definitely be a next time. We have scoped out about 6 really cool places in the House Range to camp in the future.
So, now we're home, and thawed out. It felt SO GOOD to shower and wash all the soot off myself. And even better to stretch out under my soft quilt and clean sheets.

8 comments:

dive said...

Cool!
What a great weekend (regardless of the cold)!
To be out there in that monumentally beautiful scenery, … sigh … I am so jealous!
I love the old guy's hideaway.
And those trilobites! Yay! What a great find.
And a wild stallion (why do I always thing of Bill and Ted?) and a scorpion!
That makes our English wildlife look decidedly tame.
Thanks for posting this, Katie.
I was stuck indoors on a rainy weekend and now seeing this I feel like I've had a lovely break.

Amrita said...

good trip youi had. The natural beauty is so lovely.
I like the hermit 's house.

Kate said...

@ Dive: Well, when you're ready, come over. What with the value of the American Peso, it'll be a cheap trip!
@Amrita: We loved the hermit's house. He had a nice set-up, really. He worked for the state, clearing the roads of rocks and fixing them after floods. He kept a couple of pigs (the old pig-pen is still there). And he made extra money by brewing illegal liqour during the Prohibition. :)

suesun said...

Awesome awesomeness! You camp like we do.

The World According To Me said...

I love your pictures.

I've never actually been camping but it's something I think would be fun - providing it's not too cold and wet!

I can't believe that man lived there for all that time!

Maria said...

On one hand, I sat admiring this whole post, thinking what a great experience you were providing for your children. On the other hand, I sat there thinking that you couldn't talk me into camping like that for anything. Thank God, Liv's father is a geologist and an experienced camper and can handle that part of her upbringing, because...I am a four star hotel person.

Lovely pictures too. Did I mention that I also cannot take photos without cutting off everyone's heads?

Rebecca said...

What a great trip! Sorry the weather didn't cooperate so well.

The hermit's house was really neat. I wonder if it is possible to drop so completely out society any more.

Diane said...

I'm ready for a June or September out to one of the 7 campsites you scoped out. Love that Basin & Range.