After leaving Hillary’s, we planned to drive across Utah so we could be near Great Basin National Park and get a first-come first-served campsite in the park early Monday morning. On our way, we detoured a little bit off of I-70 to check out Arches NP. Although I have been there numerous times before, it never ceases to amaze me. We did a short hike, if you could call it that, to a few arches in the Windows area of the park. The girls loved the bright red arches and the spectacular views.
We drove across Utah and made it to Delta, a small town right on the highway in western Utah. We stayed at a super dumpy RV park, hands down the worst accommodations of the trip. It was slightly better than a parking lot but it had good cell service so Kevin could work and was close to Great Basin NP, where we wanted to be early enough in the morning. We had to settle for McDonald’s breakfast, where only the drive-thru was open but since the bikes were on top of the car, I had to walk through.
We arrived at Baker Creek Campground in Great Basin NP, a first come first served campsite and the only place with availability. We got a great campsite that had lots of room and was right on the creek. We spent the day getting settled and playing around the camp. At one point, as I was walking up the road in the campground, I was starttled by rattlesnake hissing and rattling at me! Wow, did that get my heart racing!!
Tuesday the girls and I drove up to Wheeler Peak at 10,000 ft. elevation. The views were amazing! We had a picnic lunch and hiked the Glacier Lakes Loop. Great Basin NP is the tallest mountain range in the larger Great Basin, which is bigger than the whole state of Nevada. It is such a hidden gem since most people gravitate to the more popular parks in southern Utah, but it is known for its caves (we couldn’t get a reservation), tall peaks, and star gazing at night.
Kevin had to work pretty much the whole time but finally got out for a nice run on the trails near our campsite. The trails were sprinkled with aspen trees, elk, and even wild turkeys!
We arose early Wednesday morning and loaded up the Green Bean to head to our last stop, Truckee, CA. We plan to spend 2 nights moochdocking at our friend’s house and then head home Friday!
Grand Junction with Hillary
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