Going Camping

I've wanted to go camping but the weather has been bad, cold and snowy. One weekend I was all ready to go when I learned that there was a triathlon being held and all the roads I wanted to take would be closed. Finally it was time, the weather would be good, and I was going to go with or without anyone. Russ decided he would come with me, for which I was grateful, especially when he packed the car, made the menu and did the shopping. That made it easy for me !

SO the plan was to stay at Red Cliffs. I have wanted to stay there for a long time. But I knew it being a Friday night and us arriving late we may not be able to....I was hoping anyway. But they were full, it isn't that big of a place. So we went to Quail Creek, and it looked like there was room, but we thought we would try Sand Hollow first. Well, I've never been to Sand Hollow. You have to pay before you know what you are getting. We paid and drove out to the campground. The wind was terrific. We had battled the wind all the way down and out in the open like Sand Hollow is there was no relenting. And it was blowing sand. We were not ready to put up a tent in such conditions. So we asked for our money back. We went back to Quail Creek, but it was full. The expectation was that Snow Canyon was full as well. There were some commercial places on the way to Zion so we tried them. All full, and/or unwilling to allow a tent in. At the last one though the lady at the desk was less than helpful, the maintenance guy out talking to Russ was nice. He suggested a spot of BLM land a little further on. No facilities, but no fee either.
We headed that way, but it was getting dark and we hadn't eaten. So Russ pulled over at a turn off and we set up our campstove on the firewood we'd brought. The Virgin river was down the hill and when there wasn't traffic we could hear it. It was actually kind of nice.

In the dark we were able to spot the lights and campfires off the side of the road. We drove down and around the sand and tamarisk. There were maybe 30-40 groups/tents. We found an empty spot and set the tent up. It was a little late to try to start a fire so we just sat out for awhile and watched the moon and starts. It was warm!! That was nice.

Aaahh, to camp outside is to be a part of the natural world. It lets that city soulessness leave and fills me with joy. The night was warm which was great all by itself and we were snug and comfy in our little cocoon. Russ said the stars were great when he got up later. We slept with the windows down and as the dark lessened and the early morning light began to grow I could see that we had a wonderful view of Watchman.