The area of Kanab, UT was our next temporary home. We found Country Rose RV Park in Fredonia for a couple of night’s respite. There is a popular trail in the area to access Peek-A-Boo slot canyon (AKA: Red Canyon Slot). We fully intended to conquer said hike…until we stopped by the visitor’s center in Kanab. There we were regaled with horror stories about the 4WD section of said trail winding through nothing but soft, pillowy, thick sand and the $1,000 cost of getting towed out after getting stuck, even in 4WD. Time for Plan B. Jeanne found the Best Friend’s Animal Sanctuary just north of town. It was a large stretch of land used as a sanctuary for various animals, as well as a large pet cemetery, and the road through provided some nice scenery.
Onward and upward, we were off to a few days stay at the St. George (UT) Elk’s Lodge. They have a nice lodge parking area with 13 power pedestals (30/50A) and the lot overlooks a 9-hole municipal golf course. The course was a beautiful deep green which was an awesome contrast to the bright red rock formations surrounding the lodge.
We found Pioneer Park nearby and thought we might avail ourselves of some of that hiking. It was a bit disappointing, there really were no trails of any significant length, but the scenery was great. There is a “slot” canyon of sorts called St. George Narrows which we got up close with. I say “slot” a bit facetiously, it would only function as a through and through slot canyon if you have a waist line measurement of 2”. Jeanne and I had just been extolling the virtues of the area and its lack of homeless freak bums when by golly I stumbled upon a thrashed campsite inside a small windcave type crevice in the rocks. Such a pitiful eyesore…
Good-bye once again to St. George, we were pushing on towards the left coast. We discovered there is actually an Elk’s Lodge in Ely, NV so that seemed a good stop off for a couple of days. They share a gravel parking lot with the Hotel Nevada Casino, so in we went, dry camping only. It promptly came to our attention that we were coincidentally in time for The Great American Eclipse on 10/14/2023. Oh joy.
Once we “got eclipsed”, it was “On The Road Again” to another Country Rose RV Park, this one in Fernley, NV, for a couple of days getting shopping chores done. Then we opted to head over the mountains through Susanville and on to Redding for a stint helping Jeanne’s brother Dave while he underwent some minor eye surgery. We split our time between the Redding Elk’s Lodge and Win-River Casino. Deep sadness struck again. Woodrow Wilson has not been doing well for the past couple of years, firmly in the grasp of what we believe was Cushing’s Disease. We made the difficult decision to end Woody’s suffering at the Cottonwood Small Animal Clinic since he had been a patient of theirs several times over the years. Those people are top quality there, very respectful and compassionate. Vaya con dios, little buddy!
With Woody now in a way-better place, we chose to honor his memory with a lengthy day of hiking. No more limiting our away time to a couple of hours, we drove up to Mt. Lassen National Park. We picked out Brokeoff Mountain Trail to “break the ice” so to speak. Oh my, with a long period of only short hikes, this was tough! The trail is listed as “strenuous”. It was. Very. Strenuous. It is ALL uphill, some sections pretty steep, 3 3/4 miles to the top, with a 2,600’ elevation gain. It got a little windy and cold near the top as well. I say “near the top” because we ended up pulling up about a half mile short, out of gas and out of will. The views were still spectacular. After the knee-cracking, quad-burning, calf-burning return downhill, we headed for a little more torture. The trail to Kings Creek Falls, albeit a little less elevationally challenged, was about a 2 mile round trip. The poor ol’ legs barely held out but we made it to the falls. The downfall to enjoying Mt. Lassen Nat’l Park is it was severely scarred by the 2021 Dixie Fire, so a lot of the hiking is through burned out forest areas.
Now, you’re caught up. Until next post…