Summer Expedition SLC, 2021 series

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    One of my favorite places to find camp in Utah is "The Wedge" aka "The Mini Grand Canyon".  Once you get out and explore this area you will know why.  Driving on SR72 to Last Chance Rd, pointed me north toward Castle Dale.  After enjoying a late start leaving the FishLake National Forest (see previous post; Summer Expedition in UT, 2021 series), I was soon looking for camp when I happened into Ferron.  
    A little town with a huge heart, city wide fast free internet, free camping w/electric hookups, clean restrooms and hot showers located on the Ferron County Fairgrounds in Ferron.  "Thank You Ferron".   It was a perfect spot to take a break, regroup and shower up.    In the am I fueled up in Ferron and got back on SR10 to Castle Dale. 

    I was totally excited to get back into The Wedge. The drive from Castle Dale is defiantly grand with tons of tracks and places to explore like Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry (locked gate shucks!!).  I was heading for a epic camping spot overlooking The Mini Grand Canyon.  What I didn't count on was the high winds blowing through the area and I mean blowing.  Intense landscape sometime makes harsh conditions, like strong winds with sustained gusts 30-45mph were making it difficult to stand let alone set up camp. 

    Perched on the rim of this epic canyon there was absolutely no break from the wind.  So after a few snaps and getting blown around, I reluctantly abandon The Wedge looking for a less windy option. 

    After checking out some nearby places, btw this is pretty much all BLM land which means camping sites are just about every where.  I headed to Cedar Mountain area west of The Wedge, where I found some pretty cool tracks to camps against a rock faced wall blocking the wind and warming up the temps.

   Navigating the deep washed out off-cambered rutted trail, I found a great spot and leveled my rig for the night.  The whole day I saw no one here or at The Wedge. 

   Morning sun was up and the temps were getting warm, coffee and brekkie was in order as I pulled up stakes and pushed on.  This area has so much to explore there are so many trail options to navigate sightseeing can take a while.  Heading west through Helper, fuel and provisions were on my list.  Chasing blue skies the clouds started to gather as I was climbing in elevation while entering the Unita National Forest. 

    Taking the turn off to Teat Mountain the track quickly became muddy and a bit sloppy I was determined to find camp lower than 8k ft.  I was about 2.5hrs away from the SLC area and I didn't want to get into town at a late hour or drive at night so I found camp and chilled for the night.

    That night it rained on and off, no worries I was snug warm and dry in my RTT.  A couple of cows had bellied up to me mooing as they were coarsely munching their mountain morning brekkie just outside my RTT.  Packing up I decided I'll get my coffee on the road as I entered the Salt Lake City metro area.

    SLC is home to Cruiser Outfitters and the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum both are a must as I pass through.  Hitting up Cruiser Outfitters I needed to pick up a few things for my rig, new front spindle bearing nut kits and socket. (Earlier in this series, I had front bearing issues as my spindle bearing nuts had backed off due to a faulty mechanic who destroyed the locking washer which is part of this kit).  Plus seeing some new rigs in their workshop getting the full treatment, N i c e ! ! 

  Next up The Land Cruiser Heritage Museum what a treat, but my timing was all wrong, they were closed and in the middle of moving to a new location. (copped a few snaps)  Only to reopen in a couple of weeks and kick it off with Cruiser Fest 2021, oh Yeah!  I hope my timing is better when returning I would enjoy attending the grand re-opening and Cruiser Fest 2021. 

   Cold with spotty rain I decided to hit up a hotel in SLC for the night do some domestic stuff like laundry and work on my blog before pushing on north to Idaho and Wyoming.  In the morning the clouds parted and the sun was warming up as I headed out of SLC north towards Bear Lake.

   Oh my Gawd! warm sunny and calm Bear Lake is beautiful, fantastic aquamarine clear blue water I felt as if I was in a tropical setting.  I camped at Cottonwood, Cisco Beach on the eastern shore sporting my own trail just steps to the lakes edge, I soon became very comfortable and lazy in the warm sun.

 Breaking camp from here I entered into Idaho before crossing into Wyoming...


 

 

 Hope to see you on the Trail!!..

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