Greetings from Panguitch, Utah, where Opus and I are riding
out below-freezing temperatures and a probable snow storm on Day 10 of Beagle’s
Winter Adventure.
The original trip was going to be just four nights at Red Rock Canyon Campground outside of Las Vegas, and three nights out of Beagle, at
the ultra-comfortable Chez C&K, to prepare for- and watch the Superbowl before
returning home. But plans change.
Red Rock Canyon Campground turned out to be a delightful
winter stop, a BLM campground surrounded by slightly elevated and challenging
hikes. Opus and I hiked thirteen miles
in three days, including a leg-buster up Turtlehead Peak which started at 4,000’
and climbed to over 6,000’ in a mere two miles.
It was grueling with plenty of places where I had to dig my fingers into
the rock in order to hoist myself up and over.
(Opus, off leash for those spots, bounded up and down and up and down
multiple times.) The view from the top
is not what I am used to from the Sierras (spoiled), so I just enjoyed the fact
that I made it. This was taken along the way up...
Excuse me for a minute while I watch the snow fall outside
and change into my cashmere lounging sweater.
Ahh, lovely.
Leaving Las Vegas, at the recommendation of a friend, I spent
my first night at Snow Canyon State Park, just outside of St. George,
Utah. A lovely place with miles of
trails (the most interesting of which are not dog friendly) and a strange campground. I had booked Site #3, I think because it was
the only one available, at least I hope that’s what the reason was because the
site was horrendous. Horrendous! It sat so close to Site #4, it was worse than
an RV park.
So, firing up the Kitness, I ventured into the office to see
about changing pitches. The charming man
behind the counter was eager to help and moved me to the much-preferred Site
#25, the only neighbors being sage brush, red rocks and a couple of squirrels. When Mr. Charming ended with a wink and, “I
am in Site 18 if you should need anything at all...anything at all”, I thought maybe the Kitness
was set a little too high.
We hiked that afternoon and again in the morning before
starting the short-mileage but long-duration drive to North Campground in Bryce
Canyon National Park. We were heading
into elevation over 7,000’, with nights down in the teens and, scariest of all,
the rookie mistake of not arriving before 3:00 PM to a first come campground. With first come sites, it’s best to be there
around 12:01; three o’clock was foolish.
I was feeling nervous; I have my new batteries but they get squirrely
when the temperature drops below 25, plus the late arrival, plus the altitude…I
did what any self-respecting person would do, I phoned a friend—one on whom I
can always count to place a vote for adventure and provide some good, logical advice.
That conversation was no different; I left it feeling
excited and brave and ready for anything.
Arriving at North Campground a little after three o’clock, I
was fortunate to have my pick of about ten pitches. I chose Site #6, up on a hill (my favorite)
with lots of sun shining down on my solar panels--which I knew my batteries
would need were I to survive more than one night.
Unhitched, site registered, and Opus walked (I did break the
rules and let him run off leash in the snow for a bit—dogs just love that so
much), I drove out to some of the look-outs and gazed in wonder at the
scene. Pictures do not do it justice and
I cannot believe I have never spent any time here before. It being winter, there were very few people
and I marveled at the crowd-control devices in place for the more popular
overlooks (one-way walks, etc.); thankful that I was not visiting during the
high season.
But what a first night!
My heater turned on at 5:00 PM when I entered Beagle and did not stop
running (despite being set at only 40) all night long. Well, no, it did stop at 3:30 AM when I
discovered the system had turned itself off and was flashing an error
code. Did I mention it was 3:30 AM? And around ten degrees outside? With the thought that Beagle’s pipes could
freeze in about ten minutes, I frantically Googled the error message and, after
a couple of clicks, learned that the system had over-heated and needed to
cool. So I let it do it’s thing and
after about fifteen minutes, it righted itself and started pumping out the heat
again.
I did not get much sleep.
In the morning, my lovely lithium batteries had only lost
20% but were down to 50% (having started at 70% in case you didn’t want to do
the math.) I knew without a lot of solar
generation, I would not make a second night but the day dawned bright and sunny
so I left the solar charging, layered up, and headed out for a morning walk
with Opus. And what a delightful morning
walk that was! From the campground to Sunrise
Point and over to Sunset Point, we got in four miles (a very fast four miles as
it was well below freezing still) before arriving back at Beagle.
My plan was to check everything at 3:00 PM then decide if I
had enough battery power to go another night.
If it was at 60% or above 13.4 Amps, I would stay.
As I was making my second breakfast, the wind picked up and
the sky filled with clouds—there went any hope of solar. I turned on my inverter to make some toast
and, despite my meter saying the batteries were at 49%, it started beeping an
alarm and the monitor started freaking out.
(These are the exact words I texted to CH, my installer and ever-ready
technical support, who by now can interpret “freaking out”—whether displayed on
a machine or coming from me, quite easily.)
The monitor suddenly dropped to zero percent and less than 13 volts; there
was no way I could ride out another night in the teens. Even if I managed to get the batteries to
charge more, the thought of that alarm going off at 3:00 AM was enough to start me packing.
I hitched up in the freezing wind as the first snow flakes
began to pelt my face. Opus had long
since retired into his crate in the back of the warm car. As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen his
eyeballs in about three hours. Dogs know
what to do in a storm.
Just after leaving the park entrance, I broke open a bag of Peanut
M&Ms, it was 11:48 AM.
And so we are down in Panguitch, Utah, at Henrie’s Hitch ‘N Post RV Park (yep) which, despite its location adjacent to Highway 89, is
delightful. I am plugged in, my monitor
is no longer freaking out, the heater is blasting almost as hard as the wind is
knocking Beagle around. To keep life
simple, I’ll stay here three nights and just day trip back up into Bryce (tomorrow)
and then try my hand at skiing Brian Head on Friday. Providing, of course, that this storm passes
as it should.
At some point I do have to return for River--whether she likes it or not.
-K
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