5 October 2010
As we pulled out of Green River our route was to take us down the west side of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The scenery begins with broad rolling vistas of sagebrush and desert and the further south we went we watched the terrain become more rugged with juniper trees, large pine and the yellow leaves of the aspen covering the mountainsides. I should say that before we noticed the rolling vistas and sagebrush, we noticed the steep grade of our new route. Right out of Green River we started our climb and it continued and continued far longer than I would hope. It’s one thing if you can get a running start, but when you start climbing at 8% grade right out of the box and it lasts for over 3 miles you find yourself pushing forward from the driver’s seat to see if it helps. I was amazed at how often we found ourselves climbing to such degrees of grade and then down the other side with the same. Finally we arrived at our turn-off to the Lucerne Marina and Campground. This was going to be our new campground for the night. It only took us about two hours to get here but we really wanted to see all the sights we could around the south end of the gorge. We are but one of TWO campers here and our site sits at the water’s edge and offers a magnificent view right out of our front windshield. Well I guess I should mention that we “aren’t the only campers here…there is the camp host and about 6 to 8 resident pronghorn that make this their home as well. We also had a surprise waiting for us when we arrived…a dead battery in the Suzuki. We’ll have to check out to see just what makes this a problem, maybe it’s a new battery that we’ll be looking for… Fortunately we have two policies that will cover a dead battery or “jumping” for the car or motor home. We chose to call AAA this time and they were just great in their response. The negative for them was that their only affiliate for doing this job for them had to come all the way out from Vernal, Utah. Their drive to get to us took over 2 hours for a ten minute stay and then all they had to do was turn around and head back…a quick $246 for a jump. Well to help build the battery back-up, we took a ride. Just outside of Milan (which is about 3 miles away), we were told about a loop road they call Sheep Creek Canyon Geologic Scenic Drive. This drive was highly recommended so we had no choice but go… For well over an hour we traveled the canyon reading the roadside signs indicating the geological formations of twisted rock and pinnacle formations that surrounded us. They rose hundreds of feet above our heads making us wish we had a Boxer convertible to make this drive even more enjoyable.
As we pulled out of Green River our route was to take us down the west side of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The scenery begins with broad rolling vistas of sagebrush and desert and the further south we went we watched the terrain become more rugged with juniper trees, large pine and the yellow leaves of the aspen covering the mountainsides. I should say that before we noticed the rolling vistas and sagebrush, we noticed the steep grade of our new route. Right out of Green River we started our climb and it continued and continued far longer than I would hope. It’s one thing if you can get a running start, but when you start climbing at 8% grade right out of the box and it lasts for over 3 miles you find yourself pushing forward from the driver’s seat to see if it helps. I was amazed at how often we found ourselves climbing to such degrees of grade and then down the other side with the same. Finally we arrived at our turn-off to the Lucerne Marina and Campground. This was going to be our new campground for the night. It only took us about two hours to get here but we really wanted to see all the sights we could around the south end of the gorge. We are but one of TWO campers here and our site sits at the water’s edge and offers a magnificent view right out of our front windshield. Well I guess I should mention that we “aren’t the only campers here…there is the camp host and about 6 to 8 resident pronghorn that make this their home as well. We also had a surprise waiting for us when we arrived…a dead battery in the Suzuki. We’ll have to check out to see just what makes this a problem, maybe it’s a new battery that we’ll be looking for… Fortunately we have two policies that will cover a dead battery or “jumping” for the car or motor home. We chose to call AAA this time and they were just great in their response. The negative for them was that their only affiliate for doing this job for them had to come all the way out from Vernal, Utah. Their drive to get to us took over 2 hours for a ten minute stay and then all they had to do was turn around and head back…a quick $246 for a jump. Well to help build the battery back-up, we took a ride. Just outside of Milan (which is about 3 miles away), we were told about a loop road they call Sheep Creek Canyon Geologic Scenic Drive. This drive was highly recommended so we had no choice but go… For well over an hour we traveled the canyon reading the roadside signs indicating the geological formations of twisted rock and pinnacle formations that surrounded us. They rose hundreds of feet above our heads making us wish we had a Boxer convertible to make this drive even more enjoyable.
We were told to watch closely for Bighorn Mountain sheep clinging to the steep cliffs, but no such luck. The colors, the layers, and the unbelievable water and wind carvings of the mountains were amazing, we were very impressed. After leaving the lower portion of the drive, we climbed high (8000’) into the hills to our exit from the loop drive. This put us high above the gorge and you can see how it got its name of the “Flaming Gorge”. Another amazing thing that we discovered when we got to the top of loop drive was that we now had an 8% grade to take us back to Milan…that means that tomorrow we will have this drive ahead of us. In the morning we will be driving the coach with the toad behind all the way back up as we head to Vernal and a visit to Dinosaur National Monument. When we returned to Milan we decided, because of the lateness of the day, that we would stop by the “only” restaurant in town and have dinner. One thing that shouldn’t surprise us any longer is the opportunity to meet others that are traveling the world and enjoying the heck out of it at the same time… We met Paul and Lauren who are here in the states for the third time and have traveled all the way from a small village just outside of Liverpool, England. Unfortunately, they are on their last week before flying out of Salt Lake City.