Road Trip Campin’ II: East Boulder Mountain

July 14-16, 2019–Part 2 of 4 of a nine-day camping trip through south-central Utah. We covered about 600 miles, camped in four different places, and were joined by friends at various points along the way.

After leaving the Thousand Lake Mountain area, Traci and I moved our camp to the east side of Boulder Mountain. We camped near Park’s Pasture for two nights, the only spot where we’d be alone during our trip. On the way we stopped near Big Rocks south of Loa where I found a geocache and spent some time looking for some pictographs. I eventually found the rock art which wasn’t terribly great. We stopped again for lunch between Torrey and Grover and I went for another short hike to search for more rock art. I found a kiln and a few petroglyphs, but again it was nothing spectacular. We set up camp and then drove to a scenic overlook just off UT-12 with a view toward the Henry Mountains.

Big Rocks
Big Rocks

Parked at Big Rocks
Parked at Big Rocks

Big Rocks pictographs
Big Rocks pictographs

Kiln of some sort between Torrey and Grover
Kiln of some sort between Torrey and Grover

Petroglyph off UT-12
Petroglyph off UT-12

Petroglyphs off UT-12
Petroglyphs off UT-12

Parked along UT-12
Parked along UT-12

Park’s Pasture campsite
Park's Pasture campsite

Sego lily
Sego lily

Mount Pennell
Mount Pennell

A view into Oak Creek(?)
A view into Oak Creek(?)

On Monday morning I went for a ride on my motorcycle along part of the Slick Rock Trail. I rode as far as Sawmill Bench before turning around and hiking up a fork of Oak Creek at the end of Park Ridge. I scrambled around on the slickrock for a bit, enjoying the Navajo Sandstone and ponderosa pines. I hopped back on the bike and checked out Bowns Reservoir and Jorgenson Flat before returning to camp.

Slick Rock Trail
Slick Rock Trail

Approaching Oak Creek
Approaching Oak Creek

Oak Creek bridge
Oak Creek bridge

Sawmill Bench
Sawmill Bench

Slickrock at the end of Park Ridge
Slickrock at the end of Park Ridge

Mount Ellen
Mount Ellen

Small drainage north of Park Ridge
Small drainage north of Park Ridge

Lower Bowns Reservoir
Lower Bowns Reservoir

Lower Bowns Reservoir
Lower Bowns Reservoir

Corral at Jorgenson Flat
Corral at Jorgenson Flat

That afternoon Traci and I took the dogs for a walk along Pleasant Creek. After dinner we returned to the scenic overlook and enjoyed the full moon rising through the haze.

Boulder and Torrey in Pleasant Creek
Boulder and Torrey in Pleasant Creek

North Caineville Mesa
North Caineville Mesa

View over Waterpocket Fold toward the Henrys
View over Waterpocket Fold toward the Henrys

Henry Mountains at dusk
Henry Mountains at dusk

Belt of Venus and full moon
Belt of Venus and full moon

We took our time packing up camp on Tuesday morning, then showered and hit the road. Despite owning an RV most of my adult life, this was only my second time showering in the trailer and it felt good to get clean after several days of camping. It was a rare luxury, but we’d have a chance later in the day to empty the holding tanks and fill up with fresh water in Bryce Canyon City.


Photo Gallery: Road Trip Campin’ II: East Boulder Mountain
GPS Track (Google Earth KMZ)

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