This trip started out almost disastrously but turned out pretty good in the end. Traci and I wanted one more trailer camping trip for the year, and since our friends Paul and Pam often drive from the St. George area to the Swell to camp with us, we decided to head south and camp closer to them. I’d planned some things for us to do in the Mineral Mountains west of Beaver, Utah, and we left home for there on Thursday morning. I was driving the truck and pulling the trailer, Traci was following in her Honda Pilot, and her mom was following in her Sprinter van. We stopped in Salina for fuel, but then the van wouldn’t start back up! We waited for a local repair shop to look at it but they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. While waiting for another shop employee to come look at it, I kept driving so I could meet up with Paul and Pam in Beaver. About five miles outside of Beaver I was in the fast lane doing 80 MPH passing a semi when a trailer tire blew. I had always wondered if I’d feel a blowout on the trailer while driving, and sure enough it was violent! I pulled over and started changing the tire when a UHP trooper pulled up and helped, even letting me use his cordless impact drill. I had two spare trailer tires, neither of which was in good condition, so I kept it at or below 65 MPH the rest of the drive. I met my friends in Beaver and we made it to our camp spot in Corral Canyon, and there I realized I’d almost lost another tire! The tread had separated on the spare that I put on, but luckily it still held air. We set up camp and did a short hike at Rock Corral Spring, and Traci and her mom eventually arrived after having the van towed back home.
Blowout on I-15
Delaminated tire at camp
Camp on Thursday evening
Mineral Mountains
Colorful aspen trees
On Friday morning Paul and I hiked around a lot more near Rock Corral Spring while the ladies drove into Beaver and had two new trailer tires mounted. Kenny showed up that afternoon and us guys went for a drive. We poked around the picnic area at Wycroft Canyon and found horseshoe pits and even some horseshoes. Next we visited a boulder covered in pictographs, and then finally collected some obsidian near Wildhorse Canyon. Chris and Dollie got there in the evening and we set up a couple of propane fire pits and enjoyed the evening.
Friday morning
Paul on the way to Rock Corral Spring
Rock Corral Spring
Our camp in the distance
Kenny playing horseshoes
Pictograph boulder
Pictograph
Handprint pictos
Handprints and human figures
Several human figures
Pictographs
Tons of obsidian
View from camp on Friday evening
The whole group did a drive on Saturday to the San Francisco Mountains. We checked out some ruins and the Frisco cemetery, then made the steep drive to the top of Frisco Peak. It was a fairly relaxing and uneventful day, and once again we retired to our fake campfire for the evening.
Old building at Frisco
Frisco kilns
Looking up inside a kiln
Headstone at Frisco cemetery
Paul’s and my shadows at Frisco cemetery
Old building below Indian Grave Peak
Hang glider launch platform on Frisco Peak
Wah Wah Valley Hardpan
Chris and Dollie had to leave around noon on Sunday so they followed me to see a cool cabin built into a hollow boulder. We poked around there for just a bit and then they had to split, but I made a couple of stops on my way back to camp. I visited Roosevelt Hot Spring and several old ruined buildings. By the time I got back to camp everyone else was ready to head home, but I planned on staying an extra day. I said my goodbyes and then settled in for a quiet evening of reading.
Cabin built into a boulder near Pinnacle Pass
Cabin details
View out of the cabin
Rock shelter below Pinnacle Pass
Geothermal pipes
Building near Roosevelt Hot Springs
Building near Roosevelt Hot Springs
Private property
Roosevelt Hot Springs
Building near Roosevelt Hot Springs
Roosevelt Hot Springs
Sunday evening at camp
After breakfast on Monday I went up a small northern tributary to Corral Canyon near camp. In the latest Google Earth satellite imagery (2013) I could see a cabin near the head of the canyon, but when I got there it was gone. It looked like it had been disassembled and used as firewood in a large firepit nearby. There was a smashed up old camper and a sheep camp in the area, but not much else to see. I went back to the trailer, ate lunch, then packed up and drove home. No flat tires this time!
Old camper near Corral Canyon
Old sheep camp
Inside the sheep camp
Granite Mountains
Obsidian flake
Photo Gallery: Mineral Mountains