Travel Diary - West to Utah Pt. 1

In August of 2020, Becky & I escaped to Utah for the first time in almost 10 years. In our bigger trips in our Vanagon, we usually have no set itinerary. The spontaneity of having no set schedule really adds to the aspect of adventure. We mark a number of points of interest we would like visit, and off we go!

     We always pack our van in the days leading up to our departure date so we can just hop in and go when it’s time to leave. We left home (Louisville, KY) right after work on a Friday evening and headed west. 

     We drove until we could physically drive no more, and ended up stopping for the night at a rest area on Interstate Highway 70 near Ellsworth, Kansas. There are some really nice accommodating rest areas along I-70 in western Kansas. Complete with a loop for RV/camper parking, we feel very safe sleeping there. 

Rest Area camping in western Kansas

    Rising early, we set out before sunrise to make our way further west. We drove to Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado on Saturday afternoon. We were hoping to get a chance to walk on the bridge, however, the parking lot and bridge were full of unmasked tourists. Our goal during our adventure was to be around as few folks as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, we just hung out by the van for a bit and snapped a few photos. And off we went!

     We left Royal Gorge and made our way through the Colorado mountains. Here we encountered one of Brakayla’s biggest challenges yet, climbing to Monarch Pass (altitude over 11,000 ft). On US Highway 50, our Bostig engine conversion seemed to handle the climb as well as we could’ve hoped. We averaged around 35-40 mph with a heavy load of gear. Not bad! Monarch Pass was a nice spot to hop out and stretch our legs a bit. We hit the gift shop and took a few pics of the beautiful surrounding scenery. Back down the mountain we go!

     We stopped to camp on Saturday evening at the Rabbit Valley Motorized Area in western Colorado. It’s not too far off the highway, but just enough to get some quiet solitude. We had a nice restful night. The sunrise was absolutely gorgeous the next morning. We had forgotten how beautiful the Western Sky can be. 

Camping in Rabbit Valley, CO

     Sunday morning, we drove to Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah. It’s located just outside Canyonlands’ Island In The Sky district. We parked and headed directly to the overlook. What a sensational view! Once you see it, you realize this is a view you’ve seen a number of times on TV, Instagram, etc. While taking in the overlook, we noticed a vehicle driving a dirt road waaaaay down at the bottom of the canyon. We looked at each other and, without saying anything, knew what the other was thinking, “WE GOTTA GET DOWN THERE!” We ran to the van and pulled out our Utah Delorme Atlas. We found the road - Shafer Trail, the first turn left after the Canyonlands National Park entrance. We jumped in the Vanagon and took off for Canyonlands!

View of Shafer Trail from Dead Horse State Park

     We started down Shafer Trail with much anxiety. We hadn’t driven Brakayla very often on dirt roads, much less sandy desert roads. I told Becky, “If the road gets too bad, we’ll just turn around and go back.🤷🏽‍♂️” We drove the road a little while and came to a bend to the right. Then, lo & behold, SWITCHBACKS! We had seen pictures of these switchbacks in books and brochures before, but had no idea they were on THIS ROAD! I headed down into the canyon slowly, taking in the view the best I could while making sure I was staying on the road. Becky seemed pretty nervous, maybe more than she admitted to. We passed a couple ATV’s and a Toyota Land Cruiser coming up the switchbacks on our way down. The road is just wide enough to allow for passing. After completing the switchbacks, we pulled over for a spell and took it all in. What an exhilarating morning! We continued on the trail having no real issues in our 2-wheel-drive Vanagon. We stopped a number of times, snapping photos and taking in the views of the amazing rock formations. What a remarkable drive! We continued down the trail into Moab, Utah to fill up our gas tank. How could the rest of our weeklong journey live up to this experience?!

Brakayla getting ready to drive on switchbacks

Shafer Trail in Canyonlands National Park

     Upon leaving Moab, we decided to head toward Goblin Valley State Park. There we saw some of the most unique rock formations we had ever seen. There are literally 1000s of mushroom-shaped pinnacles and hoodoos there. We had a ton of fun scrambling and climbing around that afternoon. It felt good to get out and get a bit of exercise after spending so much time driving. 

Goblin Valley State Park

Andrew enjoying the view at Goblin Valley

     Just outside Goblin Valley, we camped off of Wild Horse Road. Located on U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, you can camp anywhere you like. We took an easy dirt path from the road, and found a nice little nook to nestle our van into for the rest of the afternoon/evening. This was the first time all week we had set up camp in daylight. We took the time to take in the sweet solitude. We literally saw only 2 cars drive by the whole time we were camped there. We enjoyed some juicy burgers from the grill, knocked back a few Pacifico beers and took in some of our “treats” we had picked up at a stop in Colorado (we had a lotta fun😉). 

Wild Horse Road camping

Morning views from our camp

Our next blog will cover the rest of our big week in Utah. See ya then! ✌🏽