Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming

This adventure involves eight nights in six campgrounds on our way to the Tetons. We left July 8^th heading for points east and settled in at the Lassen County Fairgrounds. Having to take care of two major errands, getting groceries and also a new phone, we came back to watch the Beckwourth Complex blowup which had initially started around June 30. Upon leaving the fairgrounds, ironically, we passed some crew busses coming in from hubby’s old Calfire station.

Lassen County Fairgrounds are fine for a night and we were the only one’s there. We had water and electrical hookups.

Watching the Beckwourth Fire from the fairgrounds. We wondered if the highway might close in the morning. This fire would grow to be over 105,000 acres. It was contained 9/1.

It was a hot drive, and we were going to stop at Rye Patch Reservoir but it was way to early so kept driving. We had lunch in Lovelock and pushed further east. I consulted Allstays and Campendium (my 2 go-to apps) for places starting around 6pm and found Carlin Canyon dispersed. We were the first ones there and got the best site, probably because it was 97 degrees out. It’s a great place to stay, free and quiet, but increasingly popular as two other campers joined by nightfall.

One of our travel fund things to do is search out Mexican restaurants. We stopped in Lovelock for lunch at La Casita and then wandered out to take a picture of all the locks hanging on the heart sculpture.

We actually were a bit confused about camping here. The road is one way in and the same way out and there is a spot at the beginning of the road that looked good, but as we drove up the Humboldt River we found the actual place where most people stay.

Next stop for two nights was one of our favorite Nevada campgrounds, Angel Creek. Again, the temps were super warm, but we managed with shade and cold beverages. In the morning, we drove up to the lake, swam, hiked around it’s campground, snacked, and enjoyed the many views. Not sure taking the 25ft Cloud up to that campground would be a good idea, but something smaller would work. Next time we would take the kayak out, getting there earlier as it got very crowded on the shore, but it was a Sunday.

I reserved campsite 12 in Angel Creek for two nights and it had just enough shade and privacy. We absolutely enjoy this place.

This alpine lake is popular, gorgeous and has 26 sites just below it. It also has a manmade dam.

Leaving before it got too hot, we headed towards Idaho Falls, passing it and ending up in Declo at the Village of Trees RV Resort. We wanted hookups for the AC and ended up getting their last site, calling that morning around 10 am.

On to the City of Rocks National Reserve for two nights. We initially stopped at the Visitor’s Center and received great information about what to do and picked up a trail map. We were told about the restaurant at the historic Almo schoolhouse and drove back there to eat lunch before going into the park. Driving into City of Rocks is stunning with all the rock formations, and because our campsite was all the way at the end, we got quite the views and the layout of the park. Our site had great views of a couple of rock formations and a valley view. That evening we walked down to take in Window Arch and watch the climbers on Bath Rock.

A stop at the visitor center is highly recommended. This park is remote and vast with great hiking and climbing.

Loved the intimacy of this little spot inside the historic schoolhouse for our taco salad lunch.

Can’t usually get a park sign and the Airstream together, but this park is under utilized, so this was our chance.

Our campsite was all the way at the end of the road that goes through the park to Oakley #57.

City of Rocks gets over 100,000 visitors annually, and most have come to climb according to this sign. In 2016 Yosemite got 5.03 million….

Window Arch has great views and good cell service 🙂

Around 9 am we left on a hike that we thought would be around 4 -5 miles. With one bottle of water each, snacks, we started out on the North Fork Circle Creek Trailhead with the trail map in hand. It was a bit obvious that after about two miles into the hike the signage was not the best in matching the trail guide. By taking a wrong turn or two we ended up at Elephant Rock instead of being back at Parking Lot Rock, walking instead 8.9 miles and in dire need of water. Luckily, when we made it to Bath Rock there is a water fountain, and we squelched our thirst. It was a beautiful hike and we arrived back at camp around 3:30. That night we drove back to Window Arch to get cell service and watch the sunset, and to say Happy Birthday to our son Ian who was on his way to meeting us in the Tetons. He informed us he got a flat tire that morning but managed to get somewhere where he then had to buy 4 new tires.

We felt so confident, going round trip from our campsite on this hike. It reminded my of another time in Joshua Tree that we were over confident in our hiking senses when we did the Maze Loop trail.

Part of the California Trail used from 1843-1882. Homesteaders moved here in the 1870’s to graze cattle and dryland farm.

Glad to have two map, but that didn’t help to convince us to go either right or left.

Loved all the rock formations we saw on the hike!

That formation is Eric Wood that we saw every day close up.

Bath Rock that everyone climbs. And it turns out that you don’t need ropes.

In the morning we hitched up and went back to Visitor’s Center on the way out to ask questions, walk the little nature path, make breakfast and get more water in our freshwater tank. It was on towards the Tetons with one more stop, but not sure where. We drove wanting to get closer to the entrance of the Tetons so we wouldn’t have a major wait. I consulted my apps, settling on a place called Kelly Island. It’s a sweet little campground and although we had a small bit of showers, the sun was out again within the hour. There are about 16 sites and we had the pick of many, but the one to get is the one that is along the Snake River. We missed getting that site by about 3 hours. In the morning it was on to the Tetons!