A Lesson Learned

May 4, 2010

After four days at Capitol Reef and another two at Arches, we were in need of a day in town. Moab, that is, southern Utah hot spot of mountain biking, 4-wheel-driving and all extreme sports. Sadly we had chores to do. We emptied and filled the various Roadtrek tanks, did a mountain of laundry (luckily the laundromat also had free WiFi), caught up on email, went grocery shopping, hunted out the Utah State Liquor Store (the only place in town or state to buy wine), went out for lunch, called my brother and finally got propane on the way out of town. All this took hours and it was nearly 2:00 when we headed to Canyonlands National Park, about 60 miles away. We were hoping to camp at the National Park for the next few days. It was after three when we got there and found out that the campground was full and we were miles from anything like a campground. The ranger at the Visitor Center directed us (again) to a Bureau of Land Management “dispersed” camping area. Dispersed means in the middle of nowhere and with no amenities. In this case nowhere was on a gorgeous plateau overlooking miles and miles of desert landscape with red bluffs in the distance. The only caveat for camping in these places is that you choose a location that has clearly been used for camping, a flat parking spot in the dirt and not pristine desert. We found such a spot and were in heaven. It was quiet and beautiful and empty. We put out our chairs and table and sat enjoying the space and the sound of the wind thinking how lucky we were to be in such a spot. Silly us.

An hour later two truck campers pulled in about 60 feet away and then another camper of some sort or other. Ah, the sound of people talking loudly and truck engines running. The two trucks were rental campers, usually the worse of all, people who don't know that it's in poor taste to camp right on top of someone else. Our lesson learned? If the space is big enough for more than one camper, it will probably fill in, especially on a day when the nearest campground is full. We were chagrined by our own naivety but we did get a final laugh. These truck campers have automatic stands to level them on uneven ground and, a true luxury, they are remote-controlled. (You can see it coming can't you?) Camper #1 got all set up (loudly) and came to supervise the second. Sadly, camper #2 used his remote to accidentally unsettle camper #1. Shouting ensued as well as muffled laughter from the Roadtrek.

Photos