Camping – Page 5 – ON THE ROAD with Maria + Stephen

McCall, Idaho and Payette National Forest

05/09/201906/09/2022 by Maria+Stephen, posted in Biking, Boondocking, Camping, Cities, Coffee, Hiking, Kayaking, Scenic Drive, Wildlife

When we last posted we thought we were heading to Eastern Oregon but…….98-100F temperatures in the Alvord Desert caused us to reconsider. Ultimately, we opted to head north to McCall, Idaho where the daily high temperatures were in the 80F range.

McCall is a summer resort town sitting on the eastern shore of beautiful Payette Lake and nestled at the southern base of the mountainous Payette NF.

The drive north from Boise on the Payette River Scenic Byway is splendid as the road winds north hugging the rapid filled Payette River.

We camped at Ponderosa State Park for the first couple of nights before heading up into the Payette NF ahead of the Labor Day weekend crowd. The night sky from our mountain top campsite in the Payette was absolutely stunning. We were transfixed by the enormity and brillance of the Milky Way, the consellations and the numerous satellites and rockets criss crossing the sky.

Additionally, our stay here was most pleasant since we were able to bike into town from our camping location at Ponderosa SP and drink cappuccino and tea and then cycle back to our campsite.

The highlight of our stay in the McCall area was our kayaking trip on the North Fork of the Payette River. We were treated to great beauty, solitude and the magic of observing deer and birds of prey along the banks of the river.

We honestly never thought we would spend three full weeks in Idaho but it is beautiful and the weather was perfect. Nonetheless, time to move on…..current plan is to head to Hells Canyon on the border of Idaho and Oregon and then explore the northeastern corner of Oregon.

Be seeing you!

**Biking Peninsula Trail, Payette Lake**

**Kayaking, North Fork of Payette River, McCall, Idaho**

**Camping with a View, Outlook Creek Rd, Diamond Ridge, Payette NF**

**End of the World or Sunset in Western Idaho**

Sawtooth National Forest

23/08/201917/02/2020 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Boondocking, Camping, Hiking, Scenic Drive

After departing City of Rocks we traveled north to Twin Falls for fika at Twin Beans (see fikawithfiona on Instagram). From Shoshone we followed the Sawtooth Scenic Byway into the Sawtooth NF.

The Sawtooth is an absolute gem! We were absolutely enchanted with everything about this 2.1 million acre forest and wilderness area. The mountain peaks range from 4000 to over 12,000 feet elevation with a plethora of peaks above 10,000 feet. The Sawtooth reminds us very much of two of our favorite national parks – Glacier NP and Grand Teton NP – but without the crowds!

The Sawtooth is a hikers paradise with a seemingly endless number and variety of hiking trails. Many of the trails lead to secluded waterfalls and alpine lakes while providing spectacular views of the glaciated peaks.

The Sawtooth also provides ample camping opportunities through the forest. We were able to camp along the Wood River near Murdock Creek and on the Cape Horn Creek in complete solitude. Added bonus: outrageous night sky. Our necks became stiff from staring up into a star and planet laden sky. We saw shooting stars, the Milky Way and numerous satellites and rocket bodies pass overhead while listening to the rush of the nearby water.

While in Ketchum we met two former Nutmeggers – one from Southington and the other from Cheshire. Our best hiking and camping spots were recommended by them.

We also met a delightful young couple from Ashland, Oregon. Ashland is on our itinerary because it is the home of Noble Coffee Roasting Company. We think their Ethiopian Buku beans are the best we have had and have been looking forward to visiting after years of purchasing on-line. The couple provided us with a number of recommendations for both Ashland and Bend, Oregon.

Experiencing all the beauty that our country has to offer and meeting so many genuine and friendly people continues to bolster our optimism for the future.

P.S. If you are a fly fisher you must come here to fish in the Wood River.

Boulder Mountains, Sawtooth NF,

Trail Creek Road, Sun Valley, Idaho

**McDonald Peak (Elev. 10068) foreground, El Capitan (Elev. 8500) background**

**Mickey’s Spire (Elev. 10,679) and Thompson Peak (Elev. 10,682)**

**Disbursed Camping at Big Horn Creek, Challis NF**

City of Rocks National Reserve, Almo, ID

17/08/2019 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Camping, Hiking, Scenic Drive, Scrambling

We are officially back on the road! Day one consisted of making our way through Ogden (Wasatch Coffee Roasters) and then on to City of Rocks National Reserve (CORNR) Our backroad route took us through Naf, ID. It is officially a ghost town but still boasts one human resident and a dog.

The CORNR is a mecca for climbers and scramblers with its many and varied rock formations. We stayed for three days to take advantage of the ample scrambling and scenic hiking opportunities.

The area that is now CORNR was a major stopping point for emigrants heading to California between the 1840 and 1870. We were able to hike along portions of the route and see the dated signatures of many of the emigrants – applied with axle grease used for the wagons.

There are terrific campsites located around the CORNR which provide tremendous views of the rock formations and the dark night sky. (002.003.004)

Morning Glory Spire, Crack of Doom, Anteater Rock Formations

Carson City to Salt Lake City

04/05/201904/05/2019 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Baseball, Boondocking, Camping, Coffee, Hiking, Scenic Drive

After arriving in Carson City and finding it very much to our liking (good espresso, tea, yoga, restaurants and friendly folk) we extended our stay to five days. We took day trips for hiking and sightseeing after our morning yoga and fika: very delightful!

Our extended stay in Carson City did necessitate a speedy trip across Nevada to return the Beast for storage and make our flight from Salt Lake City to Hartford. We covered 650 miles over our last two days on the road. Most of the drive was on Route 50 which runs all the way from Carson City to the Utah border.

The scenery along Route 50 is spectacular. Driving west to east you traverse numerous mountain ranges and valleys between the ranges. These are big mountains – 9000 to almost 11,000 foot peaks and valleys ranging from five to 20 miles across. The peaks are snow capped and the valleys vary between salt flats, sand dunes and prairie.

This is mining country with a handful of extremely large cattle and sheep ranches. The mining towns of Eureka and Ely are pretty run down despite the fact that there are still very large mining operations in the towns of Eureka and Ely. There are two major pits, one producing gold and the other copper. Even traditional pit mines are highly mechanized today and do not require significant labor to operate the mines. Both of these mines are owned and operated by foreign based companies which is very common today in this industry.

Make sure you are well prepared if you choose to cross Nevada on Route 50, known as the loneliest road in America for good reason. There are only two gas stations between Fallon and Eureka, a distance of 180 miles (and they are not 24 hour stations!) Bring your own food and water as well.

We are planning our next trip as we make this final post of On The Road with Maria + Stephen. We will be departing for the Pacific Northwest in August. Thanks for following along.

Safe travels!

P.S. If you find yourself for any reason (we won’t hazard a guess) with the need to be in Bakersfield, California do yourself a huge favor and stay at the Padre Hotel. Classic western hotel with a great bar, cool lobby and friendly staff. Added bonus, and a big one at that is that Rig City Coffee Roasters is 252 feet from the lobby entrance to the hotel.

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Final Preparation for Our Return to CT

Route 50 – America’s Loneliest Road

Garnet Hill – Ely, NV

Eureka – Mining + Basque Shepards + Good Grub

Sheparding in Northern Nevada

Reno – Baseball

Virginia City – Coffee, Saloons + Prayer

St Paul’s Episcopal Church, Virginia City, NV 1876

Genoa – Hiking + Thirst

Lake Tahoe

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Carson City – Yoga, Coffee + Calamari!

Alabama Hills

25/04/201912/05/2019 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Camping, Coffee, Hiking, Scenic Drive

After our stay in DVNP we journeyed northward on Route 395 in the shadow of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. The SN is massive with a north-south length of over 400 miles and an east-west width of 70 miles. Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the U.S. at 14,505 feet sits just west of the town of Lone Pine. Yosemite and several other national parks also sit within this range. The SN is very impressive physically and stunningly beautiful with an unending line of jagged, snow covered peaks.

We camped in the Alabama Hills, foothills to the Eastern Sierra Range, west of Lone Pine, CA. As camping locations go, this area is one of the most spectacular we have experienced and we have been fortunate to camp in some incredible locations.

The Alabama Hills are also know as Little Hollywood. Many films and television shows have been filmed in the hills which are blessed with incredible rock formations (great for scrambling) and the SN as background.

When you find yourself in this area definitely make a point of eating at the Alabama Hills Cafe & Bakery. If you are feeling adventurous try the Red Beer ( Bloody Mary with beer instead of vodka). All of the baked goods are baked on premises each morning and delicious!

Our next destination is Carson City where we will stay for several days before beginning the trek across Nevada to Salt Lake City.

1CF28713-823A-494D-ADEE-4AB464C6A4FF — **Lone Pine Mountain**

Red Rock Canyon State Park

20/04/2019 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Camping, Hiking, Scenic Drive

We spent a couple of days camping and hiking in Red Rock Canyon SP as we journeyed eastward towards Death Valley NP. Red Rock Canyon SP sits between the southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and the El Paso Mountains in the northernmost part of the Mojave Desert. This area abounds with colorful rock formations and a plethora of washes that meander for miles making for great hiking and exploring (bring your compass!). We enjoyed beautiful weather and moonlit nights during our stay and as you can see below there are still plenty of desert flowers in bloom.

We found this park to be a nice stop for a couple of days of hiking. The public lands surrounding the park are BLM managed and largely designated for OHV riding with hundreds of miles of trails. The park, however, does not allow OHV riding which ensures safe hiking and a quiet, peaceful setting for camping.

You may also see some unusual aircraft flying overhead if you visit this park. The Mojave Air & Space Port is about 25 miles south of the park. This facility is utilized by many firms to test very high tech and innovative air and spacecraft. During our stay the largest aircraft in the world (based on wingspan – 355 feet) made its first flight from the spaceport. The Stratolaunch, as it is called, is designed to launch rockets into space from an altitude of 35,000 feet. Cool stuff!

5B35B720-0149-4013-A4E2-79E7FB1D68E5

B5983974-5C6B-40E1-B112-80D04DD41EB5

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1BC9506D-05F9-4C5A-B083-ED6CCE4C7A8C

9F604C9A-41A9-472E-BB48-91441DB8B8A7

Carrizo Plain National Monument

15/04/201906/09/2022 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Boondocking, Camping, Hiking, National Parks, Overlanding, Scenic Drive

We spent three delightful days boondocking and hiking in the Carrizo Plain NM. CPNM is managed by the BLM and covers apx. 250,000 acres in San Luis Obispo County. The plain is an internal drainage basin which doesn’t sound all that appealing but it carries significant water into the 50 mile long plain which at this time of the year translates into a verdant landscape covered with colorful wildflowers. The plain runs north – south and is bounded by the Caliente Mountains on the west and the Temblor Mountains on the east. The Temblor Mountains derive its name from the spanish word terremoto which means earthquake. Uncoincidentally, the San Andres Fault runs parallel to the base of this range down the length of the plain.

The water all drains into Soda Lake. Since this is an internal drainage with no outlet the water evaporates during the spring and summer as temperatures reach into the 100F range. What is left after the water evaporates is a salt-covered dry lake bed as you can see in the photo below.

We also spent some time walking on the Wallace Trail where you can see evidence – in the form of offset creeks and channels – of how the earth has shifted along the San Andreas Fault – which is pretty cool – as long as the earth does not shift while you are there!

We had the good fortune to find a camping spot on the Caliente Ridge at 3700 feet which gave us a spectacular view of the plain and Soda Lake.

We should be at Death Valley NP later this week after a stop at Red Rock Canyon.

E8539884-8FF0-4B57-B9EA-EA6810BFACE3 — **Carrizo Plain and Soda Lake**

646B46FD-A6BD-4D20-BC07-B07BD89BC4F6 — **Sunset from Caliente Mountain**

Los Padres National Forest

10/04/2019 by Maria+Stephen, posted in Camping, Coffee, Hiking, Scenic Drive

We just completed several days of camping in the Los Padres NF. This forest encompasses 1.75 million acres and stretches 220 miles from Santa Barbara to Monterey, California. We camped in the Santa Barbara District along the Santa Ynez River which provides access to numerous canyons and ridgelines from which to take in the gorgeous scenery. This forest is a multi-use forest open to hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, fishing, hunting and OHV riding (on designated trails and areas).

The weather in SoCal continues to be idyllic as you can see from the photos. We explored the Aliso Canyon area and were treated to the views you see below (inadequately represented by our photos).

4DFA0949-8102-4378-9225-A1EE4CAECDBD — **Aliso Canyon – Los Padres NF**

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636C565A-FAF0-4D5B-82FD-D26D6F15CBEA — **Aliso Canyon – Sage Hill in the Background**

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Desert to Mountains to Coast

07/04/2019 by Maria+Stephen, posted in Biking, Camping, Coffee, Scenic Drive

After departing JTNP we spent a day in the town of Joshua Tree just north of the park. JT, like many other small and remote towns or name places we have visited, emanates a quirky, free thinking and independent vibe.

We have met a number of artists – painters and scupltors – who were originally passing through a town but ended up staying or coming back. Clearly, many artists find the setting in these towns or areas conducive to pursuing whatever form of art it is that they have a passion for without regard to commercial success – perhaps just the opposite.

An additional observation is that there also exists in JT and many of the other small towns we have visited a freely expressed deep and fundamental belief in God and Country. This is just a general observation based on what we have seen and the people we have met – we are not expressing an opinion or personal point of view in making this comment.

Changing gears: We left Joshua Tree and drove north through the Mojave Desert and then turned westward to climb up into the San Bernadino Mountains on the Rim of the World Highway (CA 18, 38, 138). The road gains almost 5000 feet in elevation in just a matter of several miles and then provides breathtaking views as you eventually cross the entire range before descending down into Cajon Junction and leaving the SBNF.

We will be moving north along the coast of California again over the next week and then tackling Death Valley NP. We included some photos below from the beach in Carpenteria where we are staying for a couple of days.

Thanks for continuing to follow along and allowing us to share our experiences, observations and opinions as we wander about our amazing country. 0152

CD0C669A-8ACA-495A-B493-D3D15CDAE1E5 — **Carpenteria, California**

8DD284FB-94AB-4B48-B274-DBDFD976CF10 — **Santa Ynez Mountains – Los Padres NF**

97259BBB-0D6C-441E-B0BC-0A804F4819F4 — **Cafe Luxxe – Malibu – Gratuitius Cappuccino Photo!**

91B3FC45-48D3-421E-B093-1961EAB60CC1 — **Lake Arrowhead**

DE9CFD42-7444-47B3-B5E9-1EBB41E54BE3 — **Fawnskin, CA – San Bernardino NF**

D7F71B85-5502-4AA7-95DB-2AFDFE078AF7 — **Giant Rock Coffee – Route 247 – Mojave Desert – In the middle of nowhere a great coffee joint!**

5C34F466-F63C-4CBE-B8AF-DB267281DE56 — **JHOP**

5EC8F41A-3BBD-46D5-A5C1-2E5A202AE6C8 — **JHOP**

3F5BD1C4-5A87-4F3D-9E72-6A6273CC6600 — **What Constitutes a Town – Coffee + Yoga?**

E7D23C37-F4B4-467C-A28B-ABA6D8E5D32E — **Camping in the Mojave Desert – Joshua Tree City**

Joshua Tree National Park

02/04/201906/09/2022 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Boondocking, Camping, Hiking, National Park, National Parks, Scenic Drive, Wildlife

After extending our stay in both San Diego and San Clemente, we are back on the road. Our first stop was at JTNP where the wildflower “super bloom” is at its peak.

JTNP is one of a limited number of National Parks that allows access to back country high clearance 4WD trails. Many of these trails exist due to the significant number of mines (300) that at various times operated in the area which is now JTNP. We took advantage of the opportunity by spending an afternoon traveling through Pinkham Canyon and were treated to spectacular scenery and solitude.

There are a number of great hiking trails within the park. Because this is the busy season at the park we chose several hikes that we thought would be less crowded including Mastodon Peak and 49 Palms Oasis.

An interesting aspect of the park is that portions of both the Colorado Desert and the Mojave Desert are within its boundaries. While the park is named after the Joshua Tree there are no Joshua Trees in the Colorado Desert area of the park; they are only found in the Mojave Desert area of the park.

JTNP is extremely beautiful at this time of the year and the temperatures are reasonable for hiking. But as this is a true desert environment we would recommend you that you visit between late fall and early spring before high temperatures go into the triple digits!