Utah! Canaan Peak Region

I accidentally posted about White Canyon before this post, so in case you’re confused, this is the second place we went to in Utah. This is where we waited out the windstorm, before we went on to White Canyon.

After a disappointing first night along a cattle-infested muddy wash near Grosvenor Arch, we were on the search for a new campsite. The dirt road that extended past the arch was surprisingly full of campers, so we wanted to find a less popular spot.

We also wanted somewhere fairly warm and sheltered. We knew a front was coming through, and it had already gotten windy. I didn’t want to be out in the middle of the desert during a sandstorm. So we headed toward the trees.

John knows the remote regions of Utah very well, which is really helpful when doing this kind of trip. We hadn’t been to this particular spot before, but his general knowledge helped us make educated guesses about where to go.

This spot turned out to be perfect. The huge pines filtered the rising winds, keeping it surprisingly calm. And it wasn’t so high up in elevation as to be too cold. It was a pleasant spot and completely empty.

At first we put Biska out on her line, but after awhile we realized we didn’t need to keep her tied up. The road didn’t go anywhere and nobody drove by the entire time we were out there. Biska won’t just run off – the only reason we sometimes need to keep her tied or leashed is if there are other people around. She’s extremely friendly and will burst into people’s campsites and jump all over them if we let her.

We set up a cell tower booster. There’s generally very little cell reception in the remote sections of southern Utah. We feel very lucky when we get any reception at all.

We don’t need to surf the internet or watch TV or anything, but we feel much better if we can get a text message in and out in case we run into issues such as a health emergency. We also don’t like to be completely unavailable if something comes up at one of our rentals. We have a handyman, so almost everything can be handled long distance – if we have enough cell reception to get a text out to authorize and arrange anything that’s needed.

I love the pines and there were plenty of places to walk.

And wildflowers!

I would have been content to spend the entire vacation there. But John still wanted the classic red-rock Utah experience. So on the third day, when the storm was almost over, we headed back out toward the desert.

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