Thursday 4th May – Phallus Camp

We both wanted change of scenery after three nights at the one camp, so after faffing around per our usual routine of making hot chocolate and breakfast. We procrastinated packing up the workshop by playing some cards, until eventually got our shit together and packed up. We head off around 2pm, in search of greener pastures near Moab. We stopped for petrol near the end of Grand Junction and the employees were the nicest I’d come across so far, totally ok with us filling up all of our water containers which amounted to way more than twenty liters. On the way out of Colorado, we drove through Colorado National Monument on my suggestion. It was a “stop and look at stuff” park which suited us just fine but a shame that Dan had to pay $15 for the privilege.

I was still thoroughly sleepy for no reason so it was perfect for my mood. We stopped at most of the lookouts to “ooh” and “ahh” at the canyon in all its colours. At one of the last overlooks, we discovered our voices made an impressive echo that travelled the length of the canyon, so we mucked around making “koooieees” and “chihooos” until we ran out of things to shout. Towards the end of the park we saw more and more towers jutting out from the valley, one of which Jon and Stoney had climbed the last time they were together.

By the time we got to the visitor’s centre at the other end of the park it was just past 5pm so it was closed. Wanting to get Dan’s moneys worth, we did the canyon cliff walk, Cleo happily in tow on her leash. We came across the very happening campsite among the trees, packed obviously, with lots of kids playing in the red sand. When we came across a port-a-loo in the carpark, I scored a roll of toilet paper, something I’m always on the lookout for since it’s hard to buy single rolls of toilet paper.

Me and Cleo hung out while Dan used said port-a-loo. Still not friends, Cleo was indifferent towards me and insisted on being somewhere that she could chase lizards. When Dan joined us again, we found the trail and walked it to the end of the cliff where we could see window rock. We admired the beautiful view into the valley and hung out feet over the edge, peering into the valley of civilisation below us. We sat and talked a while, mostly about how happy we were to not be a part of normal society.

Back to the cars, we continued driving east towards Utah. Highway 70 was pretty standard, but after crossing into Utah and heading south on a less travelled path, the drive became much more scenic. We drove through open range fields on a road with no lines and crumbling edges with mountains in the background. At one point, we came across an abandoned town that would have been cool to explore if it wasn’t for the no trespassing signs everywhere.

Further into the countryside, we came across a number of black cows hanging out on the road, including a calf that spun out big time when we approached, putting his legs out in all directions before skirting off the road back to his nonplussed mother. The road took us all the way to the Colorado River, which we followed through a shaded valley as the sun went down. It was a beautiful time to be driving, though much later than what I’m used to.

The river was wide and flowing fast, typical of the mighty Colorado. When we turned a corner, I had a huge wow moment when I saw a monument valley-style column of rock nestled in front of snowy mountains in the background. I shouted out loud and pulled over immediately to enjoy the view. This must be the best example of a photo not doing the scenery justice. Dan was full of smiles as well at what we were seeing. I was very glad that after all this travel, I can still be stopped short by beautiful scenery I haven’t seen before. After our stop, we were both keen for camp and we were close to the one we’d pegged on freecampsties.net.

We turned away from the river and into Castle Valley where we were heading towards Castleton Tower, which we coined as the phallus or penis because that’s what it looked like standing proud amongst the other more modest rock formations. The climber’s campsite we’d intended to camp at sat at the base of the phallus, but when we arrived we found it was full so we turned around and drove down another road, right past a no camping sign. We found a nice turnaround that suited us just fine and were confident we wouldn’t be disturbed by any sort of patrol. The place had firewood and everything!

Both hungry, we joined forces to make dinner. Dan cooked the sausages and onions while I boiled pasta and veggies. We put it all together with pasta sauce and were eating like kings. Dan got the fire going and we sat out eating our dinner with beers admiring the last glow of the sunset on the red rocks surrounding us. We had an uncomfortable night in the Presidentiial Lounge thanks to a slight tilt that kept pushing us off the bed, but we couldn’t really complain considering our location.