Let's just call this a two for one kinda day. After a few miles and just over three hours of driving Tim and I landed at a park where we can base camp out of and be able to explore two different parks near Moab, Utah.
As we approached our destination there was that sign again - Campground Full. Tim and I decided to continue anyway hoping for availability. If anything we could at least do a quick drive through.
At Dead Horse Point State Park we inquired about available sites. There are only 21 sites in this campground. What do you know ... two sites left! There is not enough manpower this time of year to deal with the signage they say.
In my honest opinion we got the best site here in the Kayenta Campground at Dead Horse Point State Park! The campground sits on top of a mesa and our site is on the highest side. We have a little view of the canyon over all the other camp sites. Each site has it's own covered pavilion and picnic table and we have an electric hook-up. It's a really cool place!
From this location we can explore this park AND Canyonlands National Park ... 2-for-1!!! Bonus ...what a deal!!! If we had chosen to stay at Canyonlands NP we probably could not have gotten in. At this point in our adventure we don't know where we will be when and for how long and therefore can't make reservations. If we had decided to stay in Moab we would have landed farther away and would have had to stay in a noisy, tightly packed commercial campground.
Things just work out. They always do. If anything at least I know at the end of the day where we will sleep ... in the Airstream. I may not know where it will be parked but I know I will sleep in it.
Here at Dead Horse Point State Park we had the afternoon to explore this park. Just breathtaking! The park towers 2,000 feet above the Colorado River. It provides a breathtaking panorama of Canyonlands' sculptured pinnacles and buttes. A diamond in the rough for us! We learned how this spectacular place got it's name. It's kinda sad and almost, ok ... worse than the Madison Buffalo Jump.
Cowboys would corral wild mustangs here on the mesa. They would be herded to the narrow neck of land and out onto the point. Then fenced off with brush and branches. Cowboys would then chose the best horses leaving the remainder still corralled on the waterless point 2,000 feet above the Colorado River. Here the horses died of thirst within view of the river below. Sniff. Sniff.
Onto other happier thoughts we found a vendor here during check-in at the Visitors Center that sells coffee, drinks and sandwiches. When we checked in, we purchased a few sandwiches for lunch and took them to our campsite to eat. Delicious. Then after our park tour of Dead Horse Point we went back for a smoothie and an ice cream cone and watched a small rain shower in the distance form a rainbow. We haven't been to a full size grocery since Page, AZ and are short on a few items now. Our plan is to purchase a few more sandwiches in the morning for tomorrow's adventure. During the next few days we are hoping to be able to visit a grocery store in Moab.
Since there are no campfires allowed here, and that's one of our favorite things to do in the evening while camping, we did some star gazing. Both of us bundled up with coats, gloves and a blanket. Tim was able to spot the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) again with both the binoculars and the spot scope. We think this was one of our best viewing nights for star gazing. Looking to the south we were able to see both stars and the Milky Way all the way down to the horizon. Other items of interest we could view with the naked eye were numerous satellites, falling stars, planets and constellations. With our expansive open sky, the view here on top of the mesa was unimpeded from horizon to horizon.
MILES DRIVE: 167
TOW MILES DRIVEN: 3,488
TEMPERATURE: 70*
ELEVATION: 5,968'
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