Valley of the Gods

While camped at Goosenecks State Park, there was ample time in my busy schedule to check out some other attractions in the area.  One of these areas is the Valley of the Gods, which is nearby, and keeping a very low profile.  It is on a side road off a secondary road, but rates right up there with the much better known Monument Valley.  I was hoping to get some aerial shots, but a couple of weather fronts were passing through, and it was always too windy to attempt it.

There is a 16 mile dirt road that leads through the valley, and there are some boodocking possibilities accessible from both ends, but the center section of road has a few hills and corners to dissuade all but the smallest units or truck campers.  Like many roads in this area, it is signed as impassable in wet weather.  But dust, not mud was my only concern when passing through.

One day at Goosenecks, the wind was only moderate when a fellow on a motorbike pulled in during the afternoon and set up his tent on a prime view lot just a ways down from me.  He had the cover on his bike and had crawled inside the tent when the winds turned it up a notch.  As a precaution, and to limit the rocking and rolling, I had hooked the truck up to the trailer to reduce the chances of being blown further into Utah.  I watched as the cover on his bike tore in half, and his tent was laid pretty much flat by the winds, and no doubt would have been blown away had he not been inside.

 

As the winds calmed slightly, he was outside trying to support the tent, but finally the poor guy took down the remains of his tent and rolled on out of there without staying.  I would have gladly traded fuel bills with him, but I was glad to have a large, secure, and comfortable spot for ms Hailey and I.  Even though I had my satellite tripod tied down securely, the winds were so strong on occasion that I took the feed horn and dish off a couple times to prevent damage.

 

A lucky camper enjoys the view from his prime, free camp spot along the Valley of the Gods road.