STE1 Hop 6
I-70 east near Devil’s Canyon. Scary.
199 miles via US 50, UT 24, UT 118, UT 120, I-70 and US 191. Cumulative tow miles: 1210. Truck miles: 236. Cumulative truck miles: 1380.
This hop was not in the original plan. The basic trip – Salina UT to Moab UT – was the result of chopping out Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks and Monument Valley. They were chopped because I just didn’t trust the truck enough to take it into such desolate places. And the breakdown had cost us 3 days of schedule. So straight to Moab, arriving 4 days earlier than originally planned. We will likely use those days in STE2 and STE3 as those segments had a lot of 1-night stays, which are never fun.
But Salina to Moab is only about 160 miles. The other 40 miles was basically a shakedown trip down to Richfield UT and back. I had rented a car on Monday, thinking that the truck would not be fixed. When the GMC dealer unexpectedly found and fixed the problem in one afternoon, I kept the car, thinking that I would hang onto it until I tested the truck with a short tow. So 20 miles down to Richfield – no problem. Pick up the car, return it to the rental agency, get our propane tanks filled, then back up to Salina to top off. Then, finally, off on the hop east on I-70.
I had never traveled I-70 through Utah before and it was a revelation. Simply beautiful. Jett took photo after photo because every bend in the road presented a new vista. We also stopped at a number of scenic overlooks, both to take some photos and to give the truck a rest. There were two tough hauls up and over passes that exceeded 7500 feet.
Devil’s Canyon overlook
Pinyon tree?
First overlook
Salt wash overlook
Our (unexpected) home for 3 nights was “RV Camp” – an unnamed, unadvertised, tiny 20-site camp that was conveniently located behind the K & K Auto Service shop where we first had our truck problem diagnosed. It was very fortunate that we didn’t have to go any further to unhitch because the truck was a very sick puppy at that point on Saturday afternoon. Even though K & K was unable to fix the problem on Monday, they had a flatbed that could take the truck down to the GMC dealership in Richfield UT.
The park had no amenities, but had a wonderful, welcoming host (thanks for everything, Stacy) and it kept us warm, safe and very comfortable during a very difficult time.
At RV Camp
View north from RV Camp