Canyonlands and Mineral Bottom

 On Thursday we packed up and left the commercial campground. We arrived at the BLM Horsethief campground around 10 AM, only to find no empty campsites. We talked to a couple who were about to leave, and ended up in their campsite. It is right next to the dirt road, but beggars can't be choosers.

After setting up the camper, we decided to go to Mineral Bottom, which turned into quite an adventure. Two young men had a shredded tire on their van, and their jack would not lift the van high enough to change the tire. We found out they were highliners, which we understand to be slackliners, but further off the ground. Between the truck jack and a wood block from the truck, Richard was able to lift it high enough to get the job done. They were surprised that several people stopped and asked if they needed help, even after we were already stopped.

Two of the switchbacks

Mineral bottom is 13 miles of dirt roads, to the edge of the cliff. The road goes over the edge and then back and forth along the side of the cliff, with occasional switchbacks. Sandi was scared to death. We made it down, and enjoyed the scenery along the banks of the Green River. 

After a lunch break, we decided to head south on the White Rim road, which follows the river. We drove a few miles, and turned around before we got into Canyonlands Park. As we were returning, we found four college age girls who had stuck their rental car in the sand. They were attempting to dig the wheels out with their flip flops and a frisbee! After reviewing our options, Richard decided that their best option was to jack up the front wheels, put rocks under them, and then wood and rocks behind them. Richard had a wood block to put under the base of the jack. Once we were ready, one girl drove and everyone else pushed. It worked! I am not sure that I recall rescuing two different groups in the same day, but Sandi said we did our kind thing for the day. Maybe for two days. We got back to the camper about 4, and rested before dinner.

Studying the weather forecast for Sunday, we saw that the weather service predicted a major storm and extreme cold. This caused us to rethink our trip plan. We decided to come home early, on Saturday, to beat the storm. In order to do this, we decided to start the drive on Friday, and finish it on Saturday.

Friday morning, we drove into Canyonlands NP, and headed for the southernmost part of the Island in the Sky section of the park. We decided to take the Grand View Point walk along the rim, looking down into the canyons of the Colorado and the Green Rivers. There were many people with the same idea; the views were impressive, and the hiking moderate, about 2 miles round trip. We had considered taking the walk to the Mesa Arch, but that parking lot was full, so we drove back to the camper, packed up, and headed out. We refueled in Grand Junction, and then continued on I-70 to the campground at Island Acres, part of the Colorado River State Park. The campground was pleasant and not crowded; we enjoyed a hike along the river.

Saturday we headed home. The closer we got to Fort Collins, the worse the smoke appeared. The two largest fires in Colorado history are west of us. Luckily the snow should put a damper on the fires.

Overall, a good trip. We plan to return in the future and hike more in Canyonlands. October is a busy month in that area, perhaps another month would be better.