Elks to the rescue!!

October 9, 2021

Bryce Canyon NP to St. George

BOY! What a stressful night! I doubt either of us got much sleep, waiting for the furnace to go out at any minute.

We were both up early and by the time we had both woken up a bit, were able to discuss our situation. When we planned this trip, we had left 3-4 days open this week between our reservations at Bryce Canyon and Kanab.

Originally we had thought we might try camping at the north rim of the Grand Canyon or Jacob Lake. But that plateau could be quite cold and neither campground would have any hookups. Normally that wouldn't be a problem as we would rely on our solar panels to charge our batteries and use our propane for cooking and heating. BUT, with an iffy furnace, that didn't sound like a good option.

Next we considered moving to a campground within Bryce NP and staying there for a few days. They at least had a bathhouse and spigots in the campground for water. But still no hookups so we'd be back to relying on the propane and solar.

The Bryce campground would be an ideal location - right near the rim of one canyon so I could get lots of sunrise pictures and accessible to the bike trail. BUT - the forecast is calling for a storm to move in over the next few days bringing very low overnight temps along with SNOW!!! It was already cold enough today even though it was sunny out!

Yikes!!! I can't imagine trying to stay warm if the furnace poops out completely. Plus our pipes could freeze. So that clearly wasn't going to work right now.

Okay - now we had to come with Plan C. Don said that even though he's ordered a furnace switch, it won't be delivered until next week when we are in Kanab. He felt that if possible, he would like to replace the switch sooner. So he got on-line to search where there might be RV parts stores in this part of Utah.

Cedar City didn't have any places, but it looked like St. George had several stores. Now the next question was - where do we stay near St. George? We're right in the middle of the Snowbird migration as RV'ers head south which means that RV parks are full.

I told Don that maybe we could camp at the St. George Elks lodge? When searching for dancing in the St. George area the other day, I had noticed that this Elks had a small campground. (many Elks lodges offer RV camping)

Don got onto their website and found out that yes, they did have a small RV campground with electric hookup. First come, first serve.

So our plan was now to break camp here today, even though we've already paid for tonight - we'll just eat the cost. Then we'll head for St. George. It will be a lot warmer there so if the furnace craps out, we would be able to use our heat pump temporarily until Don can replace the switch.

And hopefully the Elks will have a spot for us to camp. If not, we would have to go to Plan D!

Before we left Bryce, we drove back into the park for a few final pictures now that we had blue skies, gassed up the truck and stopped by the gift shop at Ruby's Inn for a couple of things. I wanted some new place mats that had photos of hoodoos on them. We also ended up getting another Pendleton blanket that had a Bryce Canyon NP label on it.

I love our other NP Pendletons we use in the trailer- the wool blankets are so nice and warm when covering my legs while we watch TV or when used as an additional blanket on the bed. They also add a pop of color to our decor.

We were loaded up and heading out by noon. When we reached Panguitch, we turned south so we could visit Cedar Breaks NM. Back in 2010 when we did the Western Express bike route, we had to skip this section since the road was closed due to snow.

It was a beautiful drive as we climbed higher and higher among the colorful aspen. As the elevation increased, so did the snow on the ground. It looked like the area had received about 6 inches of snow yesterday.

I hoped that I could take some great pictures with the snow on the red rocks but we found that we couldn't even drive off the road on the overlooks. There was deep icy slush on the pavement and Don was concerned that we could get stuck. So I had to be content with a few brief views of the rocks for this trip.

Once we had dropped down out of the mountains into Cedar City, it had already started to warm up and by the time we reached St. George it was 75 degrees!!! And there were palm trees everywhere!!! What a change - from snow to palms in one day!

We found the Elks lodge which is perched up on the side of hill overlooking the city. And they had campsites open!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!

Don met with the camp host and we selected a site. It only costs $25 per night and they do have electric hookup. There is also a bathhouse with showers, laundry, dump station, camp sink and water available to fill up your rig's tank. There is even a covered pavilion that has an area where we can put out the dance floor.

We'll need to be careful about our water usage in the trailer so that means washing in the camp sink and using disposables when we can. But it should be fin.

Our plan is to be here for 4 nights and get in some nice rides. I know the Andersons stayed here earlier this year and covered a lot of routes in their journal.

On Monday Don will start searching for the part he needs and hopefully get things repaired before we move forward. At least now we'll be staying in warmer climates for the rest of the trip.

It was hard to capture a shot this morning since I was looking into the sun, but this one came out. It would be amazing to see a sunrise here!

Interesting roots on this downed pine tree.

Before we left Bryce Canyon, we stopped at the gift shop at Ruby's Inn where we purchased this beautiful Pendleton blanket. It was a good price and had the Bryce NP label on it. When we were looking at it later, we realized it was also a numbered limited edition! We just wanted a warm souvenir of our stay here.

On our drive today, we went through Cedar Breaks NM. It had snowed several inches here yesterday which really highlighted the red rocks.

More of the same. I was lucky to get the past 2 pictures from the truck since we couldn't pull off the road due to the deep icy slushy.

Through Cedar Breaks NM you can see how deep the snow was - about 6 inches.

Leaving Cedar Breaks, on the way to Cedar City, the highway went through a scenic canyon.

This is our campsite at the St. George Elks. They have 14 sites with electric. It looks tight, but really not too bad - we're not complaining!! We loved that our site backs up to the red rocks. When we look out our back window by the table, it's like being in a canyon.

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Scott AndersonWhat an incredible time to see Cedar Breaks. I’ve biked up there twice now - once in August 35 years ago, and once in May when there was still snow at Brian’s Head. I’ve never seen it this late in the year though when the leaves have turned.
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