I have decided to go ahead and make the push all the way to Angel Lake near Wells, Nevada. The temperature is supposed to be around 90 for the rest of the week, which means it will be more like 100 in the RV when the sun gets high in the sky. I think the extra couple thousand feet of elevation should make for some much better temperatures, and besides, I just have that feeling like that’s where I should be going.
I got on the road around 9:30 and headed straight for a little town called Hanson which is just before Kimberly heading west towards Twin Falls. I knew there was a little Conoco there where I could refill my propane. It was a very convenient stop, but my goodness were they overcharging for that stuff, about a dollar more per gallon then it should have been… oh well.
I got back on the road and made my way to Winco in Twin Falls to restock up on some Groceries, then over to Walmart to grab the last few things. I stopped by the free RV dump in Twin Falls, took care of my tanks and water fill, then hit the road for the 100 mile trek to Wells, Nevada. It was a pretty uneventful drive. Easy going… the speed limit in Nevada is 70mph but I kept it around 60, much to the dismay of several truck drivers behind me. But again, there is no point in trying to go the speed limit in this thing. First of all, it feels like a runaway train about to come off the rails at 70, and second, it doesn’t matter how fast I go… no one wants to be behind a motorhome.
Coming into Wells was breathtaking. You peek out of the mountains into a valley where you can see for miles and miles. Distant mountain ranges still covered in snow despite the 90 degree temperatures, endless green fields in one direction and flat desert to the horizon in another. The town sits at the base of little mountain range that sits like and island in the middle of all this. It is an amazing sight to see.
Angel Lake sits at the top of a mountain just south of Wells. There is a little paved forest service road that takes you up the mountain to the Park at the very top. The plan wasn’t actually to go all the way to the park, but rather grab a dispersed camping site off the road that I had found on an app called Campendium.
As I continued upwards, every mile showed the temperature drop another degree. I began to get really excited and bragged to Danny about how smart we were to make the trip here. We continued up the 10 mile road to the campsite we had found on the app and my excitement was peaked. Then suddenly, about a quarter of a mile away from the campsite our progress was halted by a gigantic road closed sign. My heart sank in my chest and disbelief washed over me. It was right there, literally 1000 feet beyond the sign. I couldn’t believe it. I had even called the forest service line the day before to confirm this place was open… and the recording had said it was.
Why did God bring me here? What am I supposed to do now? I drove right passed the free camping area that I had planned to stay at at Salmon Creek Reservoir to come here, only to be stopped in my tracks a stones throw away from my destination. It was frustrating. Demoralizing. I hopped on my phone and called the forest service line. I spoke to a gal who said that, no I could not go beyond the sign, and yes, Angel Lake Campground was closed. However, Angel Creek Campground was open, which just so happened to be only about a mile away. With some relief, I headed that way.
I stopped by the Camp Host and spoke with a nice old couple, Tom and Rita, who were able to set me up with a campsite there for a few days. 3 to be exact, but I needed 6. Whatever, this will work for now. I thanked them and made my way through the park to my campsite. As I drove through I was quite underwhelmed. Maybe is was just my attitude had been irreparably soured by my change of fortune, but the place did not look very inviting. The camp sits in a little valley in this desert mountain range. The site themselves are little paved strips with untended plants and shrubbery growing all about. There wasn’t a single strip of sod to be had, not open fields for frizbee, no park area, just a single handmade picnic table at each site with the paint chipping off in jagged chunks. The site had no view whatsoever. None of the crazy vistas we watched as we ascended the mountain. I pulled into my site and kind of scoffed a bit. I tried to level my RV but just couldn’t get it quite right. I had to rely heavily on the front jacks, which I hate doing because they make an obnoxious popping noise at times. There were bugs of every species buzzing and diving around me as I got to work setting up. It was a massive disappointment. I sat in my motorhome, the sun baking it to an uncomfortable 89 degrees, and bemoaned my bad luck. I considered ignoring the forest service gal’s warning and heading to the other site beyond the road block, but eventually chickened out. Finally, I decided to give it a chance and take Danny for a walk to drop the camping fee in the drop box. Hey, at least I had a place to be for a few days. Who knows, maybe tomorrow would bring good things. God brought me here for a reason right?
I woke up feeling a bit better about the situation. I realized I needed to go talk to the camp hosts to see if I would be able to get another campsite for the last 3 days. So I leashed up Danny and decided to make a walk out of it. This is about the time where God stepped in and started doing His thing.
There was no one around anywhere outside. As I headed up the hill to the hosts I realized I forgot my phone, so I headed back down to grab it. I headed back up the hill and got about half way to their site and realized I was probably going to need my tripod if I was going to get any shots of Danny and I together, so I headed back down to grab it. This time on my way up, I passed by another camper walking his dog. I had noticed he had some solar panels on his roof so I sparked up a conversation and off we went. We chatted for about an hour about solar, boondocking and careers. His name was Wayne, he and his wife Carol live in Florida and they camp about 5 months out of the year on the West coast. We compared solar set ups and he clued me into several choice spots that I should visit in my travels where they is much beauty to be had and cheap, if not free, camping. He and Carol had actually hiked up to the camping spot that I had originally planned on staying at the previous day. He said it probably wouldn’t be an issue if I just bypassed the sign and went to set up over there. So, feeling newly invigorated with hope, I shook his hand and headed off with Danny.
We made our way back to the road block and continued up the hill. About a quarter of a mile up the road split off to the left up the mountain and there, to the right, was a two wheel carved path that led to our original destination. As we made our way down the path, an interesting realization hit me. I could not have made it down this road. Not a chance. The path was wildly uneven, dipping to the right nearly 4 feet in places. An offroad truck with 4×4 would have no problem, but the angle was so severe I think my motorhome would have tipped over trying to traverse the extreme slants. The site itself wasn’t really all that great either. It did have a beautiful view of the expanse to the Northwest, but leveling my RV would be quite difficult. Of course, that didn’t really matter much because getting here would be impossible. Suddenly, my current spot didn’t seem so bad. I was with with Danny getting us some decent exercise. We were exploring and taking in some beautiful scenery… things could definitely be worse.
As we made our way down, ogling the valley as we went, I spied another track path heading off the side of the road to the Northwest, towards the view. I decided to follow them and Danny happily followed along. I couldn’t believe it, not a quarter of a mile down the path off the right side was a big open flat area with a dug in the ground fire pit. This was clearly a dispersed camp site… and a pretty decent one at that. The ground was flat and big enough to 3 point turn around in a motorhome like mine. The campfire pit had been dug out of the ground and circled with stones, clearly a spot that has seen a lot of use, and the view was magnificent. Not only that, I think my motorhome could actually make it down here. Thought swirled in my head and I headed back to my campsite with thoughts swirling in my head. “That drop in is pretty steep, can my RV actually make it down it. What about backing out? What about the free range cows? Should I try this? It’s probably not nearly as steep once I’m behind the wheel…”. It all sort of congealed into a mass of possibilities in my head.
As we neared my campsite I ran into Wayne again and he immediately began to tell me about a choice campsite he and his wife had come across the day before, the same one I had just seen. We measured the possibility of successfully navigating my 30 foot RV down to it and, after some encouragement from his wife, I determined to give it a try. Before we parted, they equipped me with several other of their favorite campsites they had found in their travels which I recorded every one of in my phone. They were a wealth of knowledge and very kind. I thanked them, said my goodbyes, and loaded the RV up saying silent prayers to God as I went. As I made my way to the turn off the anticipation took my heart and ran. As I approached the turn off it, indeed didn’t look TOO bad. I didn’t bother hesitating for even a moment. I picked my angle and dumped the RV down the trail, and it obliged without complaint. I made my way down the dirt road to the site and pulled in, a quick three point turn around and I was parked, facing the road with my front door opening to the breathtaking view of the Northeast expanse. I set the level without issue and hopped out to see how I had done.
This is what it was all about. This is what I came here for. The clouds poured out before me in an endless sky. I could see grey storm clouds raging to my left, and cloudy blue in the distance to my right where God rays painted the countryside. Rainbows, spotted shower streams here and there, distant mountains a million miles away, it was just amazing.
I could see now, this is why God brought me here. This place, these people, this experience. I ran into an unexpected situation and God led me through it to this unbelievable result. I learned so much in that 24 hour period… This place wasn’t on any maps or any apps. I had put my faith in God and let him guide my steps to it. I needed my new friends to step in and equip me with the courage necessary to go for it. I needed to take a leap of faith driving an 18,000 pound motorized house off the road into a ditch to make it mine. Never in a million years could I have imagined I’d be in a place like this taking chances like these, blindly trusting in God to bring it all together… but here I was, once again left in awe of His goodness.
I ended up making great friends with Wayne and Carol. They came and visited a couple times, and I went to visit them. We talked and shared stories for hours at a time. They set me up with camping apps and databases I had never heard of. Little secrets of the pros. Under their counsel I went from green newbie to hardened road warrior (not really, hah) in less than a week. They gave me favorite locations to visit, maps programs to ease the journey, and tricks of the trade that most people learn the hard way. I am so thankful to have met them and shared this time with them. And it’s crazy to think I may not have met them at all if I had remembered my cell phone and tripod on that first day here.
While I was here I got out and about exploring quite a bit. I took Danny everywhere. We wandered all down the various tracks and paths, and one day even made the 4 mile hike up 2000 feet to the top of the mountain to the, still closed, Angel Lake Park. It took half of the day, but we made it to the top and could now see why the park was still not open. There were several motorhomes arranged in the parking lot and men working all over the park trying to clean up damage from winter storms. They were manning a gigantic pump trying to drain some of the mountain runoff from the lake which appears to have overflowed and ruined several of the campsites. They didn’t seem to mind us too much as I let Danny go for a short swim to cool off after the hike. I was trying to be respectful so I didn’t snap any pictures of them, but I did get a couple of the park entry and the lake:
We jogged back down to the bottom, which was an absolute blast. Danny started lagging pretty far behind that last mile… I knew he would be sleeping well tonight! About half way back down I caught sight of the valley my rv was in and snapped a picture. It gives you a pretty good idea of the landscape of this area and how high up we were:
The little red circle is my RV and the pavement you can see if the long windy road that leads up the mountain to Angel Lake. Angel Creek Park, where Wayne and Carol were staying is the jumble to the far right.
All in all, this turned out to be a pretty amazing stop. Next on the agenda is a five night stay with a Boondocker’s Welcome host between Wells and Elko, and then another 5 night stay with a Boondocker’s Welcome host just south of Elko in Spring Creek. These will be my first stays with Boondocker’s Welcome, so I’m excited to see how they go. The first one has electrical hookups that I will likely only need for one or two nights to combat the last few days of 90 degree temperatures. The second has no hookups, but the weather should be pretty good south of Elko this time of year. I also found out that Wayne and Carol will be heading down to the Spring Creek about the same time I do. They will be staying in Lamoille Canyon at one of the State camp grounds just about 10 miles away, so I will have to make a point to go for a motorcycle ride and see them!
God showed me some pretty amazing things out here, and taught me some much needed lessons about how this lifestyle works. He opened my heart to new people and new possibilities. There is no limit to His goodness and His blessings; and He never fails to reward obedience.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9