七月的那一天(又名东犹西科一日游）

Thursday night(July 12th) I suddenly felt like going on a short trip. Pulled out the map, and draw a 250 mile radius. Two candidates came up: the salt flats and the dinosaur/flaming gorge. Dropped an email to my boss that I am taking Friday off.

The sun was already high when I woke up. 10am. By the time I loaded the camera gears, a camping chair, cooler, and other stuff, it's getting pretty warm already. I stopped by Costco to pick up a backup CF card, and bought a hotdog and a box of gaterade. I didn't know that's all the food I was gonna get that day. Otherwise I would have got more.

As I headed to my car I knew where I was going. Salt Flats? No way, not in this sun. So Vernal it is. It would be a fun drive. I would drive past Jordanelle lake, took some mountain road to Vernal, have a drive-around in the Dinosaur Memorium, drive through the Flaming Gorge area, and get back via interstate highway.



Here's the Jordanelle lake. Up the mountain is Park City.


Typical great west scene:


Onto the rural road:


What would life be like living in such a dwelling:


Yes this is a real picture of a real gas station/convenience store. These are hard to come by in the area. Take advantage of it when you see one.


Liquid gold.




A scene in the hub city --Vernal of Eastern Utah.


I found this place suspicious even from miles away.


Turned out I my intuition is right:


This is OHV heaven.







Those mountains in the background are the split mountains in the Dinosaur Memorium (I will call it park from now on).


Half Dome.






Entrance to Dinosaur.






Green River:


I took an offroad trip to the blue mountain.





Another Half Dome.





Flaming Gorge bridge.



Flaming Gorge dam.


It's getting dark.






Highway to the danger zone. Know what it's like driving in a heavy rain like this, with 32 miles worth of gas left? I had to shut off AC. You don't want to get stranded here. Help is HOURS away (that is, if you are lucky to see another car driving by and be able to stop it). The picture of the instrument panel is blurry because of low shutter speed. I did adjust the ISO and took another, but I like this better.




Light at the end of the tunnel.


My car is pretty accurate when it comes to "xx miles to empty". Driving in the remote mountain area like this without fuel is the last thing you want. The sign of relief came when I saw traffic on the horizon. That's the I-80. I pulled over to a pump, had 8 miles to empty. Whew! I inserted some quarters into the payphone and called home. I should be due back home 3 and a half hour ago.

550 miles, with about 2 hours of off-roading, drove through 4 national forests. I ate that hotdog near Vernal while I was driving. Didn't bother to stop for food.

A tip for those planning on a trip to Eastern Utah: the most scenic spot in the Dinosaur park is on the Colorado side, called echo park. I didn't have time to go there though.

GPS: revisited

GPS: revisited



A few months ago I posted a brief review of the Garmin Vista Cx mapping GPS. That is based on the initial impression of that unit. Now that I've had some time to test it in some hiking trips, I feel obliged to update that review, in case someone might be interested.

Conclusion: Buy the 60csx if you need a serious gps that won't let you hang out dry.

This is what the Gamin website didn't tell you: The antenna in the Vista Cx is a patch type, versus the quadhelix in the 60csx. The difference between them are nights and days. With the Vista Cx, when I tested it on a trail moderately covered by trees, it constantly loses signal, even when I hand it from my neck with the lanyard. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE to me. Yes it is compact, and feature one-hand operation, but without a solid lock to 4 satellite it can't maintain trail and altitude data. This totally negates the main purpose of having a hiking GPS -- track back. The vista CX also loses connection easily inside a building even if it's sitting close to a window. I haven't tested it in a deep canyon but I suspect it won't surprise me in how quick it loses signal.

In contrast, the 60csx constantly locks to 8 or more satellite(that's twice of what you need). It has a built-in high sensitivity sensor that provides solid connection even in dense foliage or deep canyon. I can use it in my office with fluorescent light on. In my test on the same trail, the 60csx maintains solid connection (with some satellite to spare) when the vista cx failed. Besides, the 60csx takes much shorter time for a signal lock.

The 60csx also has a larger screen. Yes it's a little bulky (compared to the Vista Cx) but it comes with a belt clip. I can even put it in my pocket or backpack without worrying about signal loss. Realizing the limit of the Vista Cx and other similar models, Garmin now comes out with a Vista HCX model. The H stands for high sensitivity. It's supposed to improve signal reception. But, again, what they doesn't tell you, it's still a patch antenna. It's an improvement over the old Vista Cx, but in no way can it stand up against the 60csx.

One of the reasons that kept me away from the 60csx in the first place is the reported battery life. Garmin's website says 18 hours for the 60csx and 32 hours for the Vista Cx on 2 AA alkaline batteries. This is INCORRECT. In my experience the two has about the same battery life. Obviously it's inflated for the Vista Cx.

Sometimes I miss the one-hand operation of the Vista Cx but the 60csx's dedicated buttons definitely are designed for a reason. It just takes a little getting used to.

What happened to my Vista Cx? It now belongs to a female photographer in California. She still likes it. So, I give you the update, you decide.

Days of '47---盐湖城Pioneer Day大游行

Days of '47 is one of this country's largest parade in memory of the arrival of pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

Click on the photo below to see a slide show of some selected photos of the parade.