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.
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