Boondocking in Utah

(Paraphrasing a conversation I had with my mom last week while we were in Kirkwood)

Julie: Mom, we just looked at the map for where we are headed and it is not good. We’ve got MULTIPLE 70-80 mile stretches without services, with like 4,000 feet of climbing each! We don’t think we can do it. Would you be willing to drive along with us with food and water? So we don’t die?

Maryanne: laughs loudly What are you drinking?

Julie: I’m not drinking anything! I’m being serious! I thought if ANYONE was motivated for me to not die in the desert it would be you! We either have to ride the whole thing in one day or bring enough food and water for multiple days! In the desert!! And if we don’t have enough water - we die! It’s the desert!

Maryanne: I’m glad to see you aren’t being dramatic about this.

Julie: …

Maryanne: Have any of you considered that you are capable of doing this?

Julie: No! We haven’t considered that at all!

The tl;dr of the rest of that conversation is that she believed we would be able to do it and also she was too busy to drive along with us on short notice.

Today we had 84 miles to go between services, with roughly 4,000 feet of climbing. We weren’t sure if we would be able to go the full distance so we didn’t make reservations at the next town, Milford. Even though it is MUCH easier without having to carry all of our gear (thanks, Mike!), I’m feeling very accomplished. This is one of the stretches that I saw on the map last week which had me panic calling my mom.

We had one small climb and two bigger climbs today. The two big climbs were 6-7 miles long and roughly 1,500 feet of elevation gain. We regrouped after the first long climb and decided we all felt good enough to make it all the way to Milford. At that point, Mike tried to make hotel reservations and everything was booked. The campground in Milford is permanently closed as well.

We continued and completed the second long climb and found a large gravel area off to the side of the road at the summit to spend the night, complete with picnic table. It’s almost like they wanted us to camp here.

We were on Route 21 all day. It was even less trafficked than Route 50. I counted just 82 cars the whole day.

We’ll start tomorrow with a nice 15 mile descent into Milford, and then will carry on to Carson City, where we will be very happy to shower.

With such a long ride followed by boondocking overnight, I had to pee outside for the first time and then multiple times thereafter. Mike came with me each time to watch my six. He’s a lovely man. It was a very strange experience for all involved.

Highlights

• gorgeous views
• even though the hotels were all booked we found a beautiful place to spend the night
• we made it to Utah!

Lowlights

• toilets and a shower would have been nice

Julie’s food

• Breakfast: oatmeal and coffee
• First Snack: Clif bar
• Second snack: hummus and crackers
• Third snack: protein bar
• Lunch: peanut butter banana sandwich, hummus and crackers, mint chocolate cookies
• Fourth Snack: apple, chips and guac, pretzels, sriracha rice cakes
• Dinner: couscous and lentils (camp-stove cuisine)

Stats

• Total distance: 68.78 miles
• Elevation gain: 3,858 feet
• Weather: cloudy, high of 78 degrees Fahrenheit