Its Utah Jim, but not as we know it. Day 1

For the past two years I’ve been trying to do an overlanding trip of the White Rim Road in Canyonlands NP. It was supposed to be the first overland style trip that my wife was to accompany me on. For those that might not know, you pretty much have to reserve spots 4 months in advance. In order to the the good locations, you have to be online right at midnight exactly 4 months out and even then you have to be both quick and lucky. Back in 2019 I had managed to get camping spots reserved for two nights. The first site was one of my first choices, but the second site was a little further down my list. Alas, something came up with work and we had to cancel that trip. Strike one.

Hoping to still make that the first trip for my wife, I managed to snag my first choices for both nights for an April 2020 trip. Of course that trip got cancelled do to Canyonlands closing down for Covid-19. Strike two.

However, for the 2020 trip I still had the time off from work and did not want to waste it with most people staying at home and a nice new OGT Expedition 2.0 sitting in my shop. So, I came up with a remote Lake Powell trip. The plan was to setup the trailer as a base camp in a remote spot next to the lake and then go hiking and explore the surrounding area in our new Jeep Gladiator.

As with most trips, the first day was pretty much just a long stretch of highway driving followed by setting up camp.  Since this was the first trip with my wife, the new Gladiator and our new puppy, Maxiums, I knew things were going to be a little different.  The first thing was going to be that some of the photos would have my wife’s touch to them.

After a relatively easy start to the trip, we clicked off the miles to our first camping spot without issue.  Maximus enjoyed the first day by sleeping though just about all of it. This was really nice while driving, but would it lead to an interesting night with him sleeping in the trailer with us? We certainly hoped not!

The first camp site I had scouted out via online resources was a really nice location.  It was level, had a fire ring and was sheltered from the wind if it picked up over night.

Unfortunately the gnats also thought it was a good location and swarmed us within minutes of getting out of the truck.  Poor Maximus was covered in bites from head to tail almost instantly.  Abandoning the picturesque site, we headed back up to a more exposed location, hoping the light breeze would help keep them away.  We were rewarded for moving out of the little canyon with fewer gnats and a beautiful sunset that evening.

Maximus had no problems sleeping in the create I had built for him in the lower shelf of our OGT Expedition 2.0. He actually slept through the night until about 0500 the next morning. Waking me up see the sun rise.

The adventure continues on Day 2