Saturn looking over a new panorama saying, “What happened to that desert just 10 miles down the road?”

The nearest Black Hole (Walmart) is 66 miles away in Richfield, Utah. Our waning provisions required a little boost. There is a grocery store in Loa, just 20 miles west on Highway 24, but I wanted to check out the Fish Lake area which is on the way to Richfield, so Walmart it was.

From Loa, we sidetracked taking a long loop along the Fremont River past three reservoirs: Mill Meadow, Johnson Valley, and Fish Lake. Part of the loop was on the Gooseberry Fremont Scenic Backway. We love scenic highways, byways, and backways. This one turned out to be as awesome as expected. The high terrain, at 9000 feet, gave way to Aspen and pine forests with snow capped mountains in the distance.

The Gooseberry Fremont Scenic Backway follows the upper reaches of the Fremont River through an Aspen and Pine forest at 9,000’ elevation.

At a historical marker depicting life on the old Spanish Trail, we met Camper Dan, formerly known as Gold Pan Dan, a 69 year old dude that is on his first week of full-timing it on the road. A colorful character, Dan’s life-long hobby was gold prospecting. He had many photos of the times he struck it rich panning mountain rivers. He claims that is all behind him now. Now, it’s just him and his little dog out roaming the West, kind of like John Steinbeck’s “Travels With Charlie”.

The eastern side of our loop was the most remote. Free camping was allowed just about anywhere along the Fremont River. Tent camping was allowed in the meadows along the river bank. RV and trailer camping were allowed in any parking lot, and many were provided.

The western side of the loop was far more commercial and organized. The big draw was Fish Lake, the headwaters of the Fremont River. The lake is a couple miles wide and about 8 miles long. With so few lakes in this part of Utah, people flocked to Fish Lake. Being Memorial Weekend also swelled the crowds.

There was a combination of commercial campgrounds and National Forest Campgrounds. All were full. We drove through one of the larger National Forest Campgrounds. The layout, with about 100 sites, was a bit cramped for a National Forest Campground. Each site was also on the smallish size.

On a brighter note, one of those small first-come first-serve National Forest campgrounds was actually open. These were mostly closed up until now. Maybe Memorial Day weekend is when they usually open up. That would greatly help reduce the crowding.

This area features three reservoirs.

The city of Richfield sits in a valley surrounded by gorgeous mountains. With a population of 8,000, it is one of the largest towns in southern Utah. It is modern, clean, and well-kept with a nice downtown. We drove by an old fashioned carnival set up in the city park. I saw the the Zipper and the Tilt-a-Wheel and a bunch of gaming joints where you can win teddy bears for your babe. That brought back a flood of childhood memories of hittin’ the old Midway on Dixon Street by the train tracks in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, circa 1950s and 60s.

The drummer in one of my last bands, Tim, grew up traveling with the carnie. I also had a lady that worked for me as a foster treatment parent, Denise, that once owned a traveling gaming joint. She claimed that she made pretty good money with it.

At 13 years old, I remember wondering what it would be like to be a traveling carnie worker. The traveling part appealed to me, but I could see the underbelly of that world. It wasn’t for me.

The Black Hole performed its usual trick on us and sucked a ton more money out of my wallet than we expected. Jeez, what a super massive black hole.

The colorful mountains surrounding Richfield, Utah.

When we drove through Bicknell in the morning, we could see that the outdoor wood-fired pizza shop was getting set up. We noted that for our return trip. But at 5 pm when we returned it was again closed up. I did stop in Bicknell for some more of that non-ethanol 88 octane rocket fuel for Saturn.

Sunday and Monday are going to be chores and relax days. Saturn and V-Jer are filthy on the outside from dust, dust, dust, and dust. Then there are the end-of-the-month bills to catch up on. Finally, I have to get some guitar playing in. The next couple of days may be a little dull.

Tuesday will be moving day to Moab. I have four BLM campgrounds picked out as possible winners. Once settled in, the fun begins anew with a fresh spot to explore and a brand new month. A heat wave is predicted for next week.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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