Logan Canyon Standoff

We entered Logan Canyon knowing we would not have cell service for our smart phones and that it was one of the most beautiful places we had ever been. We had read of several free camping sites and we were determined to find one. We found the turn off and headed up the one lane dirt road. Several miles later we started finding camping sites, some even unoccupied. But, they were high up on exposed mountain meadows, not the lush green river-bank camp sites we were hoping for. So we finally found a place on the tight one lane road to turn Vango around. About half way back to the paved road we came around some willows and wound up face-to-face with a caravan of three pickup trucks pulling horse trailers that were longer than Vango. It was a standoff. There was a sharp drop-off on the right that descended maybe eight feet straight down into a creek running below. Of coarse the bank to our left ascended sharply. So we had maybe sixteen feet of road to work with. DR made the decision to pull Vango to the right between a couple clumps of willows as close to the edge as possible, much to Laura’s white-knuckled chagrin. The pickup with the longest horse trailer then attempted to shoot the gap left between us and the bank.  At the point where his hitch was about even with our driver side door he stopped and said something about not being able to move his trailer sideways. DR, who was in the best position to see the fender of the horse trailer and the side of the van, folded in our mirrors and told the driver he was clear and to pull forward. DR proved his acumen for judging distances as there wound up being a good four inches of clearance. The driver of the second pickup got out and pushed the willows back giving us room to pull forward away from the ledge. There was enough room for us to squeeze by the other two pickups with horse trailers and the standoff was over and we proceeded back to the paved highway without incident.

Farther down Logan Canyon and into the gorge proper we came across a small campground with a total of six camping sites. The ambiance was exactly what we were seeking, beautiful lush green cottonwood trees lining the Logan river bank. Lady Luck was with us as site number four was perfect, level and unoccupied. We gladly paid the $17 and enjoyed an evening, night and morning in heaven on earth. Life is good!!!

The next day, after lingering a little longer than usual, we checked our maps and plotted our route along “paths less taken” and were off to our eclipse viewing destination halfway between Idaho Falls, Ammon and Iona, Idaho.

En route we sailed through vast seas of golden grains ripe for the harvest. We watched mechanical combine whales eagerly dog paddle their way across the rolling waves of grain consuming large swaths of gold, spraying great spouts of golden dust into a vivid Parrish Blue sky to mix with the most appropriate number white pillow clouds.

We arrived in good time to the long warm embraces that only lifelong friendships can forge, followed closely by the breaking of bread and mandatory “catching up”.

The next day DR checked out the location of the Sun at the appropriate time and verified that our planned viewing area has a clear view of Monday’s event. The cloud cover predictions are varied, but we are in place and ready come what may.

Love y’all,

DR and Laura