Climbing onto a Little Wildhorse

On the day I disembarked from my campsite facing the San Rafael Reef, I took a little side-trip to Little Wildhorse Canyon. It was only about three miles up the road from where I had been staying, so it seemed a shame not to see it.

It was a perfect day for a hike, not too warm, not too cool, plenty of sun and a nip of fall in the air. The parking area for the canyon was too small for my RV but fortunately there was a space across the road that was deeper and more amenable to RV parking. Unfortunately I decided to get something out of an overhead compartment before I left.

I opened the wrong door and failed to put up a hand as I did so, to prevent items that had shifted on the bumpy, dirt roads from falling out. Thus two glass bottles full of sweetened tea fell onto the couch. The second one shattered the first into thousands of tiny shards and slivers of glass that went in every direction. Plus 32 ounces of tea were left soaking into the couch. Aw sh#*!

Fortunately I do keep a cover on the couch to prevent the cats from turning it into their favorite scratching post. Thus I was able to corral a good portion of the glass and shake it into the trash. That still left a few hundred pieces, both larger shards and bits smaller than 1/16 of an inch on the carpet, floor, dinette, steps, in my shoes, you name it. I got up as much as I could get to easily then wiped up what tea hadn’t already soaked into every porous surface. I hosed down the throw pillows and left them draining in the shower and just said, “the heck with it!” I was not going to spend my whole day cleaning up the mess. It would wait. The canyon wouldn’t.

The hike started with an easy walk up a dry watercourse. The dampness remaining in the sand in the shady areas let me know that the isolated showers that had passed by the day before hadn’t skipped this canyon. The cottonwood trees were decked out in their bright fall yellows and my earlier “oops” was quickly forgotten.

After a short while, Topper and I came to a couple of nice pools in some large rocks blocking passage in the otherwise-dry river bed.  Another couple that were hiking the canyon stopped to admire them.   While the woman was taking pictures of the pools,  the man tried by-passing the rocks on the right, which I could see wasn’t going to work. The rock shelf he was walking on ended about ten feet in front of him.

“impassable pools”

On the left side of the draw was another possible path, this one marked with a pile of rocks that indicated the trail. As I started hiking up it I heard the man say to his wife, “well, there’s no way to get around those rocks this way. I guess we’ll have to turn around.” Huh? I kept my mouth shut. He could see me going around the corner on my side. I got the impression that hiking the canyon was her idea and he didn’t really want to. Not my business.

Once around the barrier the challenge became choosing the easiest path back down to the sandy bottom. The first route I chose turned out to have a very steep, sheer rock incline as its final leg. I knew my new hiking boots had great traction, but I decided to look at another possible route. This one turned out to be much easier with far less possibility of having to end up in a (hopefully) controlled slide to the bottom.

That behind me, the rest of the hike turned out to be very easy. No steep climbs, no treacherous, narrow ledges, just stroll in the sand, step over a couple of rocks, stroll, etc. Sweet. It wasn’t too long before the walls of the canyon began to close in. I was told that this was a slot canyon, and indeed it was.

over or under?

The Narrowing

The banded, red walls became closer and closer together until I found myself edging sideways through certain areas. As I exited this first passage I thought I might have come to the end of this little adventure, but as I rounded the corner I saw that the canyon walls came together again. This time even narrower with far more twists and turns.

winding road

slot canyon

Topper, up to this point, was handling everything wonderfully. He was channeling his inner mountain goat to the max. Every now and again I wouldn’t be able to find him…until I looked up. He kept finding every little ledge, rock and shelf within reach of his little doggy legs and checking them all out for some new adventure. At least until we hit water.

The one thing Topper hates and fears is water. He has no idea that walking out in front of a swiftly moving car is dangerous. He will stand at the very edge of a high cliff and let his ears flap in the breeze. But three or four inches of water leaves him quivering, whining and shaking.

So when the canyon began its really skinny, tortuous turns with water, a good four to even six (gasp!) inches deep in some areas, that was it for the dog. I managed to drag him through the first section (which had rocks to walk on, large enough for my feet), but the second was too much. My new boots, which have mesh uppers for breathe-ability, were said to be waterproof. Amazingly enough, they really are! Let’s hear it for Merrill boots! Topper knocked me into the puddle twice while I was persuading him to continue.

Unfortunately, the next section was a couple of inches deeper, with no rocks, and a sharp turn in the middle. I would either have to wade or do a partial “chimney” action to stay out of any water that would top my boots. (I used my walking stick to measure the depth.) And there was no way I could do that carrying the dog. I was only three feet ahead of him at this point and he was crying and whining and simply beside himself that he couldn’t get to me past all that terrible water!

Topper’s nemesis

I didn’t have the heart to leave him there and I didn’t have the hardheartedness to just clip on his lead and drag him through. All he had on was his slip collar, which would have choked him terribly. I hadn’t thought to put his harness on, not knowing about the water. If he had been wearing the harness, he could have learned that a little water and mud wouldn’t kill him and I could have seen the top of the canyon. Oh well. Live and learn.

We turned back, I got to test out my waterproof boots one more time getting my big baby back through the first section (yep, still dry). Then we hiked back to the RV and headed back toward the main road. Once there, we stopped at a camping area just to the left of the junction. A grand total of about 20 miles from where we had just spent the past two nights. At least we had a start on the next stage of our journey. And I still had a little energy left for picking tiny pieces of glass out of the carpet.

heading for camp

The Growth Factor

Once I moved into my RV on a permanent basis, it seemed like the “stuff” I was keeping  had  multiplied beyond belief.  I managed to cram it all in, but it was really, really crowded.  I have a few hobbies–to put it mildly.  And they all require their own tools and materials.  The bunk over the cab was completely filled and the small amount of floor space was diminished to a narrow walkway.

It  had gone past the point of ridiculous.  I was either going to have to put a lot more stuff into storage, and only enjoy a couple of my pleasurable pursuits at a time, or I was going to have to get a larger RV.  Even if I jettisoned at least half the items that wouldn’t fit into the cabinets, it wouldn’t have been sufficient.   My shower would still be filled with things that had to be moved elsewhere every time I wanted to bathe.  There would still be boxes and bins on the floor.  So I started searching, seeing what was available for purchase in the section of the country I’m currently in.

I looked at all the RV lots I could find online in SD, WY, ND, ID and MT, which was as far as I wanted to go before making a purchase.  There were a lot of scenarios to consider: class A, B or C?  Gas or Diesel?  How old is too old?  Maximum amount of mileage on the vehicle?  What kind of monthly payment could I easily afford without stressing my budget?  A lot of decisions to make, a lot of research to do.  So I put my travel plans on hold and started looking.

It didn’t take long to figure out that diesel was going to add 20k to 30k to the price of whatever used RV I purchased.  Far more if I looked at a new vehicle.   The only way to buy a diesel would be to cut the size of the motorhomes I was considering by about 30 percent, or to buy a lower quality RV with fewer amenities–which was out of the question as far as I was concerned.

I researched consumer reports on reliability and satisfaction and compiled a list of the top ten RV brands and limited my search to those RVs.  I drove to all the RV lots within an hour or two of where I currently was and climbed through RV after RV.  I saw several that I was interested in, but there was always something that didn’t fit my requirements with each one of them (mostly just too darn expensive!)

Finally I saw one online that seemed to have everything I wanted and was in an affordable price range.  The only drawback was the location.  It was on a consignment lot on the eastern border of SD.  To see it, to purchase it, would require an almost four-hour drive in the “wrong” direction.  I had planned to be in Glacier National Park by now, heading back east again was not what I wanted to do.  So I ignored it for a while.

But this was a rig that would not be denied.  I dreamed about it.  It impinged on my waking thoughts.  It beckoned and seduced.  It kept telling me that it was the one.  So I made the drive.  It was worth it.  Yes, it’s a little older than I wanted, but it has fewer miles than just about every other used RV that I saw.   And it’s loaded with goodies that will make life on the road so much sweeter.

The only “fly in the ointment” was that it was a private sale, so I couldn’t trade-in my current RV.  Sitting around SD hoping to sell my RV was definitely not on my to-do list.  But the guy who owns the lot where it was on consignment spoke to the seller and found that the current owner  was willing to take my RV as half the purchase price if he liked what he saw.  So I got in my little 24 foot Sunseeker and left the Sturgis area, headed for Watertown, SD.

In the end, the seller agreed to give me a $29,900 credit for my RV and I agreed to give him an additional $30,000 for his, for a total sale price of $59,900.   Since the blue-book value of his RV was $65k to $70k it worked for me!  I was doubly happy since I had paid $29,500 for my RV a year and a half ago.   To get  $400 more than I had paid, after putting about 14,000 miles on it made me very happy.

separate room for toilet

shower

So I am now the proud owner of a 2005 Itaska (made by Winnebago) Sunrise, model 35D.  It has only 20,200 miles on then engine and has all kinds neat features.  Included were items such as power leveling jacks, two air conditioners (one for the bedroom, one for the rest of the RV), a washer/dryer in the bedroom (it’s one unit that does both things…a big space-saver), much larger water and storage tanks and two slides– those wonderful inventions that allow you to have so much more floor space once you’re parked.  Plus, since it’s a class A, there is all kinds of locking storage along the outside bottom of the unit.  So much so that once I get everything stowed, I will be able to walk around the RV without tripping over anything but my critters.

bedroom with laundry

Yes, it’s big.  Really big.  Like driving-a-city-bus big.  But the funny thing is that it gets about the same gas mileage as the little 24 footer did.  And I quickly found that it’s really easier to drive than the class C.  The sides don’t stick out farther than the cab, making for greatly increased visibility.   It also sits higher, giving greater line-of-sight and it has a back-up camera with sound…all the better to hear things crunching if you run over them….

dual pantry storage

kitchen

I won’t say that it’s perfect.  There are some things that need to be fixed, after all it’s eight years old.  But as far as I’m concerned they are minor and a small price to pay for so much more livability.  So forgive the quickie pictures and fuzzy quality, maybe I’ll actually get around to taking better ones once I get everything stowed inside and organization of “stuff” actually occurs.  Meanwhile, meet “Queen of the Slipstream 2”.  She’s beautiful; at least to me!

cab with TV and DVD above

living and dining area