Surprise! Home again!

I didn't take and pictures on the trip up I-15 / AB 5 / 3 / 2... we've been up that road many times so you could look back at any previous posts and get the idea.  Stops this trip were Ogden rest area (41.46734, -112.05373), Helena MT Wal-Mart (46.59193, -111.99179), and Conrad rest area (48.18151, -111.93191).  We were forced into the stop at Conrad to wait out some high crosswinds through northern Montana, so we took the opportunity to tour through town in the Jeep.  I think Conrad will be my new first-US fuel stop as the access is pretty easy, and the new rest area is a lot more inviting than the usual one north of Great Falls.

Surprise!  Even April 9th is too early to assure spring-like weather in Alberta.  Actually it shouldn't be a surprise at all unfortunately.  Let's see... we had a big dump of snow the first week of October before we left, and another one the second week of April after we got back.  I suppose that's so we don't miss winter too much.  

Last days south for this trip

Well, we thought we were headed north back in mid March, only to be fooled.  But it looks like things are warming up in Alberta finally so it's about time we headed home for real.  First though we discovered that a spot opened up in the little campground at the Overton Wildlife Refuge so we thought we'd treat ourselves to a picnic table and trees for a few nights.  

Unfortunately we neglected to consider that the campsites were right across the road from the silica sand plant, and they start loading train cars at about 5 AM on weekdays.  

So we only stayed a couple of days, long enough to have a walk around a couple of the open areas (many areas were closed for turkey hunting).  

If you plan on boondocking around Overton, come with full water and empty sewage tanks.  There is NO local dump station, even the in-town RV park will turn you away unless you're a resident there.  The closest dump station is out at Valley of Fire, and be prepared to pay a park entry fee AND a dump station fee to use those facilities.  

Back out on the Mesa for a couple nights of peace and quiet before starting the trek home.  

Overton area

It's not always sunny in the desert... here's a storm rolling in over the mesa.

Close up of the rim.  Arrow points to us, if you didn't figure that out already.  

And after the storm.  

We took a day trip out to Valley of Fire State Park.

Back on the mesa, we took a walk and some pics of some of the interesting camping spots people have taken. 

Right in Overton is the Lost City Museum.  Honest, it's pretty interesting even though I didn't take a lot of pictures!

Uh oh.  Sandstorm coming down the valley... better batten the hatches.  

Another plan revision

OK, I'm finally concluding that March 23 might be a wee bit early to head north if the fresh snow is any indication.  Looks like the new options are to hunker down near Salt Lake City for a week or two and wait for the warm weather to move north... 

...or point the bow southward and make a strategic retreat back to more reasonable temperatures.  Along with everyone else, it seems!

There's a bit of BLM land down near Overton Nevada known as Snowbird Mesa (or Poverty Flats) that we'd never stopped at.  We burned a little extra diesel to make the retreat but we saved a lot of wear and tear on the furnace (and our toes and fingers).  We started out on the edge of the mesa at 36.48465, -114.44372 where the view is great, but after a couple days moved back from the edge out of the wind.

There might still be snow in the higher elevations and the north, but it's definitely spring in the desert.  Now THIS is more like it!

Since we'd not spent any time in the area before, we did a little exploring... like touring of the Logandale Trails System.