Camping at the Wedge Overlook

My husband's new favorite recreation location is the San Rafael Swell. He has been there 4 times since April. He likes it for several reasons: very few people, lots of cool scenery, not too far away from our house, and lots of recreational opportunities. Our latest trip was this last week. We went camping for just one night for our kids' fall break. I wasn't planning on coming since camping when I'm pretty much guaranteed to be cold is not my idea of fun. But I decided it would be fun to spend some time with my family, my girls would enjoy going instead of staying home with me, and I figure I can do just about anything for one night.

I forgot to bring the can opener! So Talmage showed me how to open cans using the cement block on the fire pit which didn't work quite as well with tomato sauce. Fortunately there was also a neighbor who loaned us their can opener.

After renting some mountain bikes and packing up the car, we drove to the Wedge Overlook at the San Rafael. This overlooks Utah's Little Grand Canyon. It really does look like the Grand Canyon on a smaller scale. The little creek at the bottom is not the Colorado River but instead the San Rafael River which only qualifies for that name about one month of the year in the spring when it has lots of runoff. And that's on a good snow year. We have been there before when it's been super windy, but thankfully this time it was not.

We set up camp, did some mountain biking, ate dinner, built a fire, played cards and roasted s'mores and went to bed. I have to admit I was a little cold in the night and had a hard time getting comfortable on my cot while keeping my head covered. But I survived. In the morning, we enjoyed some breakfast, did some mountain biking and hiking, then packed up and drove home. It was short but a good trip.

We saw a pretty cool sunrise coming over the canyon.

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