Day 16 - Cold Morning, Warm Views

Holy freezing — it honestly felt like we were camping in Banff! When I checked the temperature, it was 41°F inside the trailer — like sleeping in an ice cube. On the bright side, I figured the flowers would probably appreciate the chill.

I pulled on sweats and a hoodie, took Harley for a walk, fed her, and made coffee. Surprisingly, everyone else was still tucked away in their trailers when I finally rousted Sheldon out around 9:15.

We took Harley for another short walk and then sat in the sunshine until Chuck and Debby joined us. Dorothy and Alan wandered out around ten, and Debby treated everyone to bacon and egg biscuits for breakfast — perfect fuel for the day ahead.

By 11:45, we packed up and headed out on an ATV adventure, leaving Harley and Teddy cozy in their trailer while we hit the trails.

The ride was gorgeous — sweeping vistas everywhere. 

Our little campsite from up on the east hill we hoped to watch sunrise from but never made it.

These are the trails, sandy thru thick scrub oak, cedar and other vegetation. The sand makes for a smoother ride.

Some trees have a huge will to survive, even sideways!

Lots of cool "drift" wood pieces too

"Beer" cooler talk

One of the highlights was the Belly of the Dragon, a cavern tunnel running right under the highway — such a cool find. We also took the short walk east to a slot canyon then back on the ATV trails.

My favourite stretch was through the Barracks Ranch, where a creek wound its way through the landscape, and we crossed it multiple times. We stopped for a beer and picnic, soaking up the sunshine before tackling a challenging sandhill that took nearly an hour for both OHVs to conquer.

This lone horse caught my eye but father behind him was big horn sheep Deb jumped out to snap pictures of.

Great pot luck snack selections as always with fresh guacamole and onion dip being a huge hit, THANKS Deb for always keeping us in tasty snacks.

The river that winds thru this canyon is so lovely

I loved seeing the 3 cow girls moving cattle

The residence of flowers in the desert amazes me <3

My camera (above) and Deb's (below) show different colours but feel mine shows the true sand color.

this is a familiar sight at our break spots :)

After just under 50 miles and 6½ hours, we rolled back to camp, greeted by two very excited pups and a well-earned cold beverage.

Supper was simple and satisfying — leftover pulled pork buns (frozen from wedding) with salad and cookies for dessert. We visited for a while before everyone drifted off to their own trailers around 8:30. Then it was showers, furnace on to warm up the trailer, and finally crawling into bed to watch another Netflix episode before calling it a night.