April 7, 2015. Hiking the trails in Utah

CAMPGROUND:  Calf Creek National Recreation Area.  Primitive camping.  No facilities. Pit toilet (not bad). Beautiful sites. Campfire ring, standup grill, and picnic table.  $7.50/night.  4 stars

LOCATION:  Near Escalante, Utah in southern part of state

WEATHER:  Sunny, windy. Highs around 60. Lows in 30s

We drove out of Kodachrome State Park, passing ranches in the valley.  Some were irrigating their fields, and the water had turned to ice and snow.

We drove about 40 miles on scenic highway #12 east.  We have a brochure that describes scenery along the way.  We stopped at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, but they are full for the night, so we continued on.  We came to Calf Creek Campground, with only 13 sites, most of them small.  It is run by the Bureau of Land Management.  When we pulled in, the BLM volunteer said there was one sight available that could accommodate our trailer.  So, we drove into the campground area.  We had to cross the creek.  I was petrified that we would float down the river!

The site itself slants a lot, so George had to use all of our levelers to jack up one side.  I sure hope we don't tip over!  We are in campsite #13..... Hope that is not an omen....

We hiked the 6-mile (!) trail here.  It follows the creek, filled with trout, to a beautiful 125 foot waterfall.  It was very pretty, and worth the effort. (4 hours) .  It was mostly sandy, like trudging through snow.  

George made a fire to cook dinner, and we chatted with our neighbors, a father and 2 teenagers from Washington.  

DINNER:  I invented a new dish that turned out pretty well. I mixed together slices of leftover porkloin, onions, and cannellini, and sautéed the mix adding some of the cannellini liquid for texture.  I served it over spaghetti with a few capers and Parmesan.  This is about the 8th dish I have made with a $9.00 package of pork!  And I still have one dinner's worth left.