After a very late arrival at Lake Powell at a ‘dispersed campground’ (you just take any spot you like, no designated sites) we met and had a beer with a very nice newly wed couple from New Jersey. 🍻
The ‘campground’ was basically the beach around the lake. Much of the sand was soft and part of the entertainment was to watch stuck RVs trying to get free. 😁
The following morning we woke up to realise how beautiful the surroundings were but also how very low the water level in Lake Powell was which discouraged us from swimming.
So we moved on towards Coral Sand Dunes and just stopped for some small hikes on the way:
Later we stopped in Kanab and sat in a lovely café for a couple of hours in order to do some research and plan the next few days.
Kanab has nice murals by the way:
For the night we dared going to a first come first served campground for the first time. We were really excited about it and wondering whether we totally underestimated the situation and might end up boondocking (= camping on public land, outside of a designated campground), or whether we were too anxious. (Note: we did not manage to book a site for two consecutive nights in Yosemite even though we booked in advance). Turns out we didn’t have to worry at all: Ponderosa Grove Campground was completely empty except for three or four other campers. And what a nice campground it was!
And to add some more splendour to our luck: we talked to a nice couple who stayed a few sites from ours and the man told us that there’d be a partial moon eclipse that night and we might be able to see it. 😁 And as we seemed to have a lucky streak or something we could actually see it right from our site. We took the chairs, grabbed some beer and crisps and watched the phenomenon. We were as happy as can be ☺️
Right after it was all over, clouds covered the sky and we were just super grateful that they hadn’t come earlier. 😌
The next morning we went to see the Coral Sand Dunes. I think there’s no need to explain what that is all about 😉
It’s quite amazing how many plants can actually grow in sandy conditions. 🧐😯
Super glad I only read about the wildlife in the dunes after our walk there: tarantulas 🕷️, scorpions 🦂 and of course rattlesnakes 🐍 live there. Yeah!✌️
Ines & Oliver on Tour 