Wildlife of Shady Dell

The large picture window at the back of our trailer faces into open forest, which has made it perfect for observing the wildlife that we share our campground with.  Mama Moose and her calf have grazed on the willow leaves near our firewood twice now.  I’ve named Mama “Cicely” in honor of my favorite TV show of the 90’s – Northern Exposure.  I haven’t named the calf – mostly because I don’t know the gender.  Either Joel or Maggie…  I took the photo through the window as I didn’t want to scare them off.

We get a lot of deer traipsing through the campground.  They don’t seem to be afraid of us.  We sat in front of our trailer and watched two of them about 50 feet from us – contentedly pulling down leaves.  The deer wander throughout the campground.  Shady Dell stays open through the deer hunt.  I suspect these guys are smart enough to go far far away come October.

And then there’s the squirrel.  We watched her tear off a little piece of a newspaper we had near our wood pile, run off with it, and then come back and get another one.  I suspect she is building a nest.  Who says there’s no need for newsprint in this digital age?

This little bird made us laugh for several days.  He appeared to be protecting his nest – way up in the aspen tree – from the bird in that strange white box.  He flew at his reflection several times a day, and was always surprised when he hit the glass.  I guess he finally figured it out; he’s gone now.

A three-foot snake lives near the creek.  I wish he’d do a better job keeping the mice under control.  So far we’ve trapped 26 mice in our trailer.  Oh, well – I guess a single snake can only eat so many mice.

We haven’t seen the domestic life of the Uintah Mountains’ open range yet, but I’ve found the flat and round evidence of bovine digestion throughout the campground.  I suspect it won’t be long until I’m chasing them out of camp with my broom! 

 

Shady Dell's Fairy Forest

One of the tasks we expect as camp hosts is painting picnic tables.  The color we expect is, of course, Forest Service Brown.  So what’s with all the multi-colored picnic tables here in Shady Dell?  The answer lies across the creek and deep into the woods behind the campground where you will find the Fairy Forest. 

The Fairy Forest actually started in the late 60’s as a Vietnam veteran’s memorial to his fallen comrade.  As the years passed, many families or groups visited and added to the forest, eventually morphing it into a miniature world of painted rocks dotted with plaques, trinkets, and even fairy dolls. 

I am amazed by the creativity of the people who have contributed over the years.  This year’s new theme appears to be Frozen.  There are a couple of congregations of Despicable Me’s minions.  And I found my personal favorite, Star Wars.

The trail sits between sites 6 and 8, and is pretty well marked once you get across the creek bed.  This proved a little tricky during late May and early June, when spring runoff turned the creek into a raging river.  It’s much safer midsummer through fall.  You go straight back from the path until you come to the fallen tree marked with an arrow pointing to the fairy forest.

There is no charge to visit the Fairy Forest; but there is a charge for parking.  You have two options:

1.  Purchase a Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Pass for $6, park outside the campground – there’s a pullout at milepost 17 – and walk in.  The path from the pullout leads directly to the path to the Fairy Forest.  This is your best option if the Fairy Forest is just one stop along your Mirror Lake Highway adventure and you plan to stop at a picnic area, fish at one of the lakes, or hike at one of the trailheads.

2.  Park inside the campground and pay the $8 day use fee.  Parking inside the campground gives you a picnic table and fire pit, so if you’re planning on spending the day and having a picnic, this might be your best option.  Of course, I work at Shady Dell, so I might be a bit biased.  Remember – the Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Pass is not required in the campground, so you don’t need to pay double fees.

On my way across the creek bed on July 4, I met Michelle P., who runs the web site enjoyutah.org.  She knew Natalie O., on whose web site utahsadventurefamily.com  I first found posted information on the Fairy Forest.  The miniature world behind our campground proved once again what a small world we live in.

 

 

Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Pass 101

The Mirror Lake Scenic Byway, upon which our campground is located, is designated as a High Impact Recreation Area and has been established as a Recreation Fee Area.  This fee can be confusing when you’re coming to our campground – or any other improved campground on the Mirror Lake Highway.

Driving east from Kamas, Utah (or West from Evanston, Wyoming) you’ll see a number of stations where you can pay this fee.  The fee is $6.00 for a 3-day pass, $12.00 for a 7-day pass, and $45.00 for an annual pass.  All Federal Passports (Senior Pass, Access Pass and Annual Pass) are accepted in lieu of the recreation fee.

The fees are used to operate and maintain the following facilities along the Mirror Lake Highway:

Standard Amenity Sites

Beaver Creek Picnic Site                                                Mirror Lake Picnic Site
Shingle Creek Picnic Site                                               Pass Lake Fishing Site
Upper Provo River Bridge Picnic Site                          Pass Lake/Lofty Lake Trailhead
Crystal Lake Trailhead                                                   Butterfly Lake Fishing Site
Trial Lake Fishing Site                                                    Highline Trailhead
Bald Mountain Picnic Site & Trailhead                       Ruth Lake Trailhead/Rock Climbing Area
Fehr Lake Trailhead                                                       Christmas Meadows Trailhead
Moosehorn Fishing Site                                                East Fork of the Bear Trailhead
Mirror Lake Fishing Site                                                North Slope Trailhead

Expanded Amenity Sites

Yellow Pine Camp                                            Murdoch Basin/Broadhead Meadows Camp
Pine Valley Camp                                             Lost Creek Water Station
Horsemen Camp                                              Whitney Reservoir Camp
Soapstone Comfort Station Camp                Lily Lake Comfort Station
Duchesne Tunnel Camp                                 North Slope Camp
Spring Canyon Camp

Special Recreation Permit Sites

Beaver Creek Groomed X-Country Ski Trail
Soapstone Basin Groomed Snowmobile Trail
North Slope Groomed Snowmobile Trail

Notice any omissions?  Shady Dell Campground and Cobblerest Campground didn’t make the list – nor did any of the improved campgrounds operated by American Land and Leisure.  But because our campground is on the Mirror Lake Highway, we get a number of people thinking that they have already paid the fee for day use – and even to camp.  And since they’ve already paid “at the bottom of the hill,” we get to be the bad guys and tell them our fees are separate.

So here’s the scoop.  There are several ‘camps’ that are covered by the Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Pass that are great for self-contained campers.  These camps have no picnic tables,  improved fire pits, or restrooms.  There are several picnic areas that are covered by the Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Pass.  They all have picnic tables, fire pits, and restrooms. 

If you’re coming to a campground such as ours, pay the recreation fee only if you plan to use any of the fishing sites or trailheads along the Mirror Lake Highway.  If you’re just coming to camp, you don’t need to pay the Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Fee.

This could be made a whole lot less confusing.  In my perfect world, the Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Pass and the Campground Day Use Fee would be the same price and would be interchangeable.   In my perfect world, you could pay either place and your payment would really be valid for day use anywhere along the highway.  But there are a lot of really smart people in the Forest Service, so the reason this is not so is clearly outside my pay grade.

I'm Givin' it all She's Got, Cap'n!

The portable vacuum just didn’t sound right, and worse, it just wasn’t picking up the dirt.  Damn!  I hate it when the vacuum doesn’t suck.  I guessed that we probably had a math problem – the generator could only put through enough power to either a) run the water heater, or b) run the vacuum.  “c – both of the above” was apparently the wrong answer. 

Last year, our campsite at Warm River had electricity.  Shady Dell does not.  So we’re back to lighting up our nights, heating the water, and controlling the thermostat using battery power charged by solar panels and an occasional boost from the gas-powered generator.  We’re back to heating water to wash dishes, and we’re back to stovetop coffee.  Warp engines offline – it’s strictly impulse power for us this year.

This is as designed.  Most systems in the trailer run off the 12-volt battery.  For the past couple of weeks, however, we’ve been struggling to keep the battery charged.  We replaced the battery.  Twice.  Both times the battery discharged and wouldn’t ever come up to a full charge – no matter how sunny the day or how long we ran the generator.  And last Tuesday, as we watched the snow level rise and the battery charge level fall, we knew we were in trouble.  We didn’t have enough battery to run the furnace. 

Being the ever-prepared campers that we are, we put our zero-degree sleeping bags between the sheets of our bed and hunkered down for a cold night.  We woke to 33 degrees outside and 37 degrees inside.  Brrrhhhh!  A portable propane heater and lots of hot coffee came to our rescue. 

We tested the inverter.  It was OK.  We tested the wiring.  It was OK.  Must be the battery – again.  So while Paul took the battery into town to be tested / charged, I decided I’d break out the vacuum.  I started the generator.  I plugged the vacuum in and turned it on.  Nothing happened.  I tried every outlet in the trailer.  No power.  I guess I should have paid more attention the last time the vacuum didn’t suck.  Apparently, for the past two weeks, all our generator has been generating is noise and fumes.

Last weekend’s challenge was to keep the battery above 50% so the solar panels could keep it with enough charge to run the lights and the refrigerator’s electronics.  Running the furnace was out of the question.  Thankfully the snow melted in favor of more temperate evenings.

Today’s mission – to boldly go and buy a new generator.

 

Federal Passports 101

This is our third year camp hosting, and one of our more challenging duties is explaining to our customers why we can’t waive the campground’s Day Use fees when they present an Interagency Recreation Pass – also referred to as a Federal Passport.

In 2007, The Federal Government announced an all-inclusive Interagency Recreation Pass titled "America the Beautiful - the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass."  We see three types of passes:

·         The Senior Pass, which is a lifetime pass available for a one-time $10 charge to anyone 62 or older.

·         The Access Pass, which is a lifetime pass available free of charge to any handicapped individual.

 

·         The Annual Pass, which costs $85 per year.

According to www.fs.usda.gov, Interagency Recreation Passes are honored nationwide at all Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and US Fish & Wildlife Service sites charging entrance or standard amenity fees.

An entrance fee is self-explanatory – you pay to get past the gate.  Every National Park has an entrance gate.  But what is a standard amenity fee?  Per http://www.fs.fed.us/passespermits/about-rec-fees.shtml#standard, examples of standard amenity areas are picnic areas, developed trailheads, and destination visitor centers.  The site explains further:

Typically, standard amenity fees are day use fees, often covered by a day or annual pass. Each site or area must contain six "amenities," which are picnic tables, trash receptacle, toilet, parking, interpretive signing and security.

The same publication defines Expanded Amenity Fees as fees for areas that provide direct benefits to individuals or groups.  Examples include Campgrounds, highly developed boat launches and swimming areas, cabin or lookout rentals. Services like hook-ups dump stations, special tours, transportation systems and reservation services.

So, even though a campground provides standard amenities, the fact that it is a campground puts it into the expanded amenities category and payment is required even if you have a Federal Passport. 
The good news:  Many recreation uses and activities continue to be free on all National Forests, such as general access, pass-through travel, scenic overlooks and pullouts, parking on the side of roads and walk-up camping at undeveloped sites.  Better news – most campgrounds offer ½ price on overnight camping to holders of the Senior Pass and the Access Pass. 

The Annual Pass is not honored for discounts at some campgrounds – including ours.  I haven’t found an explanation for that one.  I’ll keep looking.

 

Chapter 4: The Toughest Decision

After a second episode of congestive heart failure symptoms that caused her lungs to fill with fluid and caused an emergency trip to the local hospital, Mom made the decision to no longer prolong her life.  She didn’t want the fluid drained – again.  She didn’t want any more painful procedures.  She is ready to go on to the afterlife where she is absolutely certain that Dad waits for her.

Our sister called the local hospice to arrange for her end-of-life-care.  We were familiar with the hospice mission and philosophy, which follows word for word.  Per the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (nhpco.org):

Hospice provides support and care for persons in the last phases of an incurable disease so that they may live as fully and as comfortably as possible. Hospice recognizes that the dying process is a part of the normal process of living and focuses on enhancing the quality of remaining life. Hospice affirms life and neither hastens nor postpones death. Hospice exists in the hope and belief that through appropriate care, and the promotion of a caring community sensitive to their needs that individuals and their families may be free to attain a degree of satisfaction in preparation for death. Hospice recognizes that human growth and development can be a lifelong process. Hospice seeks to preserve and promote the inherent potential for growth within individuals and families during the last phase of life.

The assisted living center where she had stayed the past two months was not equipped to handle the skilled care that Mom would need, so our sister moved her to a larger facility.  The ratio of nurses to patients in Mom’s wing is 1 to 6, and the nurses are capable of assisting her with bathing and toileting as well as administering medication and painkillers.  Of course, the cost is almost double.  In the assisted living business, more care costs more.  It makes sense.

We visited her in the new care center.  She was having a bad day, and told us she was really, truly, ready to go.  She was in pain.  She wanted to lie down.  We asked the nurse if she could have more morphine.  About a half hour later a nurse brought a syringe without a needle, which was used to administer the drug orally.  She lay in her hospice-supplied hospital bed and closed her eyes.

I held her hand.  She was a bit cold.  I watched the veins in her fingers expand and contract under the involuntary tremors of her Parkinson’s disease.  I watched her slow, steady breathing, enabled by the cannula that wrapped around her face.  I listened to the oxygen machine pumping slowly, almost laboriously.  I memorized her face, now peaceful as she drifted off to sleep.  I see a faint smile, and I hope she is dreaming of Dad, and dreaming of joining him in a better place. 

She waited only a few days longer.  Mom left this world and joined Dad today.

Frank’s Tour

Hi, I’m Frank.  If you haven’t met me yet, you can read my story at The Story of Frank.  I’m guest posting on Cheri’s blog today to give you a grand tour of Shady Dell and Cobblerest campgrounds.

Spring Runoff through Shady Dell

Let’s start with Shady Dell, which is where Paul and Cheri are staying this year. The campground is situated on the Provo River in a pine and aspen forest. It has twenty sites.  All are paved, and many are large enough to accommodate large trailers and large family groups.  They even have five pull-through sites.  Fees are $18 a night with an $8 charge per night for extra vehicles.

Moving east – and up – to Cobblerest.  Cobblerest is also on the Provo River.  It has 18 paved sites.  The sites in Cobblerest are smaller and located closer together.  There are two pull-throughs.  The campground is covered in dense pine forest.  Many of the sites have great river access.  I think Cobblerest is the prettier of the two campgrounds.  The downside of Cobblerest is that there is no potable water available.  Bring your own – or you can fill your RV tanks at Soapstone, which is located about 2 miles west of Shady Dell.  Shady Dell has water, but the water system was built in the 1940s and just isn’t robust enough to handle a hose connection without the risk of backflow contamination.   Fees at Cobblerest are the same as at Shady Dell.

Provo River at Cobblerest

On the Mirror Lake Highway the rule is: the lower the elevation, the lower the fees.  Shady Dell and Cobblerest are among the lower elevation campgrounds.  The lower elevation campgrounds open earlier in the season; in fact, Cobblerest was the highest elevation campground open over Memorial Day weekend.  The high mountain lakes, Trial Lake, Moosehorn Lake, and Mirror Lake, still have several feet of snow. 

The snow is melting now – and you can see it coming through in the height and rush of the river running through Cobblerest and Shady Dell.  It’s beautiful this time of year.  Come up and see us, and don’t forget to ask for Frank.