Surviving July

Dispersed campers below Haystack Mountain

OK, July isn’t over just yet.  We still have three more days, including the 31^st which is not only a full moon but a blue moon.  But wow, has July ever been busy.  From the 4^th of July weekend on, our campground has been packed.  We’ve been completely full every Friday night and most Saturday nights, and we actually had to put the “Campground Full” sign up on Sunday, July 19. 

And it’s not just us.  Every campground along the south slope of the Mirror Lake Highway was full last weekend.  I spoke with two distraught dads after 8:00 PM on Friday, July 24.  The trailer was packed, the family was excited to go camping, and they just couldn't find a spot.  I advised them to go up and over the pass and try the campgrounds on the North Slope heading toward Evanston – or to just pull off on a dirt road and camp.

Yes, you can do that.  Our Forest Service reps tell us that people are allowed to camp pretty much anywhere along the Mirror Lake highway – which is one of the reasons they instituted the Recreation Fee program.  They call it dispersed camping, and a lot of people do it.  If you’re self-contained, or at least self-reliant, dispersed camping can be a fun experience.  The upside – it’s a lot cheaper than camping in an improved campground.  Your $6 Recreation pass covers you for three days.  The downside – there are no restrooms, picnic tables, or improved fire pits.  Also, no cool camp hosts there to answer your questions and sell you dry firewood.

Campers are actually just a small part of what’s been keeping us busy this July.  Washington Lake is located less than a quarter mile from the Crystal Lake Trailhead, which leads to several lakes and is extremely popular with hikers, backpackers, and scout troops.  According to the Forest Service, there is room for 57 cars in the trailhead parking lot.  It’s usually full by 10:00 AM on Friday. 

We were warned by the Forest Service that last year so many cars parked along the roads of our campground that trailers couldn’t get in or out.  So we’ve been very proactive about directing hikers to the overflow parking.  We answer a lot of questions about the hiking trails, give out a lot of trail maps and sell an occasional recreation pass.  Good customer service to be sure, but it’s more for the campers in our campground than for the hikers.  And it takes a lot of time.

We finally got a breather on Sunday, July 26.  Most of the campers left, and just a few arrived to take their place.  We actually had a chance to do some cleanup, and then to sit on our front porch and enjoy the afternoon.  We think the worst is behind us – at least until Labor Day weekend.  Wish us luck!

First Come, First Served

Our first reservations came through last Friday.  Fourteen of our campsites are now reserved pretty much continuously for the rest of the summer.  So for the first time this summer, we had to tell people on Wednesday and Thursday that while we were not technically full, we had no sites open for the weekend.  And we had to explain the Forest Service concept of “first come – first served.”

Washington Lake is the only campground on the Mirror Lake Highway where most of the sites will accommodate large trailers.  As we well know, it’s a pain to hook up and haul a large trailer, and most of us won’t do it unless we know we’ll have a place to park it when we arrive in the mountains.  We’ve had several campers come to our campground hoping to pay for a site for Friday – on Wednesday.  If we were a capitalistic organization, we would take their money and hold their site.  Hey, if they didn’t show up, we’d still have the money, right?  But while we work for American Land and Leisure, a for-profit company, we are bound by Forest Service regulations.

The U.S. Forest Service policy intends to ensure equal access to the campgrounds for everyone.  This is why every campground has “first come – first served” sites.  To purchase one of these sites you have to arrive at the campground, move into the site, and pay for it.  These sites can never be paid ahead.  As Paul puts it, “Get possession first.  Once you’re in the site, we’ll get your money.” 

Many of our campers seem to know the drill.  On Friday we had four non-reservation sites come open.  The first trailer looking for one of these sites was in camp at 8:00 AM.  He selected his site, spoke with its current occupant, and proceeded to wait.  Check out time is 1:00 PM, and this particular camper had every intention of staying until then.  Why not?  He’d paid for the site, and it was a beautiful morning.  So the new camper waited.  By 10:00 AM we had four trailers waiting for sites to open, and when the fifth pulled in – a massive toy-hauler whose owner had tried to purchase a site the Wednesday before, we had to send him away. 

What advice can we give to someone looking for a first-come, first served site at Washington Lake?  Our crystal ball is still on back-order, so we can never predict availability and can never guarantee that a site will be available.  Historically, on a non-holiday weekend we fill up on Thursdays.  A few sites come open on Fridays.  We usually have several sites come open on Saturdays.  Arrive early in the week, and arrive early in the day.  See you at the lake!

Emotional Intelligence in Customer Service: Assume Good Intent

It was the Monday after a really busy holiday weekend.  We had spent most of the day Friday and Saturday directing the overflow traffic from the Crystal Lake Trailhead toward the overflow parking – and away from our campground.  While most were polite, we did get a few that pushed back.  “We bought a recreation pass.  We should be able to park anywhere in the canyon.”

So when we discovered the lone Toyota occupying a lakeside double site with a recreation pass posted to the site marker, we had had enough.  We wrote a note on the recreation pass that it was not valid in the campground and put it on her windshield.  We moved some belongings to the windshield as well.  Then we noticed that the car’s occupant was asleep in the back seat.  We knocked on the window, waking her up, and proceeded to advise her that she could not park in our $40-a-night campsite.

“I understand that,” she said.  “I stayed up all night and drove here at 3:00 AM so I could get a campsite for my family.  We come here every year, and I wanted to be early enough to get a double site.”  She continued, “It says on the recreation pass envelope to post it on the site post if you are camping.”

We looked.  Sure enough, that’s what it said.  The envelopes were dated 2009; and while the requirement to have a recreation pass in the concessionaire-managed campgrounds was lifted two years ago, the envelopes had not been changed.

We felt terrible.  We apologized profusely and accepted her payment for the campsite.  When she asked about firewood, we went to a campsite that had left a box and brought it to her – free of charge.  We believe we made it right with her.

The bad weekend may have explained our emotional reaction to her presence in the campground, but it was clearly no excuse.  We know better.  How much better it would have been to assume that she planned to camp and to wait for her to wake up before charging in with guns blazing.  If she hadn’t planned on camping, we could have then asked her politely to move. 

A good lesson learned as we proceed to manage this very busy campground.

A Frank Review of Washington Lake

A guest post by Frank

Hi, I’m Frank, Paul and Cheri’s traveling companion.  You can read my story at The Story of Frank.  Last year I wrote the review of Shady Dell and Cobblerest to rave reviews.  OK, so there were no reviews, but here I am again to write about Washington Lake.

Washington Lake has 39 campsites.  Nine are on the lake; another eight are across the road from the lake, all campsites are an easy walk to the lake.  The campground is completely paved.  Each campsite has a concrete patio with a picnic table, raised fire pit, and dutch oven table.  Talk about luxury!  They forgot only one thing – water.  There is no water system at Washington Lake.  We send our campers to either Shady Dell or Lost Creek.

Washington Lake is the newest campground on the Mirror Lake Highway.  As such, it was built to accommodate larger trailers.  Most of the sites will fit a 32’ trailer easily; some sites will accommodate those 40 – 45 footers that have such a difficult time finding a spot in the National Forest.  So, to all of Paul and Cheri’s friends who couldn’t come to see them at previous sites because the sites didn’t have a spot large enough – now’s your chance.

But be warned!  This is a very popular campground.  So far they’ve filled up every weekend.  Fourteen of the campsites can be reserved at www.recreation.gov; the other 25 are first-come, first-served.  There are also five group sites, but since they haven’t opened yet I don’t know much about them.  I do know that they are only available by reservation, again at www.recreation.gov.

The campground sits at 9,980 feet according to Paul’s GPS.  It is surrounded by evergreen forest and some of the most famous peaks in the Uintas – Bald Mountain, Haystack Mountain, and the Notch.  The views are spectacular, the air is clear, and the stars seem to have all congregated in the skies about this delightful spot in the mountains.

To reach Washington Lake, head up the Mirror Lake Highway from Kamas.  Make a left turn toward Trial Lake just past mile marker 25, but instead of turning right toward Trial Lake, keep going up that road.  You’ll see a sign marking the right turn to our campground – the same road as the Crystal Lake Trailhead.  Paul and Cheri’s trailer will be the first one you’ll come to, and they’ll be the first to welcome you to beautiful Washington Lake. 

End of an Era

Photo Credit: R. LeVon

Last Tuesday, when we reached the magic mile marker #2 on the Mirror Lake Highway where cell service begins, my phone began beeping frantically as 23 text messages came through.  Who was sending me 23 text messages?  It turned out to be a group discussion, complete with photos, of the tear down of the venerable Cabana Club swimming pool.

The Valley West Cabana Club was built in the early 60’s when the Valley West subdivision was built.  According to neighbors who have lived in our neighborhood since it was built, it was turned over to the neighborhood.  It was run like a business through a volunteer board of directors.  The pool charged a membership fee which allowed members use of the pool during open hours.  Members could also rent the pool after hours for private parties.  The only paid employees were the lifeguards, who also taught swimming lessons.  Volunteers staffed the snack bar, which sold soda, candy and Popsicles.

We discovered the Cabana Club in 1994 when we moved into the neighborhood.  We joined the pool soon after we moved in.  We spent many an evening at “Family Swim,” and got to know many of our new neighbors.  This was a real plus for us, as we do not belong to the predominant religion in Utah and didn’t attend the church directly across the street.  We met the couple who would become dearest friends at the Cabana Club.

The next year we were involved in management.  I developed a membership database; Paul kept the books.  Being on the Board meant we got a free private party, which over the years we used for the kids’ soccer teams and church parties.  Both our kids worked there as lifeguards; our daughter managed the pool for two years.

But all good things must come to an end.  Like Little Jackie Paper, our neighborhood grew up.  As the children moved out, couples (including us) didn’t renew their memberships.  The Board tried to supplement membership income with single day passes, but that didn’t cover the increased expenses.  State laws forced us to have paid lifeguards all open hours.  Insurance costs made it prohibitive to keep the slide.  New health department regulations forced the closure of the kiddie pool.  Three years ago the Board threw in the towel.  The neighborhood just couldn’t keep it going.

The neighborhood Council did, however, convince the City of Taylorsville to take over the land and build a pocket park.  On Monday, June 22, the backhoes came in.  The building was demolished, the pool dug up and the hole filled in.  The mature trees surrounding the pool – you know, the ones with the leaves that kept falling into the water – are all that remain of the once proud neighborhood institution.

With the exception of the fond memories of a grateful neighborhood.

Welcome to Washington Lake

We got the call on Wednesday, June 17.  The Forest Service had cleared the fallen trees and had deemed Washington Lake safe to open.  How soon could we get there?  They really wanted us open for the weekend.

So we kicked it into high gear.  Paul brought the trailer home and we spent all afternoon packing and loading.  Thankfully we had already cleaned it and had done as much as we could prior to the final load, but as all of you who own trailers know well, it’s still a lot of work.  That said, we pulled out on Thursday morning at about 10:30 AM.  It was not exactly a stress-free departure, but we won’t go into that…

We stopped at Shady Dell to pick up our keys and fill up with water.  Our area managers were delighted to see us and promised to bring our supplies that afternoon.  With that assurance, we headed up to set up the trailer.  The plan was to lock the gates behind us, set up our trailer, wait for our supplies and open to the public on Friday.

When we arrived at the gate to Washington Lake Campground, a truck with a pop-up trailer and an SUV parked directly behind us.  Of course, we were now blocking the road to the Crystal Lake Trailhead as we attempted to open the gate.  None of the keys we had would open the lock.  One would go in, but would not turn.  We managed to back up a little bit so traffic could go around us. 

The man in the truck with the pop-up came to help.  He and Paul diagnosed that the key was bent, so he fetched a hammer and some WD-40.  They pounded out the key, sprayed it, and we got the gate open.  Of course, we weren’t going to tell the man that had just helped us so much that he couldn’t come in and camp, so he followed us in.  We shut the gate behind us.

As we were setting up, a young lady and a dog came under the gate.  “Can I please camp here?”  I told her we only had one bathroom open and one roll of toilet paper, and that none of the sites were clean.  That was OK, she said.  So we let her in.  Soon after that another pop-up trailer came up.  Resistance was futile.  We opened the gates.

As campers came in, we gave them fair warning.  The sites had not been cleaned.  Only one stall in each restroom was open, and there was only one roll of toilet paper in each.  Oh and by the way, we’re still charging the full campground fees.  We’ll bring a receipt as soon as we get them.  Nobody left.

By the time our area managers rolled in at about 9:00 PM with our supplies, we had filled eight sites.  By Friday, after working our tails off, all 38 of our sites were full.  Looks like it’s going to be a busy summer.

Are We There Yet?

It’s June 12.  I should be well into the summer routine of blogging weekly about our adventures in camp. The trailer is clean, the generator is gassed up and the propane tanks are full.  The hitch is installed in the truck.  The bedding is washed.  The pantry food is packed.  So why aren’t we in camp yet?

We knew when we requested Washington Lake that it usually didn’t open until mid-June at the earliest.  But with the mild winter we had this year we were sure we’d get in earlier, and planned accordingly.  Then May hit, and single-handedly brought our water year up to normal.  Rain in the valleys has always equaled snow in the mountains.  We just didn’t think it would be that much snow.

The US Forest Service policy is to open campgrounds only when the snow has melted naturally.  As of last Wednesday, this process was happening at an accelerated rate now that the snow has (finally) stopped falling.  But there’s another snag – a couple of trees were uprooted by strong wings and need to be cleared out before the Forest Service will deem the campground safe for campers.  When they will do this is anybody’s guess.

So we wait – not exactly patiently.  I’m sure that has a lot to do with managing our own expectations, combined with minimal communication from our new area managers.  In their defense, the area is new to them and there’s a lot of work to open the lower campgrounds.  And they have no more control over the weather and the Forest Service than we do. 

Our current planned departure date is Wednesday, June 17.  Will we make it?  Keep tuned.