Navajo Lake
Personal Notes
This page contains our personal notes on our visit to Navajo Lake, Utah.
Friday, July 18, 2003
Te-Ah Campground
We drove south on I-15 to Nephi and then took Highway 89 south to Salina, then caught I-15 to Highway 89 again, near Joseph. Then south past Panguitch to Long Valley Junction, where we turned west on 14 to Navajo Lake.
The road up to the lake is paved and in good condition, but there are some 8% grades. It wasn't too bad of a climb. However, the road into the lake, running along its southern edge, is in pretty bad shade, even though it is asphalted. There are lots of bumps and pot holes and it is in need of repair. We were a little concerned about our trailer bouncing around behind us.
We had reservations in Site 24 in the Te-Ah campground, on the far western edge of the lake. As it turned out, that was the best campground in the area. Several other campgrounds along the southern edge of the lake were very exposed. It looks as if the Forest Service has recently cut down a good number of the tall trees right in the campground areas. The Englemann Spruce in the area are suffering from a terrible infestation, and many, if not most, of the trees have succumbed. I'm betting that the dead trees were removed from the campgrounds to alleviate the risk to the campers of falling deadwood. The campers in those sites are safer, but are now exposed to the Sun all day long.
Near the Te-Ah campground there is a trailer sanitation station with fresh water.
We arrived at our campsite at 12:15 p.m. It had begun to cloud up, and we heard some thunder, so we didn't dawdle as we set up.
The campground has two rest room facilities, one on either end. They have modern flush toilets and sinks. They are not the cleanest facilities that we've used, but they were not the worst, either. They served their purpose.
Fresh water spigots are available at various places along the road throughout the campground, however the pressure is a bit low. Waiting for a six gallon water jug to fill provided an opportunity to absorb the scent of the pine and aspen, and to watch the black and white butterflies dance through the air.
Each site has a concrete pad (many of which are on a slope or slight hill and seem to be short) with a picnic table and a nice fire pit. The pit and the table are surrounded by concrete, so even when it rains there is little mud to worry about. There seemed to be plenty of room in most sites for tents of various sizes.
The campground has tall pines and aspen, so there is plenty of shade to get to during the heat of the day. We pulled out the awning of the trailer and with the tall trees we had enough shade for our needs.
The only real down side to the site we had was that it was not far from the main road through the lake area. At times there was a lot of noisy traffic heading south toward the Zion area, about 32 miles away.
There were large black ants all over, seemingly going in random directions. They didn't bother us too much, except when they decided to crawl across a bare foot. By the end of our stay we did have a few in the trailer, but they were mostly individuals. There were also quite a number of other insects, especially the large black flies. They weren't constant, but at times they were annoying.
We spotted a deer crossing the road near the lake on our return trip from visiting Cedar Breaks National Monument. We arrived back at our camp site at around 6:30 p.m. It had stopped raining, so we took the opportunity to put up the awning on the trailer. The campground hosts drove through, so we stopped them and asked where the Virgin River Rim Trailhead was located. It turned out to be just on the other side of the trees from our camp site.
We started a fire and grilled burgers for dinner. We turned in around 10:15. But, as seems to be the case these days, there are campers who ignore the 10:00 p.m. quiet hour rule. The group of Boy Scouts across from us decided that Quiet Time meant that they should start talking louder and yelling through the darkness. Even the leaders were noisy and didn't seem to make an attempt to quiet the boys. Fortunately they did quiet down by 10:45.
Saturday, July 19, 2003
Te-Ah Campground
It rained on and off all night, and on into the morning. It is still raining just hard enough so that we won't be able to hike. It looks like the Virgin River Rim Trail/Navajo Lake Loop Trail are out for this trip. The sky is a solid, slate gray. If it clears up we may be able to hike the shorter Pinks Trail. It's only .5 miles one way (up hill), but is supposed to have a great view at the end. It rained gently until about 8:30 a.m.
The Scouts across from us quieted down about 10:45 last night, but this morning they are once again acting as if they are the only ones in the campground. Their adult leaders are as bad as the kids, maybe worse, because they should know better.
Of course the trails were wet, so we didn't head out right away. It was still cloudy, and the weather was uncertain, until about 9:30, when we saw some blue open up to the south.
After our hikes and some sight seeing, we sat around camp and read and relaxed. In the evening there was more thunder and lightning off to the east and north, but it didn't hit us. By 10:00 the clouds to the north had disappeared. We heard on the radio, from a station in Cedar City, that there was a flash flood warning for the area north of us.
The Boy Scouts from across the road had cleared out in the early afternoon, so the campground was quiet. Some new folks from Missouri had the one site across from us. Otherwise there was no one else near us. We grilled chicken over the fire for dinner.
Pinks Trail
We took the opportunity, because of the early morning rain,to have a "regular" breakfast, instead of the usual grain bar or cereal that we eat before hiking. Anne fried some eggs and soy bacon (bland) and then we hiked the Pinks Trail, which heads in the campground. The trail is .5 miles one way and pretty much climbs straight up the mountain. At the end of the trail is a view of a small area of pink cliffs. To the southwest is a great view of the top of Zion National Park. We also thought that we could see the Kolob Section of the park. Zion is only 32 miles south on a dirt road.
The rest of the view was pretty amazing as well. We were looking down on an Englemann Spruce/Aspen forest. We could see canyons cutting the landscape, a few open meadows, and mostly the trees.
Also at the end of the trail is a stand of Bristlecone Pine. Most of these are fairly young, but we were able to get a close up look at these old trees.
We hiked back to camp, picked up the GPS, then headed out again on the Virgin River Rim Trail, to the south.
Virgin River Rim Trail
This trail has its head along the main road through the lake area, near our campsite. It is also a bike trail, and turning out to be very good surface, packed earth, and it climbs slowly without switchbacks. It is mostly shady under the tall pines.
At one point there is a spring with a water tank. It looks like it feeds a small trailer just below it.
We passed the junction with the trail down to the Lodge, and went on to a clear saddle to the west of Navajo Point, where we could get a view of Zion. The trail headed on to the east, but we decided to turn back. I was having problems with the tendons in my legs. Lately they seem to get really tight when I climb. But the trail to the east looked good and there probably wouldn't be much more of a climb. I would rate the portion of the trail that we hiked as easy to moderate. Mostly because of the elevation.
The GPS Coordinates for our campsite are: N 37 32 046; W 112 49 281. The coordinates for the saddle where we stopped are N 37 30 828; W 112 48 838. We calculate this hike to have been about 4 miles round trip.
Navajo Lake Overlook and Lava Beds
When we got back to camp we got into the Trooper and drove up to the Navajo Lake Overlook to snap a few photos. It's along Highway 14. Then we drove back into an area marked Lava Beds on the road sign. There is a deeply rutted dirt road that goes back in there about two miles to a large lava field.
Sunday, July 20, 2003
Te-Ah Campground
At 6:50 a.m. the temperature is 60 degrees. We finally heard some birds this morning. It was beginning to seem like they had all disappeared. The only birds that we'd seen were a few woodpeckers, some ravens, and a group of Turkey Vultures spiraling above the lake.
Overnight it got pretty cool; the coolest since we arrived at the campground. But it wasn't bad. I slept well.
The water spigots each have a sign saying that the water is for drinking only, and that dishes should not be washed there, and that bathing is prohibited. But, of course, most people don't know how to read, or are special. Near one of the spigots someone had washed their skillet. There were pieces of fried egg, egg shell, and other gunk.
In addition, it seems that when people get out into the woods they think they can forget their manners and common sense. In the men's side of the rest room, some idiot pissed all over the seat and hadn't flushed the toilet. What pigs. I always wonder why they think they can do this out in a campground when they wouldn't even think of doing it at home.
We left camp at 10:45 a.m. We arrived home at about 3:45 p.m. We stopped in Salina for gas and near the Big Rock Candy Mountain for a rest stop. There were big thunder heads all around, be we didn't get any rain. The temperatures were probably in the 100+ range.
