Camping, Mid Week, All Alone

By Sunday morning Canyonwren was packed and ready to escape. This weekend’s destination was Steamboat Rock State Park and we were hoping to get there and enjoy the warmth of the high desert sun.  Heading west on I-90 we contacted Darren and Marcy Upchurch and set a rendezvous point somewhere off highway 250 driving toward Grand Coulee Dam.

Just before Airway Heights on US 2 we fell in line behind the Upchurches and our little caravan proceeded to the junction of 174 turned right, then at 155 we made a left and drove the 15 or so miles to the state park entrance.

Steamboat Rock State Park was our choice this week because of many things, one of which was the fact that it is a State Park and is not affected by our stupid government shutdown.  As we arrived the park was probably ¼ full, groups scattered throughout the three areas that were open.  One camp site area was closed for the season so we found our spots on the far west side of the first open area we came to.

As we set up, practically everyone else around us was taking down their camp site. Arriving on Sunday does have its advantages!  It didn’t take us long to get set up.

Linda and Marcy relaxed in the sun as Darren and I tried to figure out why our hot water heater refused to fire up and heat the tank of water.  We must have worked on it for an hour or so and then finally gave up.  Linda and I would just have to heat water on the stove this weekend.  Bummer!

The sun was warm but there was a bit of a breeze, making it more comfortable to wear a jacket while you sunned.  We rested up and planned the next day’s hike up to the top of Steamboat Rock. Linda and I provided dinner of hamburgers and we all sat around the campfire till the cold evening took over. I walked to the camper to get a little more of a jacket and, for some reason, flipped on the switch for the hot water heater. I probably was just frustrated that we would have to spend a bunch of money to get it repaired and was flipping it on to flip it on.  It started!  I don’t know why, I can’t figure it out but it fired up and worked perfectly all week.

Monday morning the campground was practically empty.  We packed our bags with water and snacks and headed up the trail to the top of Steamboat Rock.  Hiking at a good pace for us we circumnavigated the rim from left to right.  We hiked a total of 4.9 miles from start to finish in about 3 hours.  The views were amazing and we really enjoyed our day.