Day 8 – Bye-Bye Canyon

Woke up to another amazing view again this morning. The campsite on Long Canyon road is definitely one for the record books. Anna and I slept in pretty well this morning. Not sure if the time change or just the fresh air is causing us to sleep in, but I’m going to blame the time change. We took our time in the morning and made some coffee and then slowly started to pack up. Anna had our little buddy come to visit her again this morning and was close enough to grab him – that’s if she was quick enough.

The goal for the day today was to head out and check out the Needles and then head towards Mesa Verde. Van packed and down the road we went. Headed out of the Canyonlands and turned south on Utah 191. About 20 miles south of Moab we hung a right and drove out to the Needles Overlook. The overlook was 24 miles from the main road. No problem – the view was worth every moment. It’s crazy to think that weather and nature have carved this architecture into the landscape.

We headed out of the Needles around 2pm and forged onto Mesa Verde. It was a pretty drive with the scenery constantly changing. At one point, Anna passed a farm field and then screamed – Prairie Dog! Oh, there’s another, and another, another one, oh shit – They are everywhere! Apparently, the farmer left a field open for the prairie dogs so they wouldn’t damage his producing farmland. We crossed back into Colorado and eventually made it to Manco, where we noticed a small brewery – Manco Brewing. Now, you know we had to stop and taste the goods. Went in and just had a beer, grabbed some to go, and continued on to try and locate a place to park.

We looked up a few places and managed to get over to one, but the places were either gated closed or were not available due to the season. Dispersed camping can make you drive a few extra miles, but that is all part of the journey. We headed down a road to find a place called Echo Basin, which we ended deciding to stay at. This was not dispersed camping, but every now and then the old RV has to get in with the rest of the herd in a coral. The Echo Basin Resort had all the normal amenities but just was fully open yet due to the time of year.

Parked, set up camp, sat around the fire, and eventually headed to bed!