Into Utah, May 8, 2010

At 6am I turned the car on to heat us up. I was not happy, exhausted. So much so I didn’t want coffee because I had planned on sleeping for another few hours in the passenger seat while Mateo drove. For the rest of the day Mateo was very accommodating to me to ease any possible crankiness due to being tired.

We crossed into Utah fairly quickly. And for awhile it was just the three of us and a long dirt road. That is, until we met some cows grazing along side of the road. We stopped to pee and didn’t even hide behind a bush… there really was no chance of anyone coming across us. The dirt route 6 finally intersected and merged with the far faster moving I-70. And we flew into the canyons of western Utah. The area is quite beautiful, but I certainly can’t see why someone would live here given a choice. That is, it contains some the things I hate the most: blistering hot summers, freezing cold winters, gusty winds, no grocery stores, no cell phone reception, and lots and lots of dust. That and it’s in a conservative state, which coming from Colorado just will not do.
However, everyone we’ve met is friendly thus far, and the cliffs of the area are gorgeous. In the Thompson visitor center parking lot, a man with a cowboy hat and a pickup truck gave us some directions to a “20 minute excursion with a whole lot of diversion.” And boy was he right! Less than 20 mins off the road, through a ghost town and back into the cliffside we saw indian drawings and beautiful rocks. The brush which was in full bloom with yellow flowers scented the air with honey smells. But, just in case, I kept the knife in my pocket. I’ve seen those horror movies… far too many to admit. Here are some pictures of the ghost town (I'll do a separate entry on the indian paintings):


The town began when E.W. Thompson, who lived near the springs, operated a sawmill to the north, near the Book Cliffs. Soon a small community grew up called Thompson Springs, made up of small-scale farmers, sheepherders and cattlemen.
However, there was one ambitious man in the area named Harry Ballard, an Englishman, who had plans of grandeur. A successful sheep and cattleman, Ballard began to buy up much of the property that surrounded Thompson Springs, and before long, owned a hotel, store, saloon, a several homes in the small settlement.
Soon, the little community was large enough to convince the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, which had been completed through the region in 1883, to add a stop in the settlement, Cattle and sheep men welcomed the railroad, which soon became a small shipping point for their stock.
A post office was established in 1890 and called "Thompson’s” after the original owner, E.W. Thompson. Sometime later, ambitious Harry Ballard discovered a large vein of coal on land adjacent to his ranch about five miles north of Thompsons. Keeping his discovery quiet, he soon bought the surrounding property and started coal operations on a small scale. However, Ballard sold his operation to Salt Lake City investors in 1911, and the coal mining town of Sego was born, bringing more prosperity to the area.

To read the rest of this article on Thompson Springs, please visit this link: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ut-thompson.html


By four o’clock I started to get hungry and we settled on Scofield State park for the night. Mateo had a hell of a time setting up the tent. The ground was too rocky to not have a hammer for the tent stakes. I had a hard time cooking dinner because of our shitty little can opener and a general lack of appropriate pots and pans. But, everything worked out. It’s 7:30 p.m. and I’m in the tent with a full belly.

The wildlife of Utah so far includes many cows, some deer, very few horse farms, a bird whose call sounds like squirting water, and little ground rodents that look like mini gophers and make bird noises.