Goblin Valley

So a few weeks ago, Suz went to visit her sister in Oregon and I was left all by myself. It was going to be ok because family was coming into town but their plans changed. I didn't want to spend the whole weekend by myself and the weather was warming up a bit so I decided it might be a good time to head south and do some camping with my dog!

After perusing possible sites on the internet, I decided on Goblin Valley State Park. I'd never been there but had heard great things and it was south so the weather forecast looked promising. After packing up for Bailey and I, we made the 3 hour drive down to Goblin Valley. I LOVE this part of Utah just because of its unique beauty.

I was glad to see very few people when we arrived. We found a spot away from any people mostly because I didn't want Bailey to bother anyone and I wanted to leash him up as little as possible. We set up camp and went off to explore. We hiked crescent canyon and then returned back to camp for dinner. By this time I was sorry to see the campground was getting more popular but still not too bad. I built a fire, cooked up some fajitas, had some hot chocolate and then snuggled into bed with some movies I had rented. (What else are you to do when you're camping alone?)

During the night I heard some noise in our campsite and knew a critter must have been exploring. Bailey growled a bit and his hair stood up but I wouldn't let him out because I didn't want him to get in a fight with a rabid raccoon or something. I did not sleep well. It was freezing and I kept hearing things and Bailey would occasionally crawl over to my sleeping bag and lick my face just to be sure I was alive!

Morning finally arrived and I was shocked with what I found outside our tent. The "critter" had eaten all of Bailey's dog food and his water and had pooped in both dishes as if to spite us. He also took the additional baggies of dog food with him...bag and all since they were nowhere to be found. The most puzzling was that he left all my food alone. Didn't touch my steak from the fajitas or my granola bars....he only wanted the dog food.

With no food for Bailey I didn't want to do anything too strenuous so I altered our morning hike plans. First I had some eggs and bacon and shared that with Bailey as well as some beef jerky. Then we hiked over to Goblin Valley via a scenic view trail that led us up to a bench above the valley before we took another trail and dropped down. Bailey LOVES to hike. I let him off the leash unless people were nearby and he loved to explore and always stayed nearby. He even helped scout the trail a few times. We headed back to camp via the entrada canyon trail which was a fun little canyon trail with no scenic view but lots of cool formations.

We cleaned up camp and headed for home. It was good to be home and the camping was fun...but next time I'd rather be with my wife!