A lot of folks have been asking about camping possibilities for the weekend, so here are some options.

Private Campgrounds.  There are two private campgrounds in Torrey that we would recommend, Sand Creek RV Park and Thousand Lakes RV Park.  Both offer shaded tent sites, bathrooms, hot showers, internet, etc.  They are both located more or less right in town (the Sand Creek's a little closer--also Donna sells her amazing jewelry there), and have gorgeous views in every direction.  They also both offer small cabins for rent as well as full RV hook-ups if you're bringing your tour bus!  If you want to camp but still have all the usual comforts of your house check out these places.

Public Campgrounds.  There are quite a few public campgrounds in the area to choose from, though none that won't require a short drive from Torrey.  The Sunglow is a campground run by the US Forest Service just outside the town of Bicknell (about 10-15 minutes west of Torrey).  The Sunglow is located at the mouth of some beautiful, small red rock canyons that run off the south side of Thousand Lakes Mountain.  The campground is small and sites are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.  There are basic facilities--toilets and water--but no luxuries.

The Fruita Campground is the only developed campground in Capitol Reef National Park and is about a 15 minute drive from Torrey.  It is easily one of the most beautiful locations for a campground in the country.  It sits along the Fremont River, at the base of huge sandstone cliffs, amongst hundred-year-old orchards planted by Mormon pioneers.  It can be quite hot down in the Park in July (it sits about 2000 feet lower than Torrey), but the orchards offer a lot of shade, which makes a big difference.  Though the campground is large, the sites are on a first-come, first-serve basis and fill up quickly.  There are flush toilets and running water (but no showers), and the CG is a great base for exploring the Park.

A few other options exist for those of you willing to drive a little farther.  As you drive south down Highway 12, up and over Boulder Mountain, you pass a few campgrounds: Singletree, Pleasant Creek, Lower Bowns, etc.  These are all developed campgrounds with labeled sites, toilets, and running water, but nothing fancy.  Singletree is about 20-25 minutes from Torrey, Pleasant Creek and Lower Bowns about 30.  They are much higher in elevation than the areas closer to town and would thus be much cooler if the weather gets very hot.  They are all located amongst large stands of Ponderosa Pines and Douglas Fir, and offer virtually unlimited areas to explore on foot or mountain bike.  Lower Bowns sits near Lower Bowns Reservoir, a nice place to fish for trout or cool off on a hot afternoon. 


Free Camping.  A great option for those who don't mind properly roughing it (no running water, no toilets, no internet, no gift shops) is to find yourself a quiet corner of public land and make yourself at home.  The vast majority of the land around Torrey is public (about 98%), managed by the BLM, Forest Service, or National Park Service.  On NPS land you need permits, dogs are not welcome, etc.  However, on BLM and Forest Service land, camping is generally allowed anywhere it is not specifically prohibited (protected areas, in the road, in a creek, etc.).   What this means is you can drive down most roads leading out of town, find a nice pullout (often with a fire ring), put your sleeping bags on the ground and enjoy!  Be aware of private property!!  Though it is limited, it does exist (especially in and around town), and is usually well-marked.  As a general rule, people will be angry if they find you on their property.

If you choose to camp outside of campgrounds, PLEASE be respectful of the land.  Don't camp directly beside creeks and springs.  Pack out ALL your trash.  Only build fires in existing rings.  Don't collect live wood.  Be EXTREMELY careful with fire--keep them small and make sure they're out when you leave.  Watch out for the wind.  Know how to shit in the woods.  Don't drive off-road.  Don't be an asshole.  For more info on this type of thing, check this out.

OK.  So where do you go?  A few good places to look for campsites:
Head north out of Torrey on Sand Creek Rd. and bear left at the Forest Service sign.  This is the Hell's Hole area, lots of dirt tracks through pinyon-juniper forest, leading generally up into sandstone amphitheaters and canyons and eventually onto Thousand Lakes Mountain.  Lots to explore!  Watch out for cactus and ATVs!
Head south out of Teasdale on the Coleman Reservoir Rd.  This will lead you through some Pinyon-Juniper forest and up onto Boulder Mountain.  Dirt roads (generally in bad shape the higher you go) lead in many directions.  You could spend a lifetime exploring this area.  Watch out for cows and cow shit!
Head south on Highway 12 out of Torrey and turn right onto North Slope Rd.  This road is generally in good shape as it leads through sage fields and Pinyon-Juniper forest and up Boulder Mountain into Ponderosa Pine forest.  Again, there are many branches leading in all directions, most leading to good camping.  Watch out for cows and family reunions!
Head east out of Torrey on Highway 24 and turn right on a dirt road as you go around the big curve just past the SkyRidge B+B.  You will quickly come to a gate.  Go through it (close it behind you) and head out into a world of rabbitbrush, sage, pinyon and juniper.  The road is in generally good shape and if you look hard enough you might find some nice views down into the Fremont River canyon.  Watch out for the heat!

These are just the tip of the iceberg.  Explore!  You will find many, many wonderful spots to pitch a tent.  If you have questions, please let us know.

Yesterday, while fitting Oscar and Daryl for their tuxedos, we realized we've been spending so much time getting ourselves ready for the wedding, we have mostly ignored our guests' needs.  Surely you all need to begin preparing as well.  So, from this day forward, we will be much more consistent in adding to the site all the info you need (and much that you do not) to get the most out of your time in the County.

We have been inundated by you with questions in the last few weeks about virtually everything wedding and County-related.  So we thought we'd begin by answering some of them here.  Some are good questions, some are not, and some we made up, but they will all be anonymous, so please keep them coming.

Is it true that Torrey is a three hour drive from an airport?
No!  There's an airport in Bicknell, which is only about ten minutes away.  Unfortunately, there are no commercial flights in or out, and really it's just a long strip of cement in a sage field.  For those of you without access to a private plane, you'll have to fly in to Salt Lake which is about a three hour drive.  Luckily the drive is easy, beautiful and essentially traffic-less (once you leave the city behind).

Though most of you probably could get directions from your phone, we will also provide old-fashioned directions, because your phone will work less and less the further you go away from Salt Lake and also we (Ian) don't trust computery things in general.

Before I go someplace new, I like to read as much about that place as I can.  Can you recommend some books about the area?
Alright! Hooray for books!  Besides being a good way to get yourself ready to be here, Torrey is a great place to sit in the shade for hours or days or years and be quiet with a book.  Or just be quiet with the world.  There aren't too many books about Torrey in particular, but there are many great ones about the Colorado Plateau and the Utah desert.  Anyway, here are a few of our favorites:

Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang, both by Edward Abbey.  Ed Abbey is probably the best known writer who deals with this area.  He wrote many wonderful things before he died, but these are his two most famous.  Desert Solitaire is a non-fiction account of Abbey's time working as a ranger at what was then Arches National Monument outside of Moab.  Though it takes place about fifty years ago, it remains extremely relevant.  It is part reflection on the natural world and part rant against the excesses of various pieces of American culture and humanity in general.  It is beautiful, hilarious, and infuriating.  The Monkey Wrench Gang is a fictional (though probably not entirely so) account of a group of "eco-saboteurs" trying to stop the spread of "development" across the Colorado Plataeu.  They attempt to accomplish this mostly through small-scale vandalism of the kind that seems almost quaint today.  This book was a huge influence on groups that would form later like Earth First!.  It is an action-packed and fun read, that is sure to inspire some of you.

Basin & Range, by John McPhee.  This book is about geology.  For those of you who have ever read anything by John McPhee, you know that it is bound to be far more interesting than you would expect.  This book is fascinating and logic-defyingly enjoyable to read.  Technically it has little or nothing to do with the geology of the Torrey area specifically, but rather with everything west of here all the way to the Sierras in California.  But the book is so good you should read it anyway and then pay close attention to the landscape when you're driving down I-15.

House of Rain, by Craig Childs.  Childs has written many books about the Colorado Plateau/Four Corners region, and all are worth reading.  This book is an amazing look into the world of the Anasazi, the native people who were the primary inhabitants of the area until around 1200 a.d. when their civilization went through a series of overlapping and mysterious catastrophes, that caused them to abandon settlements and leave behind a great many ruins, vast panels of petroglyphs, and countless artifacts.  Childs questions many of the traditional beliefs about who these people were, what happened to them and where they ended up.  He is a very talented writer and you don't need to know anything about archaeology to enjoy this book.

Canaries on the Rim, by Chip Ward.  This is a look into the strange and disturbing legacy of the US government's use of the vast spaces of Utah, Nevada and Arizona as a dumping and testing ground for nuclear and chemical weapons and waste.  This is not a fun book.  The effects on the people of these areas has been and continues to be devastating.  Downwinders--folks who have the unfortunate luck of living downwind of nuclear fallout--have struggled for decades with bizarre cancers and medical problems.  Utah and Nevada are still a dumping ground for strange wastes--nuclear, chemical, biological--and people's health is still being compromised (don't worry, you'll all be fine).  Also, Chip Ward lives in Torrey!

Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer.  We were hesitant to recommend this book, lest you all get the wrong idea about our Mormon neighbors.  In the end, it was just too interesting to leave off the list.  Krakauer explores the darkest and strangest sides of LDS church history and present, and this book is frightening but also somewhat misleading.  The people he focuses on are a tiny fraction of the Mormon world as a whole.  Most of them are not lunatics!  But the folks in this book certainly are and it is fascinating and enlightening to hear about them.

OK.  That should keep folks busy for a while.  More to come later, but the sun is coming out and Oscar and Daryl need to get some mud on their tuxes.