We finally boondocked on BLM land! I am not sure what was holding us back, but our first experience at Dugway BLM outside of Sinclair, Wyoming was absolutely delightful. As in most things we are hesitant to do and only plan for a single night, we left wishing we could stay another day or 2.
When we left the Denver area, we had a long drive to this spot for the night. The traffic through the city and construction did not make the drive shorter, and the entire time, I was 100% certain, that we were going to arrive and find there were no spots. The what ifs and doubts about relying on a first-come-first-served location played round and round. I had read all the reviews online where no one ever cited not being able to find a place, but I am a natural and professionally taught worrier, so I had to play out all the scenarios.
As we pulled off I-80, drove through the small town of Sinclair, and made our way down into the valley where the campground is located, I was uneasy to say the least. We lost cell signal as we headed down toward the river (I knew we would not have signal, but it always feels a little unsettling when it happens), and as we turned the final bend, we saw a nearly empty camping area ahead of us.
Cue the huge sigh of relief.
This camping area actually has spots with picnic tables, garbage cans, and pit toilets. Again, even though I read reviews telling me these things, I was still skeptical until we saw it. The spots were nice and big and spaced a good distance from one another. We drove around and selected a site right along the river, and it was perfect.
After a relaxing evening and early night to bed, Will got up early and went fishing at a spot he had scoped out down the road, and I got up and enjoyed a hot cup of coffee by the river and watched the sun rise with Daisy. It was so quiet and peaceful, though I had my eye on a large silhouette of a bird sitting at the top of the cliff across the river that was clearly also eyeing us up. When Will returned, he pulled out the binoculars and confirmed my suspicions: we spent the first hour of our day with a bald eagle and thankfully Daisy was not on the breakfast menu.
I was truly impressed with our first night spent on BLM land, and as we head into areas where there is so much land and dispersed camping, I cannot wait to explore even more. All of my worry was for nothing and, little did I know, we would experience our second night on BLM land unexpectedly the very next night (stay tuned!).
Nurturing Adventure 