Six days in Beaver, Utah…
Why we came…
We wanted to be at Panguitch Lake, but couldn’t get into the small RV park until 27 July. So Beaver ended up being a filler. However, we plan to spend two months in the winter here so a short stay allowed us to meet the owners and test drive the campground. We also wanted to fish Minersville Reservoir which is known for its trophy trout. Plus, we needed to do a big supply run to Cedar City, 55 miles to the south.
Campground…
Mike and Stephanie do a great job maintaining the KOA in Beaver…it is very nice. We had full hook-ups, good 4G cell phone signal, and good satellite reception from our site. Mike filled both of our propane bottles and delivered them to our trailer…excellent. The campground has a pool, playground, nice tent sites, and camping cabins. Due to its proximity to Interstate 15, many visitors pull in around dinner time and leave the next morning.
Beaver, elevation 5,900 feet, is a quiet little town with 2,700 people. There is a decent choice of restaurants and a couple of grocery and supply stores. Significant supply runs are to Cedar City, an easy 55 mile drive to the south on I-15. The Tushar Mountains are 10-15 miles east and top out above 12,000 feet. The Tushars have miles of hiking and ATV’ing trails, multiple lakes with trout, and Eagle Point Ski Resort. Just 12 miles east is great trophy trout fishing at Minersville Reservoir. Beaver has a lot to offer outdoors folks!
Sunset over the Mineral Mountains / Sunrise over the Tushar Mountains
Hiking and Geocaching…
We didn’t do any geocaching. We decided to save them for our two-month winter visit. We did have an enjoyable three mile walk through town and enjoyed long walks on the country roads near the campground.
Kayaking and Fishing…
We went to Minersville Reservoir three mornings in a row. I got Arleen out of bed around 5:00am and out the door shortly after 6:00am…that’s love! We fished each morning until about 11:00am. The temperature would start pleasant and be warm by the time we got off the water. The winds were nearly calm most of the time making the kayak fishing very enjoyable. Quite a few other fisherman would be out during the morning, but things usually turned chaotic and obnoxious as water skiers took over by noon. We didn’t fish the evenings, though I suspect an hour on either side of sunset would have been very enjoyable.
At a relatively low elevation of 5,500 feet, I expected the trout fishing to be slow in the middle of July. I was wrong! We caught 10-12 nice trout each day. The average fish was 15-18 inches long, with the biggest being just over 20 inches. You can only keep one trout over 22 inches. The fish were strong and hit mainly leech flies. We got most of them working near the shore in 5-15 feet of water. I targeted smallmouth bass briefly a few times and only caught a couple of 4-10 inchers. There are reports of 3-5 pounders…it would be cool to hook one of those guys! I really like lakes with both trout and smallmouth bass. I just need to figure out them bass!
A lot of birds hang out at Minersville Reservoir. Our favorites are the American White Pelicans. Arleen paddled off with the camera one morning to get shots of the birds. Check out her “work” below.
Above are pelicans and cormorants feeding in the shallows. In the picture on the left, note the tag on the pelican just right of center. Arleen reported the tagged pelican to the USGS. If it was tagged by them, she will get a neat certificate indicating when and where the bird was tagged. Her report will provide researchers a little nugget of info that will help them study these interesting birds.
American White Pelicans gliding over Minersville Reservoir
Other Stuff…
We went to the old Beaver theater to see a movie: “Monsters University”. It’s the first movie we’ve seen in a theater in years. The 20-30 other people seeing the movie all seemed to know each other. We really like small towns! And we really enjoyed Monsters University…two thumbs up for us!
Our four legged friend was about due for his annual check-up. We noticed a veterinary clinic right across the street from the KOA, so we walked over and asked if they could fit him in. They got him in the next day! He got a few doggie shots, updated flea/tick prescription, and a thorough teeth cleaning. The kind folks at Indian Creek Veterinary took great care of our little friend!
Where we got our mail…
Beaver, Utah
Next we will spend six days high in the Tushar Mountains at Kent’s Lake. We will leisurely kayak and fish the pretty lake and hope to play disc golf at nearby Eagle Point Ski Resort. We expect pleasant temps and a thunderstorm or two each afternoon. Maybe we’ll even find our first king bolete mushrooms of the year!!
Check out this weather forecast for Kent’s Lake:
[07/21] Today 73º
Scattered showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 73. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
[07/21] Tonight 48º
Scattered showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 48. Northwest wind 7 to 17 mph becoming west southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
[07/22] Monday 73º
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 73. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon.
[07/22] Monday Night 47º
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 47. West southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
[07/23] Tuesday 72º
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 72. Light southwest wind.
[07/23] Tuesday Night 47º
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 47.
[07/24] Wednesday 68º
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 68.
[07/24] Wednesday Night 46º
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46.
[07/25] Thursday 71º
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 71.
[07/25] Thursday Night 47º
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47.
[07/26] Friday 71º
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 71.
[07/26] Friday Night 47º
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47.
[07/27] Saturday 70º
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 70.
We love the mountains!
Parting Shots…
Cache Valley Cheese (and ice cream)…yum yum! / 96F…too hot for us!
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Fun, fun and more fun!! Hey, if I were to send you a Christmas card, to what address would I send it??
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