In which Moominmama flees snow in Yellowstone only to suffer a terrifying night under breaking branches in Utah...

Moominmama left Yellowstone two days early to avoid getting caught in a blast of cold wintry weather and potentially heavy snow. 

I was patting myself on the back for my foresight when I hit the Utah border and went for a hike in my shirt sleeves in Logan Valley. Finally, leaves on trees! Beautiful leaves turning beautiful colors! I hadn't missed fall entirely after all!

The hike to Wind Cave was near my camping destination and well worth the time. It was a steady uphill trail but provided spectacular views of the mountains. 

And the Wind Cave turned out to be a glorious end point for the trail. Utah has an amazing array of mountains, from sandstone cliffs to these forested hills, which surprised me after thinking it was a desert state.

I arrived happily at my campground near Logan and set up, still in my shirt sleeves, admiring the deciduous trees that provided shade to each of the campsites.

I wasn't surprised when it clouded over as rain was forecast for the night. But I was caught completely by surprise when I woke around 2 a.m. to the sound of cracking branches. I looked out the window and saw wet snow. I thought briefly about moving the trailer away from under the nearest tree, but doing that in the dark and in the snow at 2 a.m. seemed too challenging to contemplate. I stayed warm under the covers and dozed off again. 

Shortly after 3 a.m., I awoke to a loud thwump on my roof. It might have been snow sliding off the overhead branches. But I heard more cracking and decided I should get up and take a look to make sure the trailer wasn't in immediate danger. The snow was still falling and a quick check of the forecast showed it would continue through 8 a.m. That was a lot of weight for leaf-covered branches.

I bundled up and took my flashlight. Low and behold, the thwump had been a large tree limb from the adjacent oak, and said branch was now resting on my roof with the base still hung up in the tree. It was also straddling the fan that sticks out of the trailer's roof. Depending on how the branch was positioned, moving the trailer would risk tearing the fan off the roof and leaving me with a gaping hole. I went back inside and pondered. Surely it was better to wait until daylight so I could see the extent of the problem and maybe get some help.

But by 4 a.m., it was clear another, larger, limb was at risk of falling on my trailer. It seemed wiser to risk a move. Branches on many neighboring trees continued to break off and fall with loud pops. I used a broom to knock as much snow from the leaves and branches resting on the Moominhouse as I could. And in the dark, with a flashlight between my teeth, hooked up the car to the trailer, taking my heart in my hands as I pulled gently forward. 

The limb promptly slid off the back of the trailer with a whoosh. I rolled another 8 feet or so forward. The fan was still in place, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I wouldn't know for sure what the trailer roof looked like until morning, but I was out from under that tree -- here is what it looked like come daylight. And the top photo shows the trailer, safe in daylight after my desperate dark-of-night move.

Many other campers had spent a sleepless night. None of us had suffered major damage, but the park rangers asked that we move to a large open parking lot and consider leaving the campground as they were still fearful that trees would come down. With a ranger's help, I was able to move to a campground closer to Salt Lake City.

Thankfully, the move went smoothly, and I had a paved campsite at Willard Bay where I could admire the trees from a distance! Over the next couple days, I caught up on sleep,  took a boat ride on the Great Salt Lake, walked downtown and spent one morning hiking to an old mine up Perry Canyon.

Being the claustrophobe that I am, this is as far as I got inside the tunnel, which is to say about five paces from the entrance!

After this detour, I am now back on track and in Colorado, where the Moominhouse will get looked over by local experts. Any maintenance or repairs can be undertaken before it goes into storage for the winter. Before this week is out, I will be back on the road, driving without the Moominhouse, heading first for Rochester, then New Hampshire.

For now, my immediate concern is packing and cleaning! I leave you with another Utah photo -- this time southeast of Moab as I made the trek from Utah toward Colorado. Looking forward to seeing you all soon!