Spring 2022 Utah Adventure, 4.23.22 - 5.12.22, Part 6 of 12
After four nights staying in Escalante it was time to move on to the next phase of our adventure. From Canyons of the Escalante it was only sixty-four miles to Torrey, Utah, the gateway to Capitol Reef National Park. The drive is beautiful the entire way, once again going past the slickrock hills (which I discovered is called The Head of the Rocks), through the little town of Boulder, up into the mountains topping out at over nine thousand feet with huge aspen groves covering the mountainsides and the breathtaking first views of the stunning red rock of Capitol Reef as you drop out of the mountains into Torrey. As you pull into Torrey the UT-12 Scenic Byway ends as it merges with UT-24, but that by no means is the end of the great scenery. On the contrary, the drive east from Torrey along the Fremont River through Capitol Reef National Park and out towards Hanksville is some of the finest canyon scenery in the country.
On that Sunday, the plan was to arrive at the Wonderland RV Park by mid-day. I was going to pick up Mike who was staying at the Fruita Campground just down the road from us in the late afternoon. While the others relaxed, we were going to hike to a spot called Rim Overlook. This spot has a commanding view of the incredible rock that Capitol Reef is known for as well as views down into the Fruita area. I had really hoped to shoot sunset shots up there but on this day it wasn’t meant to be. First of all, I had woken up with a monster cold and felt pretty miserable. The timing was just as well weather wise. So far on our trip we had been blessed with great weather every day. A bit chilly at times, a bit breezy at times but overall the skies had been clear and it hadn’t affected any of our plans. But on this day it was cloudy and getting cloudier, even a bit of rain and the temps dropped to downright chilly by the afternoon. I couldn’t see that hiking would have much benefit but I needed to let Mike know that I planned to scrub our plan. We drove down to the Fruita Campground but since he was out I left him a note. Since we would be parting ways the next day anyway, it turned out that our hike with Bridgit to Escalante Natural Bridge was our last hurrah, at least for this trip.
By far, the biggest reason we planned this entire trip to Utah and what required the most information and research was about to begin. The previous year when we drove through Capitol Reef, I knew very little about this beautiful park. What I did know however, was that there is a northern outpost in Capitol Reef known as Cathedral Valley. I had seen a few photos of this valley and knew all along I had to go see this place. That was also one of the key factors that led to getting a Jeep. Cathedral Valley keeps a a lot of people out due to the need for a high clearance vehicle to navigate the road among other things including fording the Fremont River with your vehicle.
Most people that do visit Cathedral Valley drive through it in one day. I had much grander plans, all based on trying to be in certain spots at certain times for prime photography opportunities that a day trip just wouldn’t allow. Bob and Dana aren’t tent campers and there is no way you could take an RV through Cathedral Valley. If all went well, while they found other things to do, Bridgit and I would leave just before sunup, ford the Fremont River, drive north up one side to the northernmost point of the trip where there is a back country campground. It only has six sites and they are not reservable so part of the reason for an early start would be to increase our chances of getting a site for one night. The following morning we would drive down through Cathedral Valley where I had read that although there were no other campgrounds anywhere, I might be able to find a dispersed camp site on BLM land just outside the park boundary. This would put me in a prime position to be able to shoot sunset and sunrise photos at a very special place known as The Temple of the Sun and The Temple of the Moon.
So this was the primary reason we came back on this trip and I was excited beyond belief to try and pull this off. As long as we were at the Fruita Campground I had to stop in to the visitor center which is right by the campground to talk with the park ranger about our upcoming plans. My first question was about the river ford. The current water depth was at eleven inches with no more rain expected so that was no big deal. What worried me much more was reports of a very deep stretch of sand just beyond the ford. I’ve never aired down my tires but I could get much better traction through the sand if I dropped from the standard 37psi down to 15psi. I didn’t want to have to mess with that and didn’t have a proper compressor to fill the tires back up anyway so that was a big concern. The ranger had said that their people don’t air down for that stretch and another guy at a different visitor center told me not to be too concerned so I decided to go for it. The worst that cold happen is I would get stuck but at that point it would only be a mile walk back to the highway.
Another concern was getting a campsite in the back country campground but everyone seemed to think that very few people actually camp up there and especially during the week I should have no trouble snagging one of the six spots. So far, so good. No one had any information regarding the dispersed campsite possibility. I had even called the BLM office out of Hanksville but nobody knew anything about it. My information came from a post on an internet search so again, worst case scenario, if I couldn’t find the site we could always just keep driving back to the RV campground.
Meanwhile, we were supposed to leave for Cathedral Valley the morning after arriving in Torrey but we decided to hold off one day to let the weather improve and to hopefully let my cold improve. That freed up the next day so we just shifted one of the days from our itinerary to the next morning.
At 8AM we all took the Jeep along UT-24 through Capitol Reef to the Scenic Drive which is where the Fruita Campground and the visitor center are located. The Scenic Drive lives up to its name. We wound our way along beautiful red uplifted cliffs and past bright green cottonwoods glowing in the early morning light. We passed by the campground and the trailhead to Cohab Canyon (next trip), another road turnoff to Grand Wash (next trip) and finally turned down a dirt road for two miles to the Capitol Gorge Trailhead.
The trail hikes straight up the wash through the gorge with big towering walls of rock on both sides of the wash. The wash was plenty wide and easy to follow. We passed some pictographs and some names carved into the walls by the Mormon settlers. After one mile we took a short, steep side trail up to a spot called The Tanks. These were pretty much just deep potholes in the rock with dank green water like big toilet bowls that hadn’t been cleaned in a very long time. Still, the small amount of elevation gain provided great views of some of the uplift of Capitol Reef.
Along Scenic Drive
Bridgit and Dana near the trailhead
Looking up Capitol Gorge from the trailhead
Odd water scoured rock was all over the place
The Pioneer Register
A couple of Hare Krishnas along the way
Great views above the gorge leading to The Tanks (and the rocks are nice too!)
Back in the gorge
Beautiful high walls of Capitol Gorge
Along Scenic Drive
Not another Jeep shot!
Now then, by now you’re probably thinking I have this mad passion for the red rock of southern Utah and that canyons, arches and such are what I live for. And yes, I guess all that is pretty nice but all that pales in comparison to the first bite of a fresh fruit pie from the Gifford House in the Fruita District. Every day the pies are baked fresh and you have a choice of peach, mixed berry, cherry, apple or strawberry rhubarb. Most days they sell out by noon. Don’t be misled into thinking you can split one with your better half. Feel good about being a pig for once! Let her get her own damn pie! And don’t forget to get it with the homemade ice cream. It is insanely good pie!
A fine pair of mixed berries!