June 3 – 6
Picasa web album link:Our drive up to Torrey Utah was amazing, as we drove the Scenic Byway 12. We were crossing over the top of the mountains of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. The views were spectacular of desert environments and eventually into the forests of the Dixie National Forest. Stopping at the various overlooks provided views up to 150 miles away.
We setup our RV in a very nice commercial RV Park, Thousand Lakes
RV. This park was just west of Torrey in a beautiful, green valley; with all
the amenities we could want. The location was great with the back of the park
facing beautiful red rock cliffs with hoodoo-like formations. That afternoon we
drove into Capitol Reef NP and stopped in the visitor center for detailed maps
and advice. This park has some great hikes and a lot of scenic driving with
overlooks. This park’s main feature is the Waterpocket Fold, a geologic
formation of a giant buckle in the Earth’s crust stretching 100 miles north-south
through the park. The park is filled with colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring
spires, monoliths, twisting canyons and graceful arches. The Fremont River
flows through the park, providing a lovely green valley, where early Indians
then Mormon pioneers settled and lived off the land. The pioneers were farmers
and planted fruit orchards, which are still there today. The town of Fruita is still present with some
historical buildings and farmlands. There are petroglyphs left on canyon walls
by the early Fremont Culture Indians.
The next day we headed back into the park for the scenic
drive and a hike. We stopped in the historic town of Fruita to look at the
pioneer buildings and learn about their existence. We also ate our lunch
at shady, green picnic area in Fruita. The 16 mile drive through the valley was
amazing. We also drove across the main road of the park and looked at
petroglyphs, a historic cabin and a look into the Grand Wash canyon. We hiked a
one mile trail back to the 133 foot Hickman Bridge natural arch. It was very
warm and made the hike a little testy, with a climb back up to the arch, but it
was beautiful.
The following day, we went back into Capitol Reef for a
drive again down the scenic road and then a gravel road back into Capitol
Gorge. The 2 mile gravel road actually wound back through the canyon walls until
it stopped at a trailhead parking lot. Then we hiked back 1.5 miles back into
the canyon to view the Pioneer Register wall and a short hike up to the Tanks
(water filled holes in rocks). The register was filled with carved names of
those pioneers that traveled this wash as a thoroughfare to get into the
valley. There were even some names that were inscribed with gunshot! Also,
unfortunately, there were the modern graffiti idiots that chose to add their
names, uuugggh! There were also some petroglyphs added by the ancient Fremont
Indians. The hike up to the tanks was steep, but had great views. There were
two main potholes filled with water. On our way back to camp, we stopped at the
Goosenecks overview (where the Fremont River flows through a deep canyon) and
Sunset Point.
On our last day in this area, Kurt took Kody went on a hike to the
Fremont River in the valley near the town of Torrey. They both had a great time and Kody got
to get in the water and play. I stayed at the RV to catch up on some
housekeeping before our next campground, which has limited water. I actually
enjoyed the time to myself and with Kirby. Later in the evening, Kurt and I
went out to dinner at a great Mexican restaurant in town. After that, we went
to a country bar called “The Saddlery”. This was a very nice restaurant/bar
with live country music, pools tables and great atmosphere. We sat at the bar
on saddle bar stools and played some pool, it was awesome.
Our next stop will be near Canyonlands National Park and camping
at Dead Horse Point State Park.
