Capitol Reef National Park

Moving Day Dilemma

We follow a routine on moving day so we don't forget anything. This time we deviated from the little routine. I took the microwave plate out earlier than usual. Later I thought a cup of cinnamon plum tea would be great. I placed the water in the microwave and it tipped and pouring all over me, the microwave and stove.  I never did get the hot tea after tidying up.

Unhooking the electricity is usually last. This time he unhooked the electric before the slide was all of the way in.  Nothing happened when he push the  button. I saw his shoulders and head drop. We had no 12 volt from the battery. I thought maybe the water I spilled had gotten into the converter below the stove. Luckily that wasn't the problem and traced it to the batteries which he had planned to replace when we got to AZ.

The NAPA store was open at 8 am. Hurray! As he removed the batteries, the wire to the connector was hanging and not attached. Touching the wire to the battery the lights came on and slide worked. He replaced the batteries anyway. We had planned to dry camp at times over the next few weeks. 

I am glad he is a handy dandy troubleshooting guy.

We were thankful to have deviated from the routine and not arrived in Capitol Reef and found our problem. No electricity, internet or NAPA for a very long ways.  

This was our third visit to Capitol Reef and it never disappoints. In Utah's south central desert, it is a long wrinkle in the earth called the Waterpocket Fold with canyons and amazing rock formations.

We had hiked other trails in the Park but not the Cassidy Arch Trail which forks out of the Grand Wash about 1/2 mile from the parking area.

Then we started climbing.

It's a long ways down from here. We were in the shade most of the morning before heading back down in the sunshine.

At 1.1 miles on this trail we saw the arch and that was where we were headed. Many people make it this far and turn around. But most of the hard work is already done. Now it is slight up and down, back and forth. 

We are standing on top of the arch. Two 30 something couples passed us and cheered us on. They said they wanted to be like us when they get older. I think they called us "old". 

Now for a rest while the youngsters trot back and forth along the rocks. One gal said we were wiser not older. A nice way of saying "old".

Heading back down.

For thousands of years people called this valley home. Latter Day Saints later built homes, planting thousands of fruit trees and called it Fruita. The apricots and plums had all been picked but pears and apples were still on the trees. 

        

 The kitchen of the 1880 homestead is now a gift shop.

We shared...

The line waiting for pie and cinnamon rolls at the Gifford house on Saturday morning at 8 am.

It was a warm afternoon for these hills. Heading up there.

That was an uphill where we started.

The campground next to the orchard was peaceful and the stars are so bright and fill the night's sky. 

The deer would wander by at night. But there were far more bucks than does. That may become and issue soon.

Capitol Reef NP and Goblin Valley in Utah

Down Some Red Dirt Roads

We found our selves in the middle of the annual southward migration of the grey haired Snowbirds as we arrived at the KOA north of Salt Lake City on our way to Central Utah. There doesn't seem to be any danger of extinction any time soon. Mike built a fire in the community fire ring which signaled to the birds to come out of their mobile nests for some sharing before settling in for the night.

We woke to a temperature of 15 degrees in Torrey, Utah outside of Capitol Reef National Park. Fortunately, nothing in the trailer froze and we were snug and warm until someone (Mike) had to get up in the morning and turn up the heat. The campground water tap was frozen. But our pipes were fine.

The dry camping campground nestled in the Fruita section along the Fremont River in the national park was booked up which was fine with me since it was so cold and our little heater could run all night. Sand Creek Campground in Torrey was only 5 miles from the national park.

Our last visit to Capitol Reef National Park was 10 years ago. It doesn't matter how many times we visit the red rocks of southern Utah and Arizona, we always are glad to be back.

Located in south-central Utah in the heart of red rock country, Capitol Reef National Park is a hidden treasure filled with cliffs, canyons, domes, and bridges in the Waterpocket Fold (a wrinkle on the earth) extending almost 100 miles.

The most scenic portion of the Waterpocket Fold is known as Capitol Reef: capitol for the white domes of Navajo Sandstone that resemble capitol building domes and reef for the rocky cliffs which are a barrier to travel, like a coral reef.

It was a chilly 40 degrees as we started hiking each morning. It didn't take long, once we started climbing in the sunshine to start shedding layers.

The Castle

A nearly 100-mile long warp in the Earth's crust, the Waterpocket Fold is a "step-up" in the rock layers.  Movement along the fault caused the west side to shift upwards. I bet there were some big earthquakes when the land shifted upward.

The area of Capitol Reef has been a homeland to people for thousands of years. Archaic hunters and gatherers migrated through the canyons, to farmers of corn, beans and squash. Petroglyphs etched in rock walls and painted pictographs remain as sacred remnants of the ancient saga.

Latter-Day-Saint (Mormon) pioneers, and others arrived in the 1800s, planted orchards of apples, pears and peaches.

The hike to Hickman Bridge was a short 2 mile round trip but adding the Rim Trail made it just right.

It seemed that some "city slickers" were herding these cows, backing up traffic for quite a while as they wandered back and forth across the highway as we were heading to Hanksville, Utah.

There was a quick geocache along the road on a turnout that had poles with signs on them. These "periscopes" are turning up along roadsides. By looking through the top cross pipe, you had a great view of the sight at which it is pointing. We have found some interesting tidbits by geocaching.

Goblin Valley State Park

Cowboys searching for cattle first discovered secluded Goblin Valley. They came to a vantage point about a mile west of Goblin Valley and were awed by what they saw, five buttes and a valley of strange-shaped rock formations surrounded by a wall of eroded cliffs.

In 1949, Chaffin returned to the area he called Mushroom Valley. He spent several days exploring the mysterious valley and photographing its scores of intricately eroded creatures. He kept the place a secret until the area was acquired by the state of Utah and officially designated a state park.

 We made Duke's Campground in Hanksville our basecamp while visiting the small 3 square mile Goblin Valley State Park between Green River and Hanksville, Utah. It turned out to be a good plan to drive the 28 miles back rather than take our trailer and hope for a parking space on our way to Green River. The lot was small and filled up quickly. 

The small state park campground was full. The yurts were pretty cool nestled in the rocks. There is a lot of BLM dry camping options outside of the park along the San Rafael Swell. We wouldn't mind spending more time and exploring the area more.

The Valley of Goblins has three established trails, which lead to overlooks and deep within the maze of sandstone formations. We took the Goblin's Lair Trail first. But the best thing was that we were allowed to hike freely off trail, to explore the hoodoos, mushrooms, or goblins on our own.

This strange and colorful landscape is filled with bizarre sandstone rock formations called goblins. Visitors can wander off-trail to explore the geology and hike among the nooks and gnomes.

The three sisters

The next day it was smooth sailing to Fruita, Colorado.

Moving On

Friends for the moment, season or lifetime

So the old Norwegian saying goes. Those friends fill us up in different ways as we travel through this life. Each person is unique and gives us new insight, ideas or just joy.

We have spent the past five winters in Mesa. I just wasn't ready to give up a job with that much flexibility and great pay. The trade off was that we often found ourselves leaving places and rushing through others to get back there in the required timeframe. Sometimes you just realize it is time to move on. Bike riding and hiking made those last 3 months pass quickly. In no time and we were packing up to leave.



Our 30 mile ride to Tempe Towne Lake

A favorite place for mountain biking

Lunch after a ride.



Pulling your home around on the back of your truck over bumpy roads can cause damage. Fortunately, Mike keeps an eye out for potential problems. We needed a place to leave our trailer while we returned to Colorado for a ski holiday that we had planned sometime ago. Leaving the trailer at the repair shop for three weeks worked out great for us, even if we have to drive back to Arizona before starting out again. It was also easier than pulling it through snow.

Vail Resorts has been buying up multiple resorts and the pass prices have been going up. Who would pay over $200 for a day of skiing? It is a good way for Vail to promote their season pass, keeping skiers in their network. Our last season pass was $1000 each. This year they offered a pass for veterans and spouses a pass for $500 each, upon verifying their honorable discharge. Mike spent four years in the Air Force so we took them up on it and booked a condo for our stay.



Monument Valley Tribal Park

We left Arizona a day early to avoid the record setting snow storm that was in the forecast. Staying in Kayenta an extra day allowed for us to explore Monument Valley which isn't really near anyplace but only 22 miles from our hotel. There isn't much available for restaurants so we made due with Subway and McDonalds since it is the off season.

Monument Valley Tribal Park

There is a $20 fee to enter the park. But most of the facilities were closed and no one to pay. There are several tour companies and the lady that I had spoken to said we wouldn't need a reservation. The tour guides would be in the parking lot. The prices had doubled when we asked how much at the little shed. As we walked away to "think about it" another man offered to take us on the tour at a cheaper price.

As we took a walk to decide if we wanted to take the drive, the storm rolled in. The tour sounds like a good time with stories about all of the movies that had been filmed in the area. We could have driven the 17 mile route ourselves but the dirt roads looked pretty iffy.

Goulding, Arizona

A couple of miles from the Park in the opposite direction was the town of Goulding.

Goulding, AZ



Goulding has a great museum with a lot of movie memorabilia and stories about the Gouldings that founded the town. John Wayne's cabin below was used for a prop that he walked out of in a movie. The cabin was named John Wayne's because it sounded more interesting than the potato shed that it really was.



Mike found a hiking trail but it got slick pretty quickly.



Arches National Park

It had been several years since our last visit to Arches. The off season was much more pleasant without the crowds. 

The snow crunching under our feet was the only sound we heard as we walked in the falling snow.



My contracts as a traveling nurse were for 13-20 weeks, giving us time to become part of each community and explore it more thoroughly. Using Arizona as a base for six months and traveling the other six, we found ourselves rushed in order to be back in Arizona within my six month return date. We want to spend more time in places rather than being tourists passing though. For the next year, our plans are to volunteer in state parks allowing us to spend at least a month in each location.

We look forward to the places and adventures ahead of us, along with new friends whether they are for the moment, season or lifetime.