Capitol Reef National Park: A time of need

We were on the road from Bryce by 11am; only two hours after our goal. The night was freezing. A bottle of water was left out and froze overnight. Brad was a good distance away from the campsite. He found a happy place for his hammock which was nestled between trees and hills. We honked and yelled for him but no answer. Time went by and no Brad. We were 90% packed and ready to go and Brad is seen strolling down the road. He said it was just too cold to get out of his hammock which was a good enough reason to the rest of us. We put the fire out and hit the road.

Utah has some amazing landscapes to drive through and look at. The drive is not boring like that of Illinois or North Dakota. Beautiful it may be, to live here is another story. Everything is in the middle of nowhere and that’s quite an issue. It makes prices go up and my bank account go down; not a fan of it. The views might be priceless but to pay double for something I could get at Walmart for half the price isn’t worth it.

We stopped at a viewpoint on our way to Capitol Reef National Park and from there on, it seemed like the blue horned Gus Bus was gathering attention. Instead of tourists taking pictures of views we’ve never seen, they were taking pictures of the van. It is definitely one of the more characteristic vehicles I’ve been in. With stickers all over the sides and a full roof, this van grabs more attention than the Oscar Meyer Mobile.

Entering Capitol Reef we were exposed to more red rock and cliffs overlooking us. After Native American’s inhabited the land, they built irrigation ditches and started to plant. In the middle of a canyon they had their own farm for beans, wheat and corn. Later on some Mormons discovered the land and grew apple, peaches and cherry trees which are still a thing today. The park takes care of the trees and during certain times, you are allowed to grab fruit for free as long as you follow the rules. After stopping at the visitor center which was more informative, to my opinion, than Bryce, we ran across the street for some fresh apples.

Afterwards we gathered back at the Gus Bus and discussed plans. Spencer and John’s feet were in rough shape, Rob and I were not highly motivated, so the four of us went disc golfing while the others went on a backpacking trip. After getting some dinner we played a couple holes before the sun went down. After searching for our camping spot, we played some movies and called it a night. Spencer got food poisoning from subway, as well as some others that went backpacking.

We packed up the van and headed over to the trail head on where the others should have been coming out. The trail guide didn’t say anything about fording a river at the end of the hike and we were supposed to meet up with the other four halfway but didn’t feel like crossing a waist deep river. Instead, we went into town and got some lunch and played with some Wifi. After that we looked for the others at the trail again but no luck. John was quite enthused about building a bridge across the river and he was really the only one; he didn’t get much sleep due to the cold and I think that may have been a reason.

John said to leave him be, so the three of us went on an adventure to see if the other four came out somewhere else. While searching, I found a unique wall that I had to stop at it. I have dubbed the wall as Swiss Mountain. The wall was filled with holes and small little caverns that sometimes connected to each other. We were expecting the backpackers to finish around 2PM so we head back. We picked John up and headed east to look for them some more. We went back to the trailhead and waited…and waited…and waited. 3:30 came around and a head popped up from a bush and it was Brad. He was as excited to see us as a dog waits for their owner to get home from work. Sarah popped out behind him and we were all excited.

Apparently Sarah and Craig had food poisoning and puked a couple of times on their hike. There were some slick parts on the trail and Brad fell a couple times; his head went under at least once. The water was super cold and according to Brad, worse than Zion. I saw the photos that Craig took and I missed out on some great views but at the same time it was a nice smooth and calm day for me.

We got the Gus Bus all organized and headed for Moab where I currently reside. We got a cheap room at the Super 8 and we’re having a blast watching TV and having some brews. Some are swimming, some are watching the tube and I’m writing to all of you. Time for some R&R and some updates to the website as a whole…I’m going to add some more bars with the parks that I have been to, and have the main one as Yellowstone to make things easier for people who may look for a particular park.  I also hope to have a “Gallery” tab where people will be able to email me on prices for photos posted in this section. Hopefully that will take off…We shall see what happens.

Until the end of Arches and another internet connection,

MacKeag