Pongo's Trip to CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK: A Trip Report

[Pongo]

Hello, friends. A few days ago I got back from a Spring Break trip to Capitol Reef National Park in south-central Utah. Before this trip, it was a place I had never heard of before, but after the trip, I'm now completely amazed by the place and slightly in love with Utah. Without further ado:

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

MYSELF, a relative newcomer to backpacking and a complete newcomer to the state of Utah.
MATT, a friend from school (University of Montana) and someone who hadn't been to Utah since he was a kid.
BRIAN, kind of the brains behind the operation; it was his idea to go to Capitol Reef.

SCENE

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK, just outside of TORREY, UTAH

DAY ONE

We drove through much of western Montana (almost to Butte, down through Dillon and Beaverhead), eventually getting into Idaho (driving through Idaho Falls and Pocatello). The sun set about halfway through Idaho. It was dark when we reached the Utah border and we rolled into the Sugarhouse portion of Salt Lake City around 11 PM on Saturday, March 27th.



The last exit in Montana:

And the sign going into Idaho:

Sunset:

Matt filling up the gas tank in Dubois, Idaho with the sun setting behind him:

My feeble attempt at capturing the "Welcome to Utah" sign at night:

Next up, day two.

 

[Laura]

Hello, friends. A few days ago I got back from a Spring Break trip to Capitol Reef National Park in south-central Utah. Before this trip, it was a place I had never heard of before, but after the trip, I'm now completely amazed by the place and slightly in love with Utah.

I haven't been to Capitol Reef, but I went to Zion, Arches, and Lake Powell over the summer and I was blown away. I would have never given Utah a second thought before, but now I think it's the most phenomenal state in the country.

 

[Pongo]

DAY TWO

We woke up in Salt Lake City and decided to make a delicious breakfast of various forms of egg. I had my first ever poached egg, and apart from the slime-like texture, I enjoyed it. The three of us, along with Brian's friend Charlie, went to a park to slackline a little bit in the beautiful Salt Lake spring weather. Then we left to get some topo maps at an REI store (where we smartly bought a box of Samoas Girl Scout cookies) and then hit the road to Capitol Reef.

The drive was absolutely beautiful and a little snowy until we got just outside the park. At that point, white snow gave way to warm, red rocks. We drove to the visitor's center to get backcountry permits for backpacking, but, seeing at is was Sunday, the office was closed. Instead, we picked up a touristy trail map and hit up a small 2ish mile trail that went from the bottom of a gorge to the top of an arch. It was an incredibly beautiful hike. Along the way to the top, we left the trail a couple times to do some intense rock climbing and get a little higher above the trail. When we got to the arch, it was amazing and huge and precarious and awesome. After playing around a little bit, we walked back down as the sun set and drove out to some BLM lands just outside the park in which to pitch our tent. We had a delicious dinner of lentils and rice and went to bed in in our single, cozy tent.



The park in Salt Lake City where we slacklined. The mountains in the background are the Wasatch range:

Myself slacklining with Matt and the mountains watching over me:

Driving south, mountains on the other side of the valley from Salt Lake City:

Some more mountain shots from the drive:

 

[Pongo]

Pretty soon we saw this sign:

But there was still a long way to go, so we took a p e e break along the side of the road outside of Sigurd:

As we kept driving, we ran into a typical roadside hazard of the West:

The landscape was really snowy, which kind of killed my spirit, seeing as I escaped to Utah for warmth:

There wasn't much space left for the snow to disappear:

But pretty soon the snow was gone and it was warm and sunny and reddish:

With just a little bit of snow in the shady areas:

 

[Pongo]

Eventually we reached the entrance to the park!:

Cool formations all around, with the Henry Mountains in the background:

Closed:

From the Visitor's Center parking lot:

 

[Pongo]

There were old mines in the Grand Wash, where we went for our short hike:

This formation was called "Fern's Nipple," which, I admit, is appropriate, but still a little weird:

 

[Pongo]

Most of the rocks were pockmarked with these really mysterious holes. They were beautiful:

For perspective:

The back of Brian's head and the mountain across from us as we hiked:

A lot of the rocks had some really beautiful and strange color designs:

 

[tiaragirl]

Luke, it's GORGEOUS. What a great spring break.

 

[Pongo]

The sun was beginning to set a little bit, which made for some really dramatic light features in the gorge:

The view down into the gorge after setting out:

And looking out:

Myself looking out:

Across the gorge we found a rock formation that looked a little like a chicken:

Sometimes the rocks looked like they had been totally pulverized. So weird:

Our first rock climbing adventure brought us here:

 

[Pongo]

We eventually decided to make out way up to the little feature on the top left:

But first a little reflection time:

Then we climbed. I was a novice, so Brian took the end of the train just in case I fell. He could then break my fall:

Some views from our summit:

 

[Nemo14]

Luke - great pictures - now you have to go back and see Bryce and Zion!!!! :sohappy::sohappy:

 

[Uponastar]

Astonishing.
I love the striated coloring in the rocks.
Makes them look fluid.

 

[Pongo]

You can see Brian's car way down there:

The Nipple and the Rock Chicken all in one shot:

But the hike wasn't done here. We climbed back down to the trail and made our way to the arch, still about a mile down the trail:

The landscape was super dynamic. The formation types were always changing:

You can see the Waterpocket Fold, Capitol Reef's main attraction, off in the distance in this one:

And a little closer:

From our highest point that day looking down into the gorge. You can see a car in the bottom right:

 

[Nemo14]

Astonishing.
I love the striated coloring in the rocks.
Makes them look fluid.

what she said ^

 

[Pongo]

Cassidy Arch; or, the reason we were hiking here:

Matt and I decided to go on top of it:

A close-up:

Myself looking into the space below the arch:

I love seeing the moon in the daytime:

Thus ends day two.

 

[Pongo]

DAY THREE

We woke up with the sun and made a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and grape nuts, then drove into the park to obtain our backcountry permits. They were free, and we decided to hike both the Upper and Lower Muley Twist Canyon trails. They were two loops that looked like they would last us about three days, which is what we were hoping for.

To get to the trailheads, we had to leave the park, go through the Dixie National Forest, over Boulder Mountain, through the town of Boulder, through Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument, finally ending up back inside the park at the south portion. All-in-all, it was about a two hour drive.

We got on the trail around one and began hiking. It was really more of a creek than a trail, and it required us to actually be INSIDE the creek most of the time, sometimes almost waist-deep in very cold, snowmelt water. Honestly, it was one of the coolest things I have ever done. Walking through slot canyons and wading through creeks... it was exactly what I wanted out of this trip.

We hiked all the way to the source of the creek, at which point the canyon we were walking in ended. From there we had to follow the "trail" up the side of the cliff, which required considerable amounts of mild rock climbing and scrambling (with a 40-pound pack, mind you). When we reached the top, we had incredible views of the Waterpocket Fold, the Strike Valley, and the Henry Mountains.

We pitched our tent on the ridge, sheltered from the wind behind some juniper trees. I made a dinner of curried quinoa and carrots that night. It was delicious. We were all pretty tired and slept well.



Our tent, and Brian, reluctant to get out:

Our campsite on the BLM land:

A model of the park/Waterpocket Fold inside the visitor's center. The VC is somewhere near the top of this picture. We hiked somewhere just above the sign at the bottom:

Some woman at a kiosk as part of an overlook in the Dixie National Forest/Boulder Mountain on our way to the trailhead. Notice all the snow again:

So snowy. It was amazing that we could go from no snow and heat up into feet of snow and cold, back down to dry heat in a matter of an hour:

Back down in red rock country:

A valley we had to drive through on our way to Muley:

In the distance you can see Peekaboo Arch, where our trailhead began:

Closer to Peekaboo Arch, where we set off on the trail:

And Peekaboo Arch from the trail/creek:

 

[Pongo]

A double arch somewhere along the trail. So stunning:

We took a snack break inside a gnarled tree:

Brian found a cool pinecone:

Some cool features on a climbing break:

Myself up high:

And working my way back down. It was pretty steep. Crab-walking was very helpful:

 

[Pongo]

We ended up playing in this really idyllic oasis-type area with some nice wading pools and really cook clay-mud. We got really wet and dirty, and after a short break, we had to clean up and head back out:

Our Eden:

Very relaxing:

Further down we found this beauty:

And just had to climb up to it:

We got directly underneath it:

 

[Pongo]

After, it was back to hiking in the river:

Then we had to scramble up some rocks. Not these ones, they were on the other side from us:

The sun was setting quickly, and we had to get up to the top soon:

Climbing higher:

This is where the creek started as a trickle:

The last push to the top:

 

[Pongo]

Finally! The top!:

It was so beautiful.

DAY FOUR

I only took a few pictures for the rest of the trip, mostly because I just didn't feel like taking anymore, but also because my camera decided to stop working regularly. But it's okay.

This day we ended up hiking 22 miles. We walked out of the Upper Muley area, got back in the car, drove a mile down the road, and set out on the Lower Muley Twist Canyon trail, which was dramatically different in landscape. We hiked about half of this trail, maybe more, and went to bed in a beautiful clearing in the canyon. We were all so exhausted.



That third morning we awoke to this:

Looking down the Waterpocket Fold to the north:

This is what our "trail" looked like:

My last picture, a huge opening looking into the Fold:

We stopped after a little ways to make a delicious breakfast of pancakes and peanut butter, then we continued on for the 22 miles hike that we accidentally ended up doing. Really, that's the best kind of hike.

DAY FIVE

We hiked the rest of the Lower Muley, which took us into the Fold and back up to the trailhead where we parked the car. We then decided to drive to an established campsite (mostly because we were desiring toilet paper). At the campsite, we built a nice, warm fire in a fire pit and made the most delicious from-a-powdered-mix veggie burgers I have ever had. Granted, I haven't had too many of those, but these burgers were absolutely incredible. With extra sharp cheddar cheese and tortillas and Cholula hot sauce... so good. But then again, in the backcountry we always say that hunger is the best spice. God, it was good.

We stayed up a while talking about all sorts of things before retiring into the tent for the last time. The next morning we were up, eaten, packed, and on the road by 8:40. We drove through the Fold (which was a beautiful drive), out of the park and back to Salt Lake City. We got there in the early afternoon and toured the Mormon Temple Square, which was... an experience, to say the least. That night we made cookies at Brian's friend's house and slept super well.

DAY SIX

We got up early and left Salt Lake and drove the eight hours back to Missoula.



It was probably the best Spring Break I've ever had. What a trip. Everyone should get out into nature and check your nearest National (or even State!) Parks. They truly are a wonder, even the lesser-known ones like Capitol Reef. Your tax dollars are paying for you to enjoy them! Go! See!