Capital Reef

Deb and I made a three day trip to Capital Reef National Park.  My friend and climbing partner, Andrew, has a home in the town of Torrey just outside of the Park.  He offered to let us stay at the house any time.  The drive takes us up over Cedar Mountain and on over to Bryce Canyon and then on down to the town of Escalante and past Calf Creek Falls up to Boulder Mountain and finally down into Torrey.  A very scenic and enjoyable drive.  We ate at a surprisingly good restaurant named Cafe Diablo where we sample grilled rattlesnake.  My memories of Capital Reef are from my teen years when my Dad took us backpacking in the area on a couple of occasions. It is a unique place.  Deb and I hiked several trails and canyoneered down Cassidy Arch Canyon.  The first rappel begins right next to Cassidy Arch and is a 160 foot drop into the slot canyon below.  We had considerable trouble pulling the ropes and we spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out how to do it.  Finally with a little luck and some free climbing on my part, we retrieved our ropes and continued on down the canyon.  It had seven rappels and it was a delightful canyon and very scenic.  It had no water for us to pass through, which made Deb happy. I did get my truck scratched from traveling down a rugged 4-wheel road on the 3rd day.  It was through some awesome canyons on the southern end of the Park.  We hiked up to Lower Calf Creek Falls on the way home.  It is a 6 mile hike and we did it in 2 1/2 hours.  One of the most beautiful spots in Utah.  I think Deb and I will continue to explore and enjoy the other National Parks in Utah from time to time.  Of course we stopped at Oscars on the way home through Zion for dinner.