Our chapter of the Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) had an early October outing planned for Capitol Reef National Park. Unfortunately, we did not learn about the trip until it was too late to reserve a campsite in the park.
So, we did the next best thing and booked a site in a commercial RV park in nearby Torrey, Utah. It’s a nice enough campground, but as it is with most commercial RV parks, the sites are sandwiched close together.
The CMC outing was to be a three-night affair. We added an extra night to give me a day to research and photograph the Notom-Bullfrog Road for a Back-of-Beyond story for Utah Life magazine.
The mostly gravel road parallels a long wrinkle in the earth known as the Waterpocket Fold through the park and beyond.
We pulled into our campsite in Torrey at dusk and quickly hooked up our water and electric connections. We then checked the internet for the next day’s weather.
FLASH FLOOD WARNING it screamed at us.
I needed to think twice about my planned drive down a backcountry dirt road that crossed many, many normally dry washes. Years ago, we got stranded on the Hole in the Rock Road because of a flash flood. It was a multi-day, tuck-n-go situation trying desperately to keep the beer cooler in the shade to preserve what was left of the ice.
The morning dawned dry, so I decided to give the drive a try. I packed extra food and warm clothing into the truck and set off down the road. If it started to rain, I promised myself, I would immediately turn around and head back.
Of course, it did start to sprinkle, and of course, I continued driving. I could have bailed out at Bullfrog on the shores of Powell Reservoir…
…and taken the highway back, but I didn’t. Instead, I went with my original plan and doubled back to the Burr Trail Switchbacks and on to the little town of Boulder, Utah.
That meant I would have to once again cross the one and only truly patchy place on the Notom-Bullfrog road – a deep gully with a small stream running through. As a precaution, I went wimp and shifted into 4×4 low range. Went through like a champ.
I next had to climb the Burr Trail Switchbacks that zigzag up the cliffs…
…with a 12% grade. It’s steep and there are no guardrails. This is not the place for flatlanders to drive.
Years ago, the county was going to pave the Burr Trail all the way from Boulder to Bullfrog, including the miles in the park. Apparently, the National Park Service said, “Hell no, you’re not going to pave in the park!” Supposedly the county had to remove a bit of pavement they had poured onto park property. Once I left the park on the Burr Trail, I had pavement all the way.
The upper Burr Trail offered a beautiful drive with redrock cliffs and the golden cottonwoods of autumn. In Boulder, I turned onto Utah Highway 12 and followed it back to our campground in Torrey. It was here that the rain came down with a vengeance. I’m guessing that the slot canyons we were going to hike on the following days will be cancelled.
It rained through the night with drops of water drumbeating on the trailer roof. I felt sorry for anyone camping in a tent. With the rain continuing off and on through the morning, other of our CMC friends went for a hike. We decided to just stay warm and dry in our trailer. Tomorrow, we hike.
With the park’s Scenic Drive closed due to flooding, all 14 of us CMC hikers set out on the Cohab Trail, which begins with views of the Gifford Homestead below.
The route wanders by cliffs capped with domes of white rock.
The lighting was nice, and I lingered back taking photos.
About halfway along the trail, another trail breaks off and heads for Cassidy Arch, which was our group’s goal. Dianne and I had done that hike before, so we abandoned the group and continued down the Cohab Trail to its exit along Highway 24 across from the Hickman Bridge Trailhead.
We originally thought about hiking to Hickman, but when we saw the stuffed parking lot and cars parked along the highway for a quarter mile in each direction, we decided to avoid the crowd, We would just walk along the highway back to our truck, admiring sites and sights along the way.
We passed orchards…
…and walked the boardwalk past Capitol Reef’s somewhat unimpressive petroglyph panels.
Mostly we just looked around, enjoying the beauty of towering redrock walls…
…skirted with autumn’s golden leaves.
Tomorrow, we will pack up and make the long (56 miles) drive to Hanksville for a three-night stay at Duke’s.