Capitol Reef National Park

In Fruita, Utah, in the heart of the Waterpocket Fold, there is an oasis in this desert canyon country.  Mormon pioneers settled this area in the late 1800s, irrigating their fields and orchards from the always flowing Fremont River.  Today the orchards are maintained by the park service, and there are wonderful hikes through the canyons.

There is a 71 site campground set in a former orchard, and still adjacent to apple and pear trees.  With no reservations accepted, we understand why the park service now advices to arrive by 10am to get a campsite.  So after boondocking our first night, we arrived by 8am and secured a site surrounded by Fall-golden trees.  Immediately, we headed over to the Gifford Farm house where we picked up a cinnamon bun, an apple pie, and a strawberry rhubarb pie (all 6").  Over the next few days, we also entered the apple orchard and picked apples...nothing better than fresh picked!

 

So much for R&R........the main event was to hike some special trails.  One day we biked the park road to the Grand Wash trailhead.  Parked our bikes and headed out the wash through the Narrows.  Tall canyon walls closed in to 16 feet, as we walked the wash.

One of Morey's top ten all-time hikes was on tap for another day.  Starting at a trailhead just across from our campground, we hiked up the Cohab Canyon trail to the mesa top, then split off on the Frying Pan trail (called this because there is no shade?), and then to the Cassidy Arch trail.  

After over 7.5 miles and over 1,500 feet in elevation, there was no way we were going to walk back to the campground.  Morey said, no problem, we'll hitch hike; so we surveyed cars leaving the trail head at the Cassidy Arch trail; no takers, so we started walking.  A car approached, and we were successful snagging a ride back to the campground.  Whew!