Long Weekend in Capitol Reef, or Remeber the Sandstorm Scene in "Hildalgo?"
Apr 22nd, 2008, 05:47 PM
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Long Weekend in Capitol Reef, or Remeber the Sandstorm Scene in "Hildalgo?"
Quick trip report for the Fodorites heading to Capitol Reef. Planned a few weeks ahead for a badly needed long weekend break.
Since it was rather early in the season and we've been having a cooler than normal spring, I decided not to tent camp and to stay at a B&B in Torrey that has received good reviews, The Sky Ridge Inn. This turned out to be a very good decision....
Drove down from Park City to Capitol Reef in 4 hours, including 2 pit stops since I tend to drink a lot of caffiene when on the road! If driving from SLC, plan on 3.5 hours at the most.
Saturday was warm, in the low 70's, but quite windy due to the cold front that was approaching northern Utah (snow predicted). Headed for a short hike first thing and chose the Cohab Canyon trail which was a new one for me. I chose to go just as far as the spur trails for the overlook viewpoints and hiked about 2 miles total. This canyon is beautiful and has great scenery, fortunately it was sheltered from the strong wind which made the hike very nice. Red rocks that look like Swiss cheese, or sometimes like old chrome grills on a 50's car, took a picture of one that looked like a laughing croc!
Then on to check in at the Sky Ridge and Jerry showed me to my room, the Juniper room. Charming with a whole wall of windows facing east (toward the park) and a small private terrace, large jaccuzi tub in the bath. Quick clean up and joined the other guests in the living room for snacks and wine. What a nice group of people. Guests were from PA, WI, MN, CA, UT and Paris!
Zipped down the hwy in Torrey to FINALLY
Rats, I've done it again. Lost the whole thing. To be continued.
Since it was rather early in the season and we've been having a cooler than normal spring, I decided not to tent camp and to stay at a B&B in Torrey that has received good reviews, The Sky Ridge Inn. This turned out to be a very good decision....
Drove down from Park City to Capitol Reef in 4 hours, including 2 pit stops since I tend to drink a lot of caffiene when on the road! If driving from SLC, plan on 3.5 hours at the most.
Saturday was warm, in the low 70's, but quite windy due to the cold front that was approaching northern Utah (snow predicted). Headed for a short hike first thing and chose the Cohab Canyon trail which was a new one for me. I chose to go just as far as the spur trails for the overlook viewpoints and hiked about 2 miles total. This canyon is beautiful and has great scenery, fortunately it was sheltered from the strong wind which made the hike very nice. Red rocks that look like Swiss cheese, or sometimes like old chrome grills on a 50's car, took a picture of one that looked like a laughing croc!
Then on to check in at the Sky Ridge and Jerry showed me to my room, the Juniper room. Charming with a whole wall of windows facing east (toward the park) and a small private terrace, large jaccuzi tub in the bath. Quick clean up and joined the other guests in the living room for snacks and wine. What a nice group of people. Guests were from PA, WI, MN, CA, UT and Paris!
Zipped down the hwy in Torrey to FINALLY
Rats, I've done it again. Lost the whole thing. To be continued.
Apr 23rd, 2008, 04:15 AM
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Oh sure, Dayle. It's bad enough that I'm extremely envious of your proximity to all those great parks in Utah. But then you go and leave me hanging.... only kidding.
How wonderful to be able to zip down to Capitol Reef (one of our favorites). And it's good to hear that Sky Ridge Inn was good - it has gotten terrible reviews over the past few years but I think it's under new mgt.
We loved Cohab Canyon hike - didn't go all the way either since it started raining and got stormy. But we took a million pics of all those incredible dripping rocks and weird formations. Love that stuff!!
Looking forward to hearing the rest.
How wonderful to be able to zip down to Capitol Reef (one of our favorites). And it's good to hear that Sky Ridge Inn was good - it has gotten terrible reviews over the past few years but I think it's under new mgt.
We loved Cohab Canyon hike - didn't go all the way either since it started raining and got stormy. But we took a million pics of all those incredible dripping rocks and weird formations. Love that stuff!!
Looking forward to hearing the rest.
Apr 23rd, 2008, 05:02 PM
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Ahem,
So I finally got to dine at Cafe Diablo! I somehow always manage to be there when they are closed for the "season". Come to find out why, the owner and chef, Gary, is a man with his priorities straight. He closes when ski season starts and doesn't open up again until Alta closes down in mid-April.
Food lived up to its rep. They brought a complimentary plate of maninated, grilled vegetables. I chose a warm, wild mushroom and fresh spinach salad, followed by UT lamb with an interesting kind of bean salsa or something. Anyway it was all excellent. I only eat dessert at the best restaurants, so here the calories would be worthwhile! Had a killer rich choloclate mousse with homemade raspberry ice cream. YUM! Presentation and food was all very creative and very good.
Back to my cozy room with the winds gusting outside. Enjoyed the jetted tub with a glass of wine, some Native American flute music and the full moon outside. Doesn't get much better than that. And, yes, the Sky Ridge is in a rather private location.
Sunday the winds were even worse, cold. Dust muted the sky and rocks. Rather than hike, I decided to drive the 60 mi. dirt road loop out to Cathedral Valley. Another new adventure.
My opinon: don't do this trip unless you have more than 5 days in Capitol Reef. For most visitors the long drive would not be the best use of time. The best part is the actual Cathedral Valley, which is 30 mi. in on the road. The rest of the loop got very tedious for me and I didn't care for the scenery as much as what is in the more accessible areas of the park. Wind was so bad I didn't want to get out of the car, let alone expose my new digial to the sandstorm.
I only saw 3 others cars in the 5 hours out there. Did I mention you have to drive across (into) the Fremont River at the start? Easy, but I wouldn't want to do it without 4x4.
Monday - the winds died down and today was beautiful, a bit warmer. Perfect to try the Golden Throne hike I've been wanting to do for so long. The trailhead is at the end of the dirt road to Capitol Gorge, at the end of the scenic drive.
What a great hike! 4 mi. round trip and even though it's 1,100 ft. (not much by western standards) elevation gain, not strenuous. Gain is gradual with great scenery the whole way.
Out of the hikes I've done at Capitol Reef (most of them), my ranking:
1. Golden Throne
2. Cohab Canyon
3. Hickman Bridge
More later!
So I finally got to dine at Cafe Diablo! I somehow always manage to be there when they are closed for the "season". Come to find out why, the owner and chef, Gary, is a man with his priorities straight. He closes when ski season starts and doesn't open up again until Alta closes down in mid-April.
Food lived up to its rep. They brought a complimentary plate of maninated, grilled vegetables. I chose a warm, wild mushroom and fresh spinach salad, followed by UT lamb with an interesting kind of bean salsa or something. Anyway it was all excellent. I only eat dessert at the best restaurants, so here the calories would be worthwhile! Had a killer rich choloclate mousse with homemade raspberry ice cream. YUM! Presentation and food was all very creative and very good.
Back to my cozy room with the winds gusting outside. Enjoyed the jetted tub with a glass of wine, some Native American flute music and the full moon outside. Doesn't get much better than that. And, yes, the Sky Ridge is in a rather private location.
Sunday the winds were even worse, cold. Dust muted the sky and rocks. Rather than hike, I decided to drive the 60 mi. dirt road loop out to Cathedral Valley. Another new adventure.
My opinon: don't do this trip unless you have more than 5 days in Capitol Reef. For most visitors the long drive would not be the best use of time. The best part is the actual Cathedral Valley, which is 30 mi. in on the road. The rest of the loop got very tedious for me and I didn't care for the scenery as much as what is in the more accessible areas of the park. Wind was so bad I didn't want to get out of the car, let alone expose my new digial to the sandstorm.
I only saw 3 others cars in the 5 hours out there. Did I mention you have to drive across (into) the Fremont River at the start? Easy, but I wouldn't want to do it without 4x4.
Monday - the winds died down and today was beautiful, a bit warmer. Perfect to try the Golden Throne hike I've been wanting to do for so long. The trailhead is at the end of the dirt road to Capitol Gorge, at the end of the scenic drive.
What a great hike! 4 mi. round trip and even though it's 1,100 ft. (not much by western standards) elevation gain, not strenuous. Gain is gradual with great scenery the whole way.
Out of the hikes I've done at Capitol Reef (most of them), my ranking:
1. Golden Throne
2. Cohab Canyon
3. Hickman Bridge
More later!
Apr 23rd, 2008, 06:15 PM
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On to dinner - tried out the Rim Rock restaurant. Their menu is rather limited, but I went for the fresh trout seared in butter w/ pinenuts, baked potato and delicious grilled mixed veggies. All very good, attentive server.
More about the Sky Ridge - the innkeepers have had the inn about 6 years I think she said. Before that they had a inn in OK. Shauna's breakfasts were excellent and PM snacks good. Jerry's homemade granola was so great I took the recipe home. Everyone seemed to enjoy the breakfasts very much.
My room was very nice, first class furnishings and amenities. TV and mini CD player and a few CDs provided. I had a chance to peek at most of the rooms over 3 days and they were all very nice. One had a private hot tub, but there is a shared hot tub for all.
I would definitely return.
Anyway, hope this helps for some up coming trips. Glad to answer questions.
sharondi - thanks always for your nice comments! Look forward to meeting you at a UT GTG someday. How are the flowers doing?
More about the Sky Ridge - the innkeepers have had the inn about 6 years I think she said. Before that they had a inn in OK. Shauna's breakfasts were excellent and PM snacks good. Jerry's homemade granola was so great I took the recipe home. Everyone seemed to enjoy the breakfasts very much.
My room was very nice, first class furnishings and amenities. TV and mini CD player and a few CDs provided. I had a chance to peek at most of the rooms over 3 days and they were all very nice. One had a private hot tub, but there is a shared hot tub for all.
I would definitely return.
Anyway, hope this helps for some up coming trips. Glad to answer questions.
sharondi - thanks always for your nice comments! Look forward to meeting you at a UT GTG someday. How are the flowers doing?
Apr 23rd, 2008, 06:48 PM
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Dayle,
What a great trip! And now I have another great excuse to get back to Cap Reef - Golden Throne trail.
We really enjoyed our meal (and the view) at Rim Rock too.
The flowering trees are putting on quite a show here in upstate NY. It's really gorgeous! And our weather has been perfect for almost 2 wks - 70's-low 80's/50's at night. We're loving it.
What a great trip! And now I have another great excuse to get back to Cap Reef - Golden Throne trail.
We really enjoyed our meal (and the view) at Rim Rock too.
The flowering trees are putting on quite a show here in upstate NY. It's really gorgeous! And our weather has been perfect for almost 2 wks - 70's-low 80's/50's at night. We're loving it.
Apr 24th, 2008, 08:11 AM
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sharondi,
I woke up to 2 new inches of spring snow this morning. It was even snowing in SLC at work, but not really sticking. Just lifted a bit. Blubs and trees are trying to bloom, but they are definitely late this year!
Ciao!
I woke up to 2 new inches of spring snow this morning. It was even snowing in SLC at work, but not really sticking. Just lifted a bit. Blubs and trees are trying to bloom, but they are definitely late this year!
Ciao!
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