I've pretty much decided to add a day to my Moab trip (most of 5 days in the Moab area) and spend the extra 6th day in Capitol Reef NP before driving up to Salt Lake City in the evening.

Now I'm waffling a bit.

Lower Calf Creek Falls vs Capitol Reef NP.

I doubt very much I can do both in the same day. Or...

Maybe stay over in Boulder (instead of Torrey). Get up in the morning and take a relaxing hike to the falls between 8AM and 1PM. Drive back up to Capitol Reef and take a driving tour between 2PM and 4-5PM and then leave for SLC.

Doable? Thoughts? Smack me!!!

Let me make the question a bit easier.

Is the Lower Calf Creek Falls hike worth the extra effort to fit it in?

Thanks.

Myer, Lower Calf Creek falls is really wonderful. Will you be driving FROM Moab to the Escalante area that day, and THEN driving to Salt Lake? That's a very long day, IMO.

If it were my trip, I'd take the extra day of your Moab trip and use it to stay in Boulder (better for Calf Creek) and the next day do the hike to both lower AND upper Calf Creek Falls...cool pools and red rock above the big water fall, look for a trail on the right of the main lower pool.

And, if you stay in Boulder, make sure and check out the Hell's Backbone Grill.

KDA

My plan is to be there either on my first or last day.

If the first, I'll drive from Salt Lake City arriving in the evening. I'll sleep in Boulder. The next day I'd start with a morning hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls and then drive over to Capitol Reef around 1-2PM.

Then I'd leave for Moab around 5:30-6PM and possibly stop at Goblin Park arriving in Moab around 9-10PM depending on whether I stop at Goblin or not.

If I go on the last day, I'd get to Boulder in the evening and sleep over. Then hike to the Falls in the morning, go to Capitol Reef around 1-2PM and leave for Salt Lake City around 6PM.

Either way I'd be sleeping over in Boulder the evening before the hike to the Falls.

I'd probably try to stay over at the Boulder Mtn Lodge and eat at the grill.

Best hamburger of my life at Hell's Backbone Grill!

My view? There's better hiking in Capitol Reef than the Lower Calf Creek Falls hike. LCCF is one of the few day hikes in Escalante (which is absolutely stunning) but it is a 3-4 mile (?) hike each way without great views on a very sandy trail - very hard going underfoot without much shade as I recall. The last mile or so is lovely along the river but I think there are better hikes in Capitol Reef.

Escalante is well worth a visit but if it is a trail you are after I think you can do better in Capitol Reef.

IMHO.

Diz01

We loved the Calf Creek Falls hike but as Diz says it's sandy and hard going.
The reasons we enjoyed it so much are because:
I love waterfalls especially ones where you can swim.
We did this hike on a hot afternoon and the propect of a dip in cool water was the carrot that kept us going (my daughter aged 8 isn't a hiker but loves to swim). We'd already hiked the Queens Garden trail at Bryce that morning.

I think what you propose is doable. We did a couple of short hikes at Capitol Reef (including the Hickman Bridge) which you could probably include in your drive through.

Boulder Mountain Lodge has a wonderful hot tub for easing the muscles at the end the day and of course HB grill.

The hike into Lower Calf Creek Falls is about 6 miles...3 each way. I thought it was a wonderful hike and not really difficult since it is level. Yes, it is sandy. It got pretty hot on the way in but the mist coming off the falls cooled us right off. Watch for trout in the stream...we saw many.

To get to Calf Creek Campground where the hike begins you'll drive on the famous Hogsback section of Hwy 12 which is always a thrill and there are numerous scenic pull outs.

I'd also suggest driving a few miles south past the campground on Rt 12 to just past the Kiva Koffeehouse (you should stop to check that out too...a unique structure). That stretch of Hwy 12 is the most scenic and it will only take a few minutes.

I think that staying at the Boulder Mountain Lodge, dining at the Hell's Backbone Grill, hiking into Lower Calf Creek Falls and including a little drive down Hwy 12 make this a very attractive idea. The drive up and over Boulder Mountain is stunning as well.

I like the idea. Email me Meyer, I have another idea for you in that area.

Ok. Let me explain further.

At my age (ouch) I only do "easy". Since I'm an amateur photog, I'm most interested in the spectacular sights rather than the challenge of a long, steep hike.

I took a look at the Capitol Reef hikes and the only ones I'd probably do is one of Capitol Gorge or Grand Wash. Maybe part of another. I'd right the scenic road making stops.

I don't mind a hike taking a few hours (I trained for a month before the last trip to Bryce, Zion & Sedona) as I expect to be in reasonable shape.
However, I don't hang from chains, do steep, etc.

Having said that, I'm trying to decide if I'd be better taking it easy in Capitol Reef and maybe just driving down Route 12 below Torrey and stopping as I see sights/views that are of interest. If I did that I would stay in Torrey the night before and leave for SLC around 5-6PM for a flight the next day.

On the other hand, i like the photos I've seen of the Falls. If that's the only part of a 5-6 miles hike that's of interest, the price may not be worth the reward.

Just looking for some guidance/opinions.

IMHO the Calf Creek hike and the Grand Wash hike are similar in that both are on level sand. The falls at the end of the trail make Calf Creek more worth it where there's no real reward at the end of the Grand Wash hike. If you aren't hiking at Capitol Reef then you can do the scenic drive in an hour or so.

The hike to Hickman Bridge in CR is only a mile and is a lovely hike although it goes uphill then back down. The grade isn't bad and no climbing up chains or using hands is required. We met a couple in their 70s walking into the bridge and they seemed to be having fun. It would be a good place to stretch your legs on the drive from Moab to Boulder.

The drive from Torrey to Boulder over Boulder Mountain takes you to 11,000 feet and out of the red rocks and into
an alpine forest and down again. It is quite scenic up there as well.

Staying at The Boulder Mountain Lodge sets you up nicely for a morning either hiking into Lower Calf Creek Falls or perhaps heading down the Hole In The Rock Rd. to The Devils Garden where no hiking is required and the photo ops are right there at the parking lot like this:

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/85698055

Mapquest puts the drive from Moab to Boulder at 3.5 hours. An early departure from Moab would give you time to drive to Capitol Reef, hike to Hickman Bridge, drive the scenic drive then go over the mountain to the Boulder Mountain Lodge for a nice soak in the spa and meal at Hell's Backbone Grill. Then up early and down The Hogsback to the campground/trailhead or to the Devil's Garden as you choose.

From the lodge in Boulder to the trailhead for Lower Calf Creek Falls will only take about 20 minutes or so...it is close.

If you choose to down the Hole In The Rock Road to the Devil's Garden instead
then that will take a little less than an hour from the lodge. Either option will end up taking about the same amount of time to accomplish since you have to spend a couple of hours hiking in and out of the falls whereas the Devil's Garden is just driving and no hiking.

I have to say that I love the hike into the falls but, as a photographer, the Devil's Garden is more photogenic.

I agree wholeheartedly with peterboy although I've not done the Devils garden hike. The waterfall at Calf Creek Falls is very photogenic (and while we were there we photographed birds circling above the falls) but the rest of the hike is not.
Do consider the Hickman Bridge hike.. good photo ops and mostly gradual inclines not too steep.

BTW, love that photo peterboy!

Peter,

Thanks for all the info. I'll reread it and work out a plan.

I looked at the photo and several others. Really good!!!

However, I have a question. Why are you shooting at 1/60 sec or even slower on so many. Your aperture is about 18. I'm surpirsed they're as sharp as they are. When you get a little older that most likely won't do. I would have shot at 1/160 sec or even faster. You had a lot of room there.

Again, thanks for the info.

I just checked a map and I see that the Devil's Garden road isn't paved.

What's the driving like?

Thanks.

Good observation. I'm a deep DOF fanatic and am relearning (D)SLR after years in digicam land. I got the Oly in early summer..still getting a handle on it. Bryce was driving me nuts! The Oly can do very sharp shots, I just need to chill with the f-stop. Thankfully the e510 has image stabilization!

Do you have a copy of DeLorme's Utah Gazetteer?

It is washboard. It is around 15 miles off Hwy 12 to the Devil's Garden.
It is pretty straight and level so you can move right along...40 mph or so although I went quite a bit faster.

The road doesn't appear to be a problem.

About photos. You can see my Bryce photos at:

www.travelwalks.com

select the Bryce, Zion, etc trip on the lower right side of the page.

I don't know which camera mode you use. I do not use fully-auto mode. In general I use shutter priority although most people seem to use aperture priority.

I set the shutter speed and the camera selects the appropriate aperture. That way I know that the photos will be sharp.

I also noticed that you were using ISO 100. I don't know the quality of the sensor on your camera. However, on mine (Canon 350xt DSLR) I can't tell the difference between ISO 100 & 200 so I use 200 for standard outdoor, daytime photos.

There's another issue you may or may not be aware of. P&S cameras do a lot of internal processing and sharpening on the image. DSLRs do a lot less. Or at least you can set them to your liking.

If you are an avid photog, it's unrealistic to feel you don't need to do post-processing (PP). A bit on the color and sharpening, etc.

Back to the problem at hand. There's a temptation to add yet another day to the trip to encompass the growing western move. Or, since I always seem to get thing done faster than I plan, I may assume I'd leave Moab around noon on the fifth day instead of late in the afternoon.

Getting to Capitol Reef about 3PM would allow for the rest of the day there and then both Calf Creek Falls and the Hole-in-the-Rock Road the next day before leaving for SLC in the early evening or late afternoon.

Why not try to do everything.

Peter,

I forgot to ask.

How far down the road would you plan on going? It looks like it goes 50-60 miles to the end.

Unless you planning on hiking/climbing into a slot canyon then there's no particular reason to go any farther than the Devil's Garden.

I do use Photoshop as lightly as possible mostly a little levels and light unsharp mask (sharpening). I have the camera's noise filter off and in camera sharpening at 0 since I know I can deal with that later. I'm not shooting RAW yet.

Thanks.

Peter,
For a while I considered shooting RAW but couldn't think of enough reason to do so.

Why don't you do a visual comparison between setting the camera at ISO 100 & 200. If you can't see any difference, 200 gives you 1 more stop and that makes a difference if there's little or no quality drop.

I too have my in-camera settings pretty low and adjust later in Photoshop. I too use a moderate amount of USM. With a low contrast setting, I have more chance of retaining the dark and very light details to then be enhanced in Photoshop.

I don't use Levels. I use Curves.

Actually, I got very taken up with learning LAB a year or so back. The good part is that there's really only one book on the topic. By the color guru Dan Margulis. The bad part is that it took me 3 months to read it and I'm about to start it again. Quite a complex topic to learn. But interesting.

The part I like about LAB is the total separation between color and lightness/darkness. You can adjust one without affecting the other. In RGB one affects the other.

I have my process down to taking me well under 1 minute for most photos.

It's interesting how in one program (Photoshop) you can achieve the same results in so many different ways. The trick is to decide on an approach, learn it and then use it.

Thanks again. As I read more for this trip I keep expanding my range.

I sort of did the same thing for my trip this past June though I only added 1 day to the trip. I've already planned on doing that for this trip.