UT/CO Trip Report Part IV-Capitol Reef and the end
Sep 25th, 2004, 05:35 AM
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UT/CO Trip Report Part IV-Capitol Reef and the end
(I forgot to post part 3 under Utah and CO, but it's out there)
Day 8: Drove to Capitol Reef. It was interesting coming in the ?back? way. Made a pit stop at the gas station/convenience store built into the rock in Hanksville. The terrain is strange outside of CR ? black moon-like rock and then all of a sudden you hit the technicolor of the park. Hiked to Hickman?s Bridge. Came across an Elderhostel and thought of a lot of the seniors we came across during the whole trip and hoped we?d still be able to do this at that age. Don?t remember if we also walked to Capitol Dome, which now seems a little silly. Stopped at some overlooks and the visitor?s center. Panoramic Point became one of my favorite places of the trip - unbelievably beautiful in every direction. Went into town and had lunch at Capitol Reef Inn and checked into the Best Western ? good location ? ok place ? can?t really recommend it. Drove along the ?Scenic Drive? which I think was a little less scenic than route 24. Stopped at the orchards, but there wasn?t much this time of year. Picked a few apples, which were hard, but tasty. Attempted to drive into Grand Wash, but wasn?t sure our Olds Alero would make it. Drove out on the overlook trail from panoramic point and walked to sunset ridge (beautiful spot) and Goosenecks. Went to the hotel and swam in the pool and then had dinner at Café Diablo - okay ? the meals were works of art to look at (not to eat).
Day 9: We were spending this night in SLC to catch an early morning plane back home. The plan was to drive the long way so we could drive the infamous highway 12 and stop and see the various sites along the way. Sometime the night before we realized we were done. We still had a 4 hour drive to SLC (not to mention the 3.5 hour drive from the Newark airport once we flew home), and we spent 8 days seeing the some of the most beautiful land this country has to offer, and just didn?t need to see more. Had I known, I might have planned the route differently, but it didn?t matter. Flexibility is the key to a trip like this. We booked mainly chain hotels so we could cancel without penalty in case the wind blew a different way. I do think the order that you see things is very important. Capitol Reef was probably one of the most beautiful NP we had ever been to. Half of me appreciated it as so, and half of me just wanted to get it over with. Years ago when we went to Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon, I was completely blown away by Zion, but have always wondered if I would have felt the same way about whichever park we went to first. Anyway we drove back to SLC (saw more antelope along the way), checked into the Holiday Inn airport (not the Express), which was a steal at $36 from Priceline, and went to a late afternoon movie. I read somewhere (I don?t think it was this forum) that people suggested the Red Iguana for dinner, which happened to be on the same street as our hotel. We searched for and found it, but were a little leery of the neighborhood (a lot of boarded up stores) and the restaurant didn?t look like much from the outside. We decided to go for it when we noticed that the parking lot was packed and it wasn?t even 5:00. We went inside and realized that this was ?The" place to be. Every table was taken. We enjoyed the best Mexican food we?ve had in a long time and toasted the end to a wonderful trip.
If anyone is still reading this, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the Fodorites who took the time to offer their advice and opinions, and who helped to make this such a memorable trip.
Day 8: Drove to Capitol Reef. It was interesting coming in the ?back? way. Made a pit stop at the gas station/convenience store built into the rock in Hanksville. The terrain is strange outside of CR ? black moon-like rock and then all of a sudden you hit the technicolor of the park. Hiked to Hickman?s Bridge. Came across an Elderhostel and thought of a lot of the seniors we came across during the whole trip and hoped we?d still be able to do this at that age. Don?t remember if we also walked to Capitol Dome, which now seems a little silly. Stopped at some overlooks and the visitor?s center. Panoramic Point became one of my favorite places of the trip - unbelievably beautiful in every direction. Went into town and had lunch at Capitol Reef Inn and checked into the Best Western ? good location ? ok place ? can?t really recommend it. Drove along the ?Scenic Drive? which I think was a little less scenic than route 24. Stopped at the orchards, but there wasn?t much this time of year. Picked a few apples, which were hard, but tasty. Attempted to drive into Grand Wash, but wasn?t sure our Olds Alero would make it. Drove out on the overlook trail from panoramic point and walked to sunset ridge (beautiful spot) and Goosenecks. Went to the hotel and swam in the pool and then had dinner at Café Diablo - okay ? the meals were works of art to look at (not to eat).
Day 9: We were spending this night in SLC to catch an early morning plane back home. The plan was to drive the long way so we could drive the infamous highway 12 and stop and see the various sites along the way. Sometime the night before we realized we were done. We still had a 4 hour drive to SLC (not to mention the 3.5 hour drive from the Newark airport once we flew home), and we spent 8 days seeing the some of the most beautiful land this country has to offer, and just didn?t need to see more. Had I known, I might have planned the route differently, but it didn?t matter. Flexibility is the key to a trip like this. We booked mainly chain hotels so we could cancel without penalty in case the wind blew a different way. I do think the order that you see things is very important. Capitol Reef was probably one of the most beautiful NP we had ever been to. Half of me appreciated it as so, and half of me just wanted to get it over with. Years ago when we went to Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon, I was completely blown away by Zion, but have always wondered if I would have felt the same way about whichever park we went to first. Anyway we drove back to SLC (saw more antelope along the way), checked into the Holiday Inn airport (not the Express), which was a steal at $36 from Priceline, and went to a late afternoon movie. I read somewhere (I don?t think it was this forum) that people suggested the Red Iguana for dinner, which happened to be on the same street as our hotel. We searched for and found it, but were a little leery of the neighborhood (a lot of boarded up stores) and the restaurant didn?t look like much from the outside. We decided to go for it when we noticed that the parking lot was packed and it wasn?t even 5:00. We went inside and realized that this was ?The" place to be. Every table was taken. We enjoyed the best Mexican food we?ve had in a long time and toasted the end to a wonderful trip.
If anyone is still reading this, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the Fodorites who took the time to offer their advice and opinions, and who helped to make this such a memorable trip.
Sep 25th, 2004, 05:52 AM
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Hi bd,
Thanks for the report. Lots of people here will benefit! So sorry you didn't feel like doing Hwy 12. Personally,I think you missed the best part. It's the most scenic road in Utah, but - now you have a reason to come back again!
Yes, the Red Iguana has been the best Mexican restaurant in SLC for many, many years.
Happy travels!
Thanks for the report. Lots of people here will benefit! So sorry you didn't feel like doing Hwy 12. Personally,I think you missed the best part. It's the most scenic road in Utah, but - now you have a reason to come back again!
Yes, the Red Iguana has been the best Mexican restaurant in SLC for many, many years.
Happy travels!
Sep 26th, 2004, 07:36 AM
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Hi Dayle,
Hwy 12 was high on my priority list and I probably should have planned to do it earlier in the trip, but as you said, we now have an excuse to go back. I must say I have no regrets. We had a great time and saw a lot of beautiful places and if we pushed to do more, we'd probably would have just been (more) tired and cranky.
Hwy 12 was high on my priority list and I probably should have planned to do it earlier in the trip, but as you said, we now have an excuse to go back. I must say I have no regrets. We had a great time and saw a lot of beautiful places and if we pushed to do more, we'd probably would have just been (more) tired and cranky.
Oct 12th, 2004, 06:25 AM
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Hi again BD,
Since we have already decided you are returning, you might want to slant your next trip to the Escalante/Boulder area. That will give you plenty of time to drive Hwy 12 and hike all you want. I did Calf Creek Falls for the first time last spring and was amazed at the gorgeous waterfall at the end. There are also lots of slot canyons and river hikes. Boulder Mtn Lodge is very nice too!
Happy travels!
Since we have already decided you are returning, you might want to slant your next trip to the Escalante/Boulder area. That will give you plenty of time to drive Hwy 12 and hike all you want. I did Calf Creek Falls for the first time last spring and was amazed at the gorgeous waterfall at the end. There are also lots of slot canyons and river hikes. Boulder Mtn Lodge is very nice too!
Happy travels!
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