Capitol Reef National Park Part 2, Utah
September 5, 2022
Continuing on with the post!
Later that afternoon, we took a short drive to the Gooseneck Scenic Overlook. Here was a dramatic view of a canyon created by Sulphur Creek over the (many, many) years. We had decided that we wanted to hike along/through Sulphur Creek the following day, and we figured we would do some reconnaissance to check it out from an eagle's perspective.
My bad - I forgot to reset the GPS before the hike so this also includes the driving from the campground to the overlook. The red dot was where we parked and just walked the small loop overlooking the canyon.
Sulphur creek down below in the background
There were, quite literally, 360 degree views everywhere!
Here you can see the creek--just barely.
Julie is often drawn to dead trees. Hopefully that doesn't have any deep meaning! 😉
Look around - We weren't to make it this far on Sulphur Creek the next day, but it was a nice view of how deep the canyon is.
Look around - Views all around again - I couldn't get close enough to the edge to view all the way into the canyon. It's hard to capture the scale of everything in these photos. There were some other people on top with us so it gives a good sense of how large everything is here!
On our last day in Capitol Reef, we decided to do the "unofficial" Sulphur Creek trail. What else do you do when you want to hike, but the weather is expected to be in the mid to upper 90's? According to the national park service, it is generally recommended to hike the trail downstream (about 6 miles) and have a second car at the end to transport you back (or hitchhike or walk on the highway 3 miles uphill back to your starting point). This is not a maintained trail, and it includes wading/swimming in the narrows section (depending on water level) as well as getting yourselves past 3 waterfalls and several sketchy areas. We first thought of leaving our bikes at one of the trailheads, but decided against it because of the construction happening along the main road that involved numerous delays with lane closures and such. In the end, we decided to hike upstream (the "wrong" way) as far as we could, and then turn around and come back the way we came. This turned out to be a good choice as there was a waterfall bypass that involved some tall rock scrambling that Julie preferred not to do with her 56-year-old knees. So, that was where we decided to turn around. It was just as well, because by the end of our trek we were pretty tired, and going farther would have just made us more exhausted. Despite that, we really enjoyed this hike--it was a lot of fun!
The GPS says we did 9.2 miles, but it was clearly confused by the canyons. This was probably closer to a 6 or 7 mile hike. The two spikes in the elevation are where we took the "bypass" around the lower falls to avoid the "narrow slippery ledge" or "slide down the falls into the hopefully deep enough pool" options. Why those two are not showing the same elevation I don't know as we took the same trail up and back.
Right at the beginning when we were fresh.
Look around - It was a really nice creek to follow with all kinds of turns and undercuts.
The first waterfall
When we reached the first falls, it was clear that we had to find another way around them, as there was no good way to climb up them (at least not for middle-aged farts like us). The ranger had told us about a bypass trail, but warned us that it was really hard to find when going upstream. She was right - we gave up trying to find the trail and just started climbing up where it was obvious we had to go. After a bit of "off-road" climbing (Rick really likes that stuff), we stumbled on the trail. The trail was fairly faint, yet it was passable and was marked by the occasional cairn to help guide our way. It did its job and took us above and beyond the falls, with some nice scenery as a bonus.
Those are the falls down below.
Some nice scenery along the waterfall bypass trail.
More dead tree pictures!
Look around - The bypass trail was quite high, as the falls are surrounded by cliffs . . .
After the bypass - we walked back downstream to see the falls from upstream.
Look around - Some people apparently slide over these falls (a 15-foot drop) into the pool below. Not for us (especially since the water was not clear)!
We continued upstream and had a lot of fun wading and scrambling along the route. Have to admit, though-- the silty, opaque water was slightly disconcerting, as there was no telling how deep your next step was going to be or what you would step in. Would it be friendly gravel or rock, or would it be slippery, suction-cuppy mud?
Julie was thinking that Audrey would probably like the feel of the mud on her bare feet. It looked very silky and squishy. This photo's for you, Audrey 😊
...Immediately after that thought, Julie inadvertently stepped into said mud. She can't account for how silky it was, but it sure was squishy (and suction-y). Rick had to give her a hand to free herself--but not before snapping this shot 😉
When we got to this point, the going got a little more spicy (but fun!)
There were rapids to negotiate, rocks to climb and much wading in water where we couldn't see the bottom.
Will I take my next step and slip and fall? Or, will the water suddenly get deep? Oh, the excitement of it all! 😁
Julie graciously allowed Rick to take the lead!
The point where we decided that we had gone far enough. Rick went a little ways beyond by himself.
Look around - This is pretty representative of what we were traveling though.
Look around - This was as far as Rick got. Julie wasn't up to climbing up the rocks to get past these falls (long legs and a strong grip got Rick up).
More wading on the way back
Dry land at last!
Capitol Reef is listed as a night sky location so they encourage all campers to keep outside lights off at night. The campground itself doesn't have major lighting (just local lighting at the bathrooms and it points down). So, this was a good place for Rick to try out some night shots just for fun!
Evening glow on the rocks behind us.
Julie had an oil lamp on the back of the camper - so I wanted to try capturing that with the rocks in the background and stars - not bad!
The side of the camper with some sort of galaxy cluster in the sky
Deck oil lamp with stars above.
Getting ready to leave early the next morning, Rick was a bit intimidated by the approaching deer.
They're coming for us!
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