thanks so much everyone- I really appreciate the help. It went exactly as you all said, no problem. Wow, what a place!
We loved it and it was so much FUN today ! I'm very happy, this was a big boost in confidence with off road driving (so now we will get stuck one day, right). No problems driving, via the long route, to Cottonwood cove (arrived via Jacobs lake into south entry of HRVR!). It was about 20F this morning when we got there, the sandy roads were very firm, frozen. It was just above freezing when we left, roads had loosened up, but no issues. We didn't need to air down further. We were at 29 this morning and 33psi when we arrived at the turn off point at HRVR.
@Cool Danish - our Jeep was aired up ridiculous high (40) when we got it. we drove across country with that. Before Cathedral Valley / Capitol reef we took it down to 35, that's much better. Now we drive 33-35, that handles much better on the road and it more comfortable. Our Subaru WRX handles extremely well on the road, so it's been a bit of an adjustment driving the Jeep, especially in high winds. But we couldn't get anywhere on the Paria plateau with the WRX!
I'm glad we had a map and we downloaded the route into Gaia. The roads out there all looked the same to me on the way back : Sand and junipers. I recognized very little on the way back.
Since there was a fair amount of slow walking for 6 miles just looking, taking photos, we were cool all day. Next time we need another layer (
@Carcass hint for next week). Normally we hike all day and stay warmer. Anyway... We have no hesitation driving to White Pocket next week, on a dry sunny day. Thanks again.