capitol reef

We arrived on Friday morning from Salt Lake City and unfortunately it was too cold to camp. Due to dead season, there was no one in Torrey town but luckily we found a motel that was open. Keep in mind businesses are closed for the season. Luckily I was prepared and I bought food with me. The...

"Attach this to your pack." The park ranger slid the wax-coated paper across the counter. "I'll be honest — you're not going to see another ranger once you leave the visitor center. It doesn't look like anyone's been in the canyon for days. You'll be alone down there." "I hope so. That's why...

This is a short story of an interesting detour. Maybe not for the beginner from Europe who might be interested in the big picture only. But if one has roamed the country for more than 30 years details are becoming more and more fascinating. Driving on Buckhorn Draw Road from the San Rafael...

Just got back from 9 amazing days of Utah hiking... 83 miles total :) Started out crossing the Utah border at Monument Valley, proudly showing off my BCP sticker Finally arrived at my campsite just before sunset... and ironically could see Tomorrow's final destination at Hamburger Rocks...

Summer of 2009. Monsoon season was in full swing. Nevertheless we were on a trip from Moab - on the bright side - to the area east of the Escalante River. Approaching Hanksville we could see dark clouds to the West. Middle of the road - between North and South Caineville Mesa on State Route...

No extended thru hike this spring for me. :( But... I did manage to get back to southern Utah for another 5-day loop exploring Escalante's "Lower East Side". Actually... it wasn't really the trip I imagined. After I wimped out and couldn't make it over a dryfall climb solo, I had to ditch the...

In late April into early May I decided to take advantage of a break between projects to head West to Utah for a nine-day camping / photography trip. On a trip about a year before, my wife and I had driven from Bryce to Moab on the insanely scenic Highway 12 / 24 route, which took us through...

With a three day weekend and plans to canyoneer with a friend on Saturday I drove south Friday, not really knowing where I'd end up. I figured I would do something in Capital Reef but did not know what. I had a couple ideas but would decide based off the time. On the drive down I passed two...

This is a TR from a jaunt taken last year. Thus, the descriptions of the trip will be brief because the details are no longer fresh in my mind. I attempted HCN twice, once on 5/7 then again on 5/21. The failed attempt on 5/7 was rained out. The weather was beautiful for the entire drive but it...

After seeing all the cool Trip Reports I thought I'd share last year's adventure in Utah... Leaving the Sunshine State of Arizona behind I headed for Utah, just days before the Government Shut down last year. Heading first for Capitol Reef, I thought I'd check out the Goosenecks of the San Juan...

Disclaimer: I DO NOT recommend canyoneering with little children. If you do something wrong, you could kill you and your kid!!!! (now let the hypocrite tell the story.... :) Blake: "Hey Dave!!!!! So we have a change of plans :) Don't worry we are still going to do Cassidy Arch Canyon, but...

This Year's Thanksgiving weekend trip took us to Capital Reef and up into Boulder Mountain. There were some chilly nights but we had some fun times hiking during the day and gathering around the campfire at night. My cousin Mandy came with us, as well as our friend Cody and his dad, Ron. It was...

A little late to post, but I figured this might help someone wanting to do a similar trip. Escalante has been on my bucket list for some time now, so I decided to plan a trip down there to see what it's all about. Many thanks to everyone that providedso many helpful suggestions for this trip...

Well... after putting together the video for my Boulder Mountain to Moab hike back in May, things got a little crazy for me and I didn't follow up with a full trip report. With 2013 winding down, I made myself sit down and put it all together this past weekend. The 18-day, 283-mile hike was...

Six years ago I hiked the Upper Muley Twist (UMT) trail. Last month I took my friend and photographer Federica on the same hike. I told her that it would be the hardest hike on our photo trip through the southwest, but that also it might be the most enjoyable. If you want to consider this hike...

This past weekend my family and I went down to Torrey so I could help my father-in-law get closer to finishing a roof on a cabin he's been building down there all summer. I had hoped to take my family down through the Sulpher Creek narrows on Sunday but rain spoiled those plans in a hurry. It...

So I take off for my long anticipated photography trip to Arizona and Utah. I was going to shoot the meteor shower, and kept adding stops along the way. By the time the trip got here I had planned to visit 5 locations in 8 days-first mistake! I had also planned to camp at the North Rim of the...

I've been pretty sidetracked since finishing my Boulder to Moab hike several weeks ago so I haven't had a chance to post much about my trip. But, I'm finally getting to that point. I ended up doing the videos before doing the actual trip report this time. So... I'll let you pick your pleasure...

Late Thursday night, on the 9th, my friend Calvin and I left Salt Lake planning to camp at Little Egypt. I was there just over a month before, so I thought it would be very easy to drive back. However, it was a new moon that night so we ended up looking all over before ending up in Ticaboo to...

I took a two-nighter last fall to explore some nice areas of Capitol Reef along the Highway 24 corridor of the park. It was November, there was fresh snow and some question whether I could complete the route, but I had good early exit options for all of the places where I might have had trouble...