Capitol Reef Weekend

[pappy]

I took a long weekend and went to Capitol Reef NP for some RnR. Unfortunately I came down sick and came home a day early. It was a tough drive home, but I'd rather be sick in my own bed than sick in the field. A few pictures are here.

I left on Wed at 1pm and drove with no destination in mind. I ended up pulling off on a dirt road at a place called Fry Canyon. I had no idea where I was going, but ended up at a mine in Red Canyon. Very, very nice. Odometer said about 24 miles in. PDF of the route is here. Lucky for me 1) I had no idea where I was going, 2) it was getting dark, 3) the road blew out due to heavy flooding, 4) I was running little street tires instead of the larger mud terrains, and last 5) I didn't pack recovery gear or spare parts. Otherwise, I would have kept going just to see where it went, which was apparently Lake Powell.

The next day, Thursday, I drove to Fruita by way of Hanksville. I stopped by the visitor center to inquire about road condition (a waste of time) and buy something to read. The peaches and pears were in season at the old Mormon settlement of Fruita, so I stopped and picked some peaches. The pears were not ripe enough for me so I left them. The rest of the day was spent kicking back in camp reading, and listening to Germans in CruiseAmerica.com RVs.

Friday I was up early and went for a bike ride. This was part of the scenic drive that heads south from the campground. The first part is paved, then it rolls on dirt. Not too long after the pavement gives way to soil there is a creek crossing and the road became "primitive" by Park Service standards. I went 5 miles past the creek crossing to a point where the road started up a very steep, rock climb. My lungs, legs, and gears gave out to reality and I turned around. Total ride was 28 miles. That afternoon I went for a drive into the northern part of the Park. I should have gone to Cathedral Valley, but I let the guy at the visitor center convince me the road was washed out. Right, as I pass a Jeep Liberty coming the other way. I had a chance to finish the loop around Cathedral Valley, but decided to drive into Fishlake Natl Forest to cool off instead. From there I stopped in Loa at a real store for some "wants" then stopped in Torrey for a chocolate shake. Buy then I was feeling pretty crummy and the shake only made me feel good mentally. The rest of the day was spent solo in the campground reading. By dinner time it was once again loaded with CruiseAmerica.com RVs.

By bedtime Friday I was full blown sick and didn't sleep. Saturday morning I decided to drive out to the Henry Mountains to cool off and stay in one of the BLM campgrounds. But by the time I hit the Burr Trail my vacation was over and I decided to head home.

 

[pappy]

A little cut and paste:
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Sorry Jon. I was doing a few things on the truck today but most of the time the radio was off so I could hear a weird "squeaking" noise that is coming from somewhere underneath the truck. I was driving around with the windows down and spraying WD40 and greasing everything in sight. Still squeaks though.

You are supposed to be in the boonies. Where are you getting wireless service?

Heard on the news there was a plane crash close to Moab. Are you in that area?

-Mike-

I was in Capitol Reef NP. Came home a day early due to a sinus infection and just felling bad. I'd rather feel crappy in my own bed than in the field. Made for a bitch of a drive home.

Since I was listening to Moab radio I did hear about the crash. Apparently a plane took off from the airport north of town and crashed. They said it "bounced" several times before tumbling and catching fire. Nobody saw the accident and they didn't know one had occurred until they went to investigate a brush fire. Everybody on board died. They were a dermatologist team from Ceder City that were holding a monthly clinic in Moab.

Eastern Utah is linking their repeaters. I was tuned into a repeater on the Henry Mountains (Mt Ellen) that had incredible coverage. I was in a deep canyon many miles away and decided to tune in the repeater. I'll see if I can do a Hemphill profile. I couldn't believe I heard it. At 60 watts I was even able to ping the repeater though the return tone was very weak. While sitting in the Fruita campground listening to the radio I had a funny feeling I was listening to SLC. Sure enough they were from Provo and the guy said they were in the process of linking many of eastern Utah's repeaters. The Henry Mtn repeater was linked, and he said the repeater in Monticello (Abajo Peak) was too. They are working on adding one of the repeaters in Moab to the system. From the website it looks like there is a lot of overlap between I-70 and I-15 (5 repeaters).

The system is getting put together by the the Sinbad Desert Amateur Radio Club. Here is the coverage map for the linked repeaters.

This is really cool stuff. All I can say is ... I need a bigger antenna.

 

[pappy]

A few pics of a GM/Chevrolet pickup in the middle of the desert. From what I can tell from the casting number on the head the engine is a 1941-48 216ci I-6. I really wanted that engine. Don't know for what, but if I could have picked it up it would be yard art.

 

[pappy]

A couple of the engine.

 

[Beowulf]

I believe Fish said if it is over 50 years old then it is an archaeological artifact.

Appears to have a single side-mount on the driver side. Amazing condition for the age and sitting out in the weather for all these years. Great pictures and trip report. Thanks for sharing Jon!
-B-

 

[OGBeno]

Nice Jon.

That is a wonderful area of UT and I plan to go back over and over again to keep exploring.

My last trip to that area was going to take me through Fry Canyon but Agnes's rig was not really ready for that type of adventure yet.

I'm going again real soon.
-onur

 

[pappy]

Red Canyon was worth exploring. I just wasn't prepared. The beginning part of the road had been freshly graded, but it looked like a more recent storm messed it up. There were rocks all over the place on the road. The canyon itself was a mess. Would have been fun.

 

[alia176]

Most excellent Jon. Is Capital Reef similar to the Canyonlands in that you can drive inside the park for days and days?

 

[pappy]

Not really. Capitol Reef is long and narrow. There are two major areas to explore, and one minor. The Cathedral Valley loop can be driven in half a day, and most of it is on BLM land. From this loop you can also exit into the Natl Forest, which is what I did. Going south you can drive along the Waterpocket Fold to the Burr Trail. At the Burr Trail you can go east toward the Henry Mtns, or west to Boulder, UT. There is also another road that cuts into the Henry Mtns before the Burr. Going west on the Burr Trail you can drop south to a cool petrified forest (Wolverine something) area.

The only other option would be to go south from the campground. The Park says the road ends in 10 miles, which is BS. It continues to the highway that runs to Boulder. I seem to recall one road with a sign that said something like "4x4 short wheelbase only" along here, but we didn't take it. I think it was someplace near Tarantula Flat.

So while the Park is limited, there are places around the Park to explore.

 

[Ruadhrigh]

very cool pics Jon

 

[pappy]

Here is another old piece of junk I came across. I think it's a well rig. There was a water well right there that was feeding a water trough, and a nice little wetland. There was no pump, so my guess is the water was some-what artesian. First pic is the truck with the well-rig on the back. The engine fed the well rig, not the truck. Notice that the exhaust pipe is literally a piece of pipe. And is that the carburetor underneath the manifold? I seem to recall seeing that setup on an old Ford 9N tractor. I didn't see any branding on this engine. How many companies made flat-heads?

I just love this old junk. I just wish I knew more about those old engines.

 

[pappy]

Picture of the top of the engine and a closer shot of the right side. I could have brought this one home too. Wouldn't something like this look good on an engine stand all fixed up?

 

[Beowulf]

Wouldn't something like this look good on an engine stand all fixed up?

No. :duh:

Fever? Have you been to the doctor today? Tell him a friend thinks you've gone delirious and they need to give you something ASAP to get the fever down below 105*

-Mike-

 

[pappy]

Yes, been to the Dr. this morning. Fever was only 99.3*F. Cum'awn Mike, you like this old junk. Admit it.

 

[slimbuddha]

You must enjoy rides through the south valley

 

[pappy]

Actually, I do. I also look around in smaller NM towns. I would like to have a 42-46 Chevy pickup with a 216. Or (hehe) drop in a Vortec 4200 I-6 from a Trailblazer. Or a Vortec L52/LLR I-5 if the Vortec 4200 is too long.

Boy, I am sick.

 

[OGBeno]

Going into the Henry Mtns either from the Notam-Bullfrog Rd or the Burr Trail gets you into some nice, beautiful isolated high-country camping. This is where our last trip took us and it was a good 20-30 degrees cooler at the top of Mt. Ellen than it was down in the canyons of Lake Powell.

This area is ripe for lots of cool exploration. And not a lot of people spent time here either. It's great for some isolated exploring/camping.

-o-

 

[pappy]

Agreed. I saw you stayed at McMillan Spring. Nylia and I camped several times at Lonesome Beaver nearby. On the way out this trip I stopped at Starr Spring camp for a look. It's not high in the pines like the other two, but it did have nice shady camps in dense Gambel oak.

I would like to revisit the Red Rock Plateau/Canyon area again. According to one of my maps there is another way in off hwy 276 coming from Red House Spring. I passed the junction with this road and went about two miles passed before I quit.

I've ordered the 7.5 minute quads for this area. I've attached a close up of where I stopped. The red flag is the junction coming in from the other way.

 

[SteveLCetc]

I would like to have a 42-46 Chevy pickup with a 216. Or (hehe) drop in a Vortec 4200 I-6 from a Trailblazer. Or a Vortec L52/LLR I-5 if the Vortec 4200 is too long.

Alternatively, you could FINISH YOUR 40.

/minirant

 

[pappy]

Gotta plan ahead Steve ... gotta plan ahead.