Capital Reef Valentine's Day overnighter

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mr tibbs
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Capital Reef Valentine's Day overnighter

Post by mr tibbs »

For Valentine's day the wife and I decided to take a trip to Capital Reef and try out the new sleep platform. We have been to Capital Reef a bunch of times, but never ventured out to Cathedral Valley. We asked at the visitor center if they thought the campground on top would be full because it was a fee free weekend. The ranger thought that if we could get to it there would be plenty of spots left. On our way out there we passed about three other vehicles. When we got up top to the campground we were all alone! It wasn't until after dark that a second vehicle showed up to camp.

For never visiting Cathedral Valley before the wife and I were pretty damn impressed! The road passes through a bunch of dry washes that could easily make it impossible to get through during a storm in the desert. The first monoliths that we came to were Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon. Before we came to them we venture over to take a look at the Glass Mountain. It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be but pretty interesting.

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Then we got to the Temples. Wow, just WOW!!

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When we got up to the campground it was almost dark (thanks snow covered road!), so we had to choose a camp spot and get set up pretty fast. We did however get to take a look at the overlook and I had a feeling it was going to be a good next morning. The sleep platform worked great! There was plenty of room for the both of us, we just need a better sleeping mat. The blankets we laid down did not cut it. 4:30am rolled around and I was awake. The sunrise was pretty cool looking through the tinted passenger window of the cruiser. At around 5:30am I rolled out of bed and got the camera set up at the overlook. I was not disappointed! I was snapping pics as the sun rose over the valley and ended up with this.

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After the sun was up it was time to drag the wifey out of bed and get going. We packed up the cruiser and got back on the road.

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The plan was to go back down and hit some hiking trails in the park, but the wife was not feeling it. The night before she tripped and pulled something in her repaired hip. So, with long hikes out of the question we decided to take our time heading out of Cathedral Valley and do some shorted hikes. There is a lot of open space in that valley!!

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So, all in all it was a great overnight trip. We got to try out the sleep platform and visit a side of the park that we haven't been to before. Thanks for the memories Capital Reef!! The rest of the photos can be found here.

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trickyricky
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Re: Capital Reef Valentine's Day overnighter

Post by trickyricky »

Amazing pictures thanks for sharing.
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Re: Capital Reef Valentine's Day overnighter

Post by RayBuck »

Yes amazing
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Re: Capital Reef Valentine's Day overnighter

Post by knightrider358 »

Beautiful mr tibbs, ve always enjoyed seeing ur photos from ur trips u do over the years!
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twisted
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Re: Capital Reef Valentine's Day overnighter

Post by twisted »

man im not sure how i messed this!! beautiful pics as usual sir!!!!
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nico boom
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Re: Capital Reef Valentine's Day overnighter

Post by nico boom »

WOW. How I wish there was less water [and miles] between us. Would love to drive around like you did and see with my own eyes.
Thanks for doing that for me.
The "sunrise over the valley"-pic is now my new screensaver.
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ttocs
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Re: Capital Reef Valentine's Day overnighter

Post by ttocs »

nico boom wrote:WOW. How I wish there was less water [and miles] between us. Would love to drive around like you did and see with my own eyes.
Thanks for doing that for me.
The "sunrise over the valley"-pic is now my new screensaver.
Nico
I have been to Amsterdam and thought many many time I wish it was closer... Nice country in general but that was the only place I saw. SUPER nice people that was for sure, I mean better then the Parisians needless to say :)
what else can I say I am a grumpy asshole most of the time.
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nico boom
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Re: Capital Reef Valentine's Day overnighter

Post by nico boom »

ttocs wrote: SUPER nice people that was for sure, I mean better then the Parisians needless to say :)

You got that right buddy........ been there.
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Re: Capital Reef Valentine's Day overnighter

Post by ttocs »

it was a joke but totally true. I even had a waiter in paris snarl at me when I could not pronounce what was on the menu. But amsterdamn no shit our train arrived at 11pm, and we found a place to stay and were walking down the street passing a J between our new friends about 20 mins after arriving. In the days of cell phones and map apps it probably isn't an issue but back in 97 it didn't take me long to realize I was ABSOLUETLEY STONED WAY BEYOND THE BEZEEZUZ BELT, in a completely foreign country that I neither spoke the native language or even had a map or by this point could even remember the name of the house boat we threw all our crap on. We woke up the next morning now sober and looked out at the houseboat we were in. One large room 15 really crappy military bunk beds and 2 restrooms.
what else can I say I am a grumpy asshole most of the time.
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