Capital Reef Valentine's Day overnighter
Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:15 am
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.
Then we got to the Temples. Wow, just WOW!!
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.
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.
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!!
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.
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.
Then we got to the Temples. Wow, just WOW!!
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.
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.
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!!
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.
