A Good Anniversary

 

We had quite a nice anniversary, just the two of us, starting with breakfast at Castle Rock Bakery in Torrey, then taking a long drive on Hwy 12 over Boulder Mountain to see the trees. Another week and it will probably be too late.

We stopped at most of the overlooks so it took us a couple hours to get to our destination, the Lower Calf Creek Falls trailhead in Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument, about 40 miles from Torrey. We passed through this area on our first visit to Capitol Reef in 2009 but didn’t stop and have always wanted to return. We’re glad we did. It is quite a drive over the 9,600’ pass.

They forgot to look left before crossing.

Every overlook had a terrific view.

The trail to Lower Calf Creek Falls starts in the BLM campground, recommended for vehicles less than 24’. We could probably get in some of the sites but the big dip in the creek crossing to get into the campground may pose a problem for our long back overhang. We could see where the pavement has been scraped again and again.

The three mile trail to the falls didn’t have too much elevation change but there is lots of loose sand to walk through. There is such a variety of scenery to look at we stopped frequently to explore and take photos.

Jim wasn’t expecting much out of the falls at this time of year, but we were pleasantly surprised. It was definitely worth a six mile hike.

On the way home we stopped at the Rim Rock Patio in Torrey for a beer and pizza. The veggie pizza without cheese was excellent, which also surprised us, but the low alcohol Utah beer left a bit to be desired. All in all a really good day.