Saturday, October 4, 2014

Torrey, Utah

 

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Late Thursday afternoon we arrived in Torrey, after almost leaving Sophie  in Provo as she made another great escape while we were getting ready. That poor cat really needs a home on a farm where she can roam at will.

Mark and Bobbie came in as we were trying to pick a spot to park, and we all found a level, fairly private place.

Debbie’s site.

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We’re parked in a popular dispersed camping area just outside of Capitol Reef National Park a few miles from Torrey, too close to Hwy 24, but the scenery can’t be beat and it’s free. We are here because we can get a little bit of a Verizon signal, enough at least to check email but not much else, but there are places in town with wifi. Mark had another area in mind but it was a dead zone, and we are all too used to being connected.

Yesterday we hiked to Cassidy Arch in the national park. Mark said we would need two cars to do a shuttle hike, and we had to laugh about that because last year when we did a two car shuttle hike in Zion our 7-8 mile hike turned out to be 11-12. This was just going to be about 3.5 miles, a nice warm-up for some longer hikes to come. We started at the Grand Wash trailhead and ended at the Cohab Canyon trailhead near the campground.

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We really love being back in the red rocks of Utah and it was a perfect day for a hike. Of course it ended up being 6.2 miles, almost double what we thought, but hey, we’re hiking with the Box Canyon gang and learned early on not to believe what they tell us!

There was a big group rappelling inside the arch.

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Our gang of gawkers, Debbie, me, Bobbie and Mark.

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Such dramatic scenery.

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Last evening Mark and Bobbie’s friends Maikel and Susan arrived with their tent, deciding to leave their Airstream in Colorado. This morning we hiked up the steep, rocky trail above our site.

Susan, Bobbie, and Maikel goofing off in front of the pyramid.

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Many people pull in late and just spend the night, since the park campground has been filling by late afternoon.

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And this afternoon Mr. Occupation of Independence himself pulled in with his sweet dog Coffee Girl. Tomorrow I believe Jim and Allison (Allison’s Post Work Thinking) will be in town, and we may have convinced John and Pam (Oh, The Places They Go) to head to Torrey after they check out Great Basin.  We’re also hoping Suzanne can get her Tracker running so she can get the hell out of Texas and join us, too! Anyone else out there? Just surprise us. The weather couldn’t be better, and looks like it will stay that way for the next 10 days.

Oh, and Jim wanted me to ask what our blog readers thought this looked like. He said a duck, but I’ve never seen a duck with a face quite like that.

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17 comments:

  1. We have done many a 7-8 mile hike that turned out to be 11-12.
    Rappelling is one thing I will never do!
    I do see the duck.

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  2. We love Torrey, Bicknell, Capitol Reef -- the whole place. Have a piece of oatmeal or pickle pie for us at the SunGlow. Sounds like you are burning enough calories to maybe have two pieces.

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  3. Torrey has a lot crammed into a small area.

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  4. What spectacular scenery! And what a life you FTRVers live!

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  5. Looks like a duck to me. I'm officially jealous. You guys waited until we left to show up. Now that's not nice. Amazing that you have signal where you are. Verizon was hard to come by near Capitol Reef for us. Gorgeous pictures. Love that hike. Love that park.

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  6. Chicken with a glandular condition?

    P.S. Drooling.

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  7. You guys are getting quite the gathering together out there. Starting to feel that desert draw again. Won't be seeing any red rocks down, but with all the bloggers out there with you I get the feeling I'm going to be seeing my fill of good pics on the blogs.
    Nina And Paul (wheelingit)

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  8. NotADuck. More like a monkey, maybe?
    I love the Capitol Reef area and hope to get back there again before too long. Thanks for the pics.

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  9. That's quite a gang that is gathering! Wish we could join you!

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  10. we are jsut west of you in Bryce Canyon but probably won't head that way next, although we aren't certain where we are headed next...

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  11. You're making me homesick for red rocks country. And Capitol Reef isn't even my favorite.

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  12. I really enjoyed Capitol Reef. Next time I'll need to take more time exploring and hiking.

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  13. I really admire your epic hikes! This year as my work hours become more under control, I'm aiming to do more long hikes like these! What spectacular scenery! Much better than my current scene. A Walmart parking lot in Eugene, OR. But, I'm grateful for a free place to park my wheels until the funds come true for my southward migration.

    As far as the rock face, I think that overhang does somewhat resemble a duck's beak with the "face" being somewhat bird-like in appearance. I'll go with a "sports mascot duck custom."

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  14. Beautiful country. How fun to share it with all those folks! Yep, duck with a big brain :-) Love watching the climbers, but zero desire to partake.

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  15. It's definitely a monkduckatang.

    Ed@ Chasing Sunrises and SUNSETS

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  16. Oh, I do love those read rocks!!!! We are leaning towards Capital Reefs but haven't decided yet. We are really excited about the hiking here in Great Basin. It does look like we have a perfect stretch of weather ahead of us.

    We didn't get to the Cassidy Arch on our last visit. We do know how the distance gets away from you even when you are planning it yourself. Our hikes are always longer than we thought they would be.

    We'll be in touch!

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  17. There's some really fantastic rock scenery in that area. I too enjoyed the Sunglow Restaurant in Bicknell.

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