National Parks x 3

After leaving Panguitch and the Bryce Canyon National Park area, we headed toward Moab, UT with a 2-day stop in Torrey. Torrey is near Capitol Reef National Park and Moab is situated near Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. So over this past week, w, took several hikes in 3 separate National Parks.

Capitol Reef National Park

We stayed 2 nights at Thousand Lakes RV Park in Torrey, UT. Prior to booking this park we looked at potential boondocking locations but chickened out. After we checked in, we drove to one of these locations and the site was empty and absolutely gorgeous. The approach to the site might be a little tricky for a truck towing a 5th wheel due to a rapid change in grade on the road but it was nice!

We continued to the visitors center for the park to get our swag and make plans for our hike on the next day. After leaving the visitors center, we took the 10 mile scenic drive through Fruita and the wonderful landscape of the area. Upon returning to our site, we had dinner at the parks very own BBQ joint where the chef is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and moved to Utah to get away from it all. The food did not disappoint.

After reviewing our hiking options, we chose to hike the Rim Overlook Trail and incorporate the Hickman Bridge Trail in the process. The hike covered 6.4 miles round trip and the elevation went from 5320 feet to 6470 feet. The hike took us 3 1/2 hours to complete. One of the interesting things about the scenery here is the Waterpocket Fold. This unique geological formation gives the impression that the land is tipped at an angle. Looking at some of our pictures, you would think the camera was not level but I assure you it is the land that is at an angle.

Canyonlands National Park

When we left Torrey to head to Moab, we had no reservation for a park. The few parks we did check were full since Moab is a very popular place. Our plan was to try and land a site at one of several first-come-first-serve BLM campgrounds in the area. We laid out a plan where we would go from one to the next until we found a spot. We luckily landed a site large enough for our rig at Horsethief Campground, our first choice among the locations we planned to try. What made this campground best suited for our needs is its location between Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park. To be more specific, the campground is about 10 miles outside of the northern section of Canyonlands National Park, known as the Island in the Sky section. The other section of the park is reached from the south and almost 100 miles away so we did not visit that area this time.

We took one trip into Canyonlands National Park and hiked the Neck Spring Trail. This loop trail was 6 miles and when we started the hike, the weather wasn’t too bad. That changed just passed the halfway point when it began to rain steadily. The hike starts out taking you down into a canyon and you eventually need to come back out of the canyon to return to the rim. By the time we hit the section of our ascent, it had been raining steadily for some time and we worried things would be slippery. We managed to make it to the rim without incident but there was still 2 miles to go before getting back to the truck and the rains showed no sign of letting up.

As we got closer to the end of the hike, the rain stopped and the sun poked through the clouds just enough to create a magnificent rainbow. We just happened to be at a major overlook as the rainbow appeared and spanned the entire canyon. Although the rainbow shows up in our pictures, it does not do justice to the view we saw in person.

Arches National Park

We ventured into Arches National Park on two separate days. On the first visit on Tuesday, April 30, we stopped at the visitors center to obtain a permit to hike the Fiery Furnace hike. This hike came highly recommended by our new friends, Jerry and Gigi. Our permit would be for Thursday, May 2.

No other hikes in the park require a permit so we drove to the trailhead for Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch Loop Terail. We both thought this hike turned out to be better than expected. The arches were nice and the terrain along the loop to Broken Arch was diverse and fascinating. We recommend this hike if you are ever in Arches National Park.

It was early afternoon as we completed the hike and decided no trip to Arches would be complete without hiking to Delicate Arch for some pictures of the park’s iconic landmark. We had done this hike back in 2010 during our short vacation to Utah, but some things are worth doing more than once. The late afternoon is supposed to be the best time of day to photograph Delicate Arch but it is very difficult to do so without people in your frame. Dan did manage to get people to wait a few seconds to allow him to photograph the arch sans people but it was that moment that the sun decided to hide behind the clouds. Oh, well, we got some nice photos anyway.

Some dark clouds on the horizon told us we better head back to the parking lot or we may end up with a repeat of our hike in Canyonlands. It turns out the rains did not come and we remained dry on our return to our RV.

The Fiery Furnace

After staying put on Wednesday, we headed to the park early Thursday morning. It turns out that it wasn’t quite early enough and the parking lot for the Fiery Furnace trailhead was full. Luckily there was an overlook with a parking lot about 1/2 mile away so we parked there and instantly made our hike a mile longer than it normally would have been.

The Fiery Furnace can be described as a series of rock fins sticking out of the ground that produce a natural labyrinth of narrow passages between towering sandstone walls. There are occasional small white arrows to help the hiker find their way but you are encouraged to explore and discover pathways on your own. Before taking the hike, you must watch a video and sit through a short presentation on how to navigate the area safely without harming the environment. Essentially, stay on rocks or in the sandy bottoms of the washes.

On three separate occasions, you will encounter a sign that tells you that you area approaching a dead end. This, by all means, does not mean to turn around. These dead end paths in the Fiery Furnace often lead to a rewarding experience. We spent 3 1/2 hours hiking over 6 miles through narrow slots and over rocks, often retracing our steps to find a safer path or the actual path we should be on. At one point, we walked about 1/4 mile up a wide slot only to realize we were supposed to be on the other side of the 100 foot rock wall to our left. When we backtracked and found the little white arrow that told us to go around the end of the fin we stopped and wondered, “Where now?”. Then, Amy noticed footprints and worn rock (you can kind of tell where lots of people walk on the rocks since the color is slightly different) leading to a very narrow slot. Yup, this was the way we needed to go. At one point, it got so narrow that you could not put one foot in front of the other. You had to slide along moving your front foot forward and bringing the back foot up to meet it.

All and all, it was a wonderful, challenging experience and one we will remember. If you are ever in Arches National Park, hiking the Fiery Furnace is a must. The Delicate Arch may be the sight to see in the park but the Fiery Furnace is the best experience.