This was initially posted on my previous blog on January 21, 2017.
October 21: Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef
Post interview, I got on the road quickly since I had two parks to hit that day. It was an hour and a half to get to Bryce Canyon National Park. I pulled in and was told that my trailer would make it hard for me to find parking, but I could leave it in the parking lot just after the visitor center. Thankfully I had gotten good at disconnecting my trailer from the car, so I took the five minutes to secure it in the parking lot. The scenic parking lots in most national parks are pretty small, and Bryce followed that pattern. I drove out towards Rainbow Point (can’t remember if I made it all the way out there) and hit Bryce Point and Inspiration Point on the way back. Sadly I don’t remember the differences between the lookouts. The Rim Path allowed dogs on the gravel path between Sunrise and Sunset Points so I wanted to make sure I went there. Parking was very difficult but I was able to grab a spot. It was beautiful. Amazing how red the hoodoos (the pointed rocks) are. Sadly I couldn’t go down into the canyon with Callie, but we enjoyed the views from up top. We met a nice couple who was taking a month to explore the Utah parks. They gave us some advise for the next few parks and wished us luck. I met some wonderful people on this trip. People were willing to say hi, help with pictures, and give advice for other parks. I think I spent no more than three hours in the park since I still had to drive to Capitol Reef, see the park, and get to the next campsite before it was too late.
Overall, I would go back to Bryce and hike down into the Canyon. Definitely worth a full day here.
After a quick PB&J in the car, I was off to Capitol Reef. I was constantly in a race against time in Utah. Hitting 5 parks in less than 3 days is very hard to do. You feel like you barely see any of them, but I wanted to get the flavor of the parks and see which ones were worth going back to. It was a two hour drive to Capitol Reef, but the positive is that the views from the road in Utah are amazing. Sometimes I enjoyed driving between the parks more than the parks themselves. I found myself in awe often while driving. I would even stop at pull offs to take in the views, despite the rush to get to the next park.
Capitol Reef
Capitol Reef was interesting because you don’t read much about it. Most people stay on Utah route 24 and drive through a portion of the park without actually stopping. It was also the only park without a manned entrance. You actually put money in an envelope to get in (at least there were not lines). But I loved this place. It was more like red mountains than rock formations. I loved the drive in on 24, enjoyed the views in the park, and then continued out on 24 to catch the interstate north of the park. I remember thinking while driving through that I liked this the best of the parks so far in Utah. I realize I am partial to mountains and the formations here looked more like mountains. It had a cute store selling homemade sweets and just seemed more laid back than the other parks. I took the paved scenic road until it ended. It continued on but it was a gravel road and it wasn’t worth trying with the trailer. It was interesting seeing all the “flood” areas that crossed the road and would make the park very hard to navigate if it rained. When I turned around and made my way back to the entrance, I stopped at the store to get something to eat, to find out it was almost closing and had sold out of all the fresh homemade goods. Sadly I left empty handed and hit the road. I definitely didn’t eat well while in Utah since I was constantly rushing, but that is ok.
Leaving the park is also beautiful as you continue on 24 to get to 70. The leaves on the trees were changing and the views just kept going. I would enjoying coming back here to hike sometime, but it would have to be an add on to another trip since I don’t think I could spend a few days here.
The RV park for this night was one of the few I didn’t book ahead since I wasn’t sure how I would be on time. I have enjoyed KOAs so I was always looking for one on the way to the next stop. I had run out of roaming data by now and was reliant on paper maps. I actually am pretty good with a paper map now, but they are not helpful in booking RV sites. I rolled into the KOA just after they closed and found the night check-in. Since it had just closed, I figured the map and which sites were still open was pretty accurate. This thought process didn’t work at all and I found that most were taken so I found a pull through in an empty row and set up. Just as I finished setting up, I remembered a row of sites was closed for the season and I happened to be in one of those. I walked the park hoping to find another site and struggled to do so. I knocked on the window since a worker was still there and she politely found me a site that was a little more off the beaten path. I was too lazy to completely collapse the trailer so I drove very slowly with the trailer in the up position to the new site. It did well and I got even more practice setting up the trailer in the dark.