Today I finally got to leave Las Vegas and head out into the wilds of southern Utah—Capitol Reef National Park. This trip so far hasn’t quite gone as I expected it would. In almost two weeks I had only managed to camp one night—in Gila National Forrest at Gila Hot Springs. I knew I was going to start this trip out with work but life intervened and I needed to spend five days in Las Vegas helping to coordinate my mother-in-law’s medical care as we worked to get her back home. As an aside, theou American health care system absolutely sucks in case anyone had any doubts. Oh, and for those of you who have a PhD or EdD after your name, judicious use of “doctor” can work wonders with insurance underlings. Eventually we were able to get Lisa’s mom squared away and I finally was off to Capitol Reef National Park, a premier dark sky park.
Driving into Capitol Reef was indescribable. As I entered the red rock, I suddenly felt so small. In fact, if there is any through line in much of my travels so far, it’s that I feel small (but in a good way, if that makes sense). Driving into Capitol Reef you start passing these huge red and white cliffs with sheer walls and amazing striations. I’ve never been much interested in geology, but if I lived close to this area, I think I would take one or two geology classes.
I arrived shortly before sunset so although I had a glimpse of the cliffs surrounding the campground in Fruita, I was mostly preoccupied with getting camp set up. Since this was really my first foray into settled camping this trip, I was still trying to figure a few things out. For those of you who are wondering, I’m camping in a roof top tent (picture below). Setting it up isn’t too bad. I carry a ladder in my Forester and it’s just a matter of rolling the cover off, extending the ladder and unfolding the tent like a clam. At night I simply climb up the ladder into my own personal and portable tree house.
The campground in Capitol Reef is in what is known as the Fruita Historic District. The name, though not exactly original, is apt. The area borders on the Freemont River and was settled by a handful of Mormon families in the late 1800s. Using a ready and steady irrigation source in the Freemont River, they cultivated a number of fruit orchards which the National Park Service now maintains. Though the trees are not currently in bloom, the juxtaposition of fruit orchards against the sheer red rock cliffs is both surreal and stunning.
More important to me is the remoteness of Capitol Reef. The park is designated as an international dark sky site and has few amenities. No electiricity, no cell reception, no wifi, and very little running water this time of year. The result is a nearly deserted campground with only a handful of other folks, mostly rvs, scattered about. At night it’s dark enough to see satellites and the Milky Way and dead silent. A welcome respite after Las Vegas.
More tomorrow after I’ve had a chance to properly explore and adjust to some welcome solitude.