Before I start to make myself look foolish. Please take note do not do what you read about in this story. It was not the most brilliant thing I have done, but having survived it, I can now say that I have probably seen more of Capital Reef than anyone should in a mini van. Stay on the paved roads and you will get to actually enjoy, the Park much more. Although it does take some of the adventure out of it.
We started our adventure leaving Salt Lake City about an hour later than we had planned, but still not a bad start.
On our way down to Capital Reef National Park in the southern part of our state, we decided our atlas was not detailed enough so we better get a map, which is not as easy to find nowadays as you might think. I guess GPS is the way to go, but what happens if all those satellites get blown out of the sky? Or even worse what happens if our battery dies? Will we ever be able to read maps again? So, we decided get a map and do it the old fashioned way.
Who would have thunk you would have to go clear to Nephi to find a gas station that sells maps. Geewizz, Oh well, so we got our map and headed south on I-15 all was going well we had it planned until DeeAnn started looking at the map. :) Okay so, in her defense, had I been in charge of the map I probably would have done the same thing. But I wasn't so I can say she did it.
Our Hotel was in Torrey, so we left the comfort of I-15 and headed toward the east taking a detour from our destination we drove up to view Fish Lake. The colors were incredible and the lake was gorgeous the blues and yellows were simply unbelievable.However, not wanting to be too distracted we headed towards Loa, when DeeAnn saw that there was road that would take us to Cathedral Valley on the upper portion of Capital Reef National Park. She said it was a dirt road, but undeterred she said, "It's a National Park. Maybe the roads aren't that bad. Well knowing me, this was just an invite to take the mini van on dirt.... I am game. Woot!!!
So, we went past the Loa turn off, and up through Fremont. We found the road that would take us to over to Cathedral Valley. About 8 miles into the dirt road we saw an over look point. It was simply beautiful. The colorful red and white cliffs where so magnificent and intriguing. The road, by-the-way was nice enough, that it felt safe enough to continue...so we did.As we began to descend down toward the brilliant red and white cliffs that we saw, we passed from Fish Lake National Forrest into the Capital Reef National Park at which time we stopped briefly to pick up an information pamphlet. Which might have been nice to have read it earlier when our heads were clear enough to think straight and before we could see that the road really wasn't "that bad," except now we could clearly see that the warning for high clearance vehicles and 4wheel drive did not apply to us in our mini van.
After about a mile a portion of the road had a pretty good sized hole in it but I thought... now this is a dangerous thing to say, because I know that I leave myself very vulnerable when I say that, but... I thought that if I stayed to the right I could... Well I couldn't and we got high centered. Bummer deal except we had a shovel and the sand was really easy to dig. I put a log in the hole and just under my tire and we were able to get past that obstacle in little to know time. After a prayer of gratitude for deliverance we proceeded forward. Just another story to tell....We could have turned back but I really didn't want to face that hole again so, we thought lets just see what we can see. we stopped to see some incredible sights, but continued down the road. As we got down in the bottoms, last weeks rains were very evident as the road in several places had been washed out. leaving the road somewhat rough in places, but nothing that would "require" 4wheel drive. So, we proceeded as we approached the half way mark the wash outs started getting to the "almost need 4wheel drive" point, but we were handling it pretty good. Besides after that first little incident, I did not want to face that hole again if I didn't have to.
At about the end of the low lands we had one significant drop into the river bed, but still it was not enough worry me too much because the other side looked do able and we certainly weren't going to have to face it again. So, we went forward undaunted. After that everything went pretty smooth for the next 10 miles or so. We are now about 4:00 pm....
After driving through the Bentonite Hills, that was kinda funky. the crust on top of soil was crunchy, but it was soft and kinda silty underneath. We passed an old mining truck or water pump truck that had been abandoned years ago along on our way over to the promised land...
We knew we were getting close, our anticipation and anxiousness to be off this road was getting pretty high when we came over the top of this hill and saw the power poles about a quarter mile across a small valley full of greenery, which in and of itself was hopeful when sage brush and cactus and an occasional juniper tree were all the signs of life we had seen for miles.We descended the hill with feeling relieved it was almost over... Only to be stopped dead in our tracks. We had been following the tracks of another vehicle up to this point but they just ended. They didn't turn around. They didn't seem to stop but right in front of us was a dead end. We got out to investigate. Apparently God was telling us something we probably ignored him along the way several times, but this time He weren't going to be ignored. There was a boulder in the road. Not one of those measly little boulders the size of a compact car but one the size of a motor home.... Not cool.
This was about the time that Man vs. Wild and Dual Survival became a serious thought... This was about 5:30 and I knew we only had about an hour of sunlight before things would get more dicey. To top that off we were now looking at little over quarter tank of gas left.Now that I knew the lay of the land I could go much faster on the roads back at least until we had to go through the wash areas again. Oh boy, the thought of facing those things which I did not want to look back at was pretty scary.
My daughter reminded us the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Which took on a new meaning as I began facing the consequences of the decisions I had made to go where I probably should not have in the first place. I faced my biggest fear approaching the last wash which was now the first wash. getting in the wash wash not to difficult, but as I gassed it to make the run to get up on the other side we spun.... My heart fell. I tried again and nothing... finally we had every one get out of the van and DeeAnn pushed me while I put the van in reverse. We got out of the rut, but still not out of the wash.
We had everyone climb up on the other side of the wash so that I was the only one in the van. I do not believe I have said a more fervent prayer as I asked the Lord to guide me through this wash.. I pushed on the gas and moved around the area I had already been stuck in once and caught the only perfect angle that allowed me a smooth exits from the wash.
The rest of the ride back went fairly quickly with little incident. An occasional thump of an unseen wash, but not too bad. I was racing the sun at this point so a few small bumps I was willing to deal with. With Lauree reading the Book of Mormon in the background. We made it back to the first hole and a little maneuvering of the log and we got up no problem. It was 7:30 now and it was dark, but we were past the point of feeling in danger... Little did we know just how much danger we might have been in.We made it back to the Highway and through Fremont, when we realized that we needed gas sooner than later and not knowing how far it was passed Loa, to the next town we thought we better stop and fill up.
Now, small towns Utah shut down at dark... No lights were on at any of the two gas stations in town so at the second station we, out of desperation checked to see if the pumps were still active. Thank goodness it was so we filled up. Only when I went to start the car it wouldn't start... talk about feeling helpless.... We pushed the van over to the station office and grabbed our stuff and were headed to the Snuggle Inn a couple of blocks back on the drag of Loa, Utah when a woman asked us if we could use a ride. We accepted and she gave us all the information we would need, come the next day.We hadn't eaten but the nice gentleman who worked at the hotel eatery said he would make us a pizza even though he was just about to leave for the night... Oh, the kindness we received in Loa, I would not hesitate moving there if I knew I could make a living there.
I would tell you about the rest of our adventure, but it wasn't nearly as exciting as our first day. The second day we told the Rangers about the boulder to which they said, "that road is closed." Yeah, well it would have been nice to tell us that. We told them they might want to post it so no one else tries taking their mini van through. :)Turns out our battery was dead. So, we ate breakfast paid for our battery and were on our way. A couple of stops in Capital Reef, a pie in Fruita, a look at the Petroglyphs, and on to Goblin Valley. As much fun as we had on the dirt road I think Goblin Valley was by far the best way to end our activities for this adventure. From there we headed home.
A vacation we shall not soon forget.
But I tell you I drive a mean mini van...
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