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Typically we don’t venture out on memorial day weekend but this year we decided to tag along with Tyler and Alene to Capitol Reef.  Alene left early Thursday to get a site in Fruita but the campground was already full, we ended up meeting up with her just outside the park and set up camp near the Fremont river just after sunset.  We spent the rest of the night hanging out under the huge cottonwood tree at our campsite and I shot  a few long exposures.

Friday morning we left our camp and drove south past Notom to hike Sheets Gulch.  The wind was really blowing and there was a bit of flowing water and a giant mud bog where Sheets crossed the main road.   Looking at the tracks of the last vehicle that tried to drive up the wash it was obvious they only made it 20′ before getting extremely stuck in the mud.

Rather than hike the sandy wash to access the slot of Sheets we back tracked to the north to hike up Pleasant Creek.  The wind was still rocking away at the trail head but once we made it around a few bends of the creek we were sheltered by the canyon walls.  The kids loved splashing in and out of the creek as we made our way up canyon. We only came across two other groups of hikers as we leisurely made our way up the canyon  a few miles then headed back to the car.

Downtown Notom

We made our way back to Capitol Reef and had lunch in Fruita. We all sat back and relaxed for a few hours while the kids ran around the park  then headed down 24 to hike up Grand Wash.

Once we were a bend or two away from the choke point and my 3yo really started to meander around the wash. We gave him 2 or 3 minutes to get it out of this system before my sister, 6yo son, and I started hiking again. We were just a few dozen paces up the canyon when we heard a series of intense cracks,  I immediately scanned the skyline around us and saw a huge slab of rock just up canyon hit the wall about 150′+ above the floor and break up into 500 pieces. A cluster bomb of sandstone rocks ranging from baseball to basketball size pounded the canyon floor a little over a hundred feet away. After we gathered our thoughts and waited for the dust to settle we hiked up to view the aftermath.  A 75′ section of the canyon floor was pelted with little craters each with a small pile of sand in the center.  Had we been just 60 seconds further up the canyon I have a hard time believing we would have survived. I did manage to squeeze off a few shots of the dust after the initial impact but I was using my 11mm and did some back pedaling so it seems further away than it really was.

and back to hiking….

Magic hour at the Castle

Last hike on Friday was a quick trip up to Hickman Bridge,  Whitney and I lagged behind a bit and waited for the sunset and it was worth the wait. That night the  sky was filled with clouds again so again no star trails.

Saturday morning we drove back to Fruita to hike Cohab Canyon. The kids did great hiking up the switch backs and we spent about an hour exploring the short side  slot canyons before half our group hiked back to the cars to pick of the rest of the group on the other side of the canyon.

Next up was Sulphur Creek, I dropped Tyler and Alene off at the trailhead and pointed them in the right direction. While they did the five mile hike  we  ate a large lunch and let the kids play a bit in Fruita then started hiking up Sulphur Creek from the Visitor Center. 2.5 hours after they started we met back up with Tyler and Alene at the lowest waterfall.

Tyler then dropped Whitney, April, and I off at the upper trail head and we started our five mile hike . We worked our way down canyon in and out of the creek  scrambling over rocks and waterfalls.   I have to say the Sulphur Creek is one of the best hikes I have ever done, its really does not get much better than this.

awesome log jam at the first waterfall

second falls

Sulphur Creek was awesome and definitely the highlight of the weekend. We met up with everyone in Fruita then drove into Torrey to grab some food and Ice. We made it back to our camp next to the Fremont just after sunset and got all the kids settled down.   The skies cleared up just before the full moon came up and I was able to shoot what I think is my best star trail shot yet.

Awesome trip.

Last month April and I made a trip to Capitol Reef without the boys and have ever since been excited to get down there with them. The Boys had not been camping in a few weeks so they were itching to get out as much as we were. We were a bit worried about getting a site in the Fruita campground on Friday so we left late Thursday and camped at Fish Lake less than an hour outside Capitol Reef. We arrived in Fish Lake with just enough time to set up the tent in the dark and take a few photos before we called it night due to the cold.

Star shot in camp.

It was pretty cold in the morning so we packed up camp and made a quick drive around the lake.

After a quick stop in Torrey we picked out our campsite in Fruita and walked around the orchards. The boys really enjoyed the barn and the old farm equipment scattered across Fruita.

We started our first hike of the trip at 11am. We parked at the Capitol Reef visitors center, put Bowen in his backpack and started our hike up Sulphur creek. After the second stream crossing Lanik abandoned his shoes and hiked the creek barefoot.

We hiked up the creek about one mile to the first waterfall and let the kids play in the water and mud for about an hour before we hiked back down to the visitors center by 1pm.

Bowen decided to take a nap in his car seat so we drove down highway 24 along the Freemont river. We headed south beyond Notom to take a few photos of the reef then headed back to the waterfall on the Freemont river for a quick swim.

We made the boys a late lunch then drove up to Panorama point and the Goosenecks overlook then back down to Fruita to walk around the main park with the boys and play frisbee.

Lanik watching the Deer.

Britney and Brayden arrived in Fruita just before dark, we helped her set up camp and then Bowen and I drove back up to Panorama point to get photos of the incoming thunderstorm.

As I was taking photos the rain started to come down and did not let up until around midnight. We woke up to blue skies and started off the day by hiking up to Hickman Bridge.

April on top of a small pothole arch on the way to Hickman Bridge.

Our crew under the bridge.

After we hiked Hickman Lanik wanted nothing more than to go hiking in Sulphur creek again. This time April dropped me off at the Chimney Rock trail head and I hiked the entire length of the canyon while they parked and the visitors center and hiked up to play in the waterfall just like the day before.

This was one of the greatest hikes I have ever done with countless steam crossings in the shallow water. There are two large waterfalls that were both easily bypassed on the right side. Aside from the area around the waterfalls the route is a very easy hike so I was able to hike at a very fast pace. I completed the 5-6 mile hike to the visitor center in just under 2 hours.

Next time I am going to make a day of this hike, blasting it was fun but it would be more enjoyable at a slower pace.

First waterfall.

Soon we were back in at Fruita watching the kids run around camp as I laid in the hammock. After snacks and a bit of rest we drove into Torrey to grab a quick shower. We then all crammed into our car and headed out towards Grand Wash where I dropped April, Brittany, Brayden and Bowen off and Lanik and I drove around the reef to start hiking up the wash from the other side. We made a few quick stops along the way to take some photos before we started our hike.

Grand Wash

Just like the night before a thunderstorm rolled in and blocked out the sunset around 10pm there was a break in the clouds and I was able to get a few shots of the start from our camp site.

In the morning we packed up camp and made it home just before noon.