Embark on a Majestic Journey: Drives, Hikes, and Wildlife in Capitol Reef - Camping in Fruita!

welcome folks in this video we're going to be taking you on a journey to Capitol Reef National Park we'll start with a beautiful drive along the way where we'll see some amazing scenery then we'll stay at Fruita Campground where we get to hang out with some deer after that we'll take a stunning scenic drive through the park and finally we'll go hiking in capital Gorge and gooseneck point we start out at Valley of the Gods then overnight in Blanding Utah and finally take the beautiful drive up the 95 and 24 to Fruita Campground in Capitol Reef National Park grab your stuff and let's get going we left Valley of the Gods and headed north on us-163 which was designated Trail of the Ancients Back in 1970 as you continue through Bluff and take the 191 north you pass through some beautiful Canyons the town of Blanding Utah is just about 50 miles or so North and that's where we're going to spend the night we had reservations at the Blanding RV Park this is a No-Frills place but offers full hookups and is not pricey this was just fine for us as we needed to dump our tanks do laundry and take some nice long showers we had a bit of a challenge finding our spot at first the sights are not well marked and there was a little mix up regarding the spot we had reserved but we eventually figured it all out and everything was smooth sailing from there after Landing RV park is by no means a destination Resort but for our overnight needs it was just perfect we refilled our propane in Blanding as well and the guys there recommended the Yaks Cafe for breakfast the food was great and the portions large we recommend it afterwards we hooked up and headed out but first we stopped at a car wash we had noticed the day before and sprayed down the trailer the end unit was big enough for our trailer and we were able to spray off some of that Valley of the Gods dust from the Windstorm of the prior episode [Music] we then backtracked a few miles and took the 95 Northwest towards our destination of Capitol Reef National Park a picturesque 164 mile drive this highway is also known as the bicentennial Highway as it was completed in 1976. make sure to have a full tank of gas before you embark on this beautiful drive foreign cuts through the mountains like a giant knife and takes you by natural Bridge's National Monument which boasts enormous Bridges carved by the Colorado River over millions of years we really wanted to stop but we needed to get to our destination so this will have to wait for our next trip the tribe afforded us a few places to stop along the way and put the Drone up the scenery is simply breathtaking white Canyon Creek has cut through the Sandstone here making a very interesting Canyon [Music] next trip we'll schedule more time here so we can hike around the canyon and explore this area further there's so much to see and do on this drive you could easily spend the whole day exploring from hiking to sightseeing there's something for everyone foreign we continued our drive and eventually came to the aptly named dirty devil River according to the BLM website John Wesley Powell passed by the mouth of this stream on his historic exploration of the Colorado River when someone asked whether it was a trout stream a Boatman shouted back no she's a dirty devil and the river has been known by that name ever since looks pretty muddy doesn't it [Music] strive took us to the north most part of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area if you recall we were just down at the southern portion of this during Parts two and three of this series [Music] we stopped on some BLM land just north of the NRA to get some aerial footage sure is beautiful around here [Music] nice day for a ride isn't it [Music] foreign [Music] as we continued our drive the canyon walls grew more and more pronounced the red rock walls towering over us like giants [Music] it wasn't long before we entered the east side of Capitol Reef National Park anticipation of CNR campsite was growing we had booked a campsite and fruit to Campground back in March of 21 but unfortunately a big storm came in and made that impossible so this was our makeup trip as we pulled in we could see the visitor center was pretty full [Music] Capitol Reef is probably the least popular of the big five national parks in Utah which is just fine by us as we tend to avoid crowds when possible [Music] we were booked into site 58 in Sea Loop which is past the A and B Loops to my eyes it looked like the spots might have been a bit larger in this Loop the campgrounds are located amidst fruit orchards but of course this was too early and the trees didn't even have leaves yet [Music] solar and starlink were great so that worked out well given this is dry camping there is a dump station over in the a b Loop and it has potable water there was plenty of room to back in and we were quite pleased with our site [Music] getting around the campground we couldn't be happier and the weather was looking like it was going to be perfect for our stay after we got settled in camping we headed out to find a short hike we could do before dinner just a short drive up the road from our Campground was the Panorama point and gooseneck's overlook Panorama Point offers stunning views of the water pocket fold a 100 mile long Wrinkle in the Earth's crust the trail up to the viewing area is short and super easy and there are a few benches you can sit on just to enjoy the views [Music] note however there are no facilities here there are of course areas you can explore that are more challenging but this is completely optional [Music] just about two miles further up the road is gooseneck's overlook not to be confused with gooseneck State Park which we visited a few episodes ago gooseneck's point is part of the Capitol Reef National Park the trail here is by no means difficult but it is more challenging than the Panorama Point Trail [Music] the name comes from the deep 270 degree bin sulfur Creek has cut into the Sandstone here [Music] it had been a long day so we're gonna head back to the campsite take it easy for the evening [Music] the next day we were planning to hike a little further so we started with a hearty breakfast [Music] grocery store back in Blanding and we took full advantage of it we then headed out to Capital Gorge which is at the end of the Capitol Reef Scenic Drive the scenic drive is worth doing all by itself it winds through some really pretty geography this Eight Mile paved Road dead ends into the capitol Gorge Road which provides access to a Trailhead for Capital Gorge Trail this is also how you can access the grand wash from the southwest side to the rider some four-wheel drive roads that provide access to Pleasant Ranch and Beyond they looked interesting but I think our truck is a bit too large for them so we kept straight on to the capital Gorge Road it's not paved but just about any street car should be fine maybe leave the Ferrari at the campsite although not rough it is rather twisting and narrow in spots [Music] originally built as a Wagon Road by settlers back in the late 1800s they used it to access the town of nodum and the Fremont River Valley areas the road was closed to through traffic in 1962 and is now a trail that can be accessed from either side a bit over two miles into this road you can find a Trailhead for Golden Throne a 7 000 foot Mountain lined with distinctive golden Cliffs apparently this road is shut down entirely during raining periods as the entire Drive can flood out I can pretty much guarantee this guy was not having a fun drive eventually you round a corner and you are at the end there's a very small turnaround there and parking can be very tight we got lucky as this truck was leaving right as we pulled in [Music] when this area gets busy it will be very hard to turn a larger vehicle around be warned the park asks that you stay on the trails and not damage the surrounding vegetation holes in the rocks are caused by tifone weathering and are present in many places along the hike we passed Pioneer register where the early settlers carved their names into the rock walls during the late 1800s and early 1900s [Music] we had our site set on visiting the tanks which is a short spur Trail off a main path about three quarters of a mile in it's short but rather challenging in parts and has some steep areas foreign [Music] was not great and there was not a lot of water left in the tanks during this visit but it was still fun to explore [Music] there is another tank past this first one if you feel like exploring further [Music] this big rock on the ledge makes passage a bit tricky but it's manageable [Music] I'm pretty sure they're not but these things look like big dinosaur footprints with claws cutting into the Rock [Music] the scenery up here is just breathtaking thank you eventually we made our way down and headed back [Music] here's a good view of that tafani weathering again AKA honeycomb weathering this is a form of erosion on steroids he got back to the truck and made our way to Camp our brains exhausted from all the visual stimulation this is indeed one of the prettiest drives we have been on and it was well worth the effort [Music] you're a geology buff or just a casual Observer you'll be amazed by the rock formations of Capitol Reef National Park I've been worked up an appetite we cooked a simple meal of sirloin roast air fried potatoes and Brussels sprouts for dinner simple but effective it really hit the spot after the day's hike [Music] I think it's time to sharpen the knife [Music] the next morning we decided to take a walk around the campground and visit the famous Gifford house this was too early in the year for the trees to have leaves but there was a certain Beauty to them nonetheless [Music] The Orchards for the most part are named after the families that established them [Music] the Fremont River was flowing pretty well at this time can we stop to take a look it was pretty muddy from the snowmelt [Music] there are some massive trees in this area a welcome sight during the hot summers I imagine there were a lot of robins in the area they were by far the most common birds we saw the Gifford house is a very short walk from the campground even though we were in Loop C the furthest away it was still just a 10 minute walk please note they get quite busy and you should plan to get there early if you want to buy one of their famous pies fortunately for us it wasn't yet peak season and this was early on a Tuesday morning they have a wide variety of items you can purchase including foodstuffs condiments knickknacks Etc the jams are very good and of course the pies are outstanding east of the house is an iconic Barn built back in 1917 it fits the area so well don't you agree [Music] continue in our walk North we came across the blacksmith shop which has a nice interpretive audio system that is very informative [Music] we continued our walk until we arrived at The Visitors Center it was considerably less crowded this morning given there's just one Campground in the park and it tends to fill up the park service has suggestions for Alternatives we'll sell you our pick a little bit later [Music] they train their deers to use the crosswalk here foreign there were a lot of deer around they show up in the mornings and the afternoons mostly [Music] looking pretty scrawny I bet they were happy the weather was warming and the grass was starting to grow [Music] they seem to be just starting to lose their winter coats [Music] makes me itchy just looking at them [Music] there's also a good population of marmots here we've encountered these in the Sierras before but they are quite rare there [Music] there's a nice Bridge you can view the River from [Music] and the walk back to the campground next to the water is so peaceful next morning we packed up and headed a few miles west to a boondocking spot we had checked out we are going to cover that in our next episode if you enjoyed this video we would appreciate a thumbs up and for more content like this be sure to subscribe to our Channel

Channel: Bob and Dang's Journey

Views: 964

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Id: 3fWZNBtH8Ek

Length: 18min 14sec (1094 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 04 2023