Utah Reprise!

Despite having barely returned from our New Zealand adventure, we took advantage of an opportunity to spend a week in Utah with our son Brian, introducing him to some of the areas we explored last spring ... and checking out some new territory ourselves.

After a 2 day delay due to a snafu in Brian's Ultimate playoff schedule, we departed for Salt Lake City, where we'd pick him up.  The 2-day drive was uneventful, with the exception of seeing some green in the usually brown hills if Eastern Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah.  We also decided to spice things up and scratch Karen's long-standing itch to get up close and personal with the Great Salt Lake.  We opted to spend a few hours at Antelope Island State Park a bit north of SLC.  Ominous signage just before the entrance gate indicated that the biting fleas had hatched and no refunds would be given.  We accepted the risk and had an enjoyable walk along the beach without being bothered too much, but then again, it was windy and we were moving.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any of the buffalo or antelope that live on the island, but we only visited a small part of it.  It was a nice break from driving ... but not really a must-see.

After snagging Brian from the airport (and stuffing him and all his baggage in the already full car), we made a beeline to Capitol Reef Natl Park.  And it was just as impressive as we had remembered.  We had hoped to spend a couple of days there, but only ended up with time for one hike (Rim Overlook on the way to Navaho Knobs), and some evening wandering.

With rain in the forecast for our scheduled two nights of camping in Goblin Valley State Park, we skipped a possible second hike in Capitol Reef, and instead hurried over to Goblin Valley to see if we could get into the slot canyons before the rains hit.  Despite recommendations from the (almost certainly underage) ranger to NOT do those slots on either of the 2 days we'd be there due to the rain, we opted to follow our own judgement.  The rains didn't seem eminent, so off we went, with an eye over our shoulder at the incoming weather.  We didn't do the full loop hike we had planned, but did out and back hikes of both Wild Horse and Bell Canyons.  Very cool.  The sprinkles we encountered added a bit of a stress, and revived the unanswered question:  "How much rain does it take to flood a slot canyon?"  Fortunately, the question is still unanswered!

Despite a half day of rain, we still had time to explore the park proper.  It's quite beautiful, with a wide variety of sculpted rock, canyons, and monoliths.  We did a slightly muddy mountain bike ride on (and to the edge of) the mesa.  And we got in some frisbee golf, too!

A Touch of Green, Eastern Oregon

Brian "Studies" Utah Geology, Capitol Reef Nat'l Park

Evening Light, Capitol Reef Nat'l Park

Sunset, Capitol Reef Nat'l Park

Rock Patterns, Bell Canyon

"What Now?", Wild Horse Canyon

Brian and the Curves, Bell Canyon

Evening Light, Goblin Valley State Park

Wild Horse Butte and Campground, Goblin Valley State Park

Riding the Mesa Edge, Goblin Valley State Park

More Photos

Activities

• Antelope Island State Park
• Wandering:  Bridger Bay
• Capitol Reef Natl Park
• Hiking:  Rim Overlook Trail (to overlook)
• Wandering:  Sunset Point, Gooseneck Point
• Goblin Valley State Park
• Hiking:  Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyons (out-and-back in each canyon, a few miles from Goblin Valley State Park)
• Mountain biking:  Desert View > Dark Side of the Moon
• Sightseeing: Valley of the Goblins
• Frisbee Golf 

5-Star Moments

• Sunset in Capitol Reef!
• The narrows of both Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyons!
• Riding along the edge of the mesa rim!

Random Scenes

• Brian returns to camp just in time for dinner walking his bike with the chain locked up in a cross-gear situation.  But, he wanted to fix it before it got dark or having dinner.  Family meltdown.  But we recovered, and had a great trip!
• All packed up and ready to leave, only to find that Brian was right!  Damn!  Dead battery!  Should have listened to him about leaving the car doors open too long.
• Tom, employing the old-guy dink-dink-dink approach, matches Brian, who is using the Ultimate-stud long-throw approach, in a partial round of Frisbee Golf!

Random Questions

• Why are only the white-dirt areas of the mountain bike trail mucky???

Tom's Daily Stress Points

• Is it going to rain while we're in the slots?  Will it be enough to flood?  (stress level = medium)
• Should we camp in the rain at Goblin Valley?  (stress level = medium-low)
• Should we go down the 31 mile dirt road to Horseshoe Canyon (to see the best petroglyphs in the world) in the rain?  The boy-ranger said wet isn't a problem, just loose sand ... but wasn't very convincing. So we didn't. (stress level = medium-low)

Sleeps

• Ontario, OR:  Best Western (fine)
• Salt Lake City:  Double Tree (near airport, not great - biz hotel, a bit tired, limited wifi, thin walls, no fridge or breakfast)
• Torrey, UT:  Red Sands Inn (ok, but a little small and tired, hard beds)
• Goblin Valley State Park campground (very nice, plus free showers!)

Noteable Eats

• Salt Lake City
• Wingtips Bar and Bistro (totally fine dinner salads, in Holiday Inn near airport)
• The Park Cafe (outstanding breakfast, ~1 mile from I-15)
• Torrey, UT
• Rim Rock Restaurant (good dinner) 
• Castlerock Coffee and Candy (subpar muffins, decent breakfast sandwiches)